I’m feeling a sense of relief while moving from one crisis to another. Moving is the key word here as one of the biggest, most stressful hassles in life. We just spent three long days in the car getting from Portland to Indianapolis. Fortunately, we are not racing the North American Van Lines driver to Florida since our stuff is still sitting in the warehouse awaiting transit. I received our fully signed closing documents on our new house this morning and am in the process of setting up all our utilities. In the meantime, my wife has now been to two ER facilities and a urologist with Kidney Stone concerns. It looks like tomorrow will be the out-patient surgery, but if they need to add a stint we could be staying in Indy longer than expected. Fortunately, she gets to spend time with her sister and family while recovering. 

As I was waiting for her to get checked-out at the hospital yesterday, I met a good friend at a nearby restaurant, TD Alibis. It’s been the sight of many gatherings through the years, once close to my house and an advertising agency that I worked closely with. It was like stepping back in time, although I’ve never shared my bar stool with a dog before. Our schnauzer Tally has been cramped in the car along with us in route to Florida. She’s been upset, seeing her “mom” go in and out of these strange buildings and not sure where she’s headed. My friend and I got an outside table and Tally joined us for a beer. She got some ice water, several bites of my ham and cheese sandwich, and many treats from our server. I had her bed set up in the shade and fed her dinner while we waited for word from my wife. We were both glad to not be sitting in the car on another beautiful day.

We’re also no longer homeless as of today. The apartment is now 2200 miles in the rear view mirror, as are our possessions. We may need to stay a week in Indy before we can start the leg to Atlanta. This means that all plans are on hold, including some other family get togethers. We have our fingers crossed that our load of furniture we be delayed just as long, so we don’t have to rush to meet the unloading crew. Tally and I may return to Alibis again tomorrow to wait out the surgery. It’s a tough job but someone has to do it. Man and beast deserve a break from all the stress of moving. At least, we survived all the inconveniences of notarized paperwork, wire transfers, spousal discomfort, dog duty, and packing. Hooray, we’ve Closed!