CH.4 Moving To Texas-Packing and Packing.

Dragonflies mating on a back sliding door


I was collecting many large boxes and foam wraps from my work with where I was employeed as a repair technican and we started packing some of the stuff we were not planning to use. I also collected several small boxes from the parts store at work earlier for my Ebay packing and shipping. I was selling lots of vintage toys and some stuff through Ebay some months earlier. We had some yard sales and took the rest of the stuff and old clothes we didn't need anymore to the thirft store. We sold the china hutch to one of my co-workers, dining set, a fridge two weeks before the closing through the ad and bought a small dorm fridge to keep the remain of food cold. We gave the washer and dryer to a Russian co-worker.

We found out that we could not put our Ford Explorer on a trailer when moving because it eas too heavy so I was going to drive it while Richard drove the moving truck.

I gave my two week notice each to my leader and the manager at work. I had told a few of my close friends there two months before and we kept it secret. We kept telling each others how sick we were of the manufactoring where we worked because the managements were not good. We didn't tell anyone in my family yet until a month before we left. I was very disappointed for not seeing my oldest son in Seattle for some reasons. I stopped by Sears in Spokane where my youngest son worked and said good bye. I had told him about our move earlier but he didn't think so. I still keep in touch with them by text message since moving to Texas.

I had hard time deciding to sell my old 1980 Ford Mustang I kept for over 25 years. I knew it would take arm and leg to put it on the train and it would be put on the list for maybe a month or so. I had the engine replaced in 1996 and got it painted dark blue in 2000 because the old silver paint had faded with some peels. I painted the white stars on it a year later. For the past 25 years my two sons were each brought home from the hospital in my car right after their births and to their driving ages. It wasn't a classic car but I enjoyed working in it as one of my hobbies. The engine had been worn out again and needed a rebuilt and new rings. I had met Andy the Mustang collector in Spokane a few years earlier and so in a week before moving, I called and asked him if he was interested in buying it since no one else was interested when I put it on an ad and he said he was happy to buy it. I explained to him about the car problem and he told me to bring it over which we did. It broke down when I was driving closer to his home and Richard was following me in our Exploerer. We pushed my car and the driver who saw us stopped and helped us push it toward Andy's house. I secretly kissed on a steering wheel and it broke my heart to give it up. Andy looked at it, gave me the cash and I gave him the title. I took off the two Idaho license plates to take them with me and got into our Exploerer. I put both license plates on my laps, cried and Richard gave me his comfort. That car had been so good to me for 25 years. It also was the best to get rid of it since my exhusband was driving it in the past.

I was so quiet and bit depressed for three days because I felt so weird for not having my own car. So when I was at work, Richard went to the Lake City Ford in Coeur D'Alene, Idaho to look at a new Focus for fun and the saleperson who with a hearing loss in his left ear at birth had been a good friend to him since he bought a new Exploerer a year and half earlier from him offered him a very good deal knowing that we were planning to move to Texas. Richard came to see me at work during my lunch hour with a new Focus and asked me if I wanted to test drive it. We bought it later in the afternoon. We had arranged the UHAUL a month before to rent a 26ft long truck so we stopped by to add the car trailer for our new little car and bought some boxes for the lamps and two small TV's. We later took our Exploerer to a Ford service for oil change and check up for the trip.

We went to the bowling alley one night to visit with the deaf bowlers and friends before saying good bye.

I was given a very nice farewell party at work on the last day of my employment. After signing out and returning the hanging parking permit card to Bruce, the Human Recource personal, he gave me a bear hug. I was very happy to get out of the "prison" after almost seven years.

We invited my dad and brother Dale to breakfast with us at IHOP and had a good conversation for two hours. My dad said that my late mom would be thrilled about our move back to her birth place. (She was born in Denison, Texas).

I will write more later about the moving day.