I don't remember what we had for breakfast that first day here. Maybe we went to the store and bought stuff. We didn't have our fridge yet so we must have done something. A MOMYS (mother of many young siblings) came over that day and brought lunch and dinner and we had a fun time getting to know her and her nine children. I think I was still in shock that we had moved out of our house, driven to Texas, were in strangers in a strange land, then this strange woman (strange as in I didn't know her!) brings us enough food to get through a week and acts like all is normal. That really helped me. We are used to being different, but this was *really* different. Our spirits were up, seeing evidence of God's presence with us throughout the trip.
The first day we arrived, it was sweltering hot and humid, around 92 degrees (on Feb. 25!). The next day, it was WINDY and COLD. For four more days, it was warm, sunny, and clear. Beautiful. Then it got cold and windy again and the next DAY there was thunder, lightning, RAIN like a firehose was soaking the windows, sleet and snow. Yes, snow. It was so beautiful. That was also the night the vomiting started. Yeah. Of the eight of us, five got the actual messy part and I only got the nausea. Luke and the baby were spared, as per our prayer requests. Not that I'm complaining, mind you. Not me.
I will let you imagine what it's like to do laundry without a dryer (I had my washer, thank God!) and having no way to hang up sheets and towels to dry. So I didn't wash them. I let them sit. Use your imagination. (They are done now, don't worry, but I was so tempted by the trash bins in the garage!)
Getting to know the area came about by finding the grocery store, water store, Sam's Club and Wal-Mart (which are right next-door to each other but have vastly different prices on many of the exact same products!), Costco, thrift store, and the library. Those were our only destinations until... well, they still are our only destinations, with few variations. We have visited a few churches, but they are on the way to those other places.
Speaking of churches, there are so many here! The churches are as varied as the weather. We are visiting different ones each week.
We've joined a homeschool group and I found an email list for homeschool moms in this area. I met another MOMYS from the Digest and she has been such a blessing to us already.
Speaking of blessings, so far, FIVE families whom I met via MOMYS (and have since met in person) have welcomed us, fed us, unloaded our stuff and organized it, given us money, or just called to be encouraging. It's overwhelming and so very nice. I want to be that kind of blessing to someone.
The email list moms have also been accommodating, inviting us to parties and events, offering to pick me to go to mom's night out and stuff like that.
We LOVE Texas!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Part One -- How We Came toTexas
I thought I would write out our story of how we came to Texas.
End first: I (without hubby or ds13) drove seven of our eight children from Southern California to McKinney, Texas, taking five days to do so. I don't recommend traveling that far with one adult and seven children, even if two were 15 and 17. It just wasn't one bit fun. The scenery wasn't pretty, either. The poor baby... oh, the poor dear!
The Beginning: Sept. 7 we got notice that we had to move from our rental. Right away, we found that it would be next to impossible to find another house we could afford. That was one part of the trouble; the other part was that we got a 30-day notice. It's required by law in California to give 60 days' notice. I was due to have a baby in 51 days. Hmmm....
Our landlady said we could have until mid-December to move (six weeks postpartum). That was very nice of her, yes. But, where were we supposed to go? Rentals were scarce as it was. December was an even harder time to find one. We decided to look and look and look until about two weeks before my due date, and move before the baby came. If we couldn't find a place, we would wait for the baby and begin looking after he was born. Meanwhile, my midwife and friend told us about a house in Texas that was for rent. All those details fit with what we needed in a house. Trouble was, it was in Texas. We prayed for the Lord to open the doors He wanted us to walk through and close those He didn't. Texas was one big wide open door, from the first day.
I won't go into all the details of the open doors just now, but, believe me, it was obvious God was leading us to Texas.
We finally got moved out of our house in CA on Feb. 15 (yes, very much after Dec. 15, but we had reasons), and moved in with my mom for five days. The plan had been that we would leave asap but Michael couldn't go because he kept getting work so I went with seven of the children. Michael needed someone to stay to help him (and keep him company, being an extreme extrovert) so the 13 year-old stayed (he was actually 12 but his birthday came in March).
We talked at length about whether I should drive without my husband, 1500 miles away, to a place I had never been before, with seven children, one of which was a three month-old baby. I am not the type to do such a thing, and my mother was sure that I could never do it. I didn't want to prove her wrong, either! I had no desire to drive that far but we kept thinking that we would never get here if I didn't just set my face to the wind and go.
On February 21, we set out at 3:30 pm, having given up on the early start theory. We made it only 100 miles that first day, and slept in North Palm Springs that night. We stayed in Tuscon the next night, and in Van Horn, TX, the next, and Abilene the next. We hoped to drive 350 or more miles each day. Never happened. We spent 2.5 hours in Phoenix (don't ask), and the first day we traveled only a couple of hours. The baby didn't enjoy the trip one little bit, no no no. It was very stressful, even if the driving part had been peaceful, scenic, and leisurely. The entire event was far from pleasant, for many reasons. I guess I've painted a very bleak picture, haven't I?
We did have some funny moments, mostly in the motel room at night when we were scrambling to get to sleep so we could get up and get going. We never hit the road before 9:45 am, and that had to be OK. The best part of the entire thing was that I could call Michael any time I wanted and cry and moan and complain all I needed/wanted to do. That happened a few times.
We finally pulled into our driveway about 6 pm on Monday, February 25, via Fort Worth and Lake VeryHuge (which were not supposed to be on the way), ordered pizza, put everyone to bed, and I took a very long, very very hot BATH. We slept on the floor ( but I had an air mattress) until Friday night when three very nice families extended Christian (and Texas!) love and hospitality to us by unloading our two 28 ft. trailers and then putting together beds, the kitchen, and whatever else was needed for to function until my hubby could get here.
Part Two Coming Soon
End first: I (without hubby or ds13) drove seven of our eight children from Southern California to McKinney, Texas, taking five days to do so. I don't recommend traveling that far with one adult and seven children, even if two were 15 and 17. It just wasn't one bit fun. The scenery wasn't pretty, either. The poor baby... oh, the poor dear!
The Beginning: Sept. 7 we got notice that we had to move from our rental. Right away, we found that it would be next to impossible to find another house we could afford. That was one part of the trouble; the other part was that we got a 30-day notice. It's required by law in California to give 60 days' notice. I was due to have a baby in 51 days. Hmmm....
Our landlady said we could have until mid-December to move (six weeks postpartum). That was very nice of her, yes. But, where were we supposed to go? Rentals were scarce as it was. December was an even harder time to find one. We decided to look and look and look until about two weeks before my due date, and move before the baby came. If we couldn't find a place, we would wait for the baby and begin looking after he was born. Meanwhile, my midwife and friend told us about a house in Texas that was for rent. All those details fit with what we needed in a house. Trouble was, it was in Texas. We prayed for the Lord to open the doors He wanted us to walk through and close those He didn't. Texas was one big wide open door, from the first day.
I won't go into all the details of the open doors just now, but, believe me, it was obvious God was leading us to Texas.
We finally got moved out of our house in CA on Feb. 15 (yes, very much after Dec. 15, but we had reasons), and moved in with my mom for five days. The plan had been that we would leave asap but Michael couldn't go because he kept getting work so I went with seven of the children. Michael needed someone to stay to help him (and keep him company, being an extreme extrovert) so the 13 year-old stayed (he was actually 12 but his birthday came in March).
We talked at length about whether I should drive without my husband, 1500 miles away, to a place I had never been before, with seven children, one of which was a three month-old baby. I am not the type to do such a thing, and my mother was sure that I could never do it. I didn't want to prove her wrong, either! I had no desire to drive that far but we kept thinking that we would never get here if I didn't just set my face to the wind and go.
On February 21, we set out at 3:30 pm, having given up on the early start theory. We made it only 100 miles that first day, and slept in North Palm Springs that night. We stayed in Tuscon the next night, and in Van Horn, TX, the next, and Abilene the next. We hoped to drive 350 or more miles each day. Never happened. We spent 2.5 hours in Phoenix (don't ask), and the first day we traveled only a couple of hours. The baby didn't enjoy the trip one little bit, no no no. It was very stressful, even if the driving part had been peaceful, scenic, and leisurely. The entire event was far from pleasant, for many reasons. I guess I've painted a very bleak picture, haven't I?
We did have some funny moments, mostly in the motel room at night when we were scrambling to get to sleep so we could get up and get going. We never hit the road before 9:45 am, and that had to be OK. The best part of the entire thing was that I could call Michael any time I wanted and cry and moan and complain all I needed/wanted to do. That happened a few times.
We finally pulled into our driveway about 6 pm on Monday, February 25, via Fort Worth and Lake VeryHuge (which were not supposed to be on the way), ordered pizza, put everyone to bed, and I took a very long, very very hot BATH. We slept on the floor ( but I had an air mattress) until Friday night when three very nice families extended Christian (and Texas!) love and hospitality to us by unloading our two 28 ft. trailers and then putting together beds, the kitchen, and whatever else was needed for to function until my hubby could get here.
Part Two Coming Soon
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