Moving: Makin' it.

We're on the home-stretch now: 530 miles down, 208 left to go. We will make it to Minot AFB tomorrow!

A la Kevin Smith, I yelled as we passed the border: "NORTH DAKOTA, I am IN YOU!"

*giggles*

Now the knowledge is out in the open, and that feels nice. Even so, it still gives me a great little thrill that we kept our moving news so locked down for six months to just a handful of special people in real life. I love that folks didn't know until I chose to let them know. For the sake of the boys and their church/school situations, it made things much simpler. Thank you, my LJ friends, for keeping mum on the subject since June - hee!

And it sounds like our friends in Nebraska have had more than a bit of snow since we left. We got some on Sunday night that put us in a tizzy over whether to leave or not... but we decided that we couldn't wait and then risk being trapped by the larger storm system due on Monday night. Apparently, we made the VERY RIGHT decision in leaving, as they have been nothing but blasted by snow since we left.

Meanwhile, I'm not a great big ol' fan of South Dakota. There was hardly any accumulation going on along the interstates, but the 3-5" of snow that was already in place was whipping across the lanes, and we felt as if we were driving in an intense fog. For most of the roads in SD, we were buzzing along at 35-40mph... in an area with a speed limit of 75mph. Philip's truck pulled the U-Haul, and he was the one equipped with our GPS, so I was lolling afterward. At one point in the afternoon, he was at 1/4 tank of gas, and I had a solid 1/2 left plus Jack and both kitties sound asleep. We made the decision for me to whip on and find a place for dinner and 'free time' for the kitties, and then it took Philip another 40 minutes or so to catch up to us.

I was super-nervous this morning when we hit the blustery roads, but by mid-afternoon, I was asking Philip to go faster. I'm more than a little proud of myself for keeping it together and pressing on. :-)

Philip just brought me a hot fudge sundae from McD's while I'm down here in the hotel lobby using the computer. Mmmmm!

My friends have more than kept me occupied with texts and Tweets. Thank you, all of you, for checking in so frequently. If nothing else, I catch up on potty breaks. ;-) Oh, and kerryblaze, thanks for the LJ gift, too!

hearts_refuge, did you get your box yet? Mailing that sucker out involved being a party to the most RIDICULOUS conversation ever. Seriously, I was shaking my head in bewilderment and looking around for a hidden camera.

kp_nut, I received your Christmas card in our last day's mail. Anything else should be forwarded right now, but yours came just in time. Thank you!

On a side tangent, our hotel tonight has the best showerhead ever. Goodness, it was relaxing to stand there forever after the chilly parking parade. I also love how hotels have neverending supplies of hot water. Philip jumped in with me, and then afterwards, Jack took his bath. We were dressing in our jammies and giggling, listening to Jack singing, "Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town" while he bubbled away in the tub.

I can't wait to download some pictures. I've not taken any of the trip, but I have several from before that I think will be keepers. We were SO PROUD of A.J. in his very first band concert last Thursday night. I was so tickled that we were able to stay until that point (the next day, Friday, was their last day of school), and that he enjoyed it so much. We sat in the second row, and I took a bunch of snaps. He is one of six clarinet players, and he clearly knew his stuff.

Even better, he surprised the heck outta me when we arrived back at the TLF that night. I had watched Mr. Holland's Opus with the boys the previous weekend, and A.J. had been particularly interested in the clarinet player's struggles (which I expected, and which is the reason I suggested the movie, besides just loving it to pieces myself). He told me he wanted to play something for me, and he pulled out his clarinet...

... and then he played THAT TUNE from the movie! He played it by ear, having guessed and practiced it by himself all week. I was ASTOUNDED! I told him he's really got a gift, and that not many folks can "hear" notes like that, and especially not just three months after beginning to play an instrument. He just grinned and played it over and over, working on figuring out the next note as he went. Wow!

I should probably get moving here. No one's waiting on the computer, but I would like to get a long, lazy sleep in, and that means I should start snoozing soon. 'Night, all!