Movers (and, as a Result, Shakers!)

I AM SO WORN OUT!  Today I helped Susan's dad, Roger, move out of his apartment in town and into a house in Richardton, ND.  It was a long, chilly day that ended (for me) with a hot bath, despite which I cannot feel parts of my body--and those parts that I can feel are in pain!

Abigail and Hillary helped, too, as did Susan's brother, Jerrett.  We started in the morning and moved all Roger's furniture and numerous boxes and piles of clothes, etc., out of his apartment and into a cattle trailer that he had borrowed.  After driving to his house and moving it all inside, we took a break for dinner, provided by Roger's girlfriend, JoAnn: homemade turkey noodle soup, chili, ham sandwiches on wheat buns, pickled cauliflower, cold drinks, and homemade caramel rolls for dessert.

We made a return trip to Dickinson to pack up everything from Roger's garage (in which he never parked his vehicle while living in the apartment, using it instead for long-term storage!).  Well, not "everything": many items we hauled instead to the dumpster.  Still, the trailer was pretty full for our return trip to Richardton.  By that point, Jerrett and I were dragging.  We had been up and down stairs all day, lifting and carrying and packing and unpacking all sorts of heavy and bulky items (including a refrigerator that nearly defeated us, despite our having a dolly to help get it up the steps to the house), sweating when indoors and shivering when outside (it was overcast and windy all day), and fighting off persistent swarms of yellowjackets in Richardton (Jerrett even got stung!).

Anyway, we could barely stand the thought of moving one more dresser out of the trailer, across the lawn, up the stairs into the house, and down the stairs into the basement . . . but we soldiered on and got the last of everything inside.  We set up Roger's bedroom and living room furniture and had a late supper (delicious leftovers of soup, chili, sandwiches, and caramel rolls) while plopped on the couch and chairs.  While we had been in Dickinson packing up the garage items, JoAnn had stayed in Richardton and located all the boxes containing kitchen items.  She washed all the dishes and found places for them in the cupboards and stocked the shelves and refrigerator with Roger's groceries and had decorations on the shelves, a doily on the table, and scented candles lit by the time we got back.  Impressive!

And where were Susan and Suzanna, you may be wondering?  Suzanna had a varsity swim meet today.  It was in Dickinson, so team parents were expected to help out.  Susan worked the concessions stand and texted me messages throughout the day on the results of Suzanna's events (she met her goal of cutting her time when swimming 50 yards, making for a swift leader of her relay team in that event!).  Afterward they went to Roger's apartment and packed up more clothes and started cleaning there until we got back to work on the garage, and then they joined us for the rest of the evening's work.

All things considered, the day went rather smoothly and quickly, thanks to everybody's pitching in--including Abigail and Hillary, who did not complain at all or avoid working and who were very helpful in carrying boxes and running other errands for us, like fetching this piece of rope or running that item to the dumpster, etc.  I could have gone to sleep immediately upon returning to our home, but I opted for a hot bath with eucalyptus spearmint bath oil, both to relax my muscles and to warm up my cold body!  I'm looking forward to visiting Roger in his new home and maybe occasionally celebrating holidays or having other family get-togethers there.

But until I regain feeling in my muscles, I cannot bear to think of his house or its belongings!