How Did I Get Here?: Molly

Then, July 2017 and a few months ago, May 2020

Molly found out in March she would no longer be working. It was decided she would put her town home on the market and move up to Iowa with us! She was concerned about selling real estate when people were losing their jobs. But she sold it within days! The trip down to help her pack up and move took a lot of planning, especially during this weird world time. At first, I planned to fly down and then drive a U-Haul back up but the airlines were so unreliable. Tickets were crazy cheap but flights were getting canceled constantly. We couldn't figure out the logistics of driving down and then driving a U-Haul back. Where would I keep my car? A colleague suggested I rent a car, so that is what I did. I ended up with a huge Yukon XL that I fell in love with. Perfect for trips, not for town.

This is me at 4:30am heading out on April 29th, 2020

I stopped in Athens, Georgia to pick up Maggie. She was working from home so she was able to go with me to help.

Maggie was able to work from Florida and still had time to help pack, but we mostly relied on her to do the cooking. Cooking was a challenge because how in the heck do you cook for three people when you are trying to pack up the kitchen?

Sometimes Molly and I would sit on the patio and watch Maggie cook. We were enjoying the Florida weather for that one last week. It was sad that we were not able to go to the beach because they were virus closed. We couldn't go out to eat either.

Because we couldn't go to the beach, go shopping, or go out to eat, we had plenty of time to pack. We would pack up one room at a time to prepare for the U-haul. I didn't take too many photos of this but we decided we did very well and were pretty organized.

When we picked up the U-Haul, which we reserved online, they didn't have one for us. We had to wait two hours while they cleaned one up that had just come from Georgia. We watched them clean off those Florida bugs that stick to your car and take off the paint. I was more worried about the inspection. They said they did one but Molly and I were watching and if they did one, it was pretty quick. In the time of masks, gloves, wiping, and cleaning, I didn't see that done at all and don't think they cleaned the inside of the truck. When the keys were handed to me, I made the guy grab his stickers of X's to put on all the dents. The truck obviously had hit a few things and I didn't want to be responsible for something I didn't do. Once we were satisfied, I pulled out of the parking lot and ran over a curb. It was going to take a little time to get used to driving that thing. I did an amazing job backing up (with Molly's help) to load.

We were happy that three of Molly's guy friends came to help load. I don't have photo's of them helping though!

The last evening in her town home was sad for me. Even though I didn't make it down to Florida very often, Molly had a very nice, relaxing place. I had to sit on cushions and the girls sat on the air mattress the last night. We were exhausted and we had an 8 hour drive to Athens the next day.

We decided we needed a day of rest in Athens before the longer drive to Iowa. We rested by taking a walk in the park near Maggie's condo.

We then prepared for the long trip to Iowa. Maggie's cats were very suspicious as to why there was an empty new litter box and a cat carrier sitting out.

It was because the newest member of the cat family, Poppy, was moving with us! Poppy was found in an environment that was not good for a kitten and was given to Maggie. Maggie realized this kitten would be purr-fect for Molly.

Molly, Maggie, and Poppy headed up to Iowa in Molly's car while I drove the U-Haul. Poppy wasn't too sure about this trip but she settled after awhile.

It was a very long 14 hour drive in that large U-Haul. It was so loud that I had to turn the radio up extremely high, but then it was too loud so sometimes I would turn it off and just sing to myself. Here we are in Iowa. I miss that truck.

Some of Molly's items are in the house but most is in storage. I want everyone to know I backed this huge truck up into this garage. The door was just big enough to get through.

When I tried to do it a second time. I couldn't do it so a U-Haul employee had to do it for me.

Since I traveled through so many states and stayed a week in one of Covid's hottest spots, I worked from home for 14 days after I got back. I had a sweet set up. Since I need two monitors to work, the girls hooked the laptop up to Molly's television. That worked beautifully.

While I worked, the family stayed busy making sure the grumpy old cats were getting along with the new Poppy cat. It took awhile but they all get along now.

The girls got creative with their cooking. Loved this homemade pasta!

Maggie made a rug to take back to her condo!

We also stayed busy coloring Mandalas. Binx was helping us.

The girls and I even had a chance to go up to Wisconsin to visit my sister and her family. We filled up the car with plants.

One positive outcome of this virus world is the four of us were able to spend a whole month together as a family again. It's been a long time since we did that. We cherished that month and it was sad when Maggie had to head back home.

This photo was taken at 4:30am when Maggie was saying goodbye to Poppy. Mike drove her back and then he spent several weeks in the south.