I'm not sure I'm ready for all the typing that is about to happen. I'm also not sure if you are ready to read everything I'm about to type. Good luck to us both.
The last three days have been a whirlwind. I guess the beginning is as good a place as any to start.
Sunday morning Mom and I were both up early. Dad was nice enough to also get up early to make us his famous french toast. We showered, ate, finished packing and hit the road at 8 am. We knew we had a long drive ahead of us. I was determined to drive the whole thing to prove to myself that I can. The farthest I had driven before that was to Shreveport and that nearly killed me. Driving even further than Shreveport seemed a bit overwhelming. Since we were making this cross-state trek on a Sunday, I think the traffic was at a minimum. We made it to Alexandria, LA in 7 hours without a lick of traffic or bad weather. We were lucky! We found our brand new Hampton Inn, checked in, unloaded and then headed down the street to Cracker Barrel (classic travel food). We were staying in Alexandria for two reasons: (1) it shortened our drive by about an hour and (2) the only hotel (not motel) in Leesville was booked when I looked online. I knew the drive from Alexandria to Leesville/Fort Polk wasn't bad so it seemed like a good idea. Sunday night we got to bed early cause we were both kind of worn out from the early morning and long ride.
Monday morning we woke up early again to shower, get ready, and grab some wonderful Hampton Inn continental breakfast. (I had a biscuit and a chocolate muffin.) We headed to Leesville down a hilly, tree-lined road. The first order of business was finding the housing office to get a map to the neighborhood that my house was in. We followed the directions I had and found the office rather easily. We had to sign in and wait for an over-worked woman to help us. She was really nice and quickly looked me up and gave me directions to the neighborhood. In the directions there was mention of "North Fort". Now, Brian had made sure I knew that North Fort was where we wanted to live. Why? I haven't and idea. Well, I guess they are supposed to be nicer. They aren't anything close to new construction, but they are newer than the things on South Fort. I had also put two and two together and figured out that on South Fort they had alot of apartment style houses. I did not want to get stuck in an apartment like house on top of someone else with only a balcony. I have a 100+ lb. dog. I'd seriously have to walk him multiple times a day everyday? I don't think so! When I first contacted Housing about when I was coming to get the house, I was told there wouldn't be anything available on North Fort. I was totally ok with this. I sent little prayers out into the universe that whatever we were given in South Fort would have a yard and would be decent enough. When I heard her mention North Fort I did little back flips in my mind (cause I could never do a back flip in real life!). I tried not to get ahead of myself because I still wasn't entirely sure what "North Fort" even meant! After we left there we had a couple hours to kill. We, of course, followed the directions we had been given to ge to my neighborhood first. I wasn't going to wait 2 hours to check it out! We found it without much difficulty and located the housing office that I would need to find at 1 pm. Then we drove around a bit and noticed - happily - that we did not see a single house without a yard. Yay!!
After our not-so-undercover mission, we went to the PX to waste time. Mom got a few things and I decided I'm not a fan of their PX and I'll miss the amazing, new, pretty BX here! We then got some Burger King for lack of any better options. Then we figured we'd fill up on gas and head to the housing appointment. We got to the appointment and met the nicest woman who quickly ushered us out to our cars to head to the house. I was following her blindly because they are rather secretive about your house. They won't tell you where it is until they lead you to it! I follow her around saying quiet thank yous that I won't live on any street called "Cooley". (One of my aunts called a butt a cooley for her kids' benefit...) We pulled up to my house which isn't on the end - bummer - but is on a cul-de-sac. We got a quick walk-thru and everything was alot bigger than I expected! We got "attacked" by a big Great Dane looking dog through the chain link fence out back. The housing lady ran back in the house. Mom and I were unaffected. I guess that's what happens when you live with a big black dog for so long. After the walk-thru there were a million papers to sign with Brian's name (because I don't matter to the Army). I have the folder full of paper sitting next to me right now. Of course I've already read through it all. I left with two keys and a good feeling about the neighborhood.
After that we went back to the house to unload Tiny's crate (which we brought there) and take pictures and video. We were on the road back to Alexandria by 3:30. Our plan was to drive into Alexandria to find the mall and somewhere to eat dinner. Ok, I'll sum this up in many less words than I would like to so that I can save my sanity and keep the profanity to a minumum. 1. I hate Alexandria and their ridiculous traffic circle. 2. The mall in Alexandria seriously scared me and had nothing that would make me drive the hour to get there. 3. The traffic was horrible considering it was before 5 on a Monday. We ended up going back to the hotel and getting Subway sandwiches from down the street. I spent the night reading my housing paperwork and uploading the pictures and video.
This morning we were up early again (seems to be a trend). First thing we checked the weather because we had heard something about rain the night before. Just our luck, there was rain from Shreveport to Dallas - about half our trip. We threw ourselves together - tshirt and jeans with no makeup for me - and hit the road shortly before 8. I was driving because I was determined to show my fear of driving in rain who was boss. We were fine until we were almost to Shreveport and then it got dark suddenly and the rain followed. It seemed to stop raining for me everytime I had to make a bit circling highway interchange. It got really bad once we were in Texas. I was going 60 the whole time and there were still plenty of crazies passing me. Apparently 18-wheelers aren't afraid of a little rain cause they were passing me at an amazing rate. I did not care of anyone thought I was driving like a grandma. I was going to go as fast or slow as I needed to dang it! It rained all the way to Tyler. That was about 3 hours of driving in heavy cloud cover and torrential downpour rain. We counted later the number of accidents we saw along that drive and came up with 5. That's alot of accidents. By the time we stopped in Tyler at (another) Cracker Barrel, my entire body was sore and I desperately needed to just sit for awhile. We ate, paid and then Mom took over the driving. Getting around DFW was harrowing at times, but Mom's a good driver and we made it unscathed. The rest of the drive was uneventful and sunny. We pulled in the driveway shortly before 4.
Now, I am in my bed with my pajamas on and my contacts out. I am ready to crash early and sleep until I'm fully rested. I already unpacked and now I am left with swirling thoughts of my house. I have so many lists to make! I also realized today that I have a little of two weeks (only two!) to pack up this room and say goodbye to Abilene, my parents' house, and my family. I know I'll be back here, but I may never live here again. I've lived here the vast majority of my memorable life. I'll try to think about that as little as possible!
It was weird standing in this house that was going to be mine. I knew it wasn't as bad as it could have been, but it was hard to hold down the snob in me that has lived a rather charmed life. I knew I wasn't going to get my dream house on an Army post, but it was also totally unlike anything I had ever lived in before. I share walls on both sides with people I don't know. I share my carport and can see my neighbors comings and going from my kitchen. The bathtub seriously grosses me out and I'm not sure how all my bathroom products will fit on/around the sink and vanity. I'm trying to see the positives, but the whole things also makes me nervous. I know once I am living there and filling it with furniture and my things that it will feel more like home. I also think that seeing this house made it real that I am growing up and leaving everything I have known behind. There will come a time really soon that the closest person that I am blood related to will be 8 hours away. I will also be there totally alone for at least a few weeks. It's all becoming real. I am scared and excited at the same time and let me tell you, it's really confusing.
I know this is long, but I am finally finished. I'll post house pictures in their own post after this (no need to make this one any longer, right?). Stay tuned because things will only get crazier!
S.
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