The Dreaded Dreadful Move... Part 2

Part 2 and day 3 finds us just north of Oklahoma City in Edmund. The weather was warm enough to melt off the worst of the weather. When we set out on Thursday morning, we were able to leave around 9am with clear roads and sunny skies. We traveled for a while before receiving a call from our movers. They had continued on into St. Louis the night before -- where their truck broke down. We kept in contact all day long, but their rig problems managed to go from bad to worse. We moved on, but my furniture was in limbo.

The day continued on and the weather remained fabulous. We managed to avoid the snow and ice all day long!! Yea!! McDonalds AGAIN for lunch. Can someone please get ANY other food chain to sprout a playground for my kids? After another long lunch we got back into the car with minimal trouble. Could the black cloud that's been chasing me be gone?? HAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!

Ring Ring Ring... "Hello?" Ah, that would be my agent for the house we are buying calling. Suddenly I am now needed to be at closing this afternoon in Iowa. Obviously, I'm not going to make it by 4pm. OOPS. Now I have a meeting at 8am tomorrow with a lawyer to close on the house. Twenty minutes ago I wasn't needed at closing, but now I am. I think hear thunder in the distance. It looks like that black cloud is chasing me. Who does it think am I -- Eeyore?? Anyway, we decided to keep going as long as possible today. At 11pm we managed to make it to the apartment in Davenport without complication and without furniture.

Friday came and went without any major problems. I closed on the house and got the keys in the morning. I drove mom out to see the house, but we still had no furniture. That meant one more night at the apartment. Friday night Kyle and I decided to use, I mean utilize, momma. We left the kids with her and went scouring the city for new furniture for the house. We got back around 8:30pm. Momma had taken the kids to bed in her room. Everyone was sleeping, but I stayed up and did a few loads of laundry. Around midnight, Emily woke up and came into the living room. She was being crowded out of the bed by Jake. I told her that it was okay if she slept on the couch for the rest of the night. I turned on the kitchen light and went to bed about 12:15am.

2:30am my bedroom door flew open. The only thing I can remember is seeing a shadow in the doorway and the panicked voice of my mother yelling that the front door is standing wide open and Jake is missing!!!! My blue eyed baby was no longer in the bed. The temperature was hovering around 3 degrees outside with about 6 or so inches of snow on the ground and winds to 20 mph. Jake went to bed wearing white long johns and no socks. The apartment opens into a hallway with 4 stairwells -- 2 up and 2 down. Kyle and I flew out of the bedroom trailing mom out the door. Mom was already sailing up and down the stairs screaming out his name. I recall mom yelling "Call 911" as she and Kyle were running barefoot in pj's at top speed out the doors to check in the snow for fresh footprints. There is no way that Jake could have opened the door from the outside if he made it that far. Where is my baby?? Is he cold, lost and frightened in the snow? Has he made it as far as the busy street?? Was he taken by someone in the complex? Is he still alive? How long can he survive alone?? Am I dreaming?? Is this really happening?? I ran back into the apartment to call the police.

As I entered the apartment I started to turn on every light that I could find. Less than 2 minutes had passed since the whole ordeal had begun. Emily awoke during this time and I shouted to have her help me search every cabinet and place that he could possibly fit into. She ran into the back of the apartment and started to turn on the lights. I heard her beautiful voice yell out that he was IN MY BED!! We were so exhausted that we didn't even feel him crawl into the bed and too panicked to notice him when we ran out.

Luckily, we had a positive outcome. My heart goes out to those who are not so fortunate. It still hurts to think what could have happened. I was not able to rest for a long time afterward. It's hard to face that either of my children could be gone at this moment - Jake to this whole ordeal, or Emily to the fact that she was laying within 5 feet of an open door. We ended up pushing a couch in front of the door from then on to keep Jake inside.

Our furniture finally arrived around noon on Saturday. I was able to get enough set up so we would not be spending any more time at the apartment. Yippee! I was so happy to be away from the scene of my worst nightmare.

Sunday came along right after Saturday. Today we said goodbye to mom. Jake and Emily did not want Sunshine to go, but planes wait for no one. We dropped her off at the gate and left. Mom had to make 2 connections to get home. She made them without any problems, but took a piece of my storm cloud home with her. After the plane was circling the runway for 20 minutes, the announcement came over the PA that fog had set in and they would be returning to Houston. Mom did her best to get home, but stopped short of riding with a car full of drunks who were also returned to sender. After a restless night in the airport terminal, she finally made it home on Monday.

We had the locks changed on the house to keep Jake from escaping again. I had extra locks put on the sliders as well. I feel reasonably safe to turn my back for an instant... but not quite a minute.

I wish I could tell you that these were all the hiccups and glitches we had, but I would be lying. All I can say is that I am glad we survived so far. I look forward to when this is just a distant memory tucked deep into a dusty corner of my mind. It all worked out in the end. It usually does. You can thank God for that.