Home Sweet ... Texas???

It all happened so fast that it's hard to believe, but my parents are no longer Nashville residents! As of this weekend, they are living in Weatherford, TX (outside of Ft. Worth), where they're surrounded by our extended family who are thrilled to finally have them closeby. My parents both grew up in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area and moved to Nashville right before my older brother, Paul, was born. They figured they'd be there for a few years while my dad got some work experience, and then they'd move back to TX. Well, 35 years later...they finally did!

They got an offer on their house on May 12th with the request that they move out by May 27th! Two weeks of madness ensued, including packing, letting friends and family know that they were leaving, giving notice for jobs and church responsibilities, and taking a trip to TX to find a rental house so they wouldn't be homeless. My brothers, Paul and Steve, started helping them pack the week before Memorial Day, and Dan and I flew in Memorial Day weekend to help out. We worked nonstop until moving day night, but left the house clean and empty for the new owners.

Despite the stress-induced hair loss and sleepless nights, there were some benefits of having such a quick deadline, such as:

1) There was no time to pack everything - my parents were forced to give or throw away a lot of stuff. The rule was: If they had to think for more than 5 minutes to remember what it was, it went in the give-away pile.
2) There was no time to get emotional about leaving. As soon as you stopped to consider your thoughts and feelings about leaving behind the town where all your childhood memories took place, someone shoved a box in your hands and said "go clean out the bathroom drawers." Kind of ruins the moment, if you know what I mean.
3) We burned a lot of calories.
4) Dan saw an entirely new side of my family as he watched us work together that closely for that many days. We are a quirky bunch, and I think he thoroughly enjoyed himself.

Anyway, here are some pictures from the big move.

At long last!

My parents filled this enormous truck.

This was mostly just the stuff from the garage and attic.

Dan competes with my dad for the title of "Packing Jedi Master." Not a square inch of the box is left empty on his watch!

Three solid days of packing later, and we still love each other.

I guess we're buying dinner tonight!

Paul fearlessly tackled a daunting mountain of kitchen gadgets and coffee mugs.

Steve definitely earned some extra muscles by the end of the week, but he did not pack all those boxes by himself. (just keeping the record straight)