The Time We Almost Lost Sumo, Again. And My Parents Moved, Again.

My whole life up until my 21st birthday,  I never imagined my parents living anywhere else other than what I had always considered home......then they sold their house and moved into a haunted rent house in Waco that smelled like old person. Everything about the situation was weird. I was the rambler, not them. 

A year later, they bought a place to settle in to, and called it "home". That was 6 years ago. Now that I've finally accepted their new place as a place to come home to, they're already moving again. The real crazy part is they don't have a place to live yet, unless you consider a tiny camping trailer with a metal pod behind it as a utility room and a 5x8 trailer in front of it as a closet someplace to live. Yup, that's where they'll be staying until they get a house built at the river, the place we all agree feels most like home. 

But to make that possible, first we had to move all of their insane amount of belongings into 4 of these 45 foot pods........with the help of movers and numerous volunteers. The worst part was arriving at my parents house on Saturday and hearing my Dad say, "Your job today is moving everything out of the loft in the shop."

Me: What? Are you crazy?? Do you know what my legs feel like today? Isn't there anything else I can do?

Dusty: That's what you get for running 10 miles yesterday, when you knew you had to help move all weekend.

Wowzers. Tough crowd. 

After too many clumsy trips up and down the steepest, narrowest stairway ever invented, we got smart and formed a moving train to surpass the death trap stairs........one of the many benefits to having tall men with long arms in the family.

Super heavy??? More like extraordinarily unimaginably ultra super heavy......but thanks, anyway, for the warning. 

Moving sucks, but finding nostalgic items from my childhood is a definite plus, and a major distraction.

And although a bit sad we had to finally give our last respects to the old wooden wagon I spent countless hours playing with, who'd seen better days, I was super excited to find my old Polaroid. My very first camera!! I no idea it was still lurking in my memories pile. I'm now open to donations to afford the crazy expensive film for it!

On  Sunday, while loading up the last of my parent's belongings, a heart stopping scream broadcasted through the air; faint at first, but quickly becoming more urgent and shreiky. It was our Moms. Dusty, Patrick, and I immediately dropped everything in our hands and ran to the front of the house just in time to see Sumo sprinting across the yard after a very large mut headed towards the road and a far off field. (He'd aparently Hudini'd his way our of his leash.) Knowing we'd never be able to catch up to the four legged speed demons, we desperately trailed behind them anyway, in hopes that Sumo would get distracted from his mission and ultimately respond to our commands. Luckily they crossed the road without any casualties and eventually the big dog stopped running, so the persuit could cease. Sumo was safe. We may have only ran 1/4 mile, but with all the stress and moving induced fatigue, it felt like 5.
Dusty: Why'd you stop running so soon? I thought you were "the runner"?
Me: A girl needs a decent recovery and proper conditions! Not sinking muddy fields, and soggy grass. Besides, it's not like we could have ever caught him!
My Dad: Get back to work. I didn't say you could take the dog on a walk.
My family, the loving support types.......

Admist all of that, we managed to have time to hang out with Vanessa and Ricky and their sweet family. Nothing like a night of full of cheap Mexican food, unforgettable memory making of tipsy shananigans on vacationing friend's front porches (which I can't go into detail on), and histerical laughter.

 

As a result of our semi-secret prank, I happily can say after years of seeing this petrified scrotom in disguise as floral decor in Vanessa's house, it has now fulfilled it's mission in life and is officially retired.

Do you remember (or still have) your very first camera? What special place does your heart associate with "home"?