Fun Saturday

After a stressful week of moving and unpacking, it was nice to get away from it all today. Our good friends Tod and Jan Traughber came from Searcy with their boys and we went to eat here and then to shop here. (Jan is one of my fellow Target addicts.) Tod and Chad grew up together in Alaska (Tod's mom Sharon, who passed away earlier this year, was like Chad's other mom), and the church up there threw a double wedding shower for Jan and me in December of '92. (We both had bigger hair back then.) We went for years without even seeing Tod and Jan so it's great that we live so close to them now.

Then tonight we went to the house of one of the other ministers. Another family from LRC came over and we all had a nice time. This is all starting to feel more normal.

Because our computer was in the back of a truck Wednesday, I didn't get to post that day's column. So here it is -- my second-to-last regular column for The Baytown Sun:


By Deana Nall
The Baytown Sun

Published August 9, 2006

“Summer’s here! What should we do this year?”

“Hey, I know! Let’s move.”

This wasn’t the exact conversation my husband Chad and I had a few months ago when we decided to move. But here we are. Moving. In August.

I’ve moved a lot during my lifetime. Counting in-town moves, I have moved about 20 times since I was born. And my dad wasn’t even in the military. I think my family just had ADD when it came to towns and houses.

Anyway, I consider myself something of an expert when it comes to relocating. To help out anyone else out there who’s considering a transition, I’ve written this handy guide called “Deana’s Moving Tips” or “How to Completely Lose Your Mind and Make Your Family Hate You in the Process.”

First, decide to move.

(IMPORTANT NOTE: You can save yourself a whole lot of grief if you skip the first step.)

Next, decide where you’re going to move. Here are some places I recommend:

1) Maui

2) Schlitterbahn

3) The house right next door to your current house

Here are some places I don’t recommend:

1) The Arctic Circle

2) Kansas

3) A house already inhabited by someone else

4) Iraq

Now it’s time to get organized. Go to www.flylady.net and bookmark the moving tips.

Spend the next eight weeks completely freaked out and staring at your empty boxes. Visit your local Target often for some “Target therapy” (under the guise of “running errands.”)

Put some stuff in a box.

Decide you’d rather get rid of your stuff than pack it. Have a garage sale, during which you enthusiastically sell your junk to strangers at ridiculous prices. That bike your husband paid $300 for? Two bucks.

A couple of weeks before the move, remember you once joked with your husband that if he ever moved you out of Texas, you would get a tattoo of the Lone Star State. Start seriously considering it.

Have any relationships that have gone sour over the years? Now is the time to patch things up. Life is too short for people to stay mad at each other. Plus you need those people to help you load the truck.

Run more “errands.” Driving down Main, pass that Southern Boys tattoo place. Slow down. Should you do it? Oh, please. You are a minister’s wife, for heaven’s sake. You are NOT getting a tattoo. Keep going.

Eat at Rooster’s one last time.

And Antonio’s.

And Donut Wheel.

When it’s time to load the truck, load one box. Fake heat exhaustion. Take a nap. When you wake up, the truck should be ready to go.

Well, that’s about it. Just don’t forget the cat. And the kids.

I hope these tips have been helpful. Next week: The Arkansas report.

Deana Nall and her family have just moved from Baytown to the Little Rock, Ark. area.