As I continue to mosey along to the finish line I get up Sunday to make my way to our final destination, I - O - W - A. It’s just Lucky and I now. He wants to climb up into the front, sit his front paws on the center arm rest and stick his head out the moon roof. We are on back roads now doing only about 60. But he sticks his head out facing forward filling those big old jowls full of wind and fresh country air. He’s blowing up looking like a blowfish retriever. He’s got his ever present drool raining down on our beautiful new car and me. The car is a total disaster at this point full of dog hair blowing everywhere. It takes us about 3 ½ hours to complete our journey and we arrive at Carrie’s parent’s house in Gilbertville, IA. Ironically my arrival is 9 years to the day that I left Madison to move out to Boston. We are officially back in the Midwest. We only need to brush up on our tractor driving skills.
Carrie, Q, Lucky and I are reunited again in the country just in time to commute the one hour drive one-way down to Cedar Rapids to begin my first official day of work in the office. Lucky has a new friend in a black lab named Odie to run around with and Q was getting tons of attention from his grandparents and a myriad of other Iowa relatives. We all moved in to a one room efficiency in the basement. Quentin is too big for the pack and play at this stage so he’s forced to sleep on the floor. We would bring him in bed with us but instead of sleeping he’s punching one of us and kicking the other. Sleeping he’s not, though. So, we have Q on one side of the bed and Lucky on the other. Carrie and I are in the bed. It’s dangerous to get up and step on someone in the middle of the night but of course with Carrie using the restroom for two she’s up every twenty minutes. One of the joys of having a breached baby this late in the game is that kid is kicking you straight up in the bladder. There is already a ton of pressure but the added drop kicks just adds to the thrill of pregnancy.
It was great to get some home cooked meals and to be a family again, but the commute on top of long days was killing me. So after two nights there I took my sleeping bag, air mattress, Wisconsin camping chair and headed to the new homestead. I was back to sleeping on the floor for a final night in our new house.
The Iowa house is much larger than our Tampa house mostly due to the addition of adding a basement. There are big windows providing an inviting view of the cornfield out back complete with red barn and silo. The windows are equally as large out front giving the neighborhood voyeur a great chance to check out the new neighbors. I must have been quite a sight that first night as I sat right in the middle of a very empty living room sitting on my one piece of furniture, said camping Wisconsin chair diligently typing away on my unconnected laptop. I’m sure the near neighbors were close to calling the cops about the squatter that moved in next door. There are so many light switches in this place you should’ve seen me trying to go to bed. I was trying to turn off the two or three that I had on but the house has such an open floor plan there are light switches on every wall. I looked like I was sending an SOS as I flicked every light on, off, on, off, on, off, on, off trying to get the right ones off. From a distance it must’ve looked like a Pink Floyd laser light show from the 80s.
In case you are counting at home that’s 9 nights in 6 locations and four nights on the floor. The following morning a coworker scheduled a visit with a client. Umm, no. I am sleeping on the floor. Getting a suit on is going to be an insurmountable obstacle. The next day would be move in day.
Carrie, Q, Lucky and I are reunited again in the country just in time to commute the one hour drive one-way down to Cedar Rapids to begin my first official day of work in the office. Lucky has a new friend in a black lab named Odie to run around with and Q was getting tons of attention from his grandparents and a myriad of other Iowa relatives. We all moved in to a one room efficiency in the basement. Quentin is too big for the pack and play at this stage so he’s forced to sleep on the floor. We would bring him in bed with us but instead of sleeping he’s punching one of us and kicking the other. Sleeping he’s not, though. So, we have Q on one side of the bed and Lucky on the other. Carrie and I are in the bed. It’s dangerous to get up and step on someone in the middle of the night but of course with Carrie using the restroom for two she’s up every twenty minutes. One of the joys of having a breached baby this late in the game is that kid is kicking you straight up in the bladder. There is already a ton of pressure but the added drop kicks just adds to the thrill of pregnancy.
It was great to get some home cooked meals and to be a family again, but the commute on top of long days was killing me. So after two nights there I took my sleeping bag, air mattress, Wisconsin camping chair and headed to the new homestead. I was back to sleeping on the floor for a final night in our new house.
The Iowa house is much larger than our Tampa house mostly due to the addition of adding a basement. There are big windows providing an inviting view of the cornfield out back complete with red barn and silo. The windows are equally as large out front giving the neighborhood voyeur a great chance to check out the new neighbors. I must have been quite a sight that first night as I sat right in the middle of a very empty living room sitting on my one piece of furniture, said camping Wisconsin chair diligently typing away on my unconnected laptop. I’m sure the near neighbors were close to calling the cops about the squatter that moved in next door. There are so many light switches in this place you should’ve seen me trying to go to bed. I was trying to turn off the two or three that I had on but the house has such an open floor plan there are light switches on every wall. I looked like I was sending an SOS as I flicked every light on, off, on, off, on, off, on, off trying to get the right ones off. From a distance it must’ve looked like a Pink Floyd laser light show from the 80s.
In case you are counting at home that’s 9 nights in 6 locations and four nights on the floor. The following morning a coworker scheduled a visit with a client. Umm, no. I am sleeping on the floor. Getting a suit on is going to be an insurmountable obstacle. The next day would be move in day.
There is a picture of us rolling across the mighty Mississippi and taking a quick shot to get the welcome to Iowa sign. Poppa Steve dusted off a tricycle for Q to get a ride on. I think this year for his birthday we will give him a big wheel. And then there is the shot of our backyard. All cornfield, all the time. This time of year as the sun sets on the golden hue of the corn it's a pretty relaxing view. I love not having backyard neighbors again, a highlight of our Tampa home. Part IV will be posted tomorrow.
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