Needless to say, I made it safely to Maricopa, Arizona and I’ve just been trying to get settled. New snazzy domain. Yes. I’ve released the long-held moniker of Danika because it’s about effin’ time and I should ‘grow up’ or something.
The night of the 2nd, I wound up realizing that I had the date of Robert’s flight wrong. He was arriving on the Fourth of July and not the Third. Whoops. But that was good in one sense because I went with Rick to pick up the moving truck from Penske and ran into trouble every step of the way. But there weren’t any red flags because the issues presented resolutions that had been better than before; the trouble was on Rick’s end which only made me feel worse.
We got to Penske and the truck wasn’t there. It wasn’t that it wasn’t ready, it wasn’t there. The person at the desk said that they had another one available in the North Philadelphia location, about 25-30 miles away, that I could have and they would give me 25% off. I couldn’t pass that up. Along with my AAA discount, the total discount wound up being 37% off. I saved about $500 because of that oopsie. Rick was going to drive the truck home, towing the empty trailer and I was going to drive his car. I got in the car and it wouldn’t start.
After getting it towed home, I’d lost about four hours already on the actual loading process. By this point, I was exhausted and realized that my body was shutting down as it fought fatigue and illness. I did all I could physically do that day before sleeping for a couple hours so I could get up, go to the airport, and pick up Robby. The packing and loading was not finished so we got back to the apartment and just went into super-mode. We left by 10am and were on the road on the Fourth.
We got into Atlanta, GA around 3am on the Fifth to stay with Robby’s sister for the night. The cats were finally let out to really stretch and Charlie wound up hiding under the bed in the guest bedroom while Lili claimed the room as Hers and hissed at him any time he ventured out of hiding.
We got a late start on the Fifth, mostly due to exhaustion as well as having a meal with Maren and her husband; after a meal at Waffle House, we had to repack our own things into the truck and car as well as things Maren was sending along with Robby. The original plan was to make it to Mobile, AL to stay with Russ/Sailor Nash for the night but we were making such slow progress that we decided to push on to Texas. Shifting our route, we headed toward Dallas and Forth Worth instead of San Antonio where I was able to get us lodging. Unfortunately, we weren’t going to get in until around 8am local time on the Sixth so it was more like, we needed a place to sleep for several hours before moving on again.
From there we pushed on through the night, again, and made it to Maricopa around 1pm to 2pm on the Seventh of July. By this point, my cold was in full swing and Robert was already showing the signs of having caught it. There really wasn’t anything we could do to prevent that given the three days spent in the truck almost 24 hours a day.
Today is the Twentieth and I haven’t really accomplished anything. I am stressed out because the cats are so unhappy; Charlie is freaked out. Lili is grumpy but at least she ventures out. Charlie panics at the first sign of Angie, Robert, or Angie’s little sister Jasmine… or any of the other animals (with the exception of the two ferrets). I am supposed to be in San Diego starting tomorrow (originally today!) but I can’t leave the cats for too long and make Angie take care of them. That’s not fair to anyone. But I’ve been looking forward to San Diego ComiCon and seeing my dad… I can’t put everything on hold, either. I’m just torn.
Walls are closing in on me, closing fast they’re smothering. Edge of darkness at my feet, feeling like I’m falling out of this dream. Questioning my reason’s why I feel we should say goodbye. There’s only one thing I can do to fix the situation that we’re going through. I guess I got to be the one to… Break it, break it, break it, break it, break the silence. And just take it, take it, take it, take a moment to tell me what you see. Cuz we’re falling apart, you can’t deny it. Before I lose my sanity, just break it, break it, break it, break it, break the silence between you and me. Stranded going nowhere fast, isolated in the past; wanting out, but scared to move. To fix the situation that we’re going through I guess I got to be the one to…
Alana Grace – Break the Silence
