4 years 19 days

Day 1479. I had to set my alarm for 7 am this morning, but the boys were up before then anyway. And I was up constantly during the night, mainly because of this cold that's been making me miserable, partly also because of the kids. So I was really tired this morning, but I needed to pack everything up before teaching from 8 to 10 am. Not only was I tired but sick, so it was not easy, but I powered on. I did not eat anything, but while I was teaching Randy brought me some tea. He loaded everything into the car, while I was teaching, then we said our final good-byes and drove off to see Randy's Mom one more time, then to start our 5-hour drive to Nashville.

We left just before 10:30 am to drive north. Randy wanted to take the route through Memphis, and the south of Memphis was the right place to eat lunch at Chick-Fil-A. When we got there at 12:50, the playground was closed. That was really annoying. A lady there told us that there was another one not far that had a playground, so we got back into the car and drove there. And yes, in fact, their playground was open, much to the kids' delight. I was feeling very miserable. I ordered the food, while they were playing, then we sat down to eat, before they continued playing. We stayed 90 minutes and left at 2:40 pm.

It was nap time, and I needed one the most as bad as I was feeling. However, Sammy only slept for 5 minutes, then he was up and constantly needed something from me, so no sleep for Mommy. The 3-hour drive to our next stop really dragged on, time seemingly passing extremely slowly. Just after 6 pm we finally arrived at the Amazon pick-up station in a clothes store. I went in there by myself to bring the packages to the car, so we could leave right away. Our next stop was Walmart just a few minutes away. I had decided in advance what I wanted to cook this coming week and had made a shopping list. But first we needed to use the restrooms - which were out of order. We had to go to the other end of the store to find one that works. Then we went from aisle to aisle buying the groceries we'll need for our last week in the USA.

There was only one cashier, and two people with full carts ahead of us. Sammy was crying, and Randy said he needed a diaper, so he left with him to change his diaper. I was then lucky that another cash register opened up, and we got there first. Just as we were walking away, Randy and Sammy returned, Sammy only wearing a diaper. He'd had a big blow-out. We loaded everything and everybody into the car to drive the remaining 15 minutes to the apartment in Downtown Nashville that was going to be our home this next week.

It was already 7:35 pm, when we drove off, and dark, which doesn't help, when you go to a new place. It was a big complex with lots of apartments, and we parked what we figured was close to where ours was located. It took us some time to find it on the second floor, and some time to get into the apartment that had an electronic PIN lock, but we finally made it. The kids wanted the TV on, and Randy left to bring our stuff into the apartment, at least the stuff we needed. Every time he brought something, I put it all up, and then I gave the kids some food to eat. By 9 pm Randy was done, and it was high time to get the kids to bed. No shower tonight and no story. It was after 9:30 by the time they were in bed. There was a bedroom with a double bed, and then a pull-out couch in the living room. We moved that mattress to our bedroom, right next to our bed, and put the kids there. It's a huge mattress, and it's the perfect setup for the kids. I turned my computer on and realized I had not taken a single picture today. I was simply too sick, too miserable. Now it's time to go to bed, as the conference starts in the morning.