It is finished.

The famous last words of Christ. They apply here, as we finally got out of our apartment in Tuscaloosa. While Eli went to Atlanta on Saturday to watch Bama stomp Clemson at the Georgia Dome, I headed to Tuscaloosa to finally finish up. It literally has taken us a month to get out of there. Ugh.

Here are some lessons I learned about moving:
1. Clean the oven before the final day.
2. Wipe down the cabinets and clean the bathrooms (tubs, etc) before the final day.
3. Remove the adhesive from the windows relatively soon after you take down your winter snowflakes in January. Do not wait until the hot August summer days. Do not wait until the final day of your move.
4. Get a bigger truck and move it all in one sha-bang. None of this multiple- carloads-after-the-truck-has-already-taken-the-majority-of-our-junk business.
5. When you move in, unpack every box, even if you think you know what is in it. I just ordered another copy of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, because for three years I couldn't find mine. I thought for sure I lent it to Eli's sister. I order the book Friday. Saturday, I found the book in a tote of books that was never unpacked when we made the move from Waco! What a waste of Scholastic Bonus Points!

And I learned the the cleaning agent CLR is pretty spec-dang-tacular. Thanks to my sister and plumber-in-law for that little bit of wisdom.

I feel bad about leaving the apartment, because the company is just going to replace the carpet (band-aid) and not do anythink about the cracked foundation, where the water was seeping up through the living room carpet every time it rained. In the closet under the stairs I kept my boxes from my high school classroom library, since I was teaching middle school and didn't need them. In the three years that they sat under there, untouched, unbeknownst to me the water seeped up and I had two boxes of books that not only had become one with the carpet and wall (and possibly some black mold) but also had to be thrown away, unsalvageable. This was the worst of life's disappointments for this bibliophile.

I have, however, made up for this disposal of books by using using all of my Scholastic Bonus Points to get books I have always wanted, including the entire Bone series (graphic novels) and the first Harry Potter book in hardcover to match the rest of my set (I have it in paperback--tacky, and Eli has it in leatherbound--which goes on a different shelf with the rest of its ilk).

Tomorrow is labor day. I shall labor at grading papers for progress reports for the class I'm long-term subbing for. And maybe I'll get the PS2 set up and play a little Final Fantasy X-2, the game where the girls have different powers based on the outfits they are wearing. It's quite amusing.