My

Last Trip From Missouri to Georgia

Last week I packed up the Honda for my next to last trip from Missouri to Georgia. Since the plan was to close on the house on June 20th and I would live there on my own until June 30th I decided to drive down to Georgia with my car, Sheri's "Top Secret Documents", clothes for a couple of weeks (you know...2 pairs of underwear instead of 1), yard tools, and golf clubs.



We knew it would be hard on the kids being away from ME for so long...this is what their faces have looked like for the past two weeks...they are pitiful little kids...but they love their daddy...plus I told them if they didn't make this face..."No McDonalds" :)



I'm very sad leaving the Midwest...they don't have places like "Metropolis" (Home of the Giant Superman) in Georgia...



They also don't have "Superman Day" in Georgia where dozens and dozens of grown men walk around in Superman costumes...I am not making this stuff up!!!!



When I made it to Georgia I stayed for a few days in my "Home Away From Home"...the Staybridge Suites in Sandy Springs Georgia. The people actually know me by name now..."Hello Mr. Hand will you be staying until Friday this week....would you like a wake up call...we notice you are always driving like a lunatic at 7:58am to get to work on time...wouldn't it be easier if we gave you a wake up call?" They have very comfortable beds...and pillows...

Look at those creases in my pants...I'd make someone a great wife...

By Monday we closed on the house...yes it was supposed to be on Friday...when you have about 10 hours I'll tell you that whole story...since we've bought the new house we've had a lot of work being done...here the gutters have been torn off the house so the roofers and the painters can do their thing...

Here we have a new design idea inspired by Kelsie...to save time in the morning before school we've decided to put the toilet in the kitchen...she can knock out two birds (or turds) with one stone. She can eat her Tootie Fruitees while shes making Fuitee Tooties in the morning...

More pictures of toilets...yea, I know what you're thinking...but there wasn't much else for me to take a picture of...

Here's my room since I've moved in...what us daddy's do for our kids!!!!

Update on Georgia

It has been an extremely busy few months since I have started working for UPS in the Corporate Offices. Things SHOULD finally start slowing down a little bit and our lives SHOULD start getting back to "normal"...although normal won't be normal because we will now be in a new city, state, and part of the country. So just to give you an update on where we've been as a family and where we're going I thought I'd give a brief update:

New Georgia House:
We finally closed on a nice house in Cumming, GA. 1340 Cottonwood Trail, Cumming, GA 30041. It wasn't easy but we finally made it...I think between Sheri, Kelsie, Cameron, My Mother and Father In-Law, and myself we must have looked at 200 houses...that might sound like an exaggeration but I don't think it is...we looked at A LOT of houses. We finally decided on 1340 Cottonwood because it's in a nice neighborhood and it just felt right. There are certain parts of the house that need updating and this week...here's a "brief" but not all inclusive list:
Updating Our Georgia House:
1. Today, I have contractors putting in new countertops, new backsplash, new ceramic floors in the masterbathroom, laundryroom, foyer, and landing area going to our basement.
2. Later today, I have landscapers coming in today to pull out and redo our landscaping.
3. Tomorrow I have inside painters coming in to paint the inside of the house.
4. Friday I have roofers coming to put a new roof on the house.
5. Also on Friday I have outside painters coming in to paint the outside of the house.
6. The roofers will also replace the gutters...we'll have the fanciest gutters this side of the Mississippi when they're done...
Selling Our Missouri House:
It actually looks like we are going to sell our house in Missouri!!! A pretty big surprise considering the market we are in. I think the fact that the house is going to be added to the Missouri Historical Society tour helped us to sell the house...you know...like the Harry S. Truman House, the Mark Twain House...and now the Ken Hand House...yea...I'm sure that helped sell the house.
Moving Our Stuff:
The moving company is coming in on Friday to pack our stuff. They will literally put everything in boxes and on Saturday they will deliver all our stuff to our new house on Saturday...most of the biggest, heaviest boxes are filled with items that will be put in our garage sale which we will have some time...I'm sure :) I hope there's a market for brown casual shoes in Georgia...
Kelsie:
This week Kelsie is away at Youth Camp down in Louisianna. She comes back on Friday night at midnight. I am very thankful how Kelsie has handled this whole move situation. She is a very mature girl for her age...even if Cameron doesn't always agree...and I'm so happy to have her as my daughter. I tell her that if I had to pickout a daughter I would go to "Kids R Us" and go directly to the "Kelsie Lyn Gardner Collins Hand" Isle and I'd pick her out...she really has been great. The fact that she is moving away from her friends is starting to sink in and she is a little sad BUT so many of her friends will be visiting AND she has a very outgoing personality (luckily for her she only inherited her toes and earlobes from me) and so I'm sure before the summer is finished we'll have a bunch of Georgia girls sleeping over our house.
Cameron:
He continues to keep himself busy playing baseball. He is an absolute baseball fanatic and this years seems to be his breakout year even though I haven't been there to enjoy it. Every game I hear about Cam getting a couple more hits and making several dazzling plays. Not being able to go to his (and Kelsie's) games has been one of the toughest aspects of being away from my family.

I am flying home on Thursday night so that I can be home on Friday when the "packers" are at our house packing our stuff. After they pack us up Cameron and I will be hopping on a plane headed for Georgia (or maybe Las Vegas) for a "guys weekend". It's Cameron's job to pickout anything and everything he wants to explore in Georgia. I was a little bit surprised he picked out the "Woman's Survival Show", "Shopping at Macys for a clutch", and a "Pedacure and Manicure" but remember I haven't seen him for a while. It just shows you how important it is to have a father around the house. He's also bringing his "very good friend" Bobby with his...hmmmm...maybe I shouldn't have taken this job...sorry...couldn't help that...I think that's funny. ACTUALLY, Cam and I will be going to a baseball game and doing a lot of other manly stuff which includes hocking loogies, scratching ourselves, burping, and farting...it should be a lot of fun....not much different from what we do in Missouri but we won't have to listen to Sheri say, "Would you stop teaching him that stuff..."
Sheri:
Sheri will be coming down on Monday night after the movers empty out our house. She will clean the house after they leave...now call me a hoosier...but I would never do this, I would just leave it the way it is...I blame this on my upbringing...specifically my father and the "Poo Affair" :) Sheri is leaving her office with her friends and coworkers and I know this isn't going to be easy for her or the people she is leaving. She is going to be missed by a lot of people in Missouri.
Our Friends and Family:
These past few months haven't been easy on Sheri, Kelsie, and Cameron...yes, because I'm not there to help out...believe it or not I do a few things around the house other than take up space...but seriously, I really appreciate all the help and support our friends and family gave to us over the past few months. It made it much easier on my family and on me because I knew they were being taken care of when I was gone.
Future:
The one thing I really look forward to the most is having our family (except Philip) and friends come and visit us often. We have a relatively big house with a bedroom and full bathroom in the basement...we specifically bought a house like this because we want people to visit us...and with the bathroom in the basement you don't have to worry about anyone in the house hearing those bodily noises or smelling the rancid odors friends and family can sometimes emit (So Ron...nothing to worry about)...so we fully expect A LOT of people to visit us... :) There will never be a bad time for you to visit...and don't worry about giving us notice...if we open the door and you are there...that's all the notice we need (again...except for Philip).