Ephraim and I got up at five yesterday, cramped and chilly in a gas station.
We bought gas and I tried to stay awake enough to go the correct speed (not to mention keeping away from rumble strips) as we drove for a few hours. Finally, we entered Oklahoma, and not long afterward arrived in Bartlesville at our house.
It wasn't time to meet with the former owner yet, so I went to a big parking lot and Ephraim took a nap.
I was tired and still stiff from having driven for about five days, so I got up and took a walk to a Starbuck's. Inside, I got coffee and wrote on my newest story.
When it was time to meet with the aforementioned former owner of said house, We drove their and sat outside on the bumper and on top of the Volvo, waiting and talking. Some people in a car drove up and had the windows open, so we switched to Spanish. I guess we thought they wouldn't understand, since they were black (African American for the politically correct people, WHICH I AM NOT).
"Esa mujer nos esta mirando," I said. "Quiza esta pensando, 'quienes son ustedes'. Quiza no quiere ser vecina de nosotros."
Then I quoted Nacho Libre (in Spanish though) and Ephraim was not impressed. He was in that mood that is kind of annoying where he isn't impressed by anything at all. He wants you to be quiet, so I did so.
Next moment the woman's husband said something to the dog in Spanish... I was embarrassed and Ephraim was laughing at me with his eyes.
Later I discovered they have four or five children and all speak Spanish. I would have introduced myself but I was much too shy, especially after mentally wearing myself out and being sociable with the talkative lady who went with us through the house and to the store...
Yes, it was a long day. And after we had gotten everything moved from the Uhaul and into the dirty, nicotine-stained, lumpy house we realized that there were...
A lot of cockroaches. Yes, a very much a lot, as my mind says it sometimes, when I forget that "a lot" can not be used in the same way "much" is. I think I'm going to switch to saying, "many cockroaches" and "much bug poop".
We were already far too tired to have any idea of what to do next, so we just called home.
"Put the food back in the Uhaul," Mama said.
"Call the pest control guy." Papa said.
Their voices sounded like home to me, and I just wanted them to appear and magically deal with all of it just like I was sure they could.
In fact, I wished for a second that the whole family could work together on this: we had proved that with each other, we could turn a mess into a fine place, and a cold place into a warm one.
After making sure half the stuff was sealed up, we couldn't do any more and got in the car. On my computer, which still had some battery left, we watched two episodes of Lego Ninjago which Ephraim has on a little drive. Then we lay down on the two mattresses inside the car (no way we were sleeping inside).
"Hey... Did we even eat anything today?" Ephraim said.
"Um, I had some coffee."
Next morning we felt a lot better. We started in sweeping the whole house, getting piles bigger than the dustpan, and spraying all the extra poopy cracks in the walls with cockroach killing chemical. Yes, we know it's unhealthy. No, we're not willing to wait a moment to slow the growth of cockroach population.
Oh yes, and we ate some of the leftover food from our trip. I guess it's lunch time now though and we have to figure out what we're having now. The electricity hasn't been turned on yet.
At least the port-a-potty people got us our temporary bathroom. That's nice. We usually use store bathrooms still; they're so much nicer (and as for me, I can fix my hair and do girl things and wash my face). Don't we wish we could have baths! Maybe we'll figure it out when the people turn the water on.
I think we've only gotten half the stuff moved over though.
Let's see if I can get some pictures approved! I'll send them to Mama and you, blog readers, can see them if she posts them.
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