The Girl is Back!!

It's been a whirlwind of a few weeks. Amidst the sadness of mom's death, we got the good news that Mindy accepted a job in Nashville---same place where Steph works---a little nepotism at work.

Anyway, with all I had going on in St. Louis, the job fell to Butch to handle every aspect of her move. His first job was to find an apartment. At first, when he told me where he was looking, I had my doubts---he tried to be "thrifty"---which equates to parts of town that nobody wants to live because it's too far away from any sort of young action. Once he realized that wasn't going to fly, he found a really nice place full of young people and lots of college students. Plus, the price was right for Mindy---about $300 less than what she was paying in New Orleans. Add to that the lack of state income taxes, she'll net about another $400 a month---plus the higher salary---she's making out okay. She wants me to help her with a budget---we'll see how that goes....

We went to New Orleans for some fun which I pretty much missed most of due to being sick with my hives. Butch stayed on to handle the packing, loading and hauling. She lived on the 4th floor with no elevator---and where she parked was a long way to her apartment. Honestly, I'm glad I didn't have to be involved with all of that.

They drove back to Nashville on Thursday night. I left on Friday morning for St. Louis to meet with my family to handle mom's place. That was pretty emotional and took longer than I thought, but at least it's done. I came home on Sunday and was immediately sick for the next 3 days. I had been to the doctor last week and had some upper respiratory thing and a double ear infection. I think all the emotional and physical stuff just caught up with me. I cancelled everything I had going for the week. I needed the rest and felt pretty good by Wednesday.

While I was in St. Louis working at mom's, Butch, Mindy, Steph, Jordan, Morgan, Cameron and Carson handled Mindy's "move in." This time she's on the third floor with no elevator. Butch said the boys were a god-send as he was completely, physically exhausted.

Wednesday night was to be a family celebration of Mindy back in town. I made soup and grilled cheese---nothing fancy---just plain comfort food. We started talking about a regular family dinner night and decided with everyone's schedule, we'd have to take it week by week. Mindy has stopped by every day after work and once for lunch---she just works 5 minutes away. By the second day, she said the she must look like she knows what she's doing because someone asked her where the lobby was---and she knew the answer.

Today, Thursday, Butch and I met the girls at Aquinas College chapel for a Mass honoring mom. It was very nice and many of the sisters were there. Afterwards, Butch took me over to see Mindy's apartment for the first time. OMG!! It's really small and really lacks storage---for example---there is only one small drawer in the kitchen! The laundry basket will have to live on top of the dryer. I figured out what she needs in the way of furniture---just a couch, some type of storage coffee/table, bakers rack for the kitchen, large chest of drawers and nightstand. Once we can get all her crap off the floor and "in" to something, I'll be able to get it fixed up. Right now, storage is the key. I'll be sure to take pictures. It's pretty cute and very light and bright. She has a real fireplace and nice sized balcony. So far, she's happy with it. We have plans to shop on Sunday. She has plans to go to Oktoberfest with Steph on Saturday. I told her that she better be prepared because parties in Nashville are nothing what she's used to in New Orleans.

I'm looking forward to having her around more. One more baby back "home"---one more to go!