Vida

Here we are.  A couple of new St. Louisans.   I think it's fair to say we both feel a bit lost right now, especially surrounded by boxes.  The tricky part of these boxes is we are currently in temporary housing so we're not sure how much to unpack and how much to set aside for when we move again... I arrived yesterday and Mike helped me carry in the big furniture once he got home from class.  As I looked at the puddle of sweat I was dropping, I walked up to the shower to see all the bruises appearing on my legs.  Honestly, my dad moved all the boxes in the truck into the townhouse during the day all on his own.  Let's all pause to give a round of applause for my dad!  Aside from the fact that it was above and beyond what we could have asked, I was beat after packing my car (to capacity), cleaning our place in Chicago and driving to St. Louis.  (Also, it's a good thing he was there because apparently the copy of Mike's key that we made in Chicago did not work...)

How often do you tell someone you live in Chicago and they reply, "The traffic!" followed by a grimace. My standard response is, "It's one thing you don't get used to."   Or I didn't anyway.   I am excited to have less traffic in St. Louis.  Although the rest of this post is contradicting that fact.  It is usually true. Sunday we made our way to my parents little Missouri town, Ste. Genevieve.  It was right on the line for the solar eclipse and Mike had school orientation on Wednesday.  Getting out of Chicago was one of the lightest traffic we've experienced.  The rest of the ride, not so much. Apparently lots of people were on the same route as us.   Wednesday I made myself comfortable at a coffee shop near St. Louis University campus to work and it turned out to be SLU's move in day.  It was in the 70s Wednesday so I settled in outside until the tension between the cars and traffic directors got to be too much (and I needed to charg