Friday, May 4, 2018

Start of Something New, Again?

Well it has been quite sometime that I posted our status other than some maintenance items around here, well for September that was not the case.  After a long hot Alabama summer things were beginning to change for John regarding his employment at Lowe’s.  He has been working at the same store since March 2014 when we decided to stay put in order to help remodel Rana’s mother (Melba) home so it could sold and she could go full-time RVing.  Remodeling has been complete for over a year now but John stayed on at Lowe’s because at the time John & Rana were not itching to leave.

At the end of August John was informed that his current position was being eliminated and he would be moved into another position within the store.  That got them thinking to what’s next?  Stay in place, enjoy the friendships that have been created over that time or look farther down the road for new opportunities or challenges.  Lowe’s made the decision a little easier by moving John into the Millwork department (Doors & Window sales) the second week of September.  After six days of lifting/moving heavy doors/windows he was done.  Turned in his notice and they started the process of packing up to move!

Packing stuff up to move is actually the process of going through each cabinet, drawer, storage bay and closet for items that neither of them used in a while.  The front closet and under-bed storage yielded eight bags of clothes for donations, extra comforters, towels and pillows.  The lower storage bay (called the basement on a 5th wheel) was emptied and each tote was then emptied so that all the contents could be sorted into three categories: Keep, Free to a Good Home and Trash.  With all the totes gone through they were loaded back into the basement in an order based on use/need.  Same process was performed for the front compartment.

So why were they packing up?  Why not find another job in Montgomery?  Well with Rana’s mother not only moved into her 5th wheel but traveling on her own successfully there was really nothing keep them here.  Rana’s brother and his family live in northern Alabama so that was an option but they wanted to try an option that they put on hold since arriving in Alabama.  Oil Field Gate Guarding.   Before they could start heading to Texas one last thing had to be taken care of, sell the minivan.  They held on to it for as long as possible with many attempts to sell it to someone at Lowe’s but nobody stepped up.  But a call to a friend in the RV park yielded a sale on the spot.


With savings, money from the minivan sale and a recent paycheck from Lowe’s John hitched the Big Country to me and we all pulled out as one rig.  No more scout/chase van with Rana at the wheel.  One seven ton rolling home and family heading west.