Then and Now

First photo above was taken on June 23, 2002, shortly after we moved into our new home in Louisiana.  Second photo was taken yesterday, March 9, 2011, nearly nine years later, as we prepare to move to Tennessee.  This has been a wonderful home for us, and served us well over years we lived here.

Life on the Bayou soon to be Life on the Cumberland Plateau

Tomorrow (April 8) we close on our home in Houma, Louisiana. We will be allowed to stay in our former home one additional week.  Next week Monday - Wednesday (April 11-13), we plan to move all of our belongings into a moving van trailer, then stay through Friday (April 15), using sleeping bags, folding chairs, and a card table.  On Saturday (April 16), we travel to Tracy City, Tennessee, getting there early enough to complete the paperwork that will allow us to have the keys to our new home.  We couldn't have cut it any closer, given that the earliest possible date we would be allowed to access our new home (from when it was formally completed, inspected, and a mandatory10-day waiting period passed) is just about the very day we arrive.  The moving van is expected to arrive on Tuesday, April 19, and we will have the balance of the week of April 17-23 to get everything moved in and start getting settled.  Judy will remain in Tennessee, and I will fly back to Houma most likely on Saturday, April 23, to fulfill my work obligations.  My official retirement day is May 31.  However, I will "wrap it up" on Friday, May 27, the following Monday being an official holiday (Memorial Day), Tuesday being taken as accrued vacation time.  At the moment, I plan to stay with the Stock family in Thibodaux between April 23-May 27.  They have a large home with only Greg and Monica living in it at the moment; they were gracious enough to offer me to stay with them.  They are planning some landscaping and gardening, so I can hopefully repay them "in kind" by assisting them with their plans.  Judy and I very much look forward to settling in the Cumberlands, and living out our dreams there. 

How will the government shutdown affect us, if it happens?  Not too much, since we were planning to be taking accrued vacation time over the next two weeks anyway.  Hopefully the Legislative and Executive branches will have settled their differences by then and government can return to work when I am ready to return to work.