Shipping Vehicles - Day Two

Okay, since it's actually been a while since I've been able to update, let's make this quick. Sorta.
So, stuck in the hotel in Texas and waiting to ship our vehicles. Hubby runs in real quick to the Best Western to get us a room (another added expense, thank you). He comes out and says they gave us the second floor room right next to the stairs. Next to the stairs is good because it allows us to make a quick exit. Second floor -- not so good.
Anyone who has ever stayed in a less-expensive hotel knows that you can hear EVERYTHING going on in the rooms next to you. Anyone who works at a hotel should also know this, and therefore should avoid putting people with children anywhere near anybody else. I know my kids are loud. I often remind staff of this and ask for special accommodations so that we don't disturb anyone else. Well, my husband apparently is not aware of this golden rule. So, around 8 p.m., the phone rings in our hotel room. It's the front desk, who is asking us on behalf of the little old couple in the room directly below us, if we could please be quiet. "If you have any children, could you please try to keep them quiet." By now, I am emotionally and physically exhausted. I kindly inform the young man on the phone that we not only have one child, we have FOUR. And we have the dog in the room. "Oh," he says. "I'm sorry." Yeah, me too.
Eventually, we get the kids into bed and everyone has a somewhat restful night.
Bright and early the next day, we all wake up, go downstairs in shifts to have breakfast, and pack everyone back into the vehicles to go try to ship them again. We're the second family in the door, and they've been waiting for us to come back. The staff immediately absconds with the paperwork, my car keys, and my husband. The kids and I are asked to wait in the family waiting room. So we wait.....and wait.....and wait....Thankfully, there are several broken toys in the waiting room for the kids to hit each other with. This keeps them occupied for all of five minutes. Two and a half hours later, my husband returns, only to inform me that the emergency brake on his truck doesn't work. I do the only thing I can do at this point. I give him the stink eye. Fortunately for us, the guy who works in the shipping dock knows a guy who can fix it (I smell a kickback). It'll only cost us $150. Woo. Hoo. So, another hour and a half later, the emergency brake is fixed, and both vehicles are ready to go. Let's hear an 'Amen'.
We cram ourselves into our rental minivan (which barely holds us, the dog, and our luggage) and take off for Oklahoma. Six LONG and Barbie-video filled hours later, we make it to the in-laws house near Lake Keystone. Having a surprise birthday party to get to, we dump the kids on the folks, load up the dog, and head off to meet our friends in Stillwater.
Somehow, I managed to get in touch with some old friends of ours to arrange a shindig so we could say goodbye to everyone before heading off to paradise. A couple friends of ours have a farm near Stillwater with a large back porch and a working blender. Having recently been to Hawaii themselves, they have learned the magic recipe for lava flows.....Much alcohol consumption ensues, and somewhere in there we managed to drop the dog off at her new home. Bye, Molly! Anyway, after the stress of the last two days, it was absolutely great to sit out on the porch with some old friends, drink a cold one, and catch up. We pass out in the wee hours (me in the guest bedroom, him on the floor with the dogs).
The next morning, we jump up, shower, and head off to visit our favorite old haunts in Stillwater. Stopped at Eskimo Joe's to visit Joe's Clothes and see if there were any new t-shirts we didn't already own. Didn't find anything on that trip. Then headed over to Chris' University Spirit to get a new window sticker for the truck. Then from there over to the Student Union Store for some more spirit apparel. We even stopped and checked out the new Alumni Association building on campus. Very swanky. (BTW, Go Pokes!) Headed back to the parent's house in time to relax a bit. Then it was back to Stillwater for a combination going away/birthday party. All of the hubby's family are there to help celebrate the birth of our No. 2 daughter. And my birthday. and my husband's birthday. A good time was had by all.