The POWER in a power of attorney

Before any deployment, one requirement is to update your will, guardianship papers, and power of attorney. Not too much fun, but definitely the responsible thing to do. When John and I met with the lawyer to check these things off of his list, we had no idea how much the POA would be needed in the coming months. In fact, I honestly thought I'd take it home, file it, and not ever look at it again. Well, I was wrong.
Apparently John thought I was bored keeping up with our two rascals while he was away. To remedy the situation, he accepted a new job in Wichita, Kansas while he was still in the sandbox. In four short weeks we put the house on the market, sold the house, packed up all of our earthly belongings and loaded them onto PODS, contracted on a new house, closed on the old house and moved to a furnished apartment in Kansas. And when I say "we", I am not referring to John and me. While John offered many emails and phone calls in moral support, we were unable to convince our buyer to wait to close on the house until John's return. Enter Pops and Mimi. Oh, Pops and Mimi, how we love you! Mimi could seriously have a second career as an expert "packer upper". Not only can she pack a kitchen with ninja-like precision, when she's done with that, she'll prepare a homemade meal - served on paper plates, because the regular plates are already packed - help Will with his 2nd grade homework AND (maybe the thing I'm most grateful for) be the "bather, pajamer, brusher, and booker" for Katey Lou! And when Pops rearranged his plans to be in town for the official "pack-it-all-or-else" weekend, I could literally feel the burden lifting off of my shoulders. Pops is the tool/electronic/furniture packer, wrapper, loader, and organizer extraordinaire. Pops also managed to squeeze in some special time with Will and Kate at Krispy Kreme, of course! After it was all said and done, he sent my mom and me off for pedicures and then took us to Outback for dinner. I tell ya, that meal was so good! Some very special friends also carried the burden with me ... Mr. Brett and Mrs. Jenn, I couldn't imagine those few weeks without your friendship and help. Seriously, it wouldn't have gotten done without you. I think I feel a whole 'nother post coming on about y'all! :o) Rob and Jenny, thank you, thank you, thank you for E-V-E-R-Y-T-H-I-N-G you did to help me. I'll be forever grateful. And yes, for those of you wondering, I plan to sit in a lawn chair, sip on a Dt. Coke, and read my newest issue of Southern Living while John unloads and unpacks everything! Okay, maybe I'll just do that for the first 30 minutes ... it's not like he was on vacation or anything :o).
It's been difficult (gut-wrenching as one friend so sweetly put it!) to pack up our Oklahoma memories and drive away from the friends who have become our family. We will miss so many things about Oklahoma ... hearing OOOOOOOOOOklahoma every night at 5:00 on one of our favorite radio stations, the sunsets, our annual trip to our favorite pumpkin patch, yummy Mexican food on every corner, and the Thunder (not to be mistaken for the actual weather ... tornado season, I will not miss you, although, Kansas ... well, anyway!). There is really no way for me to say good-bye to our friends and church family. You've loved us and our kiddos more than we ever deserved. You'll always have a very special place in our hearts and we plan to come back often. So none of this good-bye stuff for you ... we'll see you soon!
Kansas, I don't know if you're ready for the Schlosses, but we're here and we can't wait to see what good things the Lord will do in the coming years.