Day 2 in New York

Day 2 (or is it still Day 1?) Monday

We slept in till about noon (I think). Now here you might need some background. We bought a house in Williamsville from a nice elder woman who had lost her husband in 2016. We made an offer and she accepted and we paid down the Earnest money. The closing date on the contract said September 5. We explained to her that I started work and Amy started school on August 24 and we'd really like to close earlier on the house. She had lived there with her husband for 28 years and was downsizing and moving into an apartment. She told us that she would be happy to close earlier if she could find an apartment to move into and get rid of a lot of her stuff. In the meanwhile, she was open to the idea of us being able to move our stuff in earlier -- August 18. We had set up movers to come to that property on that day, and have our 2 Penske trucks parked outside there until then. Unfortunately, she became overwhelmed with her situation. Desperately, she called my wife and told her (while we were driving) that she could not have the 2 Penske trucks parked on the street outside her house or in her driveway, and that she definitely could not let us move our household belongings into the house earlier than the closing date, which was not going to stay at September 5.

Fortunately, she agreed to let us park one Penske truck outside the house, while Red Roof Inn agreed to let us park one truck there, while we lived there. So the first order of business for us on our first day in New York as residents was to find a place for store out household possessions us until September 15. After some searching, we found a Public Storage in Getzville and rented two 10 x 20 climate-controlled units. We called the movers and arranged for them to meet us there the following day (Tuesday) to move our things out of the Penske trucks into the storage units.

The other thing to deal with was: where were we going to stay from August 13 through September 5 (assuming we could move in on the day of closing)? Frantic phone calls to UB contacts (University at Buffalo) helped us finally locate at Staybridge where Amy, Phoebe and myself and Amy's parents (who were coming to visit and maybe help with Phoebe and setting up the house), could all stay... At about $ 125 a night.

To end the day, we had one more harrowing task. I had to drive the Penske trucks from Red Roof Inn and Williamsville to the Public Storage facility in Getzville. Now, anyone who knows me knows that I am not the best driver...I am certainly not skilled enough to drive a 26-foot truck with wide turns and other 'trucky' maneuvers. But we had no choice. So my wife drove ahead of me at snail's pace, while I drove carefully (and prayerfully). We made it without incident to the Public Storage late that evening. By then, our fatigue from the late night and events of the day caught up to us and we came back to sleep.

Through the course of the day, I had plenty occasion to practice the lesson of NOT complaining, grumbling, or murmuring. Instead, as I read in my daily reading that morning in II Chronicles 20: 15: "'Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God's." I extended myself, trusting to His grace in driving a 26-foot Penske truck (no big deal for some people, but a HUGE deal for this man).