So we have lived here for, more or less, one entire year. While it is still Hell's Porch Hot, it's the time of year when some days it isn't too bad in the early morning or after 5 pm. It will still be hot in another month or so but not "cannot do anything outside" hot.
On the last weekend of July 2021, we loaded up a U-Haul and brought our kids and my Honda Element down to Olive Branch, MS. We got the kids enrolled in school which started that Thursday and Nightingale headed back to Chicago that weekend.
After things were settled and we realized that I needed to be back there as well to help with packing, purging, and selling whatever I could, I joined her.
To say we made the move on the Highest Difficulty Setting is an understatement. The crazy idea was conceived on a visit down here in June. We would pretend to rent from our in-laws so our kids could register while we waited for our house to sell and then buy the in-laws' house. Somehow that morphed into buying their house without the renting option.
Because it was so bleeding hot, we didn't really unload the U-Haul in a logical fashion. It was more just getting it done and getting out of the heat. We put things in storage but there were a few boxes I would have liked to work on while Nightingale was up north and I had nothing else to do while the kids were at school.
I'm pretty isolated down here. Working from Home doesn't afford me the opportunity to meet anyone and since I'm not running anymore, that avenue isn't there either. The only "friend" I've made is the grandmother of one of my daughter's friends. We meet at the Red Park and we all went to the Zoo once.
The good news is my kids, especially Boris, are thriving at school. They both got into SpotLight, and love it.