Move-In Week: Aggieland, Here We Come!!!

This was it. The final week before Teegan’s move-in. Before the adventures in Aggieland begin. We had four days left with him before the first pages in his next chapter begin to unfold. How did we already reach this point. What happened to all the time we had left during the summer. As they say, it just slipped away like sand through our fingers.

So let’s begin…

Saturday I sure didn’t rest like I probably should have. Oh well.

I started off, per usual, making breakfast. I was in the mood for some huevos con chorizo a la mexicana tacos. Cooked the chorizo, chopped some onion, jalapeño, tomatoes and cilantro, and threw it all together with the scrambled eggs. Sprinkle a little cheese on the warm tortilla and load it with the egg mix. Delicious.

The yard was waiting for me. Yes, I needed to move more dirt, but I wanted to knock out another task that had been needing to be done for years. I think I might have come up with a partial solution to my backyard flooding issue. I was going to make a small wall along the front side of my house to divert all the runoff water from my neighbor’s yard back into their yard and, hopefully, out of my backyard.

I had equipped myself with some cinder blocks and dug out a trench to lay them. Once they were partially buried, I moved some dirt to fill them in and support one side. I figured the neighbors might cry when they see it, but do you think I give a fuck? They moved, and besides, what can they say? The water is coming from their yard, and I am simply trying to keep it in their yard and out of mine.

After that, I was back to digging and moving dirt. I worked too long and made myself sick. I even got nauseous. I need to learn when to quit.

That night, my mom took Teegan, Yvette and myself out to dinner for Teegan’s last night on the town before moving to Aggieland. He chose a place called Cielo, a Mexican joint that we used to go to with my mother all the time. Dinner was really fun, and we all had a great time visiting. About two hours of visiting. He and my mom have a very close relationship, and I know they are going to miss each other. I’m very thankful for that.

Have I said how badly I’m going to miss Teegan? As the days count down, my heart gets heavier and heavier. At the end of the day, only three remain before we hit the road to move- in day.

Sunday morning I awoke before everyone and enjoyed my coffee on the patio. As I watered the grass, I took pride in the amount of progress I made over the summer by simply using seed to make a yard. What would have cost me mucho pesos in sod cost me $30 for a bag of seed. I really am proud to see how much I’ve accomplished.

After coffee and reflection, I made breakfast. Avocado toast with an egg salad. I fired up the grill and cooked an entire package of bacon. I figured everyone else might want some bacon when they finally woke up. It was a good breakfast that provided me with the fuel that I needed for my next task.

It was time to get busy and get after the yard again. At this point, I really just wanted it done. I was tired of shoveling and wheelbarrowing dirt. I knew when I started this project the weekend before that it would take me some time to accomplish. I had really been putting it off for years, which only made matters worse for me in my present predicament.

Once the heat began baking me and my mind started to slip, it was time to give up and clean up. It was an important morning. At 11:30, we were taking Alaya to go see Paw Patrol: The Dino Movie. Was I excited about the movie? Not at all. Was I excited to see Alaya excited about the movie? Absolutely!

Once in the theater, she was already having herself a good time just watching the previews, but when the Paw Patrol finally showed up on screen, her reaction was priceless. She stopped what she was doing, turned around to look at us as if to say, “Are you seeing what I’m seeing?” Then she turned back around and laughed, clapped her hands, and jumped up and down. She was overwhelmed with joy.

So was I, seeing her so happy. Really, a perfect start to the day.

After the movie, Yvette and I finished running errands and tidying up for Teegan’s going-away party. He was inviting friends over, and we were providing the food. Pulled pork, hot dogs, buffalo chicken dip and a cake. It was a lot of work, but I was happy to have this at my house. I wanted to throw a memorable party for him and his friends.

I think everyone had a damn good time, and I was happy to have the full house because soon it would be so empty with him off to college. They ate well, played games, listened to music, and made s’mores over an open fire. They had a good farewell party.

Yvette and I tried to make ourselves scarce so as not to infringe upon their good times.

I watched a movie on Netflix that seemed interesting and was recommended at work. The Last House. It was strange and right up my alley. Without getting into any spoilers, a family becomes trapped inside their house by means first unclear. Windows won’t break. Doors will not budge. They can’t even break down a wall. They have no way of exiting the house. It later becomes clear to them that they are not alone. The entire block is on the same boat.

Hours become days, become weeks, become months, become years. They manage to persevere. Until they don’t. I actually rather liked the supernatural aspects of the movie once they revealed themselves. It was clever and, once again, tapped my Lovecraftian itch.

Monday morning I woke up with a house full of teenage boys scattered throughout. I laughed as I made my breakfast and had my coffee. Oh, I remember those days well. So will they when they are older. These memories will be thought of as “the good ole days.” We never know that we are living those days until years later. If only we knew then what we know now.

I was on office duty, but lucky for me, it was only going to be for Monday and Tuesday. Monday was a busy bitch and hotter than Hades. I was not digging people, and it was so busy. What I really needed to do was square away everything that I needed to have done for school next week. I needed to figure out textbooks and just how much I owed in tuition for the first payment plan.

As with everything else that I’ve experienced trying to take classes, nothing was clear. The online portal said I owed, but it only showed the full amount. Student Accounts said I didn’t owe anything. Which was it?

To play it safe, I made a payment. It wasn’t until later that I heard from Student Accounts again, telling me that the first payment was covered by the Tuition Exemption Program. Would have been nice to know before I clicked “Pay.” Oh well. I had fully budgeted to make the payment, and it will count toward my overall tuition.

It was indeed a Monday. Good riddance.

Tuesday. The last day of work for my week. Afterward, it was off to Aggieland.

Only a few minutes into the day, I was very happy to be moving Teegan into the dorms. At least I would be away from the shit show.

We had a morning meeting that was nothing but hogwash, served with burritos that would likely cause extreme diarrhea. Skip, please! I had my own burrito that I made that morning waiting for me, but I wasn’t able to actually eat the damn thing until about two hours into work. Every fucking time that I tried to sit and enjoy it, I was once again busy. It was that kind of day. Nonstop.

This all stemmed from the meeting. The big boss man mentioned that by the end of the day he wanted all bullshit work orders to be closed before move-in on Wednesday. He wanted a clean slate so that they could stay focused.

That meant people were hustling to finally finish what should have been finished by mid-summer. It meant a relentless barrage of bullshit for me.

The joy!

Wednesday we were highway hoppin’ to Aggieland. We loaded up two vehicles. Teegan and Yvette took the truck together, and I followed in Yvette’s. It had been a long time since I was on the highway alone, and I must say, it was rather fucking excellent. I jammed out to my music at volumes no one else would tolerate. It made the drive seem much shorter.

I had time to really think about Teegan out of the house and how much I will really miss him. I shed some tears.

His presence was always there. Even when you didn’t see him, you could hear him. For Christ’s sake, his yelling at his video games had become background noise. It was like a clock ticking—you heard it all the time, but eventually you stopped noticing it. Until the battery died and it suddenly stopped. I know when we get home, I’m going to miss that.

I’m going to miss the noise. I’m going to miss knowing he’s in the other room. I’m going to miss the little sounds of his everyday life that I never really thought about because they were just always there.

The silence left by him being gone is going to be deafening.

Five hours later, we were there. We had to make one quick stop at a window repair shop because some ass-faced trucker had slung a rock into Teegan’s window, but that took maybe five minutes of our time. After a quick late Chick-fil-A snack, it was off to Yvette’s childhood friend Andrea’s house. We stayed there a year ago when Teegan toured the campus, so it was nice being welcomed back.

One quick run to Costco, and we were off to dinner at a place Teegan had been recommended: Coco Shrimp. Nothing but shrimp on the menu, with rice and salad. This made it easy. I ordered the sweet and spicy, and my god, it was good. I even ate the fried tails. Bravo, Teegan. I get the feeling I’m going to like the food when we come to visit.

Time to go get some shut-eye before the big move-in.

I just realized Wednesday morning that I won’t be cooking for Teegan on a daily basis any longer. WTF am I going to do!!! My God, that was one of my everyday joys. And it’s gone. Man. For almost two years, just about every meal I’ve cooked—grocery runs, everything—has had Teegan in mind. I’ve wanted to cook to impress him more than anything. It’s the truth. I’d usually run our dinner plans by him before even starting the work. I wanted that boy to want my food, and I loved making something new for him and watching him go back for seconds. And now he will be gone.

It’s the little things like that I’ll miss about him that I didn’t even think about until randomly lying in bed awake before everyone else woke up. Damnit, I’m going to miss him.

I got up before everyone else, which, of course, is nothing unusual. Our gracious host had already taken leave; she was on a business trip in Utah. I decided to go grab some coffee and a breakfast burrito from the Exxon gas station up the road. I did the same thing on our visit a year ago, when I was surprised to find a little kitchen inside where they serve up some fantastic burritos. You need to know Spanish to really place an order. I almost forgot and screwed up the order.

Back at the house, I enjoyed my coffee on the back patio, taking note of just how goddamn humid it is here in Aggieland. My calm before the shit show of move-in. I was not looking forward to the stairs. Four flights of stairs. My back was already hurting, and we had yet to begin the trials that awaited us.

Teegan took off to help his roommate, who had an earlier move-in, so we waited. Then something unexpected happened, and in the worst way. When closing the garage door, the goddamn thing came off the rails. WTF!!! I stopped it, but it was fucked in more ways than we could fix. We tried releasing it, but the only thing holding it up was the bar and two wheels. I was afraid it would collapse. We called a repair guy who could get there and assess the problem while we were moving Teegan into the dorms. What a rough start. But lucky for us, for $400, he could fix it. Yeah. Tough break. Damnit.

Move-in was work, but a satisfying, fun sort of work. It was the excitement of watching the kids, and honestly, I was reliving my own move-in 26 years ago. At least it went smoothly. I expected the worst and was rewarded. Thank God the garage fiasco was the worst thing to happen all day.

His room was bigger than mine had been. It really wasn’t that bad, and they already had it arranged the way they wanted it before Yvette and I had arrived. His roommate certainly didn’t bring as much as Teegan, but maybe he would stagger more in later. Oh well, at least they were already friends before becoming roommates. That is the important thing. I can’t imagine moving in with a stranger.

I had some strong emotions hit me. Much deeper than I expected. I was transported back through time, watching these two young men and their excitement as they unpacked and arranged their dorm room. I was suddenly once again nineteen years old, fresh out of high school, in my dorm in Lubbock with my best friend, Samuel, trying to decorate my own room. Full of wonder and anxiety, but mostly barely contained, joyful excitement about all the unknown things we would discover. It was a new adventure. Good lord, if I could only go back to that day with some guidance. But would I really want to give any? Nope. I would let my younger self go discover.

It was a good day.

Yes, four flights of stairs and walking blocks back and forth between the car and the dorm wasn’t easy going. Yes, we were exhausted after five hours, but we accomplished a lot, and Teegan was moved in. The dreaded day was behind us. We were survivors. We were victorious. When the people at my university bitch about our move-in, I’ll laugh at them. What a joke. We won. Now we could weep.

Afterward, we took the kids to a late lunch and dropped them back on campus. Yvette and I had a few errands to run, grabbing little things for his dorm. We decided we did want to cook, so we picked up a frozen meal to zap in the oven.

We went back to the house, and the garage looked like new. Thank the Lord for that. We took much-needed showers after a day of sweating our asses off in Aggieland. I started dinner and poured us some wine.

We ate, relaxed, and watched a movie. We were fucking exhausted and ready for bed.

Friday. Happy Friday!

Yvette and I were moving slowly. The morning was sluggish. We were tired and a little sore. Physically and emotionally exhausted.

We spent the day more or less shopping for things we needed and returning things we didn’t need for the dorms. I never bitched or moaned. Not my ideal kind of day, but I was along for the ride, and it was fun having the time together.

We eventually were able to meet up with Teegan at his dorm to see how things had come together and how his first night had been. It was looking good, and they seemed to be having a good time.

Teegan came with us for some late lunch at Wings and More. We visited for a little while, talking about how his night went and what his plans were for the rest of the day. I was so happy to hear that he was so gung-ho about going out and doing things. If he is okay, I’m okay. After lunch, we made one stop before dropping him back off for the night. I told him we would get him for lunch before we left, if that was okay. The last thing we want to do is cramp his style.

Yvette and I walked the campus and ran a couple more errands and eventually picked up some Chinese food to-go and returned to her friend’s house to wind down for the evening. We were both pooped.

And then it hit me: we were going home without him

Good lord. Fuck. I’m wondering when all of this is going to hit me like a brick to the head. I know it hasn’t really sunk in yet. It’s going to be so fucking weird going home without him

So that’s that. Move-in week came and went, and I’m not sure we’re okay yet. It wasn’t going to be easy, but Yvette and I have each other to get through it. I love this family, and I’m going to seriously miss Teegan. But I’m so damn proud of him. He’s ready for this, even if I’m not quite ready for him to be.

Happy Friday.