Catching Up: This Time, She’s The One In College

On Thursday, all four of us and Auntee drove to Northern Illinois University to move my sister in for her first year in college. Most of us got little sleep (if any) the night before (see this post). We rented a minivan so that we could have enough room for all my sister’s stuff. She had a good amount of stuff (but not as much as others, we found out later) but it all fit in the van. However, it was too much stuff for all of us to ride in the van. My mom rode with my dad in the van while Samone and I rode with my auntee.

The ride there was an interesting one. You see, my auntee didn’t know the way there, so she had to follow my dad. However, she did have plenty of experience following other cars on long trips. Despite that, my dad (primarily at my mom’s urging, I assume) drove kind of slow the whole way there. He didn’t drive at 45 mph or something like that, but he certainly wasn’t going as fast as he could have. It was a funny sight to see my auntee agonizing because she couldn’t go any faster for fear of worrying my mother.

Once we got there, we realized that my parents were going the wrong way. The school sent a specific set of directions for moving into the various dorms. Instead of taking the normal way, we were supposed to go around a back way that avoided the major streets. Despite a big road sign telling people headed for various NIU dorms to turn, my parents kept going straight. Samone, Auntee, and I had to call them to get them on the right track. For the record, the question of who should keep the papers from the school regarding move in was a source of debate before we left.

After traveling through those back streets (with their cornfields and NIU people standing around to help people out), we finally got closer to the dorms. We were in a long line of cars that was trying to get into a parking lot. Fortunately, we got there fairly early.

Now, I must admit that the actual move in process at NIU was wonderful, and much better than my experience at Northwestern. Once we got into the parking lot near the dorm, we were told that we could only park long enough to unload our stuff. As we unloaded, golf carts driven by volunteers drove around to pick up stuff and take it to the entrance of the dorm. It took two carts to pick up all of my sister’s stuff. Once it was all unloaded near the entrance of the dorm, NIU guides came around and helped us take the stuff to her room. That was a huge help, especially since the dorm my sister is in has no elevators. When it was all said and done, it took a relatively short time to get all of my sister’s stuff into her room.

The next task for us was to help her put her stuff away and get settled. My mom and auntee did a lot of the organizing along with my sister. My dad moved things and I set up her computer and her TV and DVD/VCR. Her room was basically set by about 11:00 a.m. By the way, her roommate wasn’t there and didn’t arrive until the next day.

After that, we left and went to get some lunch as well as pick up some other things. We ate at Dairy Queen, something none of us had done in ages. We then went to Wal-Mart. Seeing the condition of the desk chair in my sister’s dorm room (it was nasty looking with stains on it), Auntee offered to buy Samone a new chair and also got her a rug for the floor. We went back to the dorm and I put together Samone’s new chair. We got visits from other students on the floor, including a girl who asked me to help her hook up her computer. I went over and hooked up the stuff, but I couldn’t finish everything that needed to be done.

Sometime after 3:00 p.m., Mom, Dad, Auntee and I left my sister to head back home. We had to leave because the van was due back at the rental place later that evening, and we didn’t want to cut it too close. We said our goodbyes and went back on the open toll road.

It wouldn’t be my family if silliness didn’t happen on the way back home. First, there was quite a debate about how to go back home. We took some stuff Samone didn’t need back with us, stuff that had to go back in the van because it couldn’t fit in Auntee’s car. We were about to leave, when we finally decided on the setup. My dad would just drive to the place by himself, while Mom, Auntee and I would go back home. Auntee and I would then go to the rental place to pick Dad up.

My mom was in the van with Dad and had to get out and run to Auntee’s car. Even then, we still had a little trouble as Dad nearly forgot to close the liftgate on the van. In the rush for Mom to head to Auntee’s car, she ended up taking Dad’s cell phone. I called his cell to let them know of the plan, which Auntee recommended. Worried about not having a way to talk with Dad, we tried to get the cell phone back to him. Both vehicles were in stopped and in a lane getting ready to turn. Auntee unlocks the door and Mom runs out to try and get Dad’s attention so that he could get the cell phone. I’ve never seen my mom run like that. Of course, she didn’t get his attention and he just kept right on and turned. She rushed back to the car and we rode off to catch up with him. Eventually, when were on the road, my Auntee drove up next to him to let him know that he could drive faster.

Fortunately, it turned out that we had enough time so that we could stop at home and unload before going back to the rental place.

The day (which was perfect weather-wise) ended up being fun and a little bittersweet. More on those bittersweet feelings later.