Tuesday, April 20, 2010

The Strife is O'er

...now we just wait to see if the battle is won...

I feel free! It is such a relief to have taken those comps and now we're just in the waiting game to see if I passed! My apologies to the dear readers (Sandy) for not posting any updates since Easter, but I've been spending most of my free moments going over my notes for the big test!

We've been in Ohio for over a week now; on Monday last week we finished up our last load with CRST in Akron, then drove our rig to the drop-yard in Columbus where Joe and Andy picked us up and helped us unload our belongings. Some of you remember that my first load ever driven as a professional driver with CRST was 40,000 pounds of Bud Light. Not to be outdone, I suppose, our last load with that company was 42,000 pounds of Corona and Pacifica beer, with never a load of beer in between. Maybe one of these days we'll get a load of Guinness...

Right now we're hanging with the Wilker clan in western Ohio making our visits with family. Last evening's events included rolling down the "hill" in a cylindrical tile, the results of which had Andy running into a tree and Ben landing on his forehead earning a strawberry with surrounding hues of grass-stains. Tonight we'll join Grandpa, Uncle Tom and Aunt Esther for supper; afterward we'll head to Springfield for orientation to start in the morning with US Xpress!

We are so excited for this opportunity to be moving "up" in the industry, and are looking forward to sharing our new experiences with you from this company and the different places we will be going. Ben and I brainstormed one afternoon all of the various stories and topics we could cover, and came up with a list several pages long! If there are any curiosities you have of life in this business, don't hesitate to ask!

In other enjoyable news, we've been able to visit with some friends we'd been trying to get together with for quite a while! On Divine Mercy Sunday, we were able to visit with Steve, Dianne and baby Charlie in Front Royal, VA, and attend Mass (that made 3 Sundays in a row for Mass!!!). In the few days before comps, we spent time with the good people at the Apostolate in Bloomingdale, including Bob & Christy, Jim & Kay, and Mr. John Martin. After the big test on Saturday, we hung out with Sarah R. in Robinson, PA, attended Mass (4 in a row!) on Sunday morning at St. Peter's in Steubenville and saw a whole bunch of great people from the university at the donut social. We then headed back toward my mom's and stopped in Westerville, north of Columbus, to visit with Michael, Jennifer and John-Paul (Ben's godson). JP wanted to know "What are you still doing here?" after he woke up from his nap.

We've had a great visit with all of you and look forward to the next time we'll be able to spend time together again!

We've been out of a tractor cab for so long that (can you believe it?) we're itching to get back into that 8' x 8' box and just drive drive drive. It's time to see some more of the country! Spring is in full bloom everywhere (except for West Virginia) and we can't wait to see more of that seasonal beauty!

Have a beautiful Tuesday, folks! May God bless you abundantly!

Peace,
deb

2 comments:

Sandy said...

Thanks for the shout out haha! Enjoy Mom's food tonight. Two more weeks and I will be able to eat it every night!! Congrats on the comps, and hopefully we'll all get to see you at a family party in the near future.

Unknown said...

Not to brag, but ive hauled 46,000 lbs of budweiser kegs from Allentown, PA to Bangor, ME. It was a long slow ride in the rain but i never stopped smilin. I'm glad that u 2 left CRST after a year and got in with US XPRESS. Keep the rubber on the road and the blogs a comin!!