Day 1: Oh Shenandoah, I hate to leave you

January 14th, 2010

How to spend a 35th birthday: Mine started with the moving truck arriving at 7:30am. Mark and Ethan had already left for an early morning trip to “the diner” for one last breakfast binge of chocolate-chip pancakes. The night before all of our neighbors had pitched in and parked their cars in a line in front of our house to save room for the tractor trailer moving truck. When the truck arrived I spent the first few minutes moving cars and returning keys. I will really miss the wonderful neighborhood we had there on Carrleigh Parkway.

Ian left to play with “Ms. Amy” (Amy Miller) which left Mark and I available to clean and dismantle rooms as soon as they were cleared of furniture. We took apart and threw away Ian’s crib (which was recalled anyway!) but kept the crib mattress. We meant to demolish and throw away the entertainment center, but the guys had it on the truck before we could say something. We’ll just wait a bit longer before buying a new one!

The moving men were very efficient . By 11:30am the truck was fully loaded and the house was empty except for the odds and ends that we were taking with us in the cars. We had to wait for Rick to come remove the satellite dish and for Carol, the new owner, to come do the “final walk-through”, so we took time to eat lunch at Five Guys. (On Wednesday we splurged and had a final lunch at Mike’s American Grill- we will really miss Mike’s and Coastal Flats!)

NetDevil paid to move Mark’s car to Colorado. We loaded up the trunk and back seat with spare boxes, my – gently wrapped- Christmas cacti and all the cleaning supplies. Once Rick had successfully removed the satellite dish we threw that in the trunk as well. In the van we had five suitcases, a laundry basket full of dirty laundry, several banker’s boxes of personal information that I either needed on the trip or didn’t feel comfortable having on a truck, two sleeping bags, various totes full of toiletries and miscellaneous items the moving company wouldn’t transport, and one very full shopping bag holding our liquor supply. Have to keep the bourbon safe!

Behind Ethan’s seat I boxed out a space to hold Katya’s dog bed and give her room to lie down during the trip. At Ian’s feet was the large blue cooler full of drinks and Mark’s insulin. Between the front seats I had the “Mary Poppins” bag full of car activities and movies for the DVD player. The boys also had their mini-suitcases packed with toys, books and their bed-time animals. The van was literally crammed full.

While away for lunch we stopped by Ethan’s school and brought cupcakes to his class. He was surprised and so happy to see us. It broke my heart (and re-breaks it all over again as I type this over a week later) to see him so sad about leaving his friends. Not surprisingly, all the lunch ladies knew Ethan by name and they were the first people he gave cupcakes.
With the walk-through complete, the house cleaned and emptied, the cars packed and tearful good-byes said to Rebecca, Mrs. Riddle and Belinda, we drove to the Miller’s house to pick up the boys. Ethan got off the school bus with Lena, and so all five of the kids were out playing in the street and having a glorious time. More hugs and tearful good byes and then we were on the road. Ian shouted: “Bye Bye house!” “Bye bye soolk! (Ian speak for school)” “Bye Bye Giant!” and so-on each time we passed a familiar landmark.

Our goal was to drive as far as we could before stopping. It was typically a 9.5 hour drive (including stops) to get from our house to Mark’s mom’s house in Harrodsburg, Kentucky. Considering we left at 5pm, we thought Lexington, Virginia would be a good stopping point. We did stop between Front Royal and Staunton for dinner, but the boys were doing so well in the car that we kept pushing right on past Lexington. We reached Beckley, West Virginia at 10:30pm.

Ian was sound asleep in the back seat. He didn’t stir when we brought him in and tucked him into bed. Ethan was asleep soon after he slid beneath the covers. Katya paced for over an hour and insisted upon going out into the cold several times. There was about 5 inches of snow on the ground and the wind was bitterly cold – so I was un-amused with her by the time she finally decided to fall asleep. I finally drifted off around 1:30am.

And that’s how I spent my 35th birthday.