The Big Trip, part 1: Moving Out




I reckon I should record this trip in some detail, since it is not only a vacation but a Major Life Change that we will, I hope, want to remember in years to come. We've been on the road for about a week now, although it seems like much longer, and I finally have some quality time with the internet to spend writing. This post will cover the three days of moving out.

In a word: exhausting. In more words: The whole week starting with Memorial Day was pretty much a blur of packing, combined with trips to school to clean out my classroom and attend various end-of-the-year functions. Stress built throughout the week and manifested itself as ever-worsening insomnia for me. My awesome colleague Virg volunteered to take Owen for an all-day playdate with her kids, his friends from day care whom he adores. When I showed up at her house on Saturday morning, I was so tired that she immediately put me to bed for the next hour and a half. After that, she gave me coffee and crumb cake and offered to take Owen on Sunday as well. (Virg, once more, thank you thank you thank you.)

I got home around ten to find Eric conducting an army of eight or so movers. We had to hire two separate companies - the local guys from Delancey Street to pack everything up and take it downstairs, and the long-haul shipping company to put it in the truck and drive it somewhere to be put in a container ship. We had never hired any kind of movers before, and it was both weird and very relaxing to just lean against the back of the couch and watch the guys pack everything up for me. They finished up around 1 pm, at which point it was clear that our estimate of 350 cubic feet was way too low, but it was too late to do anything about that. Then we got to the business of cleaning. We kept that up until Virg brought Owen home, late in the afternoon, and then headed to our destination: the home of our friends Nico and Lisa, who had very kindly offered to let us stay in their guest room. Owen was very excited to stay at "Janis! Home!" as their ten-year-old son (in the picture with Owen) is something of a hero to him.

Lisa had dinner ready for us when we got there, and we had a great evening with them. I will say this now: if you have friends who are moving away, and you want to give them a fantastic going away present, let them stay with you while they are moving out!! (To Nico, Lisa, Marika, and Janis, again: thank you thank you thank you thank you.) It was all the difference in the world between grabbing some cheap food and checking into a random hotel by the airport for three nights, and staying in a home with welcoming friends. Eric drove back later in the evening to deliver our car to its new owner, and then we tried to get some sleep.

Sunday is faster to describe: we dropped Owen off at Virg's place again (I should say: another really great going away present: offer to babysit during the move-out), got to the apartment, and cleaned. Cleaned, and cleaned, and cleaned. Eric sent out a UCSF mass email declaring "free stuff," so a steady stream of people arrived to pick up everything that hadn't been claimed yet. Owen arrived back in the late afternoon and almost immediately got packed off again to our next-door neighbors for a last playdate with their little girl. We cleaned some more. Finally it was evening; we picked up Owen and met Nico & family in the Sunset for dinner at Park Chow.

On Monday the guy who bought pretty much all of our furniture arrived with what appeared to be his entire lab, and they cleaned the place out in less than ten minutes. Eric and I finished up the cleaning while Owen, bless his heart, sat quietly in the corner watching Finding Nemo on Eric's computer. The maintenance guy showed up, declared us free to go, and we turned in the keys on the dot of 11 am, which was the deadline for the day. Eric spent the rest of the afternoon in the lab, while Owen and I went back to "Janis! Home!" for a long nap. The evening was mostly taken up with a last-minute trip to Target (new stroller and sandals for Owen), packing, and some late-night beer and chips with Nico and Lisa.

(Edited to add some pix of Owen helping with the packing.)

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