Independence Weekend

Well, the long awaited and much dreaded physical act of moving has come and gone and by virtue of these words brought to you via the world wide web, it’s safe to say we somehow lived to tell of it.

I will spare all the gory details - of not beginning to pack boxes until Sunday afternoon for a Tuesday move, the sale of air conditioners on Craigslist leading to an almost 90 degree apartment for our final night, and the comedy of errors that was the Budget truck office and hired labor for moving our stuff.  And that’s not even mentioning Tracy’s public transportation wrangling to get MIller to JFK for his flight to NC with my dad (his Big Pappa).

Suffice it to say we hoped to get out of NYC by mid afternoon on Tuesday but found ourselves not yet at the Lincoln Tunnel at 7pm.  And the only reason we even made it at that point was due to the immense help of (Saint) Stephen Wright who sweated alongside me for hours as we loaded up the truck.  We literally couldn’t have done it without Stephen.

By the time we found ourselves in the human Tetris game that is entering the Lincoln Tunnel we were at our wits end and simply ready to be on the road.  A few close calls with the side view mirrors later, we were through the tunnel and looking back on NYC.

We spent a thoroughly enjoyable evening in Delaware on Tuesday night - kidless for a night for the first time since Miller’s birth.  We rested easily knowing that Miller and Big Pappa had made its safely to NC, allowing us to (finally) take a deep breath and rest after days of relentless “always on” moving.  Delaware is a delightful little state, worthy of its “Small Wonder” moniker and we found ourselves recharged for the road trip on Wednesday. 

We were greeted in NC by my family and Miller and spent the next day and a half unpacking into our new (old) house.  Both sets of parents came up to help out and it was fun to re-acquaint ourselves with the neighborhood and house.  As expected, North Carolina is almost eerily quiet to us right now and we’ve more than a few times found ourselves asking, “where is everyone?”

The good news is that we were able to get away for a couple days from the unpacking and spend some much needed quality time with family.  First we went to Greensboro and spent the night with the Huitsings.  We can already envision all the fun the cousins will have over the years and the giggles between the three of them were priceless on Friday night. 

On Saturday, we made our way to my parents lake house and spent July 3rd with them, Jacob/Jensen and Tracy’s parents.  All of it - the sun, the sound of waves crashing on the rocks, and the many smiles and fun times shared with family - reminded us of why it’s so sweet to be back home. 

Now we’re back in Durham and back to moving boxes and getting the house in shape.  It’s sure to be a process, a marathon not a sprint.  And, oh yeah, there is the little matter of buying a 2nd car (and a crib, and a kitchen table, and a…) 

Alas, this Independence Weekend was a good one, back in the Old North State.