Pre-move: Thursday 8/11/11. Going away party at Monica's house with the FTS family. I already miss all of you, and I wish that you were down here with me! The outpouring of support, encouragement, and "how the hell could you do this?!" were just incredible, and so overwhelming because I truly realized what a wonderful, unique place Frankford truly is. I fully plan on crashing the DC trip in the Fall, and SB1 and I are already attempting to plan her first visit. Speaking of SB1, thank you and Jen for the going away gifts. You guys are the greatest. And Monica, thank you so, so much for the party; it meant so much more than words can describe! Even Caleb's disaster of slicing off a piece of his thumb made it a memorable and par-for-the-course FTS night!
Moving Day 1: 8/12/11. I woke up in the worst mood, ever. I was so stressed and didn't want to deal with any of the move that was ahead of me because I was so overwhelmed by the mountain of boxes that had taken over the living room, dining room, hallway, and kitchen. Breakfast with Tommy was the greatest thing that I could have done. Thank you, TH, for not letting me cancel on you, and for getting me laughing. My dad got to 12 Woodport at 9:30am, and WOW...he kept Kirstin and I laughing, organized, and calm the entire day. Even when we went to go pick up our 17-foot truck, and found that the rental place only had a 14-foot truck! After discovering that there wasn't a 17-foot truck in a 40-mile radius, we decided to take the 14-footer, and the trailer that could hitch to it. On the way back to our apartment, I had to detour to Staples to fax some paperwork to get my car title transfered to DC, and Kir and Dad went with the truck. After slamming on the brakes to avoid an ambulance and hearing the furniture pads (which, oh yeah, we ordered 12, but only received 4) and the dolly slamming around, they made it back....only to discover a huge hole in one of the tires. Yikes! Lunch rejuvenated us, and we called the UHaul repair service, and they quoted a time of between 2 and 4 hours for the repair. But, at least we could load the truck in the meantime. Which we started doing. At this point, the boys came and were a steady and consistent stream of labor. By the time the day ended at 8pm and the remaining movers had dinner, I felt like a zombie, but that didn't stop me from inhaling the mozz sticks and MEAT pizza that we ordered. Nom. Sleep couldn't come soon enough.
Moving Day 2: 8/13/11. Otherwise known as "The Day it Monsooned on 95 and The Phones Were Lost". First, Kir left her phone at my dad's, so we had to back track and get there. Then, I had left my phone in our old apartment when we went to go pick up the cats (who were completely freaked out!). At this point, I'm just happy that my mother was there to keep saying "it's fine". That was her mantra the entire day, and I am so grateful for it. We had expected that the truck was going to be behind us, BUT, due to all of our delays, traffic, torrential downpours, bathroom stops, and my brother's comfort with driving huge vehicles (occupational hazard!) the truck ended up beating us to V Street by a few minutes! I have to plug Town and Country Movers here because, if anyone ever needs movers to the DC/Maryland/Virginia area, I'd go with them. The movers that met us here were so professional quick. They had the truck and trailer unloaded in under 2 hours. The same truck and trailer that took us an entire day to load. Granted, packing takes longer, but still. They were fantastic. Call them. Use them. Kir's parents were so great and optimistic the whole day, too. Sal put together...well, just about everything, and Donna organized a kitchen that (we didn't remember) has less than half the cabinet space than we had had in Sparta. Whew. My brother and father put together my furniture and special kudos to Tommy for putting together the all-important shoe rack. If Braden is reading this, I know he's cringing right now at the thought of my immense shoe collection.
My friend Alex, who has been a priceless source of support, laughs, drinks, and information about the city made us a great dinner, where we indulged in the bottle of wine from Aunt Karen and Uncle Rich (loved it!) and then she and I met up with some of her friends. By the time I fell into bed after midnight, I was full, buzzed, and happy to be here.
Week 1:
I have been blessed to have this week off so that I could get so many little errands done that add up to making the transition a much smoother one. I did my pre-employment physical, TB test, criminal history check (stop laughing), opened my bank accounts, food shopped, met with HR, got my temporary parking permit, found my running route, and had my car inspected. WHEW. Exhausting, but so productive, and the indirect benefit of all of that trucking around has been that I am getting familiar with my new city! I'm getting pretty good at finding parking, and understanding the nuances of the various places to park, and my parallel parking is getting to a point that I'm proud to say is almost professional. I've cleaned the dickens out of this condo, and cooking has made it smell like home, too.
I've been meeting some incredible people, and that has really been the bread and butter of this week so far. I went to karaoke last night, had the time of my life, and I had even signed up to SING! Unfortunately, I was 2 or 3 names away from singing by the time karaoke was over, but I'm sure there will be a repeat performance. And, I'm SO happy that a few of my childhood friends are here, as well as some college ones. Reconnecting with them, in addition to meeting new friends, has made this week, and I'm sure subsequent weeks to come, so much fun. Thank you, my friends in NJ, for texting or calling this week to send little messages of love and support. You all mean the world to me, and seeing your name in the text line or caller ID makes me smile. DC friends, I'm so happy to have met you and I can't wait for the good times to roll!
Monday 8/22, is when work starts, so I'm sure that I'll have quite a bit to say by the end of next week! Can't wait! Love you all, and I hope that you are has happy, content, and inspired as I am right now. <3
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