We really do like moving. Isaac seems to as well, or at least is picking up on our enjoyment of moving. Ok, so we bickered in front of the movers on Day Three, but whatever.
Our Day One and Two (all female) packers were AMAZING! You know they’ll do better job with the dishes!! No offense, male movers, but this was confirmed when you dropped a box down the stairs before 8:30am the next day. The Day Three moving/loading crew was absolutely ridiculous. They showed up earlier than the packers had, so Isaac and I were at the breakfast table. The first thing they removed from the house were the breakfast table chairs. I got up to get something for Isaac and by the time I got back to the table, my chair was gone too! At least they didn’t pack Isaac.
The same thing happened at lunch—they were on a lunch break, so Chris and I sat in the only chairs left in the house out on the back porch to eat random fridge clean out leftovers. From nowhere a mover came and removed all the chairs we weren’t currently touching. Then those chairs sat in the driveway for hours. Moving the chairs we wanted was the only thing they did quickly. The driver told us later two of the four-guy crew were barely working at all, and that’s why they were done hours after they could have been. Eye roll. Of course it rained all afternoon—it’s Florida in the summer! Yay, moving.
“Miss, are you going to the store?” one of the guys asked me in the morning chaos of trying to get in the car and out of their way, breakfast interrupted, box falling downstairs. I hadn’t eaten anything, Isaac was still in jammies. I frowned. “Do you need something?” “I need ice for the cooler,” he said. You are so my last priority right now is what I thought. I didn’t say that, just frowned distractedly and went back to trying to get Isaac dressed in the sweltering garage because my car was blocked in by the moving truck. Later one of the guys told Chris he needed to eat our M&Ms on the counter because he had low blood sugar. At 9am. And finally, another mover told me he needed to use my iphone charger when I was done. Not the best movers he’s ever worked with, the driver confirmed after they left. But not the worst. HELP US ALL.
I thought Isaac might be freaked out by the packing and moving, but…he wasn’t. He wasn’t delighted when his garbage truck of cars was packed, but the rest of the time he did really well. He even helped mop the entryway!
Ice cream for dinner?! YEAH I like moving!
Many thanks to Laura for letting Isaac come play on loading day and Julie for letting us spend our last night in your guest room!
After that, we hit the road!!
“Drive all day?” Isaac asked. “Chicken place?” Fast food makes everything better (for a toddler).
I put on some Ace of Base for the drive and Isaac said, “No Mama’s song. I want Mac’s song.”
One quick download later we were flying along 65 somewhere in Alabama jamming to the Rascal Flat’s “Life is a Highway.” Isaac calls it “Mac’s song” because it plays in Cars when Lightning McQueen and Mac are road tripping. This is SO my kid.
Crepe myrtles bloomed enthusiastically through Florida, Alabama, South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia. At highway rest stops we were able to sit comfortably outside in the middle of the day under shaded pavillions with a light, cool breeze. Is this what summer is like outside of flat-hot USA? I like the restrained glamour, the dusty magenta, of crepe myrtles. Landscaped, manicured and wild, they waved roadside the whole ride.
“Whoa! It’s a pretty sunset!” Isaac said as we zipped through a tunnel and over a bridge, arriving in Norfolk at a rather charming time of day. And we’re here! We pick up our keys (and see our house for the first time—-!!!) today!
Anonymous says
How are you liking Norfolk so far? We lived there prior to Japan. I sure do miss you, Mari!
Love, Nicole
AS says
I'm so glad to see that awesome blanket, crocheted with many prayers of love, in almost every picture of Issac! You never know what kids will like.
Amanda says
Hope you're doing well! We miss you here in Texas. Thank you again for hosting us when we visited FL. We hope all is well in Norfolk!!