Our
Move to Normal was Anything but Normal!
by Laurie Larsen
Everything
was going so smoothly! Our
Pennsylvania house was up on the market, we found the house of our dreams in
Normal, our new jobs were falling into line.
If I said it once, I said it 50 times:
"Everything is going so smoothly!"
Is it possible that I jinxed myself?
It was
September 29th. I'd had my last day
of work in Pennsylvania. I'd said all the tearful good-byes to my co-workers who I'd
shared the last ten years with. The
past month had been filled with parties, dinners, and get-togethers as we
prepared to leave these people who had come to mean so much to us.
But there
was also a big sense of excitement, for me mostly.
I'm moving back to my hometown! I'll
be near my parents again and they'll be able to take an active part in my boys'
growing up.
So, I was
sitting there on September 29th, boxes filled with all our belongings sitting
around me, waiting for the movers to come load all our stuff on the huge van
which will transport all our worldly goods across-country to Normal, Illinois.
I thought about our plans for tonight--dinner at 6:30 with a neighbor,
check into a hotel, visits from various members of the Larsen family there, then
a good night's sleep as we prepare for our 16-hour drive in the morning.
I checked
my watch. Nine thirty.
Hmmm, the movers were supposed to be here between 8 and 9.
I wonder what's keeping them.
As the
hours passed with no sight of the big orange van, my calm, reflective demeanor
was gradually replaced with impatience, frustration and anger.
That delay on loading day was a foreshadowing of what turned out to be a
nightmare of a move. Since you
don't have time to read a novel, I'll summarize for you:
**The big
orange van showed up around 12:30. The
driver, Willie and his assistant, T-Bone gave me a story about being almost all
the way here, when they got a call on the road that their second assistant was
needed in the delivery room while his girlfriend gave birth.
However, instead of getting right to work to make up for the 4-hour
delay, they sent me to McDonald's with their lunch order.
**At 6:30
we went to our neighbors' for dinner as planned, while Willie and T-Bone
continued working. They were still
loading when the kids' bedtime rolled around so I loaded up the kids to take to
the hotel. As I was trying to get
the cat into her carrier to transport her to the hotel, she escaped into the
night.
**Norm's parents were waiting for us at the hotel, but unfortunately they were waiting at the wrong hotel! When they finally recovered from their error and arrived at the correct hotel, it was 10:30 p.m.
**Having
exchanged very brief good-byes with Norm's family at the hotel, we got right to
sleep. We got up early, but our
hopes of getting an early start on the road were crushed since we had to go back
to the house to see if we can retrieve the cat.
**Back at
the house, we found the cat. During
a quick walkthrough, we were infuriated to see that Willie and T-Bone had left
quite a few of our items sitting around the house, a lamp here, a shelf there.
Some things we were able to stick in our trunk, others that we couldn't
fit in, we were forced to leave.
**We
finally hit the road around 9:30. On
the road with a baby, a 4-year old and a cat.
Our home for the next two days.
**Little
Norm complained of a toothache all day. When
I grew tired of hearing, "My tooth hurts!" I started counting each
time he said it. I counted to 65 before he switched to "My tongue
hurts!"
**After a
long day, we stopped at a Holiday Inn near Akron, Ohio.
We recouped with a visit to the swimming pool, the game room and the
restaurant. We sneaked the cat in
and kept her in the bathroom and got a good night's sleep.
**Next day
(Sunday), more of the same. More
complaining of a toothache. We
arrived at my parent's house around 5:30, relieved that the trip was over.
**On
Monday, Norm headed in one direction to the dentist with Norm, and I headed in
the other direction to the pediatrician with Jeffrey because he had woken up
with a fever. We were new in town,
but we were acclimating the medical profession quickly.
Norm received the surprising news that Norm had a cavity so big that he
needed a root canal. I received the
not-so-surprising news that Jeffrey had an ear infection.
**On
Tuesday the movers were scheduled to arrive with our stuff at 9:00!
We got to our empty house at 8:40, ready to begin the process of moving
in. They didn't arrive till 3:30.
**Once
again, since they didn't start till late, they worked until well after dark to
unload. And once again, they missed
a bunch of stuff in the dark. What
we didn't realize till later was they drove several boxes of our belongings away
in the van, some of them we recovered, and some we never did.
**On
Wednesday we started unpacking and quickly began noticing damaged items, and
missing items. When it was all said
and done, the movers owed us nearly $1000 in claims.
As of this writing, they've agreed to the amount, but we've yet to see a
check!
**At 1:00 that day we took time out to take Little Norm to his dentist appointment, only to find out the dentist had gone home sick. By the time they were able to reschedule that Friday, that little boy was in such constant pain, he actually welcomed the laughing gas, the two shots of Novacaine, and the root canal. You think it's bad having that stuff done to you. It's even worse watching it being done your 4-year old son.
Well, it's been a long couple months, to say the least. Even a good move is stressful, let alone throwing in all the other stuff. I'm taking a positive attitude and choosing to decide that the disastrous move is NOT indicative of our future here. But I will think twice the next time I say, "Everything's going so smoothly!"