Goodbye, America
Hello, England.
We move in five days. Four more sleeps. At this point, I’m just ready to go. Everything has been feeling in limbo for the past few weeks. I gave my notice at work and haven’t really gotten any new projects since then. We’ve been whittling down our belongings through garage sales, Marketplace, St. Vinny’s donations and giving to family. Summer camp just ended for the kids so they are crawling up the walls at home. (And they are really good at getting into stuff I’ve just packed or organized.) We’ve said our goodbyes to a lot of friends and neighbors already. Let’s just go now!
The next few days will be a whirlwind. Some family are coming for a goodbye picnic this weekend. Then, I have my last day at work, which is supposed to include an awkward Zoom farewell. (The downside of being a remote worker; no goodbye drinks.) I’ll need to get to a FedEx and ship my equipment back. And get a form notarized that we need for the global mail forwarding company. Plus, the consignment store is coming to pick up some furniture, and we need to take our car to the dealership to sell back to them. At some point, we need to clean and mow the lawn, because the people who are buying our house are doing the final walk-through on Tuesday. We need to sign the closing documents and take the check to the bank. A couple more people are stopping by to pick up furniture they bought from us, plus the removals company is coming to pack up and take away the stuff we’re shipping over. We need to finish packing our suitcases, take any final donations to drop off, and I need to coordinate with a shelter that’s taking our mattresses. I found a lady on Marketplace who wants the crib, so we need to disassemble and have her pick up on Wednesday morning before we go to the airport. Oh, and my daughter has a doctor’s appointment.
Sooo, yeah, it’s a lot. I’m not as sad about leaving our house as I thought I’d be. I’m sure I’ll cry when we’re driving away for the last time, but overall I feel relieved. It’s a big house that requires a lot of (expensive) upkeep and I’m ready to pass the torch. Owning has been good for us, but I’m happy to take a step back for a while and be a renter. Let someone else pay for the furnace when it breaks.
The kids are doing surprisingly well, considering they are watching their home and possessions get dismantled and scattered to the wind. Big kid is just excited about the move and the bunkbed we promised her. Little kid just wants to play “scary monster” and run around and hide. So far, 2 and 6 seem like good ages to uproot kids in a big move like this. I’m expecting some big emotions and adjustment struggles on the other side, but so far, so good.
