On the move...

We are now at the Sheraton Hotel near Newark Airport, and I wanted to take a minute to write about our crazy move.

Monday, Chris' parents arrived to help us finish packing. We got things ready to go for the movers, who were to show up on Tues morning at 8am. My friend, Nancy, dropped by to say goodbye and pick up some books, and Nate was over most of the evening helping us. He helped Chris & I pack our suitcases, and I have to say, the boy has talent. :) He was able to get everything in with room to spare!

Tues morning, our day started with our movers being an hour and a half late. I got up at 6:45am and we just ended up sitting around and waiting until they arrived. We had some breakfast delivered. Chris' parents got to our place closer to 10am. We were suppose to have 4 moving guys, but ended up missing one, so things went slow. It took the guys 4 hours to get everything out of the apartment. One of our older Italian neighbors was very upset that she had to get around our stuff in the hallway. She yelled at us, and our movers. I attempted to explain to her that we were doing the best we could, and that the guys just couldn't get all of our stuff down 4 flights of stairs all at once. She didn't understand.

The movers finally got our stuff over to the storage unit, and took an additional 2 hours getting it all unloaded and packed in.

Carolyn was wonderful when it came to cleaning the apartment. I don't know what we would have done without the help of Carolyn, David, and Nate.

Nate & I took some furniture, clothing, a microwave, and some other things to the church down the block. They were very happy for the donations. At one point, Nate & I went up and down the stairs 5 times in a row! Needless to say, my legs are SO sore today.

Carolyn, David, and I took a break and headed to Giovanni's for pizza since it was getting later and we had skipped lunch. Chris & Nate walked down to the Cablevision store to turn in the DVR...and ended up being there over an hour waiting in line. By the time they reached the restaurant, we had to have the waitress reheat the pizza.

After dinner, we finished taking more trash downstairs and cleaning the place. A Hispanic family was moving in across the hall from us at that time. They had at least 5 little kids running up and down the stairs with items. We were all envious of their energy...since we were all dragging up and down those steps by then. The next place we live, we MUST have an elevator!

David and I took a few last minute things over to the storage unit, just to find that you can't get in after 7pm. There was a guy there and we begged, pleaded, and offered bribes, and he would not let us bring the few things we needed up to our unit. We were SO mad! So we had to unload all that stuff we had packed in the car, and take it all back up the stairs to the apartment.

We didn't get to the hotel last night until 10:43pm. Oreo was happy to explore the two rooms. For part of the day, Oreo stayed in the bathroom, and the other half we had him in our bedroom. He seemed pretty relaxed given the situation. Last night around 5am, he decided to wedge himself into the tiny space under the sink in the bathroom. Chris had to unscrew the cabinet door to get him out. I will have take a picture and attach so it will make more sense. We were up and down with Oreo all night.

This morning, we got up early and had breakfast in the hotel restaurant. Chris & David are headed back to the apartment for the last few things to take to the storage unit. We are keeping our fingers crossed that they don't hit traffic and can get back over here before lunch. We have to be at the airport before 3:30pm this afternoon. Our flight leaves at 5:45pm.

I really don't know how we did the work we did...without collapsing! Nate was a HUGE help....really relaxed about everything, ready to do anything you asked of him. He was amazing. I'm going to miss our boy! Carolyn & David were great too. I don't think Chris & I could have done it all on our own.

So, now I'm debating if I should go jump in the jacuzzi for a bit and soak my tired muscles before the flight later today. I'm thinking I will sleep most of the way. We will post more when we arrive at our destination.