On May 15, our house was the center of a packing frenzy. A hoard of packers worked to put everything we owned into boxes as fast as they could. We watched as our entire life was deconstructed and stuffed into boxes. It was pretty upsetting. I felt violated. But this was part of the process. For two days, the packing and box stacking continued. On day three, the movers came to fit our stuff into three trucks. They got it into 12 crates and we were elated. This meant we would fit into a 40 foot container, a key factor in the cost of moving
While I watched them pack our life and throw the entire house into chaos or worse, Matt was sitting in the ER. He had been having extreme pain in his lower back for days and he needed two see a doctor. But we had no time to make appointments. The plane was leaving tomorrow. He needed to get diagnosed ASAP. We were worried it might be related to his nerve problems. He got checked in and they told us it would be hours before he saw a doctor, so I left him sitting in the ER while I dealt with the packers and the last errands. I admit it was not a great thing to do but we both knew we had no choice. We were leaving in less than 24 hours and he needed help. I needed to be at the house to address the questions and stay on top of it.
I picked Matt up late in the afternoon. He had blown discs in his lower back but we had to keep going. But we had to deal with what was in front of us. Luckily, he was comfortable sitting and we were going to be doing a lot of that in the next two days. Plus, he was loaded with pain meds and a prescription for steroids. The meds allowed him to move albeit, with impatience and anger that comes with steroids.
We had a lot of clean-up to do after the movers left. We went back to the house to hand out the last of our food to the neighbors and to gather the last items that needed to be tossed. This took some time and by the time we arrived at the hotel near the airport, it was a little before 10 p.m. As we checked in, the receptionist let us know that if we wanted food we had to hurry because the restaurant closed at 10, even for room service.
Seeing as we had to unload the car and make our way to the room, there was no way we were getting a food from the hotel. By this time, I was so hungry I could have eaten my hand, but we figured we would just order take out. What we did not anticipate was the fact if you are looking for take out after 10 p.m., the pickings are slim. Matt searched and searched and finally found a diner that would do carry out. Club sandwiches and pink lemonade seemed like the thing to eat at midnight. We finally passed out from exhaustion at about 1 a.m.
A Yank Among the Kiwis 