sweet home chicago

well friends, we have arrived! the "move" (phase one) is officially over and now on to the business of getting settled. but first, i'll share some details. (it might take a few posts because, ahem, i tend to be a little long winded... not that you mind?!)

our doorbell rang at 7am the day after labor day by a packing crew. scott stayed at the house and managed the crew while i departed and managed the more motley crew. the girls and i headed out to my friend kristie's house to hang for the morning. it was bittersweet. kristie and her fam just moved from the city to a home five blocks from our home. hanging out leisurely with her on our last day in town felt so relaxing and peaceful. i had been looking forward to days of that nature as their condo was on the market for the past year and a half, but alas, it didn't sell until a week before we sold our house. thus, making days like that limited... and by limited i mean it only happened that once. but enjoy it i did. i didn't know it at the time, but it would be the last time i hung with this dear friend before departing. it was probably better that way as i didn't really have to say "goodbye".

as i left her house to head to the city, i drove past my house one last time (again, not really knowing if it would be the last time) and got to witness my car being hauled onto the car carrier. for whatever reason, this is the moment where the hugeness of our move really hit me. seeing my car on top of the rig moved me right to tears- you see not having to pack (huge blessing) allowed me to avoid seeing my stuff packed and ready to go. without the visual, it was very easy to avoid the reality that we were in fact moving across the country. up until that moment, i was just organizing stuff... hotel accommodations, flights, packers, movers and the like. but seeing my car ready to be sent off made it all very real. i digress...

as i tried to hide my tears so that my girls wouldn't see their momma fall apart and follow suit, e's sweet friend zoey walked by on her way to kindergarten. e spotted her immediately and sensed something in the air. she began to cry her little eyes out. and although she had already said goodbye to this amazing girl, e had to do it again. she hopped out of the car and hugged her friend, breaking my little heart all over again as i watched e's heart fill with sadness. but my girl made me proud. she pulled up her bootstraps and got on with it, trying to embrace the unknown that lied ahead. she's a strong one, my little e is.

and on to the city we went, checking into our hotel that would be home for the next few days. we spent the next few days in city living bliss (or at least that is what i am telling myself now... a two room hotel suite with a family of five leaves something to be desired). our days were filled with park play dates and time with our favorite city friends. i must insert that i have the most wonderful bunch of friends- they met me all over the place in an effort to get in some good hanging out time and went above the call of duty in filling our hours to avoid unwanted time in the hotel room.

while i tried to make hotel living the "norm" for our girls, scott drove back to the house to oversee the packers and movers and was met with some challenges of his own. our moving company somehow made some enormous miscalculations in the size of our load. about half way through pack up, they realized this mistake and tried to assemble some sort of solution. their first attempt included a polite call to moi suggesting that i tried to hide a sofa under the rug when they made their bid. after informing them that i don't in fact have a secret attic, they got down to the business of really solving the problem. let's just say that about 35% of our belongings are still unaccounted for and that the solution involved extra trucks, storage units, and a new load that is currently somewhere in texas... or so they tell me. and at the end of the day, it really doesn't matter because it is just "stuff".

and then onward we went... next installment: the airport. stay tuned, as the adventure is certainly not dull.