"We'll get by with a little help from our friends"

This blog post is dedicated to our friends Will and Paul who helped us tremendously over the last two days. We'll miss their friendship (and strong backs) dearly. 

We spent two days loading and packing our Penske truck. Will, our friend and my colleague in the English Department, magically appeared on Thursday morning. He helped us get into gear and he helped Shawn carry our heaviest things--including the piano. The piano was slightly wider than the ramp into the truck, and because our driveway is on a hill, the ramp was also at a slant. The piano teetered at one point, I saw Will's eyes get larger than I thought possible, and we all made a major heave to get the piano in. Little did I know that had the teeter been successful, I would have been crushed by it. So, thanks for saving me, Will! Our neighbor Brian also stopped by and took a few loads for us. Every little bit helps.

On Friday, Shawn and I awoke expecting to finish the job ourselves. Lachen is getting stronger and he has Shawn's work ethic. Aksel is still easily distracted by a pile of cushions on the floor or re-discovering an old toy. So, the Reid Family Moving Company is not quite ready for hire. But, for this day, we were it. Feeling more than a little overwhelmed, we bucked up and starting hauling. An hour into the morning, another moving angel appeared in the form of Paul Secrist, a.k.a. our Iowan friend, who has been so much a part of our sports life, family life, and our general juggling of life, I feel like the boys should call him Uncle Paul. Paul boosted our spirits, not to mention boosting dozens of boxes, dressers, and some really dusty, neglected old speakers. For the last two years, an extended family of dust bunnies have been procreating behind our TV armoire. Truly gross.

The big yellow rig took up the entire driveway, and somehow we fit everything we own into it. Everything, that is, except the yellow chair. I discovered this 1960s chair in the basement of the dorm, recovered it in a sunny yellow fabric, and in the end, there just wasn't room for it. It was either that or my loom, and I chose to keep my loom. So, I put it back in the basement so that some other crafty, quirky woman can discover it and give it a place of honor in her home.

We are packed into every inch of the truck and our car. We'll take three days to drive to Minnesota where I here there are flash floods. Luckily, my parents have checked on our house, and we are pleasantly perched atop of a hill--no trash bins floating down our alley. Ah, I like the sound of that: our alley. I'm so excited about city living, urban closeness, walkability. Living in the leafy suburb of Southborough has been an adventure, and we made lifelong friends and a myriad of memories. And now, the adventure continues! Westward ho! to the urban cabin... (I'll post better pictures when we arrive.)