Leaving Home

As the removalist wandered around our home, mentally packing his truck , I apologised profusely for not quite being ready. I was still running around madly finding more 'stuff' and trying to find something to shove it in. " Please make me feel better and tell me there have been people less prepared than us!"
"Don't worry love, we've woken some people up and they've packed nothing." (Jesus!) This did make me feel better but not much as it was basically comparing ourselves to complete idiots. Or perhaps just really, really relaxed people(?) The removalist added kindly- "We all just collect so much stuff." "Yeah." I agreed.
"You can always have a garage sale."
"Uh, we've had one."
"Well, theres always charity- you can always find a few things you dodn't need."
"We've done that already.."
The removalist decided his one moment in life to be helpful was well and truly over and hurried off to do his job. As he ought. Ahem.
The next day was just me cleaning and ramming last things into our car. The day was a spectacular arc of not caring, then caring a great deal to once again not caring as time ran out and the importance of wiping dust off something that is no longer yours seemed irrelevent.
Unfortunately the new owners truck arrived 40 minutes before I was due to be out and though they assured me they weren't in a rush- being paid by the hour- I felt as though they and the new owners were all out on the front lawn with stop watches and angry glares. At two minutes to the appointed- 'get the hell out of my new home' hour, I realised I would not get everything into my car and ran up to the waiting truck, waving frantically. The burley men looked down at me, no doubt I interrupted their I Spy game- "Whats up love?"
"Uh, I just have a few things won't fit in my car. I'm just going to drive five doors up and put them at my neighbours- and then I'll be back for the rest." Bloody hell, I would have qualified for the olympics- shove heavy boxes in car- drive up road and one by one sprint up and down a 45 degree driveway until you have a really clear picture of how very unfit you really are. People, I drove out of my driveway for the last time at two minutes after the hour. Thankyou for the applause. I waved madly at the removalsists as they left and they looked at me like the idiot I appeared to be, but I didn't care- it was done!!!
It had been a trying two weeks- packing and tidying, giving away beloved pets (who bloody appear happier at their new homes- so fickle the furred!)- all whilst still working. I had a lovely work farewell- the first time people have appeared sad to see me leave a job- and we all got a lot of hugs from people which was nice for me and alarming for the boys.
We have had so many meals out with people that I wanted to puke but we soldiered on somehow.
The host for the 10 days between our house selling and us choofing off was my mother. I don't know for whom the days seemed longest- buts lets just say that living in a new country will be comparatively easy and that living without us with be very pleasant and peaceful!
Those ten days were spent more or less contacting every bloody institution we have anything to do with and changing details or cancelling them, sorting out banks- one for here and one for there (more wildly varying lots of information causing us great grief), selling cars- what a crappy job that is, having a child with a bad flu whom everyone tell you helpfully will probably not be allowed on a plane, taking more and more stuff to the storage place where our gear is in hiatus, changing money, living with a stroppy teenager who just wants to see his friends and pretty much do nothing else.
And yet, and yet...here I am the morning of our departure, tapping away instead of packing up the last of our gear and getting my blood pressure up to the proper leaving my old life behind sort of level.
At least the kids are finally jumping around in excitement and looking back I can really see how very far we have come to get to this point. It's been a very bumpy road, but the destination is just a plane trip away and I have to say, I'm really bloody proud of ourselves to have got here.
The hobbits are going to Isengard!