Goodbye Ireland, Its Been Grand!

It has been a tiring week, emotionally and physically. Running around, packing, movers, hotels, flights, taxis. Monday our furniture went away, we finished packing our suitcases, and we moved to a hotel. Tuesday our belongings were packed up and we wrapped up some things around town. The cleaners also started at the house. Wednesday the cleaners finished and we handed our keys over. Our lovely landlord brought gifts for the kids, it was very sweet. On Thursday, me, my wife, and our two kids, two cats in crates, and 21 things (11 checked bags, 2 car seats, stroller, 7 carry-ons) got in a shuttle and traveled to the airport. It all went very smoothly! We had some time for breakfast before our 6 hour flight. The flight went so fast, I barely finished a movie. We then collected all the items and Nolan and I got in a van for Rhode Island. Kacey and Liana got a car and came down after us. I got some food and litter for the cats and let them investigate the apartment, and we got some Panera to eat before we all crashed around 8pm.

We are quite sad to leave Ireland. And I can't even really describe it much right now. But, here is a list of things I will miss, and some things I am looking forward to back in the good ole US of A.

Miss...

Roundabouts - Love them, and the few in the US don't seem to function correctly.
Easy flights to Europe - We have seen so much history, culture, scenery, and food, we are very fortunate.
Dun Laoghaire Presbyterian Church - Such a loving and well-ministered place!
People's Park on Sundays - Even when it was raining, I looked forward to heading down the hill.
Guinness - I never had a Guinness before entering Ireland, and I had only recently started to enjoy darker beer before moving to Ireland. And as I tried many stouts and porters, there is a reason for the reputation of Guinness. From the tap. In Ireland. It is just good.
Fuel prices that never change - You never really had to worry about the price of diesel, it is always expensive.
Coke made with real sugar - I love coke, and because of that I don't allow myself to drink it very often. It is a special treat once or twice a month. But it tastes so much better in Europe! I don't think I will drink it in the states unless I find real sugar coke.
Saying "grand" and "brilliant" and "thanks a mil" all the time - Common Irish phrases that you find yourself saying, because everyone there says them.
Father Ted - Great comedy from the late 90s, nice and dry. Find some DVDs and check it out!
Safe power outlets - Great, safe design that I will miss.
Brennans Bread - Delicious, healthy sandwich bread. Nothing like it in the states.
Friendly people everywhere - I think the percentage of friendly people is higher here than most places.
Our home - This was our home, full of wonderful memories, in a lovely suburb town of a lovely city, and will always be cherished.

Looking Forward To...

On-demand hot water and house heat - Imagine wanting to take a random shower at 3pm in the afternoon. No, wait! First turn on the hot water, then wait a while. Was the house cold yesterday yet warm today? Tough. There is no thermostat.
NFL
Seasons - I miss fall. And snow.
Mexican food - Where it does exist in Ireland, it is a huge disappointment.
Inexpensive fuel - DON'T complain about the cost of gas. It costs less than half of Europe.
Handbell choir - Presbyterian churches don't do this in Ireland. I miss playing.
Understanding all the dialects of the land - Sometimes, we just plain couldn't understand someone from the far north or far west or far south. But here, I can understand people from all over the country.
Good beef - The Irish love their beef. But it just flat out doesn't taste as good as US beef!
Sinks that mix the water for you in a single faucet - Want to wash your hands with warm water? Too bad!
Turn on red - Turning left on a red is illegal in Ireland, no matter how clear the view is. I already enjoy getting to turn right on red here!
Showers that don't open to the bathroom - I miss shower curtains! No more 10% of your shower water ending up on the floor.
Big, fast washer and dryer - Imagine being able to do only two very small loads of laundry a day. Or for my european friends, imagine doing the weeks laundry in just a few hours once a week!

Leaving the airport

Next Chapter Coming!

This is our final week in California; next week we move to Dublin, Ireland! We have made some great friends here in SoCal and it is sad to leave them. Hopefully we get some visitors to Ireland!

This week is going to be hard on Nolan because I can't give him a lot of attention, and a lot of his stuff is packed up. He has still been pretty good, though.

We are almost done selling a few things. Still need to sell the Durango and the cordless drill. We have backup plans for each, so not too much stress.

We are excited for the next chapter of our lives!

Craziness

So it has been over a week since we left Cambridge. There was much craziness last week. Here is a recap...

Saturday the 15th - I loaded the car and took a load to storage. Kacey packed some more stuff up while I was gone and once home I did some more as well.
Sunday the 16th - I rented a U-Haul 10' truck and took a load of things I could carry by myself. I took many boxes, a desk, and some other things we didn't need around the apartment. The day involved much more packing, too.
Monday the 17th - We had to get everything ready to go on the big truck I was renting Tuesday. The beds, desks, all the big stuff had to go while I had some help on Tuesday, so everything had to get ready.
Tuesday the 18th - This was the day all the big stuff had to go. Cynthia came over and watched Nolan for about an hour so Kacey could get stuff ready with me. Thanks Cynthia! Then Chris Hopkins came over to help me load up all the big stuff. Thanks Chris!!!!! This was a massive task; we had way too much stuff in Cambridge. I want to leave it all in storage when we get back, it is just too much! Once Chris and I got back to Cambridge, we met Kacey, Nolan, and Todd for dinner. Oh, about half way through loading the truck, I realized all the big stuff would not fit, so that meant I was renting another truck on Thursday, the day we were leaving the city. Tuesday night I was able to sleep somewhat on the air mattress, mostly because I was pretty tired.
Wednesday the 19th - Kacey had her final in the morning. Nolan and I did some playing and then daddy got busy packing up all the remaining crap we still had left. I sectioned off an area with the gates and put everything there. While there wasn't too much big things left, there was a lot of small stuff. Wednesday night, I could not sleep.
Thursday the 20th - I picked up the truck and Todd (thanks Todd!) and we loaded up the remaining things. Then I drove them down by myself while Kacey drove our stuff and Todd and his stuff to comcast. Turns out that I returned the truck just after they got back to Central Square. Since I finished so early, I grabbed a sandwich and helped Chris, Todd, and Cynthia load up their things in their truck. We finished around 4:30 so I walked home and started getting the car ready for our drive back to the midwest. Our goal was to leave around 9-10pm and drive until we got tired, then pull off for a quick nap during the night. We grabbed some dinner at The Friendly Toast and went back to finish off the loading. I administered the cat meds around 8 and we spend the next two hours packing, throwing away trash, and saying goodbye. It was kind of sad because this is where Nolan first walked and spent a lot of his life to that point. But by 10:30pm we were on the road. I drove until midnight, then Kacey drove until 2am. We stopped for a 3.5 hour nap at a rest stop in New York somewhere. At 5:30am, I started driving again and we arrived in Ft. Wayne at 5pm Friday. We were done!

We have been doing a lot of visiting while back in the midwest. We started off with my family on Saturday down at my cousin's house in Martinsville. It was a fun day of running with the kids and chatting with family. On Sunday we went to our old church and then had lunch with our old small group. After lunch we had a cookout with the Indy Rose Pikes at Tom & Jenny's house. It was a very fun day!

On Monday we got to visit with my grandparents. We had not seen them since August and probably won't see them again until next June. We had a very nice visit. On Tuesday we had lunch with a couple of Kacey's friends, dinner with Adam and Sarah, and play time at the Charltons house that night. On Wednesday we spent more time with the Charltons after lunch and then had a nice dinner at Adam and Amanda's house. This is where we said our final goodbyes as we were leaving Thursday for Toledo.

Thursday Eric came down and we dropped off the car at my mom's house and loaded up Eric's car with our stuff. We drove to the Fort and Eric spent some time playing with Nolan. It was a nice visit. Then Mike and Maggie met us for dinner and drove us up to Toledo.

In all this madness, Kacey has been dealing with visa issues. We find out Tuesday around lunch if we are allowed to leave for Italy this week. I hope so - I don't want to sit indefinitely and have to change multiple flights at great expense.

So in all our craziness, there are many people who helped make it all possible. Cynthia, Todd, and Chris all saved our butts by helping us move out of the apartment. Karl and Nancy took in our kitties while we are away. Eric gave us a bed AND drove to get us in Indy. Vince and Sharon offered us a bed in Indy for 5 nights. My mom arranged a family get-together and took in our car. Mike and Maggie made us yummy food and came and got us in Ft. Wayne. And a thanks to my little boy who had to live through this, being in a car way too much, and not having toys and not getting the attention he deserves (it made me sad). Thanks to you all!

What Is Going On?

It has been a little hectic around here. But so some day I can look back and reflect on what we did, here we go with an update...

Kacey, of course, has to continue going to class and turning in projects and giving presentations. But now, she is mostly done! Just a few more study sessions and one more final to go!

We started packing little bits a few weeks ago. I also put a deposit down on a storage unit that about 6 people will share. Slowly and surely I would pack a little more each day. Then about a week ago, I started assembling boxes for "real" packing. Kitchen, bathroom, clothes, random junk... you know, stuff that makes your apartment look like you are moving. I took as many boxes as would fit in the car yesterday morning to acquire our storage unit. Today I rented a small U-Haul truck to take boxes, a desk, some tables, and lots of large items that are just in the way and ready to go. Too bad it still looks like we have a ton of crap! Tuesday, the plan is one of Kacey's classmates will come over after class and help me move the items I can't do by myself. TV, bed, couch, three dressers, bookcase, another desk. Then we will also grab a few of his things. So by Tuesday night, our apartment will be naked. Then I will probably have to take a couple car loads Wednesday and Thursday.

That is ok because Thursday night we get in the car with the cats and drive through the night until we reach Indiana! We figure since Kacey is used to staying up until like 1am, she will drive from 9pm-1am. Then we will stop and if I feel up to it, I will drive for a few hours. If we need to stop for some short naps, we have plenty of time to reach Indiana by Friday afternoon. We will be in Indiana for about 5 days. Not much planned yet, just visiting friends and family. Then we get driven to Toledo (our car is staying in Indy, I think), with a stop in F-Dub to visit with Eric, and stay in Toledo until June 1. Then we fly back to Boston, spend the night, then get ready for our flight to Florence on June 2!

It is funny. This is half a brain dump for sharing and half for me to think about how we are going to do this :)