Last night and day accompanied by panic

Yesterday was pretty stressful. We got up and drove to the house. As soon as the movers were up and running, I left to run some errands. I picked up Steve's prescription, grabbed some stuff for lunch, picked up some coffee and breakfast, and went to the post office to have our mail forwarded. When I got home Steve asked me if I had our passports. I looked through my backpack. They weren't there. I told Steve, "Honestly, I really thought it was there." We started thinking. When was the last time we saw them? I remembered making copies of them on the printer. Oh no! Steve asked me where the printer was. "Did you send it to storage?" I said, "No, you told me to send it to Aberdeen!"

We jumped in the car to head to the hotel to search our luggage. On the way, we called the shipping company. Thankfully, the container had not left the shipping yard yet. They put a hold on the shipment. The entire drive was terrible. There was lots of traffic. I kept telling Steve, "I can't imagine that I would just leave them there and that surely neither of us would see that envelope they were in on the ground and just pass it. If it wasn't at the hotel, we would have to look through so many boxes on that shipping container. I felt nauseated. Then, I told Steve, "Wait. I remember standing up, putting them in the envelope, and sealing it. I just can't remember what I did with them after that." He said, "Well if we can't find them, we are screwed." I wanted to throw up.  I told Steve that I remembered shoving several things into his carry-on bag because we were so busy, and I was pulled in so many directions that it was always my "safety" when I had something in my hand.

As we walked into the hotel, I said, "You know, the Bible says that faith the size of a mustard seed can move mountains. Think you can manage just a little faith because that would be beneficial right now." We got into the room, opened his carry-on bag, and THERE THEY WERE. I thanked God immediately and told Steve, 'You might want to say thank you." Then, I just sat on the bed and cried. That was the most stressful moment of this entire ordeal.

So, back to the house. They finished packing everything. All the trash was piled up outside. The garbage man tried to skip our house because the moving truck was there so he couldn't back in as close as he wanted to the trash pile. He was saying, "Just leave it!" Steve chased him down the road to talk to them. Eventually they came back, and I made sure to talk to them and tell them how much I appreciated them. We also had the landscaping crew there mowing, and the pool guy cleaning the pool. Crazy busy day!

When everybody left, we drove to Comcast to drop off the internet modem and then to the bank to notarize all the power of attorney papers. After that we went to Lowes to rent a steam cleaner and to get door stops and magic erasers. We got home and realized that the Spackle I had was packed. Steve drove back to Lowes to get nail filler.

We had our last meal in the house and then started the clean-up!

We spent the rest of the evening and night pulling out nails and screws and sealing the holes, scrubbing all the walls in rooms and closets, cleaning the upstairs bathroom, and then steam cleaning all the carpets upstairs. We are paying somebody to take care of everything downstairs.

It was so strange locking things up and staring at the house for what we knew would be the last time. I told Steve, "It's not the house I will miss, it's the memories in the house... those days when you look at something, and it reminds you of somebody or some great memory with them."

Back at the hotel, we had a nice glass of wine while finishing up some paperwork. Then, finally, we got some rest.

This morning we had to go to the bank, drop off attorney papers at the UPS, call lots of companies, pay lots of bills, and then we met my friend Jennifer for lunch. It was nice to see her one last time. I wish I could tell you guys more about yesterday (yes, there is more) and today, but I have to pack now, go to the bank, return the rental car, and get on a plane, one-way, to Scotland. Let the adventures begin.

My friend, Jennifer, recorded her daughter saying good-bye to us. Heidi is so cute. Check out the video. She gave me permission to post it.