From 6:30 yesterday morning until midnight last night, I sprinted to the finish line preparing for the movers. Packing clothes into suitcases; separating out kitchen wares, linens, and toiletries to serve us the next eight weeks; gathering up batteries, light bulbs, and other items that can’t be shipped and segregating them; cleaning and oiling the hardwood furniture; vacuuming and rolling up rugs; conditioning the leather chairs; gathering like items together for packing; scrubbing and cleaning the bathrooms, assembling cleaning tools, and washing the curtains in preparation for our home inspection next week.

I fell into bed after my shower and shivered with my hair still wet, the wind howling and rain lashing the windows in the midnight gloom. I hunkered down into my pillow-top mattress and thought of how long it will be before I sleep in my own bed again.

I woke at 5 a.m. with three thoughts: I forgot to set aside Neosporin with the band-aids, I needed to gather up our photographs, and I had to locate the medical summary from my cardiologist so I can hand carry it to the States. I laid in bed for an hour, remembering other things I’d neglected to take care of: I needed to get a scarf, hat, and gloves out of the hall closet; I wanted to pull a poetry anthology off the bookshelves;  I had to make sure my son had packed a pair of khaki pants; I needed to give the kids money for lunch because I wouldn’t be making lunches that morning; and I had to finish tagging the items that the movers shouldn’t pack.

At 6 a.m., I slipped downstairs and started on all those tasks while getting the kids ready for school. At 9 a.m., the movers arrived, smelling of hard work and tobacco. They came over from Antwerp, but most are French speakers. They quickly settled into their jobs and broke sweats. We turned down the heat and opened some windows. I’m freezing. Everyone else is comfortable. E keeps everyone in coffee.

Today is mostly a day of watching and waiting. Seeing my life sift through the sturdy hands of strangers, wondering what thoughts slide through their minds as they wrap my dishes and crystal, precious mementos, shelves of books, drawers of clothes. The work is going much faster than expected—everything we’ve done to prepare has made a big difference.

Now, to keep things interesting, the guys delivering our borrowed furniture have arrived, so as one set of goods is prepared to ship out, another group is ready to set up. We’re trying to make space and keep from running into one another. As E tells them where to place the living room furniture, I have only one thing on my mind: When are they going to set up a bed?

I'm beyond tired. And I have hours to go before I sleep, hours to go before I sleep.

January 16, 2008