Super Packers

I am doomed. I will never again be able to move without the help of packers. The packing service was provided for us through the company, and it was great! On Monday, the team showed up, packed the majority of the house, and loaded the basement. Yesterday, they finished up the one room left to pack and loaded the rest of the boxes and furniture. Today was the final day, when they disasmembled the bed and crib and off they went.

I will admit that I was sad last night. Something about giving Henry his bath and putting him to bed for the last time in his nursery made this move such a reality. It seems like yesterday that Andy and I were painting and readying the nursery, and to see it stripped down, with nothing but the paint to remind us that this was our little boy's room, was really depressing.

But, this morning was a new day, and now I feel like we are ready to make our move. We also found out that our delivery will be very early in the spread. Our moving representative gave us a spread of the 7th to the 14th for the possible delivery of our goods. We were nervous that the 4th of July holiday would mean that we'd be waiting for days for our things. Today, however, we learned we'd get them on July 8th, with the possibility of them coming on the 7th. I am thrilled to think that we won't have to spend a week on an air mattress and Henry won't have to deal with the pack n play for too long.

Henry has been pleasently resiliant thus far. We got to our temporary residence today (Joe and Melissa's house since they're out of town), and Henry went right down for his nap after eating lunch. I hope this bodes well for the future.

For now, we are going to spend the next few days bidding adieu to our home and friends here in this magnificent city. We will miss it so!

The Last of the Bread Pudding Pancakes

Here is Henry and me, at one of our favorite spots: Southport Grocery and Cafe, eating our last order of their delicious bread pudding pancakes. They come with a side of vanilla custard sauce and are a dream! I had to get my cholesterol test the next day, so it it's high, we know why!

Final Week in Chicago

We are heading into our final week in Chicago. It will be very hectic because we'll be out of our house on Wednesday. Luckily, we can stay in the city until we have to leave on July 6th. It will be nice to have a few remaining days, but, once we are out of our place, it will be hard to not have a home here anymore. Andy has been in Canada for the last 5 days, fishing. Lucky guy. He was scheduled to go on this trip long before we knew about the move. He'll return home tomorrow night, and then he'll have to get busy packing his personal items that he use for the next week or so.

I am trying so hard not to be sad, but I am. It really is the best time of the year in our neighborhood. But I have to remember that with summer comes other annoyances...like loud neighbors, drunk Cubs fans and all the other general ballyhoo that summer brings--the local color of summer in the city as we English teachers would call it. I do love this town, but I know there is so much in store for us in Katy. I just need to remember that!

My Liminal State

One of the major components of the qualifying exam for my M.A. in English was a focus on the post-colonial notion of "liminality" made famous by political theorist Edward Said. Said argues that the post-colonial world results in a state of exile for those who don't belong in their native land, nor fit in with their "new world." In his essay "Intellectual Exile: Expatriates and Marginals," Said describes the unrest felt by the exile:

The exile therefore exists in a median state, neither completely at one with the new setting not fully disencumbered of the old, beset with half-involvements and half-detachments, nostalgic and sentimental on one level, an adept mimic or a secret outcast on another. (49)

Now, I am not suggesting that this move to Texas allows me to understand the post-colonial experience, but I do think the notion of being in a liminal state is intriguing. When I was studying for my exams, I was pregnant. In fact, I took the test at 8 months along. (Let me say, sitting in front of a computer, writing three separate essays for 8 hours while 8 months pregnant is NOT something I'd recommend!) But, during my studying, I often found ways to compare my pregnant state with a lot of the theory I was reading. I wasn't quite a mother, but I also wasn't the same as I was before I was pregnant.

Now that we are moving, I recognize my liminal state once again. Next week, when we move out of our home, we'll be like exiles until we leave Chicago 5 days later. Once we arrive in Texas, we'll be trying to find our identity. Where are we from? Do we say Pennsylvania, by way of Chicago? Do we launch into our geographic history? Do we simply say "North of the Mason-Dixon line?" Can the exile really answer this question? I guess we are transients, finding our new home, existing in a space of what was, and what will be.

2 Weeks and Counting

Henry and I leave two weeks from today. We just returned from a vacation in South Carolina, so now the real fun of organizing begins. I can't pack too much because we have packers coming, so I am just getting certain items together, cleaning out junk, etc. The actual packing crew comes on June 30th. On July 1st, they pack our storage unit, and on July 2nd they pack the furniture. From there we head to our new Chicago "home" (Joe and Melissa's house) until we leave. I do think it will be odd to be hanging out with no where to live, but the time will pass soon enough.

Under Contract

That's what our condo in Chicago is--under contract! I've been waiting to post about this until the inspection and attorney review period ended successfully. We got an offer on our place a week and two days after we listed it! After negotiating, we settled on a price and closing date. From here, our relocation company buys us out of the deal, so we're done with it. We are very happy to have sold the place ourselves, but it does bring us one step closer to life in Texas. I also keep thinking about the new soon-to-be owner of our place, and I am excited for him, but it is weird to think of someone else living in "our" house!

In other news, Andy is in Houston today because we close on our Houston house today! He did a walk-through this morning, and he'll go back tonight to check out the place. I sent him down with an "essentials" bag, but he may also make a trip to Target to help prepare for our arrival. I am so jealous that he is there without me, but soon enough I'll be there!

Last night my friend, Michelle, hosted a farewell dinner with a small group of my former co-workers. It was so nice to see everyone again, albeit bittersweet. I do miss teaching, but I think one thing I miss the most are my friends from school. (I certainly don't miss grading 125 essays!)
Here are a couple of shots from last night:

Letters to my Younger Self

It was eight years ago that I moved to Chicago. I packed up my things in Ann Arbor and arrived in the big city to "start my life." I had a job and a boyfriend and a cool apartment on Diversey. When I think about that time in my life, it seems all at once forever ago and just like yesterday. So cliche. But, so true. (Cliches exist for a reason, after all.) And so I have spent the last few days thinking of what I'd say to that girl, the one who bought all her furniture at Ikea and planted impatiens in the window boxes at that apartment on Diversey. What would I say if I knew there was a date when I'd be swept away from the city?

I don't know that I'd tell her anything, only because I feel my time in Chicago has been well-spent. On Saturday, I walked around that very first neighborhood, killing time before an appointment. I revelled in the graystones and wrought iron, materials so foreign to my suburban upbringing. The air was heavy with humidity and June rain. This is what I'll miss. I thought to myself.
I'm having a lot of those moments now, as I try to call it like it is, knowing it's something that can't be replicated. As Andy and Henry and I sat outside of our favorite diner, experiencing the accessories of our urban existence--bus exhaust mixing with coffee, a dog's barking melding with a blaring siren, it happened again. This is what I'll miss. I don't know why I'm doing this now, why I feel the need to consciously validate these snapshots of my life here. Maybe I was avoiding it before. (Such an activity is, after all, quite sad.) Maybe I want to find a way to hold on to that passing moment--to look across a table and freeze my 19-month-old son, the smile on Andy's face, the flavor of French toast and a great cup of coffee on my tongue--and know that, someday, my older self will be saying Look around, take it all in. Stop waiting because this is it, my friend.