Hello From NY

Because yesterday was "Bye From Boston".  It was final move-out time and, wow, what a time it was....We had stayed up crazy late Wednesday night getting things ready.  And woke up crazy early Thursday to keep at it.  Thankfully Deb and Frank, my sister and brother-in-law, came over to help.   They were amazing at helping us fill every square inch of luggage space with all the various "shnibby bits" of things we kept finding all over the house that we wanted/needed to take with us.

A truly heart-stopping moment occurred when Deb stared at our roomful of luggage, which included a stunning number of suitcases, duffel bags, carry-on bags and "personal items" and said, "I think you have one suitcase too many".  "NAW!  I counted!"  Oh my goodness--she was right.  I truly don't know if/when we would have caught that.  It took us quite a while to repack things into different suitcases to get rid of that last bag (which included me running out to get another of our new favorite suitcase, the Tote a Ton and Frank donating his carry-on bag to the cause!).  The thought of doing this at the El Al counter before our flight may very well be my new mental image the next time I have a nightmare!

Noreen came over to lend a hand as well.  Every Friday, I would tell Noreen, "I couldn't have done it without you" and Shabbos every week truly would not have happened (at least not in a clean, neat house!) without Noreen.  She came through in the last-minute pinch yesterday as well and I am so very thankful.

We drove in two cars: the younger girls (17, 12 and 9) and I in a one-way rental car that was so great--DVD system and outlets everywhere and a nice ride, too (even if I did get about 9 miles/gallon with all that luggage in the back).  The girls and I stopped off to see Frank's dad, Armando, at the nursing home he recently went into, drove into Brookline for pizza to go, and headed off.  Ironically, I had hoped to be in NY before it got dark and we ended up leaving Brookline as night was falling.  We showed up at Jen and Shmuley's at 1.  The kids were great and super supportive throughout the drive (including when I pulled over in CT for a 20 minute nap) and they watched "I Love Lucy" DVDs (which I enjoyed listening to) and stayed awake with me the whole way (which I felt guilty about, but having them awake really was helpful).

When we walked, in, my amazing cousin Jen had decorated her whole dining room

So, we're here, we're more rested, everyone LOVED "sleeping in real beds and eating real food at a real table" (direct quotes from my kids) and getting ready for the most restful Shabbos!