Catching up after the big move
My previous post was made in the midst (the maelstrom) of moving. Tagged to elicit five interesting things about myself was just the temporary escape I needed (thanks, pnut!). But alas, living among the boxes with Christmas hurtling towards us would not allow any more time for blogging for a bit. So here is the first of several posts, getting y'all (oops, they don't tawk like that here in New England) caught up on the last few weeks with the move, holidays, and marathon preparations.
The Big Move.
I suppose the move could have been a lot worse. At least everything arrived - eventually - with very little damage. Plan was for the movers to unload Friday the 16th. I would then have Saturday the 17th to at least set up the beds and the basics of the kitchen before Anita and Kai arrived that evening (they were driving the second car out). Of course the weather was terrible - we had snow the night before - so I was out clearing the sidewalks early in the morning for the movers. And then ... nothing. No movers. They eventually called around 11:00. The driver had been held up by the ice storm in Pennsylvania (never mind that he should have already been in Mass. by that time - he left too late), can we unload on Saturday? Not really much choice here and I call up the city of Cambridge and get the moving van permit extended through Saturday.
Saturday morning arrives and again I'm waiting and waiting for the van. I call the driver and he tells me he's now on his way - he had some problem with his truck. Fine. Two hours later, a short moving van arrives. There is no way they have all of our stuff on that little truck. His truck is broken down on the side of the road in Peabody and they have to shuttle everything in this smaller truck. Great. That means everything is getting moved twice today. And he has a grand total of 2 guys helping him. This will be a long day.
The driver and his helpers are all very nice, friendly guys. All hard workers. I eventually realized that because of the glitches, they are working all day at least at time-and-a-half (maybe double-time) pay. So they are happy as clams. Even though it seems like all the heaviest boxes are getting moved up to my third floor office - they do not complain at all. We've rented the 2nd and 3rd floors of a two family house, so everything goes up at least one flight of stairs (or down a short flight into the basement for storage). And it is in the basement where the only serious problem of the day occurs.
I was showing them where (and how) to stack some of my boxes of tools and other things in the basement. As I was climbing the stairs (about 5 steps) out of the basement, I hit my head on the very low door frame. Hard. Very hard. I slipped and fell sideways and hit the side of my head on the door jamb to my left. I then fell backwards down about 4 steps, scraping the back of my left hand pretty badly. Dazed, I first felt my head to see if it was bleeding. No blood. But it hurts like hell, and my neck is sore. I brush myself off and walk around to the front of the house. As I'm talking to the movers, one of them asks me what happened to my hand. It's dripping blood now. I explain what happened, they ask if I need a doctor, I say I'll be fine, blah, blah, blah. Now I'm on the porch and I'm feeling a little disoriented. I sit down. For two hours. Mild concussion. But I continue to direct the movers from my chair on the porch.
The first load is completed around 5:30 p.m. and they leave to get the second (and final) load. They will return in a couple hours. Meanwhile I bandage my hand after rumaging through the bathroom boxes, and Anita and Kai arrive. They are dead tired from three days of driving. And all the bulky stuff, like the sofa, chairs and beds, are in the second load. There is no place for them to even sit and relax. Tempers are running high.
The movers arrive with the second load by 8:00 pm and it takes until almost 11:00 pm to finish unloading everything. I sign all the paperwork (and oddly, the driver forgets to collect any money -- I get a phone call several days later asking for my credit card info), and we all collapse onto the bed and sofa.
The rest of the week is spent unpacking the necessities and creating the best Christmas we can for ourselves. Anja arrives Thursday night and we have the living room and kitchen set up, as well as two serviceable bedrooms. Christmas provides incentive to get things done.
Through all of this, I have managed to maintain most of my marathon training. Moving weekend is exhausting and I take a break from my weekend long run. I am able to get in my interval training and tempo runs during the week at the fitness center at work, as well as a couple of easy runs. It was important to maintain regularity in at least some aspects of our lives. And it was especially important that we celebrate Christmas as a family as best we could.
- K
The Big Move.
I suppose the move could have been a lot worse. At least everything arrived - eventually - with very little damage. Plan was for the movers to unload Friday the 16th. I would then have Saturday the 17th to at least set up the beds and the basics of the kitchen before Anita and Kai arrived that evening (they were driving the second car out). Of course the weather was terrible - we had snow the night before - so I was out clearing the sidewalks early in the morning for the movers. And then ... nothing. No movers. They eventually called around 11:00. The driver had been held up by the ice storm in Pennsylvania (never mind that he should have already been in Mass. by that time - he left too late), can we unload on Saturday? Not really much choice here and I call up the city of Cambridge and get the moving van permit extended through Saturday.
Saturday morning arrives and again I'm waiting and waiting for the van. I call the driver and he tells me he's now on his way - he had some problem with his truck. Fine. Two hours later, a short moving van arrives. There is no way they have all of our stuff on that little truck. His truck is broken down on the side of the road in Peabody and they have to shuttle everything in this smaller truck. Great. That means everything is getting moved twice today. And he has a grand total of 2 guys helping him. This will be a long day.
The driver and his helpers are all very nice, friendly guys. All hard workers. I eventually realized that because of the glitches, they are working all day at least at time-and-a-half (maybe double-time) pay. So they are happy as clams. Even though it seems like all the heaviest boxes are getting moved up to my third floor office - they do not complain at all. We've rented the 2nd and 3rd floors of a two family house, so everything goes up at least one flight of stairs (or down a short flight into the basement for storage). And it is in the basement where the only serious problem of the day occurs.
I was showing them where (and how) to stack some of my boxes of tools and other things in the basement. As I was climbing the stairs (about 5 steps) out of the basement, I hit my head on the very low door frame. Hard. Very hard. I slipped and fell sideways and hit the side of my head on the door jamb to my left. I then fell backwards down about 4 steps, scraping the back of my left hand pretty badly. Dazed, I first felt my head to see if it was bleeding. No blood. But it hurts like hell, and my neck is sore. I brush myself off and walk around to the front of the house. As I'm talking to the movers, one of them asks me what happened to my hand. It's dripping blood now. I explain what happened, they ask if I need a doctor, I say I'll be fine, blah, blah, blah. Now I'm on the porch and I'm feeling a little disoriented. I sit down. For two hours. Mild concussion. But I continue to direct the movers from my chair on the porch.
The first load is completed around 5:30 p.m. and they leave to get the second (and final) load. They will return in a couple hours. Meanwhile I bandage my hand after rumaging through the bathroom boxes, and Anita and Kai arrive. They are dead tired from three days of driving. And all the bulky stuff, like the sofa, chairs and beds, are in the second load. There is no place for them to even sit and relax. Tempers are running high.
The movers arrive with the second load by 8:00 pm and it takes until almost 11:00 pm to finish unloading everything. I sign all the paperwork (and oddly, the driver forgets to collect any money -- I get a phone call several days later asking for my credit card info), and we all collapse onto the bed and sofa.
The rest of the week is spent unpacking the necessities and creating the best Christmas we can for ourselves. Anja arrives Thursday night and we have the living room and kitchen set up, as well as two serviceable bedrooms. Christmas provides incentive to get things done.
Through all of this, I have managed to maintain most of my marathon training. Moving weekend is exhausting and I take a break from my weekend long run. I am able to get in my interval training and tempo runs during the week at the fitness center at work, as well as a couple of easy runs. It was important to maintain regularity in at least some aspects of our lives. And it was especially important that we celebrate Christmas as a family as best we could.
- K
posted by Kurt in Boston at 10:29 AM
2 Comments:
ugggh. hope your hand and head are feeling better!
Happy New Year!
You were able to maintain your training despite the chaos of moving? That's incredible! Mind sharing some of that dedication?
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