Well, the Big Stuff has all (more or less all) been moved. The Gang of Teens did a very creditable job packing our stuff (the only broken dishes were broken by our very own son, who tossed a box that he thought was marked "clothes" (?!??)), and loading the truck ("Oooh! Tetris! I love Tetris!" one of them proclaimed), and then unloading once we arrived in Lansing. (After they finished, they cruised to East Lansing to find the IHOP. They missed it . . . and when Em described the route they took, I supplied the street names for her because I knew exactly where they went wrong . . . that was a little weird. I feel like our kids will never have an Original Experience in Lansing . . . )

The truck drive to Lansing was kinda fun. Charlie went with me so he could hang on to Wally. Wally was entranced with the whole thing; I think he liked looking out the front window. He didn't get carsick this time, which I guess makes sense; people who get carsick are advised to ride in the front seat, so why not dogs? At any rate, we got there without incident.

On Saturday morning we took the truck back. It took me about 37 seconds to get used to the wonderful lack of traffic. I was cruising on a 4-lane road, and I could pick any lane I wanted. This was in sharp contrast to the way I felt later in the day, when we drove to Ikea (again!!), motoring down 275, which is a nightmare, and then driving through heavy traffic on Ford Rd. to get to Ann Arbor. It's only 15 miles from Ikea to A2, but it feels twice as long.

I have the feeling that I will have adjusted to the move in about three days; somehow it all feels very right, like this job and this life have been waiting for me for years. (See subject line.) Perhaps I'll feel constrained by Lansing's small size, but at the moment it seems like there's just enough glitz - enough theatre, enough restaurants, enough boutique stores (yarn stores and music stores) without the veneer of expensive chic that makes Ann Arbor so . . . well, expensive. When I feel like chic, I can drive down. Lord knows, the place is familiar enough . . .

In fact, I'm here today, cleaning up the house a bit (we took the cats up yesterday, so now there are no feline hair factories to mess it up), and getting several items to take to the new house. The old house is nowhere near empty; we have lots of furniture left here, the final disposition of which has yet to be determined. But I have to say, aside from Emil's stuff (many, many computers, and an excess of cameras and darkroom stuff), the place looks like it's in pretty reasonable shape. I hope someone comes to look at it and buy it soon . . . but if not, we'll have to deal with renting it, I guess.

Ah, well. I better get to work. I do have some moving pix but they're still in my camera, and we don't have internet access in the new house, so it could be a few days before I can get them uploaded. Stay tuned!