Day 4: Goodbye, Pacific Ocean

While still no closer to Boston, today we realized it would be the last time for a while that we would see the Pacific Ocean and a CA beach (and all from Eric & Denise's front window!).

Our day's summary:
- Packed up van and said goodbye to my cousin/family
- Dropped by my aunt's house and La Jolla Cove
- Lunch in La Jolla at a fancy burger place (Burger Lounge)
- Drove to Anaheim
- Swam at the hotel pool, nice warm water (and not for the reason you think!)
- Dinner at Mimi's Cafe in Anaheim

Today was supposed to be our take it easy day. We quickly abandoned the idea of doing half a day at Disneyland the day after a whole day at Legoland (plus the drive from SD to Anaheim). So there was more spontaneity to be had, such as realizing it was probably the last time seeing the ocean so I wanted to bring back a scoop of CA sand from Torrey Pines State Beach; dropping by La Jolla, discovering sea lions and then wandering around town trying to find somewhere to have lunch. The weather was perfect so there was no stress, except for the fact that we are no closer to Boston and we are 4 days into our trip.

We called our PreK class again this morning and Tobey happily declared, "We're still in San Diego!" I thought I could hear some specific kids voices and of course the usual, "I was here first!" amidst the "Hi Tobey's!" So sweet. I bet they were fighting over who gets to move Tobey's "head" exactly 0 inches on our little cross country map.

Feeling some of the fatigue on this trip and we haven't even left the state! I'm sure some of it has to do with the amusement park streak we're on right now. Some of it has to do with chatting until late at night with my cousin and wife (totally fun). Some of it has to do with never quite catching up with sleep after the almost all-niter last week. Some of it has to do with the amount of work a trip like this takes, not only the planning but the packing up each morning in a new hotel (so far we've done 3-1-2-2 nights in different places, that's a lot of packing and unpacking) and once in a while a complete repack of the back of the minivan. I've already done 3 loads of laundry and Eli has decided to potty train himself while on this trip (did his first poop in the potty at my cousin's house!). Great timing.

But Tom also said today that he could do this vacation thing long term. We checked in at the hotel and within half an hour were in the pool swimming and having a grand time. We hope to do a lot more of that once we get on the road (the real road) to Boston. A bit rambling today on my blog but well, our whole trip so far has been a bit rambling as well.

Day 3: Legoland!

This morning we did day 1 of our little "Where's Tobey now?" project with his preschool class. I called the school, got transferred to our classroom (after some explanation of what we were doing), and we got to tell the class where we were. It was fun and it seemed like the kids were excited to move Tobey's "head" on the map. They all yelled, "Hi, Tobey!" and I can't wait to hear them again tomorrow. Of course, tomorrow, the head will stay exactly where it is as we're staying the night in SD and continuing on tomorrow.

Our much awaited trip to Legoland was today! We had a lot of fun, partly due to the fact that the park wasn't crowded. The most we waited was 20-30 min. for the Sky Cruiser (that's for you LL regulars out there). And had we been smart, we could have probably waited until later in the day to do it and had no line since we saw it pass by overhead once or twice with empty cars. That's okay -- if that's the longest wait we had to do at a real amusement park, we're happy with that.

Our original plan was to pack up tomorrow morning, drive up to Anaheim (still not closer to Boston) and do half a day at Disneyland. But a day at Legoland in 80 degree weather kind of wiped us out. So we're ditching that plan too, taking it easy today, still driving up, but just enjoying the pool/hotel, maybe doing Downtown Disney or take a look at the Grand Californian (the fancy hotel at DL) but mostly just resting up for a full (and hopefully happy) day at Disneyland on Wednesday.

Saying goodbye gradually

We didn't plan it this way, but it seems like we are saying goodbye to our life in CA rather gradually.

Wednesday, we moved out of the house into a hotel after the packing was done, but before the stuff was gone.

Thursday, we said goodbye to the stuff, a rather fun experience of seeing a giant 18-wheeler parked in front of the house all day.

Friday, before we handed over the keys, we walked through the house with the kids and said goodbye to the house.

Saturday, we said goodbye to our neighborhood and Sunnyvale as we drove down to L.A.

And now, seeing that I still don't feel like we've "moved" yet, it seems like we are just saying goodbye to all things California: In-N- Out, fresh produce, Legoland, Disneyland, etc.

But the thing that was never easy to say goodbye to was our friends. How many times I hung onto a hug a little longer because I was getting misty eyed. We've been "partying" all month at goodbye get togethers in our honor. But leaving In-N-Out, etc. pales in comparison to leaving 15 years worth of friends and family.

Day 2: Spontaneity at its best

Ah! Internet that doesn't cost $12 like it did at the Westin!

Our daily summary:
- Despite late night playing in hotel room with Kelsey and Morgan, Tobey and Eli still wake up at 7:30AM.
- Since there's not "lobby breakfast" at the Westin, we have a nice breakfast at Corner Bakery.
- Church with my brother and family. It was HOT today -- high of 98!
- Lunch at Souplantation (like Fresh Choice) for something healthy -- don't know if they have these on the East Coast. Kids had a fun time playing.
- Drive to San Diego, both kids konk out within minutes.
- Stay at my cousin's cool modern house (designed by my other cousin, his sister), over looking a nature preserve and the ocean.

Perhaps crazier than going on this cross country drive at all is going without a plan. We have an idea of what we want to see and which towns we might want to stop at. But we are throwing caution to the wind and playing things by ear. Or as our Type A friend's old to-do list once said, "Be more spontaneous."

So this morning Tom flips on the TV for the kids in the hotel while we pack up to go. On the Travel Channel was a special on Disney World. Some of Tobey's school friends (the girls) have gone to Disneyland already because of the lunch with princesses, etc. But since that obviously is not a draw for us, I never really considered DL. Legoland was much more up our alley (and on our agenda tomorrow!).

But after seeing that show, Tom caught the bug. I believe "magical" was the adjective he used. Kathleen (sister-in-law) didn't help either -- she said that when people find out that we're from CA, they're going to ask, "Have you been to Disneyland?" But when I said that Florida has Disney WORLD, she said, "Yeah, but it all started here!" Plus, they can meet us with their annual pass and the cousins can play together again.

So now we are seriously considering going to Disneyland. After Legoland. And yes, neither are getting us any closer to Boston. But we've got three weeks to get across and the unplannedness of our trip was supposed to allow spur of the moment decisions like this.

So our current thoughts...

Monday, Legoland
Tuesday, drive from SD to Anaheim and do DL for half a day
Wednesday, all day Disneyland
Thursday, finally start driving closer to Boston, at least a little

We might even be on the right part of Route 66 when the Fun Run occurs.

I must say though that this living day by day is tiring. We need to think ahead and research well after the kids have gone to sleep. We're researching Disney tickets now and will need to do hotels tomorrow. And we will need to think ahead for our first stops on Route 66. But then again, had we made hotel reservations on Route 66 (before this morning, I thought getting on Route 66 by Tuesday was a sure thing), we'd be up late changing them anyway.

Day 1: Goodbye, Sunnyvale

Over a year of thinking. Six months of talking. Four months of preparing. Moving day finally came. This morning we took off from the hotel, dropped off a couple of last minute items with friends and left from our neighborhood on the long, long road to Boston.

Our trip summary:

- Left Sunnyvale late morning. Eli already fell asleep and missed our actual departure from Sunnyvale.
- Lunch in Gilroy. Chose In-N-Out since we won't find any of those on the East Coast.
- Headed down I-5. At some point both kids were up and then both kids were sleeping.
- Stretch + potty break before the Grapevine.
- Arrive in Pasadena. Late dinner at CPK with my brother and family.
- Played paper airplanes in our hotel room.
- Turned in for the night. 11:30PM!

While we were either driving into or out of Gilroy, Tom and I wondered when we would feel like we were headed for Boston, that we are actually doing our much anticipated cross-country trip. Since we've done the drive to L.A. to visit my brother before, it didn't quite feel like we were doing anything out of the ordinary. Maybe when we drive somewhere new, like our Legoland detour? Maybe when we actually start driving ACROSS (versus down!) after we leave SD? Maybe when we encounter our first rain, something we don't see in CA this time of year?

Who knows when we will feel like we are moving, but part of the purpose of us driving instead of flying to Boston is to have a significant transition time. To show the kids and us just how far Boston is, to have some time, more than just 5 hours of flying, in between Sunnyvale and Lexington. Sometime it will hit us exactly what we are doing.

Weird moment #1: randomly as we were getting closer to L.A. and Eli was probably just bored, he says, "Go home?" Uh oh -- we kind of assumed it would be useless to try to explain to Eli what was going on. I easily distracted him with, "We're going to see Kelsey and Morgan!" but at some point in the middle of nowhere, he's going to say, "Go home?" again and we'll probably tell him about our new home we are going to try to find.

Weird moment #2: Tom was telling Tobey something (forgot what) and he said, "...where we used to live..." That felt weird to him. If someone showed us our house right now, of course it would still feel like home, even empty. But it's not our home. We can't get in anymore. It USED TO BE our home.

Weird moment #3: On the back of the kids' menu at CPK, they had a form you could fill out to join their kids club. And for the first time ever, Tobey asked what that form said (Name, Address, City, etc.). I told him "Name", so he wrote Tobey. Then I told him "Address" and he asks, "What's our address?" Goodness, he chooses NOW to be the first time to ask what our address is? Now I was the one to say he could put down our *old* address (since we weren't turning in the form anyway, he was just filling it out for fun). Wait until we are "homeless" to ask about our address -- what timing!

Although the boys did well in the car, I noticed they weren't really playing with the stuff in their activity box strategically placed between their carseats. My guess is because it's "old", their two LeapPads that Mommy seems to always suggest when they are bored. Tobey likes looking at the GPS and out the window. Eli just putzes around by himself, at one point, amusing himself with the zipper on Tobey's jacket. But at some point, Eli also looked like he was about to fall asleep, just 1.5 hours after his morning nap in the car. He only looked tired because he was bored out of his mind. I tried giving him stuff to do when I discovered a problem we will have the DURATION of this trip unless we figure out a solution: Eli drops EVERYTHING on the floor, whether on purpose or not. My short arms can't always reach and Tom's driving. This part of the trip will not be fun.

Tonight we are bunking at a Westin, the fanciest hotel we've been in as a family, on a beautiful evening in a beautiful part of town. Not a bad start to our trip.

T minus 1 day and counting

Here we are, our last day as Sunnyvale residents. I can't believe it's here. We gave over the keys to our house this afternoon. We said goodbye to friends. We sent our belongings off in the moving van. We are down to one car. Our minivan is packed with our life for the next two months.

What a week it's been:

Last weekend - the last of the going away parties
Monday - Visited my grandparents' resting place with my parents
Tuesday - Panicked about the movers
Wednesday - Packers came, we moved into hotel
Thursday - Moving van came, shipped off the car
Friday - Party for Tobey/school friends, gave over the keys

A week ago tonight, I had no idea how we were going to get to Saturday with an empty garage and a full minivan. But somehow (well, that "somehow" being my parents watching the kids for 3 day straight) we made it. I have more profound thoughts later about our 15 years here in CA but for now, I'm just thankful we made it through the week.

Tomorrow, our adventure begins.

(Cue Mission Impossible theme song)

Just when I thought we got all of our logistics and schedule ironed out, we arrived at the hotel last night to have discovered a rather big boo boo. Tobey asks, "Where's Rainbow?", his beloved blue chameleon Beanie baby. Rainbow is Tobey's constant companion at naps and sometimes in the car. He's so constant a companion that once in a while, Tobey smells him and says, "Ew! He stinks!" He's so valuable that Tom and I don't let Tobey bring him out to restaurants or public places out of fear that he will get lost never to be found again. We're adamant about Rainbow staying in the car or at home.

Panic rushed in as soon as he asked -- Tobey said Rainbow was in the car, but having just loaded the kids' entertainment for our big trip into the minivan, I knew he wasn't there. Thinking again, "I think he's at home," said Tobey, which is bad news on a day where the packers sealed every belonging in a box with layers of clear packing tape.

I already went through an episode with the packers earlier that day where they packed our camcorder (which was in a shoe box unpadded) without knowing it. We didn't need the camcorder now that we have a Flip, but we still need it so we can view possibly 30+ mini DV tapes of our kids' childhood, that's all. :-) So they graciously opened boxes until they found it -- it took 4 boxes -- and wrapped/packed it properly.

My first reaction was to scold Tobey for not bringing Rainbow. But then I realized it wasn't his fault. He didn't know that packers coming that day meant that anything left behind would be sealed in a box. And I was so worried about lots of other minutiae that I forgot to tell him to take care of Rainbow. Luckily, I thought Rainbow would be in the one box that was in Tobey's room marked "TOYS" so I was able to nip the disappointment in the bud and say that Daddy would get it in the morning before the movers took the box. Tobey was a trooper and didn't whine and cry...like he usually would.

This morning was unusual -- we woke up in the hotel, had to get showered and dressed but also had to get breakfast in the lobby (love Staybridge's free full breakfast!) before getting Tobey to school. Tom left early to meet the movers and complete Mission Rainbow.

Then I got a text message from him at 9AM:

"Rainbow extraction successful."

It took 3 boxes before he found him and in Eli's room. And while Tom didn't have to be an Ethan Hunt this morning, he was a big hero in Tobey's eyes (and a bit like Tom Cruise in mine!).

So Mommy was right...

It's been a couple days with my parents here helping us to move. Although there's still tons for me and Tom to do, they've been quite helpful, from cleaning out the fridge, to making lunch, to folding laundry, to taking the kids to the park, etc. Of course there will be little clashes, like when my mom went into conservation mode trying to save my pantry and freezer items and I'm in total "throw it all out" mode just trying to get to Saturday with an empty house.

So no wonder when my mom shot one of her little comments yesterday ("When the packers are here, offer them a little something to eat or drink...") I did my classic eyeball roll. What am I going to give them? They're packing up all my belongings. Plus, they're professionals. Although I never saw any of our other contractors eat, drink or go to the bathroom, they do this everyday, they must manage somehow and I probably just don't notice it.

But today is particularly evident that they are doing all the work and I'm supervising. Between phone calls from babysitters and Tom, I peek to see if they are okay and what progress they are making. And then I got hungry. It seemed particularly wrong to be eating while they're working. But I have nothing to give, especially food.

Then I saw Tom's emergency Mountain Dew. Three bottles for three people, perfect! I thought it wouldn't hurt to offer it to each of them. And to my surprise, they each accepted. None of the Asian (not that they are Asian) fake refusal/false modesty thing. They just said, "Yes, thank you."

Gosh, they've been here for 2 hours working hard before I offered anything. And they accepted the peace offerings so willingly. I feel bad I don't have any real food to offer. (Am I supposed to? I'm down to eating cold pork chop leftovers myself.) But I am glad that my mom planted the idea in my head to offer something. I guess her one-shot comments do help sometimes.

Calm before the storm

The moving company just called and said due to some glitch, the packers are arriving a little later, like 10:30-11. Which means I have a little time to myself. I've successfully farmed the kids off to other people (thanks, Jenny and Amy!) and even Tom went off to work since the packers are on the late side. My parents will arrive around the same time as the packers which is nice that I don't have to do it all alone. And later they'll take the kids from school and Jenny until I'm done here for the day. Since I'm now known (at least to growth and couples groups) as "the packer", I guess today is "my" day. When my organizational, decision making and managerial skills are put to the test.

So here I eat my leftover bundt cake and cold pork chops. Lunch is peanut butter and banana sandwich (because I accidentally gave away the jelly). Waiting, just waiting...

So much for sleeping...

It's 5AM and I just took a shower...so I could take down the shower curtain. Tom went to sleep just 30 minutes ago. We didn't expect to pull an all-nighter and yet if we didn't, that would be a move almost *too* smooth, know what I mean? Chia-Chi was right: packing all the big stuff is easy, it's all the little things leftover that you have to figure out what to do with. We packed most everything today and while it sounds last minute, I'm not sure how much earlier I could have done most of it since just about everything was "essential". Now that we are headed for the hotel tomorrow and can start packing the van, it's easier to get our things organized and moved on out.

I've concluded that I'm afraid of the packers tomorrow. I imagine them being like Tasmanian devils, whirring through our belongings, stuffing things willy nilly into boxes. If my stuff isn't semi-organized, then they will put the kids outdoor toys in the same box as my beloved shower curtain.

But I think I'm ready -- our suitcases packed for our trip + 1 month in corporate housing. Stuff for Tobey's party and school project in a corner saying "Don't touch me!" and everything else ready for the packers.

Bring it on.

Almost here, last night sleeping at home

No, I don't really have time to blog. But it's such a mix of emotions at T minus 4 days and counting that blogging later really wouldn't really capture the moment.

We're halfway between in and out of here. The moving vans come tomorrow, first to pack and then the next day to load. I had a good day of packing today and have concluded that although stressed for the last week, it was a bit hard to pack our essentials any earlier than the very last moment. It's still a little hard to see how we're going to make it to Saturday, to see over that humongous pile of stuff in our garage. But somehow it will get done.

Saying goodbye has been emotional. Ironically, I haven't cried at any of our many going away get togethers (I almost did when Thomas and Kevin both said a little something at the growth/couples group party). And thank God no one asked for "Speech! Speech! Speech!" Our going aways have been mostly festive and happy, but with a looming hint of sadness that this was the last time we'd see our friends here as locals. It was strange to be completely comfortable at each party, looking around and knowing everyone, then realizing that the party was for us, that we were actually the guests of honor, that people were potlucking or chipping in, spending their evening and their efforts, just for us. Kind of like at our wedding, sitting there looking around and seeing all of our friends together to wish us well. And each time Tom and I drive away from said going away party, we say to each other, "Wow, that was sad [to have to leave them]." We sugar coated all of our goodbyes with "Visit us in Boston!" or "We'll be back to visit!". But I'm sure both they and we know that it will be a little different when we next meet, one of us being a visitor.

Saturday after saying bye to growth group and couples group, I realized that with this move and these goodbyes, there's a lot of love that I have for our friends here. I had a fleeting thought of "Are we crazy to leave all this?" But I have to remember that we do believe there's a lot of good things in store for us in Boston, including reconnecting with old friends and making new ones -- it will take a while but I do believe it will come. God has made this move too smooth for me to doubt that he would not take care of us in Boston. It's just that we don't know what's in store for us just yet and so it's easy to think we're losing a lot without gaining anything for now. And I'm definitely in denial, trying not to really say goodbye to some of our closest friends, thinking we'll still see them before we leave. It's really that it will be difficult to say goodbye.

Tonight is our last night sleeping in the house. We'll be back to babysit the movers and to let the kids see the truck and see some of our things go in it. (And since Tobey is so into the process of how things work, I feel like we have to show him what's going on at home while my parents keep them occupied outside of the house.) We'll be back to say goodbye to the rooms and our beloved play structure. But it is the beginning of the end. Hard to believe.

How are we doing?

We've been saying goodbye to lots of friends and family around here. The most common questions are, "So, are you ready? Are you all packed?" To which the answer is quite well summed up in frantic email to my buddy Melissa (getting married in June!).

Aww, thanks for kind words. I'm still sorry that I can't throw you a shower or anything. And at this point, I'm not sure if we can do a pamper day before I leave...

...so you asked how we were doing. I'm starting to stress out about the move. We got complacent after the big sale of our house, thinking that we're mostly packed from the house being staged. But it just dawned on me last week that we only have two weeks left before the moving vans come and we do have some packing still left. You know how people with house cleaners say that they always have to clean before the cleaners come? Well, we have to pack before the packers come. We need to pack for our big road trip and the first month while in furnished corporate housing (won't have access to our boxes). So we have some significant work ahead of us.

And as if it wasn't enough, we're also saying bye to friends which has been great but man, this weekend was just party party party. Literally. Next weekend shouldn't be so "bad" as we have just one party per day. But the kids must be exhausted and we're getting no packing done while partying. We party because we'd regret leaving without saying goodbye to friends. But if we keep saying goodbye instead of packing, we'll never leave! And not only do we need to pack, we need to plan our trip! Luckily we have a place to stay at our first stop, Legoland: my cousin's in San Diego. But otherwise, we're "winging it" and winging it for two semi Type A personalities like us means that we want to know which towns we want to visit and stay in but we just don't know when so we can't make reservations until a day or two ahead of time. So we're not being all *that* spontaneous.

Exhale...breathe...this will all happen somehow and I'll end up in Boston 2 months from now and can't believe we actually made it. I can't believe something we've been thinking about for years (more seriously for a year, publicly declared for half a year) now is about to become reality. It's surreal to think that in a little over a month, we will be in a new metro area. We've been in CA for 15 years, for just about all of our post-college adult life. Do we know anything different from CA? We're about to find out!

Tyranny

Just realized yesterday that the moving vans are coming in two weeks. Something we've been thinking about for over a year, planning for months, working on for weeks and weeks, is almost here. I feel a mix of shock, sadness, stress all in one. It will be a crazy 2 weeks, juggling the important "task" of saying goodbye to friends with the urgent task of getting packed.

At this point the only packing left is for our trip but crazy me is also planning a proper farewell for Tobey with a parent project and party as well as scheduling various farewells with friends. Wished we could always just focus on the "important" but in this case, if we don't do the "urgent", then we won't have a need to say goodbye because we will miss the moving van!

We *heart* Sophie

Well, it's not like my audience here is that huge, but we have to give props to our realtor, Sophie Tsang. Unlike our previous purchase and sale experiences with other realtors, working with Sophie felt good. We picked her because of her results in our neighborhood (and that she lives here) and we haven't regretted it one bit. I felt confident the whole time working with her. Everything she said was like magic, it came true, from what to remodel to what to leave alone, from what to list for and how to show the house. The people she works with (contractors, stagers) all worked out well. She deserves her 3% and was worth every penny.

We only wished she could hand hold us through our buying in MA, but of course that doesn't make sense. And when she said that Intero had connections that would get in contact with us about realtors in Boston, we assumed they would just give us a name and say good luck. But apparently, they asked us questions about what we're looking for, will prescreen the realtors and that Sophie will be pre-screening as well. I feel good that we will have her perspective on possible realtors, a little more confidence than an anonymous referral. And isn't that what you would want with someone that you work with -- confidence in their ability and their watching out for your well-being.

We are in contract!

We're a couple of weeks late but are nevertheless happy to report that we are in contract! Our house sold in 1 week with 18 offers. Every time I say that I grin with disbelief. 8 or 10 offers sometimes happens in Sunnyvale (and often with our realtor at the helm!) but 18 offers? That's all God. That's like God making sure that we didn't chalk up the # of offers to market conditions. That's God wowing us to remind us that He has His Hand in our moving. And more than ever, Anna's prediction about God having something in store for us in Boston is more real. Does He want us out of California so much that he had to make it that quick and that obvious? :-)

Now we just need to take our gratitude and our faith and put it towards buying in Boston. :-)

(For friends curious about the price, ask us after closing 4/15 or look us up in the paper in the weeks after!)