The dishes and the toys are packed. After 14 hours of packing, we're nearly done. The last step is to disconnect the computer and pack a bag for the next few days. We're moving tomorrow.
As I'm typing, I'm looking over at the little lines on the office wall that have marked the kids' growth since we've been in the house. I suppose leaving those lines should make me a bit misty, but I'm too tired to care. I just want to get on the other side of this mess.
To complicate matters, a rather huge hurricane is headed to the Northeast. It will hit us Sunday morning. We'll be avoiding the fumes created by the floor dude and hiding out in the Woodcliff Lakes Hilton. Most of our boxes of stuff were designated for the basement of the new house. The current owners told us that the basement is always dry, but there are no guarantees for hurricanes.
I'm not really sure when I'll get back to business here. I'm rather desperate to return to normal life, but I think I'm another week away.
If I can't steal away for some iPad blogging or tweeting next week, then I will see you on September 6th. Be safe, my East coast friends.

Have a good move!
I love the Qaddafi crush on Condoleezza story.
http://photoblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/08/25/7470058-in-the-ruins-of-gadhafis-lair-rebels-find-album-filled-with-photos-of-his-darling-condoleezza-rice
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oh dear… you be safe too and have a smooth move. Most importantly, I hope your stuff & new basement stays dry!
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Ooh, fun, moving in a hurricane. I’ll keep my fingers crossed that it all peters out without incident.
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You’ve done heroic work, even if the rest of the world doesn’t really appreciate it.
Congratulations on all the packing and good luck on the other end. When we were done settling in here, I told Mike that they could take me out in a coffin and I still think that’s the best way.
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Good luck! I have to figure out where to put all my outdoor crap as our shed is filled with bicycles. 😦 We’re going to get smacked but good over in SE MA.
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We moved in a war. Hope it’s not that bad for Laura.
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We had a couple of minor tornadoes go through our area during May’s big tornado crop. During the alert, we settled down in an interior hallway with cell phones and water, but didn’t do the thing where you put the mattress over yourselves. Fortunately, we got the all clear in only about an hour, which was getting off very easy.
Since then, having read some of the coverage from places like Joplin, Missouri, I’ve decided that next time we have a tornado we should do the mattress thing, which (while potentially lifesaving) is awfully dorky.
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Good luck. I’m sure hurricanes are imaginary or something.
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Hurricanes or graboids, at least one of them is fake.
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Here’s a recipe for a Hurricane:
1 ounce fresh lemon juice
4 ounces dark rum
4 ounces passion fruit syrup
Crushed ice
Orange slice
1 maraschino cherry
In a cocktail shaker, add lemon juice, rum, passion fruit syrup, and crushed ice; shake vigorously for 1 to 2 minutes and then strain into a tall glass or hurricane glass. Garnish with orange slice and maraschino cherry.
Makes 1 serving.
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This is from IMAO’s Twitter (via Patterico):
“I’ve lived through three major hurricanes, and my advice: Make sure your Nintendo DS is charged.”
“Also, make sure your car has a full tank of gas so you can use the car charger to recharge your DS.”
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Laura, you be safe too.
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Good luck with the move! And good luck to everyone on the East Coast with the hurricane…
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Good luck with the move! Is this your second move since you were in Apt. 11D? More stability in the blog home than the IRL home, I guess.
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Does New Jersey have enough electricity to run whatever machine gives the people on the TV orange skin?
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They may have to go to Ohio and visit John Boehner’s orangifier. Or is it orangerie?
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I thought everybody turned orange after fifty.
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We are fully operational and orange, as we speak. Wahoo! It’s been crazy for us (and tragic for neighbors). I have some good pictures of the devastation and I’ll start writing again next Tuesday. My in-laws will be arriving in an hour or so, and the new school bureaucracy has already lost all of our paperwork. I think it will be best to wait until things really calm down.
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“I think it will be best to wait until things really calm down.”
By 2020 or later this will be an awfully long comment thread.
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Not to give Laura any ideas, but it usually takes us a month after a move to get things really back to normal (and that doesn’t mean that everything is unpacked). That’s without a hurricane, flooding, etc.
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About a month is how long it took me to accept that I had packed boxes I had no intention of opening in the new place, let alone unpacking.
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“About a month is how long it took me to accept that I had packed boxes I had no intention of opening in the new place, let alone unpacking.”
Indeed. At some point, I started having arson/natural disaster fantasies about those remaining boxes.
As of about two years ago, I no longer have untouched boxes from a moving company that had the endorsement of the Pittsburgh Penguins (that move was 2001).
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