We Made It (Right?)

We are officially residents of Southern California.

We signed the escrow papers, wired the cash today, and as of tomorrow, a guy named Dan will be the proud new owner of our old house.

I wasn't sad to leave it. I don't know if it was because we only lived in it for 10 months or if it's because of the really weird encounter I had with the next door neighbor I endearingly refer to as "Internet Porn Drunk Guy".

Last Thursday, we were in a tailspin, cleaning up all the last-minute junk and trash left over after four movers came in and took all of our stuff away, and the doorbell rang. I was mid-stair and unfortunately, I made eye contact with Mr. Internet Porn Drunk Guy through the detrimentally clear glass window. I opened the door only a fraction of the way, backstopping it with my left foot.

He said, "Hey, you moving?"

Instead of saying, "What tipped you off - the For Sale sign or the giant yellow moving truck parked in our narrow, dead end street for six hours today?" I said, "Yes we are, but we are in a real rush. We have to pick everything up before..."

"When are you leaving?" he asked.

"Uh, today?"

"Today!" he bellowed with mock astonishment.

Again, I'm thinking, "Didn't you see the giant monstrosity of a truck in front of your house all morning and a good portion of the afternoon? Those things take furniture away. Which implies that we have none in the house. Ergo, we are leaving." But my mom raised me to bite my tongue until it bleeds, so I said, "Yes, today. But we really have to go - on a bit of a time table! It was really nice meeting you -"

"Who bought the house?"

At this point I'm starting to get slightly crazed. Jason is conveniently busy throwing away enough food from our refrigerator to feed all of Angelina Jolie's future children, and since the front door is only cracked, he's out of eyeshot and only listens to this exchange from a safe distance.

"This guy - his daughter knows your daughter. Now I really have to go -"

"Which daughter?" He actually scratched his cheek, as if deep in thought, which I don't think is actually possible for this one.

"I have no idea. You'll have a lot to talk about," I say, feeling both guilt and relief that we got out of this house when we did. "But really, I have to go so good luck."

And that's when it got weird. He then started knocking on the door with the door knocker. "Where's that Charlie? Bye bye Charlie!"

OMG.

THEN, he starts to shoulder his way past me into the house to get his drunk, pervy hands on my son.

!

I slammed the door shut, yelling, "See you later!", quickly locked both locks and ran from view of any of the front windows.

So maybe it was THAT that made leaving the first home I've ever owned less than nostalgic.

~~~~~~

In the chaos of moving, I did not make the time to say goodbye to many of my friends, including my dear friend Darren. Darren took me to task today on IM. I told him I was sorry and there were no excuses. And there aren't. I've known Darren since 1992. That's 15 years, all you math majors. That's a long long time. And he's been a great friend to me. I should have said my goodbyes in person. But I just know he will always be a part of our lives and never far away, no matter where we live on the planet. I just know that.

~~~~~~

That house up there - that's our house. Jase took that pic with his phone. Our stuff comes tomorrow. Charlie has been the exact opposite of an angel the last few days. Hmmm, that would make him a devil - a devil child. That's about right. But we finally dragged the spare crib out of Bubbe's storage and put it together - now both he and I will get a much-needed good night's sleep and hopefully tomorrow will be better. For now, it's good enough that we are both alive to tell about it.

More pics of the house to come once I find the camera!