the door is ajar

despite the rain and the snow and my own stubbornness around asking for help, i have moved my belongings from amherst to new jersey, where they will sit in storage until i choose a next location. and while there are a few loose ends still blowing in the wind, for the most part, the door is closing on my life in western mass. and even though it was time to leave, it doesn't make the end any easier.

last monday, i took the train up to amherst. i love traveling by train, so i really enjoyed the trip. and the further north the train climbed, the more welcomed i felt by my new england surroundings. matthew picked me up in springfield, and as we crossed the bridge into hadley, my stomach tied in a knot because i knew i was home. as much as i know that amherst is not meant to be my home (whether currently or at all), that's exactly what it is and has been for the past three and a half years. it felt so nice to be there. i spent the next few days hanging out with matthew, rachel and keri. we ate and drank coffee and talked, and it was so nice to be surrounded by friends.

the moving aspect of my visit was not as relaxing. i picked the moving truck up on wednesday, and by wednesday evening was in tears. trying to move so much by myself was physically draining and emotionally taxing. when jessa called to tell me that she was coming out from boston to visit, i was basically sitting in a ball in the storage room with my belongings. like a good friend should, she told me all would be okay. i also gathered myself enough to give joe meagher (pronounced "marr") a call and ask for his help. he told me he'd come to my rescue the following day after work, and after moving a few additional things with the help of keri, it was time to take the rest of the night off.

fortunately, with the help of joe and jessa, the rest of my packing of the van was smooth sailing. after the truck was packed, we all went upstairs where rachel and keri had whipped up a yummy dinner and matthew had brought a yummy dessert. it was a lot of fun to just sit and chat and catch up with good friends. and later on in the evening, chase stopped by. getting a hug from chase is always good medicine, not to mention that he can make me laugh like no other, so his arrival was just the icing on my already yummy friend cake.

after a trifecta of horrible doctors appointments on friday (believe me, i was poked and prodded all day long... no fun!), i spent some last evening hanging with rachel, keri, matthew and jessa. the highlight of our evening was going to see "brokeback mountain," and if you haven't seen it, you must! what a fantastic film and a beautifully sad love story.

the end of my move was similar to the beginning...draining. first of all, molly broke my heart and stood me up for breakfast! (j/k molls...i completely understand your exhaustion!) it was torrential downpour all day saturday, so driving from amherst to atlantic city was slow going. by the time i got home at 9:30 that night, there was no way we were going to unpack. but when i woke up in the morning, and there was four inches of snow on the ground and everything was frozen shut, i had a second thought about unpacking the night before. oh well! besides that semi-major fall on the ice i took while carrying a bookcase, all turned out okay...thanks to my dad, mom, brother and niece (miss kayla was extremely helpful and so cute!) well, maybe not all was okay. i was disappointed to find that i went over the measely mileage limit that budget trucks gives you. grrr to more money spent on non-fun things!

so i guess that's it. when i drove away from amherst, i knew the next time i was there, it would officially be as a guest (regardless of what my driver's license says). and who knows...maybe i'll have a new location by then.