Packing up 23 years of stuff

Okay, so, I'd been offered and accepted the job … going through more than a little emotional turmoil in the process.

We'd set a tentative starting date of May 7. It was an ambitious goal. I had a lot to do to get my various Memphis clients settled to the point where I'd feel comfortable leaving town, not to mention dealing with all the stuff accumulated after living almost 23 years under the same roof. A LOT of stuff!!

To top things off, I had one of the biggest, most critical computer programming projects I'd ever done due on April 21 … a project that could not be delayed or afford any room for error because it involved live television. Maybe I'll write more on that later, but for now I'll not digress.

Eventually it became obvious that I wouldn't be able to make the May 7 start date and keep my sanity (or not have to return to Memphis in June to finish moving). So my future boss graciously extended my start date to May 21. With that date as my target I determined that I'd leave Memphis on Wednesday, May 16.

I arranged to rent the moving truck starting Tuesday, May 15. I sent out a call to my friends to join me for a "pack the truck" party Tuesday afternoon/evening with the goal of being done by 8 p.m. when we'd move the party to The Vault for my regular habit of Showtune Tuesday; www.funshowtunes.com (I had to get in that last night of showtunes).

I gotta say, my friends and family really REALLY came through for me and I can't thank the whole gang enough for their help. David, Rob, Matt, Skip, Cheryl, James and his adorable "other" Matt, Ryan, Daniel and my parents (who spent a weekend packing up my kitchen) … THANK YOU!!!

We had the worst of it on the truck by 8 and that night at The Vault was a real blast (very bittersweet for me to see such a great crowd there my last night).

Wednesday morning the hard-core gang finished the last of the packing.

After a bit of an adventure getting my car onto the tow dolly (no, Ryan, no problems from my clutch … yet), I finally hit the road about 2 on Wednesday … only two hours after my goal … not bad. The cats were drugged (more on that later) and I was headed toward I-55.

Stay tuned for the adventure on the road.