Four Days, Nineteen Hours, Fifty-six Minutes.

Last night was our going away party where we had about twenty of our closest friends and family members come see our mostly empty house and eat Zeek's pizza, and while it still doesn't seem real that Harold and I will be out of our house in four days, nineteen hours and forty-eight minutes, it was a blast to see most of the people we love in one place. My mom, dad, Dawn, and Alex and Lisa were here, as well as Jimmy and Andrea (Harold's friend from childhood and his wife). Ruthie was here (and took the chair and a half and our two living room tables home with her) as was Paxton, Caleb and Kevin, Lunchbox, Beanie, Summit, and Justin Huertas. Beef and Daffy, Bacon and Skipper (our newest West Seattle neighbors) and Yoshi (with sweet baby Quin). It was a fantastic night and only one spurt of tears for the entire night. It was the perfect way to leave Seattle, rainy cold day included.

Since last week, Harold and I have packed our entire kitchen, most of our living room, and given loads of clothes/utensils/shoes/knick-knacks to the Goodwill. Now that Ruth took the chair and a half, our living room actually echos. It's bizarre. Mom came over yesterday and helped finish painting the bathroom (that I started three months ago) and help me organize the house in time for the party. I ended up packing more kitchen and living room things and she helped to do some cleaning that we will now not have to do this week. I'm feeling good about where we stand in regards to our move.

Yesterday began our good-byes with a whole group of people that we won't probably see again until Christmas. Then this morning I had brunch with Yoshi and Quin and we just got back from dinner with Lunchbox. This next week holds good-byes to our house, work, co-workers (the best ever), and all of our belongings (until we see them again on August 3rd). Starting Friday is camp again with a whole host of hard good-byes wrapped up with it.

And then come our good-byes to our families, which are the hardest of them all.

"How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard."