FInal moments of Move

Last day of old place occupancy: June 30 2013

After helpers finished their two-load work (upload and download), we paid them $450. But I still have one truck load: this time some fragile items, including a lawn mower and some bed boards that helpers failed to include their two trips due to capacity limit of the truck. 

A thin layer gradually filled the truck. Plus, a full load on the SUV for fragile kitchen items.

After dinner, A and T went back to clean the old place. At the new place, I was left with a load’s items, and the responsibility to take care of Taikun. He had felt asleep around 4:30pm in the car when coming to new place and now was still sleeping. Since this was the only uninterrupted time, I had to start unload early and, working very hard--Hopefully to finish all unloading before he awoke. 

These several days the weather were unstable—with heavy rain. I started unloading around 7pm. Despite technically the items appeared “thin” on the truck, I was soaked in the rain. I was hoping to grasp the chance when the rain stopped, but technically it was hard to get a time when the rain was completely off.  

When I was busying with items in-and-out, Taikun woke up around 7:45pm, shouting “A-po, A-po!” I immediately dashed upstairs to his side, explaining to him that Mama and A-po were away, cleaning at the old place.  I then pointed to him to see my messy look (sweat + soaked), “koh  tán papa  cha̍p-ji hun-cheng, ho-bo? (Wait Papa for 20 more minutes, okay?)” Still lying on bed, in the beginning he didn’t fully understand what I meant since not yet fully awake. After I repeated the explanation he seemed to understand, agreeing to stay on bed for 20 more minutes, saying “ho (Okay)”.

Downpour went on. I managed to speed up the project—the last few items seemed endless. The mower needed to be pulled all the way from the front to the back, through the uneven brick path to the shed. It’s pretty hard to finish it in the rain. Two air conditioners—which T insisted to buy and install in the old place during the very last few days of occupancy—needed special attention when they were dropped.

Anyway, I finished the project, and was so happy to slam the door of the truck. When I showed up again in front of Taikun, he was fully awake, rolling and turning with his beloved pick bunny. I then explained to him I need to take a bath and then got into the bathroom. He understood what I said.

I was soaked and dirty—I took a quick shower anyway despite of knowing there were no clean clothes to put on. Then I had to use a towel to serve a temporary “cloth” to cover myself. Taikun was amused—since this is a rare experience that A and T was away and he spent time alone with me. A Papa in almost-nude mode, haha.

We played a while on his bed and he okayed my proposal to go downstairs to eat. I, clad only with a bath towel, prepared his food in the kitchen: yogurt, with a piece of Italian shortbread cookie covered with chocolate as the reward. He had some water. He refused cheese. We played ice cubes, “chiok beng e! (So icy cold!)”, he surprised. 

Since the first floor was packed with items to the extent that there was no space to turn-around, we returned second floor which remained relative empty for Taikun. He checked each room and got amused at the ceiling fans. We returned to his bed looking outside through windows. Last night when I did his bedtime, he spotted “hóe-kim-ko! (firefly)!”outside. Tonight, I encouraged him to count the lighted windows from neighboring houses. We didn’t see any fireflies tonight—perhaps due to heavy rain.

At 9:30pm it approached his sleep time as he started to yawn. We returned first floor for some water, and I fed him some oatmeal. He had several coarse and wet coughs, pointing to his neck, saying “chia ē  thiàⁿ (it hurts here).” Seriously I check his neck--the skin looked okay. So I guessed he had a soar throat. He has been coughing very badly for a couple of days and I will report the situation to A and T to see if there is a need to visit a doctor.

There were still several rituals for me to finish. After the oatmeal, it’s time for a bath. First it’s teeth brushing. He has been refusing to use toothpaste at all probably for its flavor. So a toothbrush was used without anything on it, simply after a dip in the water at best. (So is this effective in fighting cavity?). For bath, he was still concerned with the showerhead (he didn’t seem to like it). Instead he used a cup to get the water from the tap, and poured it to himself. He giggled and had fun.

Finally, the bedtime—much to my surprise he felt asleep around 10:30pm. He re-slept after such a short period of time. After getting out of Taikun bedroom, A and T returned with a full load of SUV. I worked with them to unload all items again, until calling it a day around midnight. Basically the moving was almost completed—and tomorrow we will visit the old place to finalize it, before T will have an appointment with the landlord at the old place at 4pm. 

July 1, 2013: Thanks to A and T’s hard work, we got the full deposit back!