Yes, I Do Believe in an "After-Lift"

There indeed IS life after the Lift goes! I am a true believer...it is about 36 hours since our container left our property and I must say life remains pretty busy. Andy and I still feel "in the zone" and are still working on closing up loose ends. There are a few small items to buy to take with us; the house needs to be cleaned top to bottom (more on the house at a later date); financial issues to work on; documents to gather, and on and on.

And in the middle of all this, a funny thing has happened....B'ezrat Hashem and with thanks to modern technology, our current home phone number in Chicago will be our American/VoIP phone number in Israel as well. That means that someone in Chicago, for example, will be able to pick up the phone, dial our current, regular home number and it will ring in our home in Israel...all for the cost of a local call. Well, in order to accomplish THAT, the phone number needs to be ported over to Israel. In order to accomplish THAT, there has to be a period of time where our home phone will not work in Chicago during that switch over. During that time period (that limbo period), any calls to my home would ring on my cell phone. ALL of this was to occur the beginning of July just before we left. SURPRISE! It happened already!! Now, anyone calling my house (including the pesky telemarketers) will be calling my cell phone! Oh, well...just another page in the book of this great adventure.

Tonight, there is a dinner being held by the Shul and the community to wish us well, as we make Aliya. There are so many who worked on the dinner who deserve tremendous amounts of thanks. I will "save" those thank yous for my talk tonight and will post the text tomorrow to make sure that they get the public thank you that they deserve!

A final thought...this Shabbat will be my last "normal" speech in Shul! The following week, we have a Bar Mitzva and the one after that is my "good-bye" speech on my final Shabbat. (Actually, I will be in the Shul one more Shabbat, but it is the DAY before Aliya, and I will not be able--emotionally--to give a speech).

One more "final" thought...on a homiletical note...As I walk around our home, empty of most furniture and possessions, I hear echoes everywhere. It occurs to me that, in a sense, I am listening to the echoes of our "past" in this home. The three daughters we raised here...the good times...the sad times...the Shabbatot/Yamim Tovim meals and guests....I sit here and I can "hear" it all in my mind's eye. It is eerie and strange to deal with but life does go on and it will soon be time to write the next chapter in the story of the Shandalov family.

We now are at 24 days...42 minutes left...TICK....TICK...TICK...!

"Houston, we have LIFT OFF!!!!!!!!!"

After all the anticipation and the wait and the blood, sweat (and tears!) the lift/container arrived bright and early on this drizzly morning. In a matter of 7 hours, our entire lives at 6315 N Lawndale in Chicago was loaded up and ready to ship to Israel. In the morning, I was feeling queasy and nervous at the prospect of watching my stuff leave the house. As the day wore on, it seemed more and more calm as floor space that I never existed began to materialize. You have to remember that we began packing our first box a year ago! (Obviously, most of the packing has happened over the past few months only)

The movers were great! I can not say enough about their professionalism and speed! We did NOT have the experience of people stopping in to gawk by the dozens as others have had. (A couple of close friends dropped by and it WAS appreciated, I must tell you.)

How can I encapsulate my thoughts and feelings at this moment...On the one hand there is great relief, as we finally move from time measured as B.L. (before lift) to A.L. There have been so many good things that have occurred over the past few months as we prepared for this step of Aliya...EVEN Ikea (in hindsight) is looking like it was okay, too. (But you gotta squint really hard to see the good in those visits).

As I type these words, I can actually "hear" the echo in the den as I type due to the lack of items here to absorb the sound. We will begin to live out of suitcases, plastic cutlery, and on mattresses on the floor as of tonight. I am thinking of getting myself a cardboard sign that says "Homeless...Please help!" and standing at McCormick and Devon for a few hours. These other guys seem to do ok there, so maybe I can too!

After a little time for relaxing (FINALLY), the focus turns to cleaning up the house and packing up the rest of the items that we will take with us on the plane.

I have butterflies now, as the dream is that much closer to reality. I thank Hashem for giving us the opportunity to get this far in the process and still remain (relatively) sane.

Here are two pictures to give you a sense of the "Before" and "After" of the basement. I hope to post a whole series of pics one day.

AFTER BEFORE

Boxes, Boxes Everywhere!

So, I am now sitting here just moments after the packers have finished most of their work in our house. Besides the boxes WE packed (PBO's for those of you paying attention!), they packed dozens more today. Our house looks like a warehouse for a Big Box store but at least they will all be gone tomorrow!!
The crew showed up at EXACTLY 8:30am and got right to work. We did a walk-through so that they would know what IS shipping and what is not. (We did not want to be like one of our friends who ended up opening their lift to find that the movers had shipped one of their boxes of GARBAGE!)

In eager anticipation of this day, Andy was up and working by 3:15am and me, the slaggard, slept in until 5am. In any event, the day moved very fast as they packed, wrapped, inventoried and prepared most of the items to go on the container tomorrow. I must say that it was NOT as stressful as I had anticipated these past months and that helped a LOT. Andy was calm virtually the entire time and was moving at lightning speed to keep up with the movers as she showed them what last minute items needed to be packed. Everything they did, they did with a smile.

My daughter, Daniella, went out and bought pizza lunch for the men, which they greatly appreciated and it gave them a few minutes to rejuvenate (I am sure they could have used a nap after that, but so did I!!)

The most tedious part of the entire day (for THEM not ME) was the inventory. Each and every item shipping, whether a box, a chair, a table pad, etc EVERY item received a yellow tag with a number and the inventory list was then written down in detail. I could have handled the PACKING part but the detailed inventory part...that would have driven me to the brink!

A few related things: We have received SO many offers of help from people, food for meals, offers to pick up stuff, etc etc....ALL of those offers were SO nice and we greatly appreciated all of the offers.

And in the middle of all of this...OUR PASSPORTS WITH OUR VISAS TO ENTER ISRAEL AS OLIM CHADASHIM (NEW IMMIGRANTS)ARRIVED!!!! I have hardly had a moment to celebrate having THAT milestone as well, but we have SO many things to celebrate, Baruch Hashem!

Now, let's back up a bit since the last 24 hours have been very busy besides in our home! First, on Sunday early afternoon, our middle daughter, Ayelet, graduated from Ida Crown. We were beaming with pride as she stepped up to get her diploma. Hard to believe that she is our SECOND high school grad now! It was also a very special moment when one of my students (Sara Bernstein) wished our family well as we make Aliya. How special to have such beautiful public recognition.

Then, in yet another milestone, an election was held on Sunday for the Rav of KJBS. At 8:00pm last night the announcement was made...Rabbi Aaron Leibtag will serve as the new Rav for the Shul after I depart for Israel. I am happy for HIM and happy for the shul. it is great for continuity and for growth. I am sure you all join me in wishing Rabbi Leibtag a Mazal Tov and much Hatzlacha in this new exciting position (yes, it is exciting...after ten YEARS serving as the Rav, it is VERY difficult to leave the position, trust me!)

Ok...that is all for now (just another quiet 24 hours of doing nothing...how boring!). Time to get ready for the next and final phase of this move...the actual loading of the lift/container. They are to arrive at 8:30am to drop the container and begin the loading. Needless to say, it will be very strange by the end of the day Monday in the Shandalov household....

While this is the SECOND post I have written today, the first one seems like 6 weeks ago. So, the requisite countdown:
26 days...15 hours and 43 minutes...TICK...TICK...TICK!

Let the Games Begin!

It is 6:15AM on Monday, June 8, 2009. The last 24 hours have been completely crazy with a flury of activity leading up to today's packing of the lift. So much to write about: graduation, packing, collapsing, a new Rabbi for KJBS, and so much more.
But, for now, I need to go daven and then finish up some last minute items before this day, that we have so greatly anticipated, begins.

Wish us luck...we are going "underground" until the lift ships out! Phones going off the hook, crime-scene tape going up to protect the perimeter from gawkers....

LET'S DO THIS!

27 DAYS...3 HOURS AND 14 MINUTES...TICK...TICK...TICK!!

Friday...More Running Around

While I did not do as MUCH running around on Friday as the day before, it was no cake walk either. I had to be in Elk Grove and Elmhurst. I found the general vicinity of both locations fairly easily. BUT...finding the actual buildings I was seeking proved a bit more complicated.

It seems that to gain access to the holy ground upon which these two warehouses stand, one needs a post-graduate degree in Global Positioning Software systems and at least a rudimentary knowledge of the skills of a S.W.A.T. team. Directions may sound a little like this: "If you go down to the end of the road, make a left, turn immediately to the right, double back and head 33.4 degrees due West all the while turning the steering wheel only with your left hand...," then and only then, will you have the PRIVILEGE to find the warehouse of Sam's Store (220v items) and American Mattress!

But, I DID find the places I was seeking and I was successful in procuring every item we needed! Our list of "To Buy in Chicago" is almost 100% complete...we only lack one item that we will pick up after Ayelet's graduation from High School (ICJA) tomorrow. We are very excited about her graduation and that of Eliana from Arie Crown (as--enter nachas moment here--Eliana is valedictorian in Hebrew AND English!) but at the same time we feel bad that we are not focusing enough on these milestones, as we are so consumed with the Lift going this week. They have both been very understanding...we are deferring the celebrating until after Wednesday...

Yes, this week, we will finally shift from B.L.-time (Before Lift) to A.L.-time. I can not wait to have this event behind us.

There still is plenty to do, so why am I typing on my blog??!! Avoidance...complete avoidance. BUT, I guess I best get back to work.

28 days...10 hours and 3 minutes...TICK...TICK...TICK...

Exhaustion

Almost too tired to type, but I must while things are still fresh in my mind.

For those following this blog, you recall that today was the day I was to enter into my own personal purgatory, also known as IKEA. I had it all mapped out...what departments to go to, the people I needed to speak to, the arrangements for the shipment to the warehouse of Deerfield Moving/Sonigo. I THOUGHT I could be in and out fairly quickly. Well, you have heard of The Hundred Years War...they also thought it would be over quickly. The participants in that war and I had one thing in common...we were both wrong!

I ended up in the first Ikea for nearly THREE hours. I seemed to have criss-crossed my path on more than one occasion observing that some of the personnel were great and helpful while others...let's just say that they would benefit from a course by Dale Carnegie.

In any event, I ran hither and yon, picking the bookcases, doors, cabinets, stainless steel cart and other "essentials." When it was all said and done, I did not get everything I wanted to, since I knew in advance that I would need to visit a second location (Hashem Yerachem!) for certain bookcase doors.

The funny thing is that I was in and out of the Ikea (in Bolingbrook--yes, that IS where "Old Chicago" was for you old time Chicagoans!) in about 12 minutes! I think that there were 15 other people in the whole store and there definitely was only one cashier.

The ride back was terrible, but I kept telling myself these were just more tests on the road to Aliya. Tomorrow, I need to run to Elk Grove and (suddenly) also to Elmhurst as a couple of items we needed relating to bedding that should have been available 2 minutes from our house are suddenly OUT OF STOCK. So, off to the Western Suburbs tomorrow!

One last thought...the entire focus for days has now been: LIFT, LIFT and the LIFT. Then, it occurred to me that (in Chutz La'aretz at least) this week's Parasha is Parashat Naso, which means "to lift" or "to raise" !! How cool is that!?!?

Thirty days, 10 hours, 42 minutes...TICK...TICK...TICK....wow, almost under 30 days!

Reaching New "Lowe's"

Our day on Monday and Tuesday was filled with joy as we crossed many items off of our list of items to buy. Monday was Sam's Club (twice...more on that in a minute) and Tuesday was Lowe's (twice...more on that in a minute...getting to see a pattern?!?); Home Depot, Wal-Mart, and CVS. It was such a feeling of accomplishment to cross SO many items off the list of "TO BUY IN CHICAGO." But, why TWO trips to the aforementioned stores? It certainly was not because we enjoy them so much! Last night, we arrived at Sam's Club half an hour before closing with our sights set on box springs (x2), bed frames (x2) a bottle of Glenlivet (not for us...honestly!) and one or two other items. We checked out of the store with time to spare. I pulled the van around, we loaded the first box spring in and then...(cue music played when tired couple realizes they are in trouble)...we saw that the second box spring would not fit in the van! Our choices: leave one there for someone homeless; cut a sunroof in the van to accommodate this item; or...make two trips while one of us drove home (me) and one of us (Andy) stayed with the offending box spring. So, two trips for a one-trip stop.And Lowe's? We were there at 7:40am this morning and picked out some items we had on our lists. We brought the items home and then, there on the counter, staring at us almost with a smug little smile was a coupon for $10 off a purchase at Lowe's. I KNEW we had the coupon but I forgot to bring it along! When you are dealing with so many dollar signs as we have been lately, a savings of $10 is truly worth it...so, back to Lowe's, again, this evening to refund and re-charge the list LESS the $10...capitalism triumphs again.

Tomorrow is the day I have been dreading since making our TO DO lists. It means a trip to Ikea! BUT...cue horror music...I need to go to TWO different Ikea stores!!! AAARRGGGHHH....They do not have all the parts we need in one, so it is a double dose of Ikea for me tomorrow. BUT...the one saving grace is that I am going alone...with no one...by myself...and I can go at the pace I WANT to go. It will be a much faster venture this way, but it still IS Ikea, after all...OY...say a special prayer for me please.

Later on in the day tomorrow it is a trip to go pick up the two trundle beds we ordered and then Friday off to the store in Elk Grove for some 220v items we bought.

Hmmm...what are all those bare spots on the walls...that was where the pictures were....or, was that where the clock was??? How quickly our minds fail us!

It is Wednesday evening at 9:12pm...it is now 31 days 12 hours and 28 minutes until we board the plane to NY...TICK...TICK...TICK!!!