Arriving home around 2am, I instantly went to bed. Having been sleeping on top of blankets and pillows for the past 5-6 days, I had a new appreciation for my feather bed topper and memory foam pad topping my very comfortable queen-sized mattress. I continued to pack boxes, putting all of my worldly possessions into as many boxes as possible (to help keep them light, knowing that I would only have a few people able to help unload on the Chicago side of things).

Saturday morning I had a friend call in sick, but thankfully had my friend Carl bring his wife Sarah to help fill the void. With myself, Scott, his father, Carl and Sarah helping with the loading of the truck, it only took about 3-4 hours to pack the truck. After a quick pizza lunch and some cleaning, I jumped into the truck and drove non-stop to Chicago only an hour behind schedule.

My brother was the only person able to help me unload, having several friends out of town for the long weekend visiting family or friends or working by the time I arrived. After a very rigorous 3 hours of unloading, we ordered pizza and started setting up a few items (like the bed and the TV, Cynthia). After a late night – and Waffles coming out of the closet to enjoy familiar stuff all around – my brother went home and I crashed. The rest of the weekend would be spent unpacking some rooms (with gracious help from my friend Anna), and getting ready for my first full week of work.