It's my party, and I'll cry if I want to
Cry if I want to, cry if I want to
You would cry too if it happened to you.
- Lesley Gore
We finally landed in Auckland, NZ!
We left Myrtle Beach at 11:30 am Saturday, and after 26 hours of travel (including layovers) and crossing the International Date Line, it is Monday morning. I have to meet with a representative from the Medical Council today in Auckland, then tomorrow we fly to our new home in Palmerston North. The travel itself went very smoothly, but so much happened in the last 2 weeks leading us here.
Kari is amazing ... how she has managed to put up with my shit for 10 years is beyond me. Everyone else seems to realize how amazing she is, too. As a result, I have a social life. If it were up to me, I would retreat to my hermit cave at the end of the day and never venture out, but Kari has introduced me to people ... some specific people, but mostly just people. As it turns out, (some) people are actually pretty cool and I enjoy spending time with them.
Our first send-off was two weeks ago. One of the docs I work with has been trying to get out with us for the past two years. He is absolutely amazing ... I haven't worked alongside him much, but I see him at 7 am coming in as I leave, and again at 7 pm at the next shift change. He always has a smile on his face and a kind word. I have no idea what his shift is like in the middle ... it could be a total shit sandwich ... but he is always cheerful at the 7's. He is smart, level-headed, and wise ... the very things I am not. He has become more than a colleague; he is a friend.
We finally managed to find a night where we could get together and he suggested we go to the one restaurant I would miss the most. I know you all think we were going to Mellow Mushroom, but that was not to be (No fear ... I made it there eventually). We ended up at Aspen Grille in Myrtle Beach. Here's my chance for a shameless plug ... If you find yourself in MB, and you're looking for a nice grown-up dinner, white table cloths and everything, you can't go wrong with Aspen Grille. The food is great, the service is fantastic, and the wine list is up to the task.
We had two of these, and the second bottle was just as tastey as the first.
John quizzed us on trivia for our new home, and I have to say that we fared pretty well ... Kari got a few more right than I did. I am looking forward to spending more time with John and his wife on our return. Of course, I don't think he believes that we are actually returning.
Just a couple of days later, I worked my last shift at WCH. The next morning, the night crew nurses from WCH and GMH met for steak and eggs in the morning (washed down with mimosas). I was absolutely floored and humbled by the turn-out.
That night, we went to a surprise birthday party for a dear friend. She and her husband have become really close to us over the past 5 years, and Jordan has been hanging out with their boys having the battle royale of Nerf gun wars. Matt and I have similar interests, from hunting and fishing to pizza and beer. Time for my second shameless plug ...
For whatever reason, over the past 5 years my schedule has worked out so I almost always have Tuesdays off. With Jordan at school, and Kari working, I generally try to run errands on Tuesdays so that I end up near one of Matt's restaurants around lunch time. He owns 3 Mellow Mushrooms in and around Myrtle Beach and he is in the process of opening a 4th.
The beer menu is constantly changing and his bartenders are pretty amazing at finding something for just about everyone. The pizza is our favorite in Myrtle Beach. Since I will be unable to get Mellow on Tuesdays in NZ, he made sure I had appropriate schwag to take with me. Thanks, Matt!
Every year, we put on a block party. We rent an outdoor movie screen and show a family-friendly movie, cook some food, and have everyone come over to hang out on our lawn. One of the neighbors kicks in a blow-up jump house and everyone brings food. We typically hold this party in late November or early December to take advantage of cooler weather and earlier sunsets. This year, it was moved up to the last week-end in September so that we could attend. The party just gets bigger every year, and this year I think there were over 100 people ... looks like we will be asking for a porta-potty for next year's event. Unfortunately, the cooking went a little late so I didn't get to talk to everyone, but it was awesome to watch The Goonies on the big screen, drink beer and eat some low-country boil.
Sunday was a going away party for Kari's work, and Monday we drove down to Charleston to sell Kari's car ... and have lunch at Husk. Monday night, Jordan's soccer team threw her a going away party. On Tuesday, I flew to Buffalo, drove to Toronto, and caught a World Cup hockey game with my college room-mate. It was great to hang with an old friend and see Canada win one. Sounds like the beginning of a bad joke, but we met a for-real comedian in a bar. I think we were funnier than her, but she wasn't on stage and my impression may be clouded by the oysters and beer. I managed to check her out on YouTube when I got home and she is actually pretty funny. If Christina Walkinshaw has a show near you, definitely worth checking her out.
After the game, we drove back to Buffalo and the next morning (Wednesday) I flew back to Myrtle ... and then we had dinner with another group of close friends. That night involved steaks, brown liquor, cigars, lots of laughter, and more tears. Gil and Ruta travel more than we do, so perhaps we will see them here in NZ.
Kari went out with her friends on Thursday night, and I was supposed to head out after she got home, but she was home late and I ended up with a much needed night off. I'm sure Matt will never let me hear the end of it. On Friday night, we made one more walking tour of our street, stopping to spend time with several neighbors, and on Saturday morning Gil arrived to give us the black car service to the airport.
As I go back through this post, I realize that to some extent it reads like a bit of a humble brag, and maybe not so humble. Yay me! This really isn't about me, or Kari, though. These past several weeks have been absolutely amazing as our friends see us off. Over the past five years in Myrtle Beach, we have built a community, a family made up of so many truly loving and caring people. We have often said that if it weren't for the street we live on, and the family we have become, that we would have left MB a couple years ago.
I know many of you don't think that we are coming back, and that if we do we won't be staying very long. There is certainly some validity to that thought, but know that each and every one of you makes it that much more difficult for us to follow through with our evil plan.
Kia ora from New Zealand.
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