Moving On

I helped my friend Gwen move during the past two days. Some might call this "benevolence," but I prefer to call it "insanity."

While Gwen is a kind and very helpful woman, she is also very particular. I began to discover this fact as I rearranged her lounge furniture for the 14th time yesterday. No matter how we placed it, the lounge did not suit her. Finally, after shifting every single piece of furniture in her lounge and breakfast area, her distaste was satiated.

We loaded up a truck today with large items like mattresses and plants, and drove them over to the new house. Gwen drove the truck, Jason and Amanda followed in their car, and I took a load of stuff in the Laser. As we made the 10 minute drive to the new house, I noticed that Gwen was taking the roundabouts (still one of my favorite things in Australia) rather speedily. And then a competitive mood apparently hit her, and she took a different route so that she could beat me to the house.

As I drew closer to the house, I noticed a couple of people on the side of the road holding a mattress. I thought, "That's interesting--someone else is moving today!" And then I thought, "That looks like Jason and Amanda's car." And then I thought, "Those people look like Jason and Amanda." And so they somehow strapped the mattress to their roof with a piece of rope that was randomly located in their trunk. And we somehow had a safe rest of the trip over to the house.

Although I often make fun of Gwen for these kinds of things, I really enjoyed the speed bumps that we hit while I helped her move. It's these kinds of things that make funny stories. And that make friendships all the more valuable.