Claire's Departure

On Saturday we all rolled out of bed at 4:30 a.m to hit the road to Troy, NY.  Well, actually, the plan was to get up at 4:30, but I was the only one who did so as everyone else got up at 4 because my mother decided pre-dawn dishwashing was necessary, Claire was bouncing off the walls despite only having 3 1/2 hours of sleep, and who knows what my Dad was doing, but he was up.  Claire and I, like the geniuses we are, decided it would be totally fine to stay up until 12:30 before we had to get up 4 hours later.  This extreme sleep deprivation, followed by a car ride that was not conducive to sleeping, led to Claire and I acting like we always do in car rides, only 20 times worse.  This, of course, means, we not only poked each other endlessly and giggled for hours at the names of towns in New Jersey, we became intensely fixated on complaining about the smell in the entire state of New Jersey.  We always have been victims to "Are we there yet?" syndrome.  Usually this syndrome passes after children reach the age of 9 or ten.  We are exceptions.  

When we got to RPI, in true Paulson style, we went to the wrong building and wandered around for awhile without asking directions.  Then, we finally found that we had to check in at the hockey rink, where we made Claire do everything and the rest of us stood around.  During this time, Mom and I stared off into space in an exhausted haze, and Dad marveled at all the famous hockey players that had gone there.  This again was in true Paulson style.  Finally we got to Claire's dorm, and began lugging the mountains of stuff up there.  Claire then took about 10 minutes to choose which side of the room she wanted, to which all our friends can attest, is not surprising.  It was fun decorating and setting up the room and Claire magically fit all her clothes in the tiny dresser like the magical packer she is.  After picking up her books and a little last minute teasing, it was time to say goodbye for now. 

I'm closer to Claire than any other person in the world, so of course I teared up a little bit at the end.  I coped by making fun of the t-shirt she had to wear for her orientation, which looked like someone had sneezed on it.  I was pretty depressed until I realized, Claire is always a call or e-mail away.  It's only a short while and I'll see and talk to her soon. 

Now, of course, it's my turn.  Let the incompetent packing begin!