Ho Chi Mama: Adventures of a VietMOM: Parting Shots

The last breakfast at my
favorite table in the world.

It was a day of "lasts" - our final day in Hoi An. It was a day to say goodbyes, to do things for one last time, to sell things, to move things, to pack and to clean. I started my day with one last Cargo breakfast - a chocolate croissant, a latte and a fresh orange juice - sitting in my favorite spot in the Ancient City just watching life in Vietnam go by. From there it was off to do a little last minute souvenir shopping, to enjoy a farewell lunch with Ha and her family, and to take a final trip to the beach. By noon the tears had started, and the seemingly endless string of goodbyes had begun. We said our last goodbyes to school mates and friends at the Dingo Deli before heading out for one final dinner at Mango Rooms.

It was an emotional day that lasted well into the night. With tons of packing to do and a 5:00 a.m. departure time scheduled for the next morning, it was debatable as to whether or not it was worth going to bed. Foster's packing took all of ten minutes. As he put it, "I have my X-box and a few books. I'm good to go." He spent the night watching a movie and finally crashed around 2:30 a.m. Brianna strategically sorted and eliminated and had her suitcase ready to go without too much trouble. She decided to watch shark movies all night and forgo sleeping at all. Nolan kept claiming to be finished with his packing, but every time I went into his room I would discover a new stash of "stuff" yet to be dealt with (using the "pack, trash or give away" method of sorting). As his frustration mounted (he was desperate to watch a movie and pull his first "all-nighter) he started trashing everything. Eventually I found myself sitting on the floor with him picking through the garbage piece by piece - "resorting." Once we had cleared all of the drawers, surface areas and closets, he had a full suitcase with a mountain of things he still wanted to pack piled on top of it. I sent him off to watch a movie and told him I would try to "rearrange" his suitcase. He gave me a wary glance and said, "don't take out my volcano whatever you do." That would be the large paper mache volcano that he made in school about three months ago. Not only was it taking up half of the suitcase, but it also had a large plastic basket packed around it to keep it from getting crushed. Oy Vey! I rearranged, sorted and tossed (items never to mentioned in writing) and managed to squeeze (mostly) everything in. By 3:00 a.m. I was feeling good enough to sit down and work on organizing photos on my computer. I knew better than to go to sleep with a 4:30 wake-up call pending. At 3:30 Nolan succumbed to sleep. I lost Brianna at 3:45. I decided to enjoy the next 45 minutes because I knew 4:30 was going to be very messy. And indeed it was...