Moved in!

Friday, August 03, 2007

Well, almost (yes, there are a lot of "almosts" right now)! After much exhaustion, dust inhalation, sweat and bruises, we are in our new house. Wednesday morning we showed up at the new place (after sleeping at my grandma's house) and met our realtor who said, "We might have another problem." Oh no! Fortunately, it was a minor one. The lockboxes that go on the doors of houses for sale often are set to only operate during certain times. She didn't know what time this one was set to start operating and, since it was only 7:15am, we weren't surprised when it wouldn't let us in. Because we've known our realtor for nearly 4 months now, she gave me her remote and the code and said just to bring it to her in the office later. Thanks! So we unloaded the Jeep and we went back for the TV and birdcage. By the time we returned with that load, it was a few minutes past 8am. With much anxiety, I tried the lockbox... It worked! I took the Jeep back again to the old place to get the last of the small stuff and do a final wipe-down. Michael's brother, Andrew, came by a while later and we took care of the large plants and misc things that wouldn't fit in the Jeep. Then I locked it up, waved goodbye and was gone.

After stopping at Starbucks on the way back to the new house, hereon called "our house", I arrived to find Michael rushing around trying to find something to wear to work and the contractors taping two layers of plastic to the interior of the house. We had initially planned on only have the contractors scrape and texture the ceilings but, considering how tired we were and knowing how daunting a task it would be to prime and paint and newly textured ceiling, we decided (quickly) that an additional $0.75 per square foot was damn worth it for them to prime and paint.

Michael eventually found some clothes, jumped in the shower and took off for work while Andrew and I ate a small breakfast on the back deck. I then left to deliver our old keys and the lockbox remote to our realtor while Andrew started unloading the moving truck into the garage. He was able to get quite a bit done while I was gone, but was very happy to see me get back and we were able to unload the whole thing by noon, stopping a few times for a lot of water (it was over 100 degrees that day!) and resting. At the end of it, the 830sf garage was packed with our entire lives with only a small path running from front to back.

We slept at grandma's again (the ceiling is a two day process) and yesterday Michael went to work while I hung around our backyard with the dog waiting for the painters to come and finish up. Besides a hair appointment and chiropractic appointment, it was a much slower day that the previous few. The painters were just finishing up when I returned from the chiropractor and so I was finally able to get inside and start some cleaning! The contractors did a FANTASTIC job and cleaned quite well, but I still took my vacuum around a few times and cleaned some of the floors.

We managed to get the old refrigerator out and ours in. Plus our living room set and the kitchen dining room set is in place. The TV is hooked up and we get limited cable until Dish comes back on Sunday (they had "issues" on Wednesday when they initially came out). Cousins Mike and Samantha came by with little Merritt to check out the new pad and gave a thumbs up. That meant a lot. :o)

So... we'll keep working and maybe we'll even have the family Thanksgiving here!