Boxes, boxes everywhere - and not a place to sit!

Saturday night at the house it was actually pristine and quiet. All the walls freshly painted, the hardwood freshly sealed, the carpentry/plumbing/electrical work done...

then came Sunday, with moving out of the apartment. I didn't think I had much stuff, but... it was quite a pile when stacked up. I guess I really did haul a bunch of things here when I drove the car out and then every single business trip thereafter! Not to mention the house plants, household chemicals, propane tank for the grill, luggage, food, etc. that came along for the ride with the second car. But everybody arrived in one piece on Sunday afternoon, and I had some extra hands (and paws) to help haul. :)

But Monday! Oh my goodness...

5 men (driver, helper and 3 locals) hauled from 8AM until 4:30PM, with Deb directing traffic in the driveway, and me in the basement applying triage to the dollys full of boxes. They did a fantastic job of organizing the basement storage area, and am I ever glad I put in extra lighting! It's like a warehouse in there now, with aisles, and all box labels turned to face the aisles... almost indexed by department. Toys in aisle 1, books - aisle 4. Funny, but scary. We really should be held criminally liable for accumulating so many things over the years.

The retro lounge in the lower level (we no longer use the word *basement* unless referring to actual storage areas) is starting to take shape. Love the new colors, and have a couple of furniture pieces built. More each night! :)

Upstairs it's chaos, but slowly that too will get better. Slowly. But... no kids to worry about, at least. Just a dog. That makes it easier to live in what looks like a "war zone" temporarily.

If only it wasn't summer. 85 and humid all weekend, and today/tomorrow. Ugh. The A/C works, though! I have my fans set up in strategic locations, too. I'll survive. :)

I wonder if it will ever feel like home?

This here is it - roundup time!

Yep, back at the ranch, they are a-loadin' up the wagons. All our worldly possessions gettin' throwed on a truck. Big truck. Real big truck.

Plus it's off to the doctor today for Deb, to hopefully get the final signoff on her recovery from surgery. Lots of pressure on her, and it's been tough. Quite a bit of furniture got sold in the "moving sale" (helped by many girlfriends), so there will be less to sell in a "tag sale" here later this summer. Yes, they call it a "tag" sale - not "rummage", not "yard", not "garage" ... "tag". Hmpf. Local Yankee culture.

But by the end of this weekend, the work on the new house here will be done (God willing), and ready for all the contents of that big truck to be unloaded. Memorial Day! It will be a day to remember, all right.

While unpacking to set up a new life here, at the same time I'll also be remembering all that's back there, and wondering how often I'll visit... it's hard to move forward when your heart is pulled back. But, I press on! And I trust that God will be gracious, giving me many opportunities to nourish that heart in the ways He knows it needs to be fed and cared for.

Nice day

Kind of a fun day chasing around. It was super busy, non-stop, but didn't feel frazzle-y. Bought some furniture at IKEA (nearest store 50 miles away - 65 from the new house, 80 from the DMV), inspected the new carpet at the house (nice) and put new toilet paper in the bathroom for the contractors' convenience, absorbed some local culture as I fought blocked-off streets trying to find the post office due to a little local festival, beat the state bureaucracy to a bloody pulp as I walked away from the DMV with a decent DL picture for once... maybe it's the new haircut. :)

All kinds of other odds & ends, too numerous to mention, and now a glass of peppermint schnapps, a good book, and I'm off to bed. Mmmm... a good day.

There's nothing as constant as... (Updated)

you know the rest.

I've been here, oh... 4 months now. Lost a boss today. A dotted line boss anyway. Alpaca is moving up and into a different part of the company. It remains to be seen who will replace him - Mousewoman is still thinking about it. And she may bust up his duties, who knows? At least it's only a dotted line relationship.

Hopefully Rug, my solid line boss, stays in place a while. Continuity is good in a start-up unit like this one...

but I'm not nervous. Much.

I mean, my plan is to change my driver's license over this weekend to the new address... hmmm.

****************

UPDATE:

Rug called on Friday afternoon with news on who Alpaca's replacement is (at least in part) - a guy I'll call PeBo. Solid character, good fit for the job, and he will run only Management Information, and report to Mousewoman. The financial part of Alpaca's job will be filled by an accountant type. Fine with me. This should be an OK change as far as I can see. Whew! :)

You'd think this would be simple

... just a little fixing up here and there, some painting, a couple of new outlets ...

The first day that there were contractors in the house, one of the electricians is up in the attic snaking wire and proceeds to put his foot through the hallway ceiling. Tore out a 2' x 3' chunk of drywall.

The painter shows up with paint, ready to go, and I realize ... I hired the wrong guy! Naturally, the one time I bothered to get competetive bids, and I get their names confused! Oh well, you live with your mistakes.

Then, the carpenter is hauling lumber for shelving down into the basement via the outside storm door stairs, which makes sense, but he does it in a pouring rainstorm and water runs in all over the basement floor - no towels or mop in sight so it stands there in pools...

The plumber got the utility sink for the wine room unpacked, but it was cracked upon arrival and he needs to order a new one. No idea when it will show up. He doesn't return my phone calls.

I shudder to think what will happen when the people start to lay the hardwood floors down...

Oy! I need a therapist.

Maybe I'm old-fashioned

but gee whiz. Couldn't I have had the chance to shake hands with someone besides my own realtor and my own attorney?

I mean all this money is changing hands, and some people who've lived in this house for 20 years are handing over the keys to someone they've never seen, and ... they don't want to meet the buyer?

Arghhh. The sellers did not come to the closing. My realtor hung around long enough to witness some signatures, pick up her commission check and take off. My lawyer passed me page after page of documents to sign, and the sellers' attorney was going to sign later for the sellers. At least the sellers' realtor was there. But then, she picked up a check, too. Vultures...

Somehow this whole business has felt like I got all dressed up for prom, picked up my date who didn't say a word the whole way there. When we got to the dance, they only had a DJ, not a band, and he got sick after half an hour. Everyone went home early, and I didn't even get a kiss at the door, because my date left after her first glass of punch via a side entrance...

I wanted somebody to uncork some champagne today and say congratulations, welcome to the neighborhood!!!

At least I got two remotes for each garage door. That's something.

Buying a house by mail

Trying to get the final paperwork all lined up on the new house in New England, while on a 10-day business trip in the Midwest, shuttling back and forth between St. Paul and Chicago... the bank needs this notarized, the relo company needs these forms filled out, the real estate lawyer out East and the estate planning lawyer back here are trying to figure out how to title the house. Fedex and faxes. That's how you buy a house these days.

But on Monday, I actually get to sit across a table from the sellers and shake hands and say "we'll take good care of it." How very old-fashioned.

And at that moment I really will have three residences - none of which will actually be "home".

The cavalcade of contractors begins Tuesday! See them sand, watch them paint! Hear them hammer and then curse! Fun for the whole family!

And somewhere in there I may be in the office doing work. We'll see.