The moving update!!
We did it! We moved in. Can you believe it? I have but a moment to record the happenings over the last couple days, and then I must get back to the mountain of boxes!
Sunday: I freaked out because I knew we weren’t going to have everything done and ready for the movers. I tried my best, anyway, and after a few panicky calls to my mom and friends, I decided to “go with the flow.” Even though I wanted to explode.
Monday: The mover arrived, and we SO weren’t ready. You don’t realize how much crap you have until you go to move!! In every room, random items escaped our grasp, but we wrangled them into boxes at the last minute, taping shut cardboard containers as fast as the movers carried out the stuff we actually already had packed. I could tell the mover guys weren’t happy-and before we knew it, stuff was already mysteriously broken. I didn’t raise a fuss, because I felt like we were at their mercy. Now, as I survey the damage (having already signed off on everything, dammit all), I wish I would have been bitchier.
Tuesday: We closed on our house-actually the lawyer did that for us (for a mere $450 ugh) and I picked up the proceeds check before work. Tuesday night’s class was a bit of trainwreck. Two students had called me regarding speeches, so I mistakenly assumed we were doing the Oral Interps that night. After an incident in my bookbag with a sample size container of chipotle sauce (all over my papers, pens, everything but our big fat check-thank goddess), I managed to pull together a great study session for the final and cover all the material they need to know come May 8th. I couldn’t sleep that night. I just drifted off when at 2 am the loudest clap of thunder I have ever heard jolted me awake.
Wednesday: Two hours of half-sleep later, we packed up ourselves, the baby, and drove both vehicles down to the new house in a torrential rainstorm. By the time we got to Champaign, the rain had stopped, and by Tuscola, we could see sun. When we hit the Charleston exit, I was so excited I could hardly contain myself. We did the walkthrough at 8:30 am, and the house was empty!! All of their stuff was gone!! Apparently they were up until 4 am hauling the last bits out. They also hauled away the washer and dryer, which I thought were mine. A closer inspection of the contract revealed this was not the case. Dammit. Becky dropped the ball on that one. And now I need a new washer and dryer!!!
We closed on the house at 9:30 am, and at 10:30 stopped by the insurance office, then we headed to Walmart for some food and drinks, and went “home.” (Weird!!!) The movers had just showed up with the semi, and they unloaded all our stuff. It was hard to pay them $3000. I’m still a bit bitter. Oh, well. What’s done is done, and I swear, I don’t ever want to move again (yes, that’s coming from ME, the mover!).
That night, we slept on our soon-to-be-old mattress on the floor of our room (the new bed should be delivered today, and that set will go in the guest room). We are learning the ins-and-outs of the house, with a few surprises. Like the showerheads, for example. You could get rinsed off faster with an eyedropper. And there are no medicine cabinets in any of the bathrooms-they had mirrors hanging, which they took with them. I haven’t seen my reflection in days. Probably not a bad thing all things considered.
Thursday: We opened our new bank account with seventeen identifying documents and a blood sample for DNA purposes. /smirk/ And did another Walmart run. This time, we went to the one in Chucktown. I cleaned them out of the shelf liner I use, and will have to get more from the Toon-town Walmart today (hopefully they’ll be fully stocked-I have enough cabinets for three families). We got filters for the furnaces/air conditioners (yes, there are two of each-this is a HUGE house).
We discovered other idiosyncrasies about the house, such as the tendency for the half-bath downstairs to blow a circuit breaker when you screw in all the lightbulbs (wondered why there was only one screwed in-now I know). The laminate on the kitchen countertops is separating, and the dishwasher sounds like a 747 taking off for the entire 30-minute cycle.
I have found no fewer than 7 tiny ants near the kitchen sink-and I have to contain myself, because I have a thing about ants. We bought a fogger to set off before we go shopping. I can’t type too much more about ants or I will throw up. Okay. Moving on…
One of the keyboard trays in the office is broken and will need replacing. The ceiling fan in the office, although cute as a button, doesn’t seem to work. No trim pieces were installed in any of the closets or pantry, and since we don’t have enough stuff to obscure the view, we’ll have to fix that.
The double-sided fireplace’s pilot light works, but the flames do not spread out to all areas like it’s supposed to. I’ll have to Google how to fix that. We got the cable/DSL installed yesterday, and there are hideous wires in my living room area that need to be hidden. By what, I have no idea. There are two drawer fronts in the kitchen that are just that-fronts-no drawers. There should be drawers there, because there’s no reason (like a sink/disposal, etc.) not to have them. That location would be perfect for the silverware, too.
Some areas on the floors creak like crazy, and need to be secured down to the subflooring before I go insane. I could go on and on…
Anyway, I started thinking that buying a house is sorta like marrying someone you only went out with once or twice. You don’t get a chance to get to know the quirks and issues until it’s too late. At first I thought there should be a longer “dating” period, where you really get to know the house before you “take it to the next level.” But then I figured houses would rarely, if ever, sell.
We have to love and accept the foibles of our new home, for better or worse.
And there’s a lot that’s better (I don’t mean to dwell on the negative!). It’s huge, spectacular, and has so much beauty and charm. It feels right, even with shit doesn’t work. :)
Friday: That’s today! I gotta get to work, unpack some boxes, see about getting a showerhead and some medicine cabinets, and start picking out paint. Plus, I have to do grading for my online class, as well as my ground class. Lots and lots of work to do. But I’m still in love…and I’m still so excited. So excited still that I have trouble sleeping!
It really is a good thing there are no mirrors. I’d see nothing but dark circles and a stupid love-struck grin.
I just can’t wait for it to feel like home.
It’s so surreal right now.
I wonder when it will hit me-this is IT.