The Big Move
Posted By Jill on August 20, 2008
I realize I have quite a few days to catch up on…
Last Friday, Mac’s carpet was installed right away the in the morning. It turned out great! Then I had to sing at church then went to the house to get some things done. When Jeremy got home from work, we all headed to the condo to pack up the last of the little things, including my computer, which had not yet been disassembled. Mac went to sleep in his crib amidst the chaos of our packing.
It turned out Mac and I did get a few hours at the pool on Saturday, then he spent some time with his aunts while I cantored at church for Jane then ran some errands to get ready for Sunday. Jeremy was working all day and expected to be home very late – turned out to be 3 a.m.!!
We moved the rest of our stuff from the condo on Sunday. We had two vans, a pickup truck and a U-Haul trailer we had rented to attach to the back of the Rav, and we had 7 total people. The first load took an hour to load, then we headed to the house to unload. Jeremy took the trailer back (so we didn’t have to pay for another day) and the rest of us had some lunch and lots of water. Then we headed back for another trip. That was mostly small stuff and odds and ends. I hate that part, when it feels like you’re almost done and yet there was still enough to fill every vehicle!
Mac spent the day with Jo and Steph and was a very good boy. We decided it would be better to have him safely in one place for the day with someone to play with him and give him all the attention he desires, and it turned out to be the right choice. He came back home around 6 for some family play time and bed.
It was very weird to leave the condo empty. It hasn’t been empty since July of 2002 when I moved all my boxes in on the day I was supposed to close. I had driven a U-Haul moving truck by myself from Milwaukee. That was an experience in itself. Then I got a call on my way that the closing would be delayed. I had to plead with the seller to allow me to at least unload my truck into the place! Anyway, it’s strange…
The place was really dirty and needed serious cleaning before our renter could move in. We had told her that it would likely be ready by the 21st, but since my schedule is getting busy and Jeremy is pretty much booked now until October, I figured I’d better get at it sooner rather than later. I had to work Monday, but on Tuesday, Mac and I headed to the condo to clean. It was a pretty miserable day for both of us, to be quite honest. I wish we could have afforded to hire someone to clean there. So much dust had accumulated – I am allergic so didn’t dust a whole lot while living there – my allergies went absolutely crazy. I think I sneezed more yesterday than I have in the last five years! Add that to a baby who wanted constant attention (even though on a normal day he really plays by himself quite well) and who doesn’t seem to like the loud vacuum, and well, it was pretty yucky. I guess he was actually pretty good, all things considered. He took a short nap and later a longer one in his car seat. He didn’t eat great, and I took lots of breaks to play with him. It’s hard to explain to a 6-month-old that if you just play nice for an hour, we’d be done and out of there more quickly. I had had enough and left around 6:30. I left a few things till the next day that I had forgotten to bring things for. During the day, our renter had emailed asking if she could bring a few things over the next day, and I told her that by then I’d be done cleaning and she could just move in if she had the first month’s rent ready. She thought that was great and even offered to pay a bit more for the end of this month! So after everything, I’m glad I pushed through it. Oh, did I mention that this was also Jeremy’s and my second wedding anniversary? I think we saw each other for about 45 minutes in the morning (when he ended up having to leave early to go to the condo to shower since the construction down the street caused our water to be shut off) and he got home from work at probably 10 or 10:30 last night. Needless to say, we’ll need to find an alternate day to celebrate. I don’t know what the tradition is for the 2nd anniversary, but I’m betting it wasn’t anything either of us encountered yesterday!
This morning Mac and I went back before his doctor’s appointment to do those last few things and to meet the renter to let her in, give her keys and show her around. He was great today, though tired, probably from yesterday, and I played with him and gave him extra special attention for putting up with yesterday.
And so, we can add one more label to ourselves… landlord.
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