Wednesday, March 14, 2012

We.Are.Here

Needless to say, we have landed in our "new permanent" home in Portland. As a follow-up to my last post, our second week of "transition" looked like this:

Monday (2/27): Kids and I make an early dinner at Jane's because Scott is swinging by for a quick dinner before driving to Bend.  Scott gets stuck late at work and doesn't get on the road until 7. He's armed with a LONG list of last minute items that need to get done before and while the movers load up our stuff. 

Tuesday (2/28): Kids and I drive an hour to daycare/work.  Scott is in Bend for a meeting and spends the morning with the movers.  All our stuff gets put on the truck... but we still don't know if/when we will get keys to the house.  I send a shout out to my Bend Mamas asking for positive thoughts and energy... I need it!  Scott has the forethought to toss our mattress topper, sheets, and the two kids mattresses in the car.  Add the dog, cat, two coolers, and several boxes of essentials and that is one packed car.  Good news: we have sleeping pills for the cat. Bad news: they take 2 hours to kick in and Scott has to pull over on the side of the road to give the screaming cat a second dose before he finally conks out.

At 4:00, we get notice that we are going to get the keys!! Our realtor hides them at the house and Scott goes straight there, unlocks the door, and tosses the animals inside.  Then, he drives 40 minutes back to Jane's to put our food in her garage fridge/freezer (so grateful for that one!).  Scott gathers his clothes and returns to the house to spend the night with the drugged up cat and disoriented dog.

Wednesday (2/28 - Leap Day!): Kids and I pack up the last of our suitcases and food, and drive an hour to daycare/work for the LAST TIME.  I am so thankful the weather is gross and nasty because I have food in the back of my car that needs to stay cold.  After work, we grab take-out and have our first dinner on boxes in the new house. Yes, yes, yes!  Scott has thankfully picked up industrial cleaner, so we can make the bathrooms palatable for bedtime. We all spend the night on nasty carpet, but it's worth it to be in our own space.

Thursday (3/1): We have no oven, microwave, fridge, or pots and pans, so the kids and I hit Starbucks for a nutritious breakfast. =) We stash all our belongings in the bathrooms of the house because we are getting new carpet installed while we are away at school/work.  We drive 12 minutes to the kids' school, never having to touch the freeway. Yes!

Friday (3/2): Carpet is 75% installed.  The carpet guys are showing up at 7 AM to try and get the carpet finished before the movers show up between 10 and 11.  I'm hoping the poor weather over the pass slows them down!  Ethel is also coming at 10 to watch the kids while I direct movers.  This is a GREAT plan until I look our the window at 7 am and see a moving truck parked outside.  I get a 2 minute powpow with the carpet guys and they set to work at breakneck speed.  Kids are still in PJs, so I get them dressed and then stall the movers by leaving for another nutritious breakfast at Starbucks.  After a much too stressful start to our day, the carpet guys find themselves forever on my "amazing" list by finishing the bedrooms before the furniture starts coming in the door. They will come back the following week to do the stairs.

The carpet guys leave at 10. Ethel arrives at 10:15. The movers are done by 11:30 and we are left starting at a sea of boxes, but I am grinning because WE.ARE.HERE.

I think this brings our moving adventure to end... and begins our next adventure finding our groove in Portland while trying to rehab our new house.  More posts to come!



No comments: