move

I wasn’t sure where to put this… but since we moved and this was one of our first long wanders together around the new area, why not here? It beats monochrome shots of all the boxes we have yet to unpack.

It’s wonderful being able to walk to trails and woods and water.
Nice that the move nailed my 400th goal too.

But I think we’re nearly finished at the old place.

Today is the day of dregs: the things that remain, storage room & garage monsters, awkward odds and ends. Unfortunately it looks like we’re going to have to smash up my lovely computer desk and take it to the dump to keep the other 2 carloads of junk company.

We’ve dropped off numerous loads of trash, donations, recycling, baby gear (pang), oodles of computer parts, and lots of stuff destined for temporary storage at the new place until we get to it. And our clothes – since they’re rather handy. I honestly can’t believe how much crap we’ve accumulated, even after getting rid of a lot. Much, much more must go.

I think we can manage another couple of loads tonight, but this is really taking it’s toll on me. I’ve had enough – we all have. At least we’ve managed to get rid of a lot of things today and the end is within sight. At least I hope that’s what the light ahead of me is…

Last night JoJo met us here at the old place and helped me pack while Markus drove back and forth with the hatchback, taking as much as he could.

Today while Isak was at his first day back at pre-school I came back and went into overdrive packing and cleaning. After I picked him up, we both came back here and he help vacuum (with his little shark vac) and dust until I heard silence and found him asleep on the couch, which allowed me to get even more done. I’ve probably put in a good 6 hours of full speed dealing with the house dregs.

My main accomplishment was packing up the rest of the kitchen (especially the fragile stuff), but I also did most of the closets, sorted a million odds and ends, cleared half a dozen cabinets (the vacuum box was perfect for all the wrapping paper), packed up the drawers, boxed most of the office gear (except the computer itself, obviously), and the curtains (bath as well). I killed off some seriously mutant dust bunnies too.

I called the phone company (they don’t have our new number yet, or what date it’ll be hooked up), and dealt with the internet – I can keep my longtime e-mail for about $2 a month, so I’m doing that and cancelling the rest as of a week from now, which will save us quite a bit.

Markus called to say he thinks we can get the 3 ton again either tomorrow or Sunday. Tomorrow Isak’s going to hang with Astara and her family for the day, and we’ll be back here to do the rest of the packing and cleaning so the place will be ready to show Sunday. I’m absolutely pooped now, and Isak just woke up—I’m hoping Markus can pick us up after work so we can skip the long bus ride home.

I have that feeling you get when you’ve put a grand effort into a pressing job you don’t want to deal with. There’s still a bit left, but it’s manageable. I declare… I believe I’ve earned a fine and fragrant bubble bath this evening.

I’m still a bit discombobulated. The big move was quite chaotic. The ¾ van took a lot more than we’d assumed, so by the time it was full, we really had to go crazy with more packing. Then the really big van arrived 4 hours early, so we were all pretty dizzy trying to fill both at the same time.

We took a late afternoon pizza break, then got back to it. We did 2 loads with the ¾ ton and 1 with the 3 ton. I wish we’d had more packing time and managed to move everything, but we should have it all out and cleaned up before Sunday. We’ve been bringing what we can over in the hatchback, and are hoping to borrow the company van for the rest. There’s more left than I thought.

We’ve been at the new house for two nights now. The basics are in place, but it’s going to be a while before we’re unpacked and settled in. It’s marvelously quiet though. And I had a very deep and delicious bubble bath last night – the tub is divine.

I just got back on line an hour ago (with the laptop, my main system is still set up at the old house) so that helps, especially since the phone isn’t hooked up yet. Another surprise bonus… I have an old digital TV box that’s been gathering dust in the garage, and this place has digital cable, so I plugged it in and BOOM, we have hundreds of channels for free. I know TV is the devil, but at least we have better options now.

Isak and I took our first wander around the new neighbourhood earlier today. We found a giant playground and saw cheerful bright orange garbage trucks with happy waving garbage men. People smiled and nodded and said good morning. This area seems a lot friendlier than our old one. And cleaner. And the views are great! I loved seeing the low wandering clouds and blue hued city.

I’ll hold off on checking this goal off until we’re totally moved, have cleaned up and given back the keys to the old house. (And hopefully had our damage deposit returned.) I look forward to it very, very much.

I think we’re going to be quite happy here.

We’ve come a long, long way, but there’s still so much to do. I wanted to get a good night’s sleep last night, so I popped a sleeping pill, but, like my mom, it seems some sleep aides have the opposite effect and I woke up wired to the eyeballs at 2 in the morning. It was a long night. It’s going to be a long day.

My brother is showing up in the next hour, and the first van & friends should be here around noon. Markus is working a half day and heading back here after lunch. We didn’t get day confirmation from our friend with the giant van, so we’re not sure if we’ll be finishing up tonight or Friday evening.

I still need to make a plan for Kitty – I can’t calmly explain to her that we’re moving, and I’m not sure if she’ll be upset or just go with it. We’ll take her over in the car close to the end of the move, but it’s going to be confusing for her, she’s been outdoors for most of the summer.

Good news – it’s been pouring rain all week and it’s supposed to continue tomorrow, but today looks clear. I probably should have said that very quietly.

I have no idea when the phone and internet situation will be smoothed out, when I’ll be back on line. Hopefully soon. This week is going to be crazy.

I should really go finish packing – set aside my overwhelmed moving anxiety and lingering anger about having to leave our home and throw myself into auto-pilot moving mode.

Not the #1 way to spend a Labour Day weekend, but I’m glad we have the extra day. I think we’ll need it.

We are building a cardboard igloo. Well, not exactly, but we’re in the process of power packing. I’m on a break, and Markus is taking some shelves for the storage room and as much as he could fit into the hatchback over to the new place. He called to say the painting hasn’t been done yet, but hopefully will be by Monday.

We’re dropping Isak off at Norm’s tomorrow while we continue packing. I thought helping us pack today (especially boxing up some of his own things) might help him process the move better (we’ve lived here since he was born). When we went by his pre-school after they’d emptied the classroom for the summer, finding it bare seemed to upset him, so I didn’t want the same thing happening in his own house. He’s become a pro with the packing tape and helping “label” the boxes.

Tuesday afternoon we’ll do as many loads as we can with the 3/4 ton (while Markus is at work), then our friend with the big-ass moving van is coming in the evening so he and Markus can finish the rest. My brother and JoJo are coming to help load and entertain Isak. We should be all finished (except the cleaning) by Tuesday night, but it’s going to be a loooooong day.

Until then…
Just keep packing, just keep packing, just keep packing…

How serendipitous is this? I just got a message from some of our favorite friends who will be in town next week with an empty 3/4 ton van (to take their dog to the vet and pick up a new bed).

They’ve offered to come help us move. I’m not sure if all will work out timing wise (Markus has to work), but I think we can probably make a great start. They say they’re happy to make the offer, since we helped when they moved a few years back.

Another friend dropped off more boxes last night, more than enough I think, so we’ll have to get cracking on the packing this weekend. Hopefully the new place will be painted and dry by Tuesday.

I’ve looked at the transit routes for taking Isak to pre-school out here and think I’ve found the best one. I’ll take a practice run before his classes start. I’d find something out near our new place, but we’ve already paid for the season and he loves it there so much, I don’t want to switch, at least not right away.

I called the phone company. It’s going to take 2 weeks to do the transfer and unfortunately we can’t keep our old number. Ah well – this is shaping up to be a fresh start in lots of ways. I’m looking forward to this all being behind us.

Are in our hands.

Last night we handed over our dough and got our keys. We did a walkthrough with the owner and wandered around taking pictures and room measurements. The old tenants had done a sloppy wall filler job since we were there, so the owner is having the place re-painted in the next couple of days – though we’ve asked him to please, please leave the bright green in the kitchen (I love the green!), so now the walls will be nice and fresh.

There’s a lot more cabinet space in the kitchen than I noticed the first time, even a little pantry, and an extra closet in the hall that hadn’t registered. We’re going to have to be a bit creative with fitting things into the new living room and our bedroom, they’re definitely smaller than what we have now, but we think it’s a very fair trade off.

We’ve paid up the two weeks here at our old place and can start moving things over as soon as the new paint is dry. Isak seems very happy about it and keeps asking when we can sleep at our new house. Hopefully Kitty will be cool with the move too.

We’re calling our friend with the moving company today to try and set something up for the week of the 15th. Time to get cracking on the packing. I’m still riding the sense of relief and happiness – I can’t wait to start my new neighbourhood wanders, discover new favorite places, see new faces…

I think it’ll be a great neighbourhood for trick or treating too! We should be well settled in by then. Happy Halloween indeed.

I think I should go buy a lovely new key chain to celebrate.

After all the madness leading up to this point (see previous goals here and here), the actual moving process should prove chaotic but not too painful.

I’ve just spoken with the new owners here at our old place (feels so good to say that now), who I can hear happily moving in as I type this. We’ve reached a mutually appealing agreement: they’re using our previous damage deposit/interest towards this month’s rent, which will be pro-rated weekly. We’ve said we’ll be out by 2 weeks from now at the latest. If we move out a week early, we get some back, plus the remainder of the deposit.

We’re thrilled because this way we don’t have to scrape to pay two rents and two deposits for September, and can move in over weeks instead of hours. They’re thrilled to get in earlier to fix the place up for new tenants (those hypothetical ones that will pay 75% more rent than we do) and can assuage any guilt they may have had about the whole situation.

As for our new place, we’re off to pay the rent and damage deposit this evening. We’ll take a few measurements and photos and head back here.

We’ve cancelled the bills here as of today (except the phone) and last night we picked up a pile of boxes from our friends who just moved. I recently did a little website for another friend who owns a moving company and I’m guessing we can work out the perfect barter with him and his van.

My hand is hungry for those keys though…

^{Ha – so what if we saw so many awful places that they made the one we got look fabulous by comparison, and when we go back and it’s like waking up with beer goggles on the bedside table and a naked monster snuggled up to you… nahhhhhhh… it’s going to be GREAT!}