The joy of moving
We just moved again. This is the 7th time in 7 years and some of those were twice in one year (some due to my dh's job and others because we needed more space due to our expanding family). Moving is hard and exciting all at the same time. I hate packing and the actual move usually sucks but the unpacking and the thrill of getting to know a new place is always good for me.This time was a lot harder though because of the baby (here's a new pic because you know I had to include one!)
and the other two kids who never sit still (see yet another pic, this time showing off my adorable other kids, have to be fair). So here we are with one at school and
plans for the other one to be in a class so all we have to deal with is the baby when the movers come and it is all set up perfectly...until the movers don't show up. So we wait and we call and complain and we wait and call and complain again, and number two child shows up back at home and the movers still aren't here. Finally three hours late they show up. Fine good lets get cracking, try to amuse #2 child, nurse #3 child and all while keeping out of the way of the movers, and while most items are packed in boxes.
So we get the truck all packed and send the movers off to the new address, dh and #2 child head out that way too and I set in to clean the old house which is now a disaster. With baby slung to me in the only way that will settle him I start steam cleaning the floors. This is not as easy as you may think :->. Meanwhile, the baby and I are clinging together in the humidity and sweat is rolling off of me but he kind of likes it and is licking my skin - ewww but he's not crying and that's a good thing. Keep the steam cleaner on as the noise seems to make him sleepy. Ahh good. Landlord shows up to check if house is clean but because we are three hours behind it is obviously not. Everything is piled up in the kitchen. You know all the stuff that is too little for movers and never really got packed because there wasn't much and you'll just take it at the end in your car. The stuff that now completely fills the kitchen and how the heck can there be so much of it?! That's when you start throwing everything in garbage bags and only hope you can distinguish between the real garbage and the ever growing mound of garbage bags that is actually all your "little stuff" that didn't need to be packed (or you ran out of boxes before you packed).
OK, so now we go to look for clothes to change into so as to look respectable when picking up #1 child from school and taking him to airport (he's flying on his own for the first time to see Grandma but that's a whole other story). Where are clothes, I put them right there. Oh come on...phone dh where are clothes? He packed them. OK, he left everything else sitting on the bathroom counter but the one set of perfectly clean clothes in a nice pile way at the other end by the shower he packed. So now I get to pick #1 child up in a sweaty, dirty tank top and pants, looking like something the cat dragged in. I found a shawl type thingy and think "great" I can at least cover my tank and it will be fine. No problem except the shawl type thing is made of fleece and it is still muggy and I sweat even more. See child off at airport while crying because how can my baby be going on a plane all by himself even if it is just for a 45 minute flight to Grandma's and anxiety kicks in big time.
Call dh to let him know that #1 child is on his way and ask about the move (you see I was going to get back to the moving in a bit but had to explain the whole day) only to find out that the movers had only just arrived at our new house. So here's the problem with that. Distance from old house to new house is at most an hour's drive if you are slow and careful and to be generous we will give an hour and a half because it was rush hour (and remember we're driving in rush hour because the movers were three hours late to begin with!). How long did it take movers to get to new house? Three hours!! 3 hours!!! OK, what? So I ask him, did they go via Mexico? Dh doesn't want to get in to it because now it's started to rain and he just wants to get belongings in the house and get #2 child fed and out of the way before it gets too late. Fine, I go back to the now almost empty house (except for the kitchen) to nurse the baby and start cleaning again. The landlord comes back at 7:30, the house still isn't clean because the baby won't settle (this is the time he normally feeds every hour and to be fair he had been good all day and was not really wanting to sit in the car seat or anything else anymore, it was cuddle time darn it Mom!), and dh hasn't even left new house yet to come back to help as he is still finagling with the stinkin' movers. Now, the landlord was being pushy because technically we were paid up until the end of the day but who was I to bicker with him since I wanted my substantial damage deposit back. Finally dh arrives back, we deal with the landlord and agree to meet the next day to do a walk through and dh and I quickly pack as much of the kitchen crap up into our respective cars and then I take #2 and 3 child back to new place (remember here we are talking about an hour drive) and grab some food on the way. We get back and get #2 settled in bed at about 10:30pm (way past her bedtime) and I snuggle in to nurse with the baby on a corner of the couch. Then I find our mattresses and throw them on the floor of the bedroom and get baby to sleep in bassinet. Call dh - "Where are you? How much longer?" - I had left him the job of cleaning the kitchen. "Soon, almost done, we forgot the downstairs bathroom" - oh crap.
OK, so we only have one set of keys to the new house as we haven't had time to cut another set and he asks me to leave the door open so he doesn't have to wake us to get in. I agree. Then after haning up I get scared and think I hear things so there is no way I'm going to unlock the door. I start trying to organize what I can in the house that is accessible and not too heavy. So I start with the entertainment unit. There's nothing like pushing a big oak unit around at 12:30am because it's in the way of your couch and you know it needs to be in the corner anyway. Ugh. Then sit on the couch and wait and wait and wait for dh to come. Recalculate the time and how long it should have taken him to finish and drive here. Oh my god what if something happened to him. Calm down, don't be silly. Instead take out cell phone and calculate the amount charged by movers after dh called their office to complain and realize they didn't really give you a deal at all and for all the delay and anxiety they caused you he'd better get more money back. Find a piece of paper and jot down what you think it should have cost. Where the heck is dh? Start to nod off. Get up check #2 child and baby, come back to couch, get up and move some more boxes.
Dh's car pulls in, run down to open door and realize you are standing there in your nursing nighty (you know the ones with the slits at the chest area so that you can nurse?), so close the door and just stick your head out. Dh comes in with the cat (oh right, the cat!) and says he will unload the car in the morning (you mean there's more?). Insist on showing dh the calculations about move and how the movers scammed you. Dh convinces you that he'll take care of it in the morning and climb into bed (after you make him take a shower because he is very sweaty and stinky and you don't think HE'd be comfortable like that! LOL).
It's 2am the move is now technically over except for the unpacking. You will have to wake up in an hour or two to feed the baby. Yep, the joy of moving!!
posted @ 11:02 PM
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