Move update

The last several days have become a blur in my mind but I'll give you an overview. Wednesday was possession day, I was in the city so D met the realtor at the house at noon to get the keys. She had picked up Eli at school for lunch so he was able to see his new home as well. When he went back to school that afternoon, she packed more boxes and brought a couple of loads of items to the new house. I had an easy day, since I was almost completely packed - just those last few personal items and some food; I had a nice afternoon visiting with the ladies at stitch and chat.

Thursday was my moving day. I loaded my car with most of the items I was taking with me before the movers arrived. They arrived at 9 a.m. and by 9:20 everything was loaded and they were leaving the driveway. They had two pieces of furniture to take from the house, and about 50 boxes in the garage and a few other garden items. Their response on seeing the boxes and items in the garage was, this is so well organized! They stopped for gasoline on their way to D's, while I finished packing the food before I headed out. At the other end, the unpacking of the load was quick as well, and they were away from here before noon. 

D and I spent the afternoon moving boxes out of the dining room and unpacking what we could. We are leaving the craft room to the last. This photo was after her boxes had arrived.

The local mover advised he wouldn't be available until 2 p.m. on Friday, which turned out to be a blessing. D and I spent that morning, closing and taping boxes, moving small pieces of furniture and the boxes from the upstairs to the living and dining room area. After lunch, we had run a couple of errands and returned to the old house and found the movers there around 1 p.m. They were excited to see the boxes with handles (U-haul) and that they were all piled in one room.  The movers filled one smaller van with furniture, the other with boxes. They did have to return to pick-up the couch as there wasn't quite enough room with the rest of the furniture. While they were finishing the unloading, D picked up Eli after school. In total, I think it took about 3 hours to complete the move. Then we sat and stared at the boxes.

Moving is hard work, and hard on my old body. D has been doing a fair amount of the heavy lifting, and I unpack. I did manage to kick a piece of furniture (don't ask me which one) and broke a toe on my right foot. My left foot got banged up too when I dropped a box. D, on the other hand, has bruises on her legs. Both of us are feeling the bending, lifting, and stretching in our backs. Robaxcet is our friend.

We've had a couple of hiccups - I tried to light the pilot light on the hot water heater but it would not stay lit. Then we discovered that the cold water taps had no running water. A call to the plumber had the water heater pilot lit and the proper turn off valves turned on to get the cold water running. I've never lived in a house that had several shut off valves (all in the basement). Unfortunately the water heater did not continue to work, so the plumber was out again that evening. Apparently the control panel died (which I assume is some sort of computer thingy as almost everything now has to be digital). He ordered the part and will be back tomorrow to replace it.

Thankfully, we still have the old house to return to, as we managed to get only enough hot water for me to do dishes and shower, and to give Eli a bath. Meanwhile we've been doing laundry at the old house as the washing machine here would not drain with the first load. The plumber will look at this too. When she goes over to change loads, D has been showering there too. 

The last hiccup was also plumbing related. When D was a child, she used to think that anyone who had a fridge that had the water and ice maker on it was wealthy. Well, this fridge has these functions, however we woke on Saturday morning to water leaking from a pipe for the fridge water in the basement (thankfully just in the laundry area.) There was no water on the kitchen floor so I'm hopeful it's just a pipe that needs re-soldering. The plumber is the one that installed the water line so I expect he'll be able to repair it easily too.

We're still living with boxes and tubs and our bed frames are in the process of being built. Sunday morning, D and I put mine together, and partially built Eli's trundle bed. We discovered that there were no pre-drilled holes for the slats, so that meant another trip to Canadian Tire for a drill. I'm sure they are happy to see us come through the door as we've had to pick up a number of items (some needed, some wanted). 

Eli has a opthamologist appointment in the city tomorrow, and a dental appointment in the next door community on Tuesday. While I'll be going to the city with them, I'll stay behind on Tuesday, and hopefully get started on the cleaning of the old house to prep for painting. No, I am not doing the painting! I met with the painter this morning, and tentatively scheduled the job for the beginning of May. We still have to get the handyman in to do some patching of cracks and repairs to the ceilings...long story.

I'm hoping things will start to slow down in a day or two, as I could use a break. 

But on a more positive note, spring has arrived!

It's time for lunch, then back to bed building. The battery should be charged.