Only 4 more days until we close on the new house. YAY. We're not moving in right away since we're heading to Atlantic Beach, NC on vacation next weekend, but I can't express how relieved I will be to finally have the whole real estate buy/sell process completed. And to have an end to living out of suitcases, essentially, in sight.
The temporary housing situation has been great, all things considered. The clubhouse pool has been fantastic fun for the kids (and for Brad and I!) and a welcome relief to the intense heat here in Arkansas. The house is spacious and has a nice office for Brad, even, so we could pick up life here without too much delay. It's only a 7 minute commute to my office and less than a minute from Target and a beautiful mall. But all of that good stuff aside, it's still very temporary.
I miss some of the basics that this house doesn't have: a land line telephone; an iron and ironing board (I've looked like a mess at work some days!); my crockpot (which is essentially my left arm, let's face it!); my sharp kitchen knives; a number of the clothing items I forgot to set aside for temporary housing, etc. I don't think the kids notice too much of what's missing, but I'm sure they'll be happy to see some of their toys and books come back into play.
I'm guessing that one of the first orders of business upon closing this week will be to visit the house and go for a dip in the pool. We won't be moving our things in until August 11th, but I'm sure we'll be moving in some bathing suits and towels before then!
Showing posts with label the move. Show all posts
Showing posts with label the move. Show all posts
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Life in Arkansas, Day 7...
So we're settling into our new version of normal. All in all, I can't complain too much about the transition, really. The kids have really done very well settling into the new house, which I think it largely due to the fact that we have a house as opposed to the originally planned apartment. We only went one day without childcare, and the kids are enjoying their new (temporary) babysitter, Arianna. We did a decent job of packing, with the exception of really underplanning on the toys that we might need to hold us over for a week. Brad ended up going to Target and getting some new puzzles, a set of Megablocks, and some books so the kids would have a bit more to do than the arts and crafts and handful of Polly Pockets I brought along.
I'm adjusting to life in the office. I really miss seeing the kids, but I think with the exception of Lyla, they're fairly ok with the situation. Sweet Lyla wants to cling to me quite a bit more now that I'm going to the office for the day, which obviously makes me very sad. But this office shuts down MUCH earlier than the Chicago office used to when I was there, and my commute is about 7 minutes. So it's very easy to get home at a reasonable hour and that has given us time to jet to the pool as soon as I get home and give the kids a nice swim to end the day. Brad and I were at the edge of the pool last night and both turned and looked at each other at the same time and he said, "Not a bad way to end the day, huh?" As often happens (I think this is really common after 10 years of marriage and more together...), we were both thinking the exactly the same thing at the same time. It's a good sign for when we move into our new houses, which will make swimming even easier since it's in the yard and doesn't require a drive to the clubhouse down the street. From a job standpoint, I'm relieved to finally be in Arkansas after months of feeling like I couldn't really do the job as well as I should be doing it from Massachusetts.
Our minivan arrives tomorrow morning off the car carrier (yay! I miss that thing SO much!) and our moving van is in the state. Humboldt is dropping off our shipment for temporary housing tomorrow morning (another YAY!) and the close on the new house is still on track for July 30th. So all in all - things are good!
I'm adjusting to life in the office. I really miss seeing the kids, but I think with the exception of Lyla, they're fairly ok with the situation. Sweet Lyla wants to cling to me quite a bit more now that I'm going to the office for the day, which obviously makes me very sad. But this office shuts down MUCH earlier than the Chicago office used to when I was there, and my commute is about 7 minutes. So it's very easy to get home at a reasonable hour and that has given us time to jet to the pool as soon as I get home and give the kids a nice swim to end the day. Brad and I were at the edge of the pool last night and both turned and looked at each other at the same time and he said, "Not a bad way to end the day, huh?" As often happens (I think this is really common after 10 years of marriage and more together...), we were both thinking the exactly the same thing at the same time. It's a good sign for when we move into our new houses, which will make swimming even easier since it's in the yard and doesn't require a drive to the clubhouse down the street. From a job standpoint, I'm relieved to finally be in Arkansas after months of feeling like I couldn't really do the job as well as I should be doing it from Massachusetts.
Our minivan arrives tomorrow morning off the car carrier (yay! I miss that thing SO much!) and our moving van is in the state. Humboldt is dropping off our shipment for temporary housing tomorrow morning (another YAY!) and the close on the new house is still on track for July 30th. So all in all - things are good!
Saturday, July 4, 2009
It's time to revive the blog...
I'm feeling like writing lately. So much change, so much going on in our little family's lives. So far from many of our family and friends, too! So the blog is making a comeback.
We're now officially residents of Arkansas. Certainly nothing I ever thought I would write, but there it is. We've had so many mixed feelings about moving, but while we are sad to leave family and friends, we are looking forward to a new adventure. I guess I can't totally speak for Brad, but I think both of us feel somewhat proud of the fact that we are instilling a sense of adventure in our girls, and that we encourage them to seek new experiences, to have courage to do something new and different even when it makes you slightly uncomfortable. To meet new and different people in different parts of the world. These are important things, in my mind. It's good to learn them young.
The move itself was difficult. Brad and I really underestimated how much work would be involved on our part, even though we had movers there to do most of the packing. Since we hadn't yet bought a house yet, we knew we were headed to temporary housing for at least a month. This presented some packing challenges: we needed to pack for several days at my parents' house while the packing/moving rendered our house virtually unusable (the kitchen was the first room to get packed - yikes!); we needed suitcases for all of us for the first week we'll be in Arkansas, before our moving truck arrives; we needed boxes packed with temporary housing items, for the first 30-60 days here in a rental home; and then finally, everything else. Not an insignificant amount of organizing and packing there! We also had TONS of stuff that needed to be taken to the transfer station, etc., which mostly consisted of old toys and cardboard boxes from our last move that could not be used again. Thank goodness for the help of my fantastic parents. My mom watched the kids and spent some quality time with them before the move which allowed us to work at the house until all hours of the night; and my dad brought over his truck and helped haul a whole lot of junk to the transfer station.
Mid-way through day three, while the massive 53' moving van was being loaded (they estimated 23,000 pounds of household goods!), an intense thunder storm arrived which sent everyone running. There was literally a river running directly into the moving truck from the sideways driving rain, so the movers had no choice but to close up the doors and put the loading on hold. Despite the setback, the crew managed to be loaded and out by around 5 PM. I can't say enough about our crew -- they were friendly, efficient, and, well just plain good! I would recommend Humboldt (a division of United Van Lines) out of Canton, MA to anyone who needs a mover in Massachusetts.
They say that a house does not make a home, and I definitely think that's true. But I will say that I had plenty of teary moments packing up and leaving this house. This is the house that our oldest two kids have really developed their little personalities in, and become more independent in. And obviously this is the house that brought us sweet, beautiful Lyla - our favorite surprise. We've got some fantastic memories of great times with family, three little dancers putting on shows and giggles for us, and of course working at home and being able to be a strong presence every day, despite having a full-time job. So we don't leave this place lightly. But at the same time, I think we've got a lot of great new memories that lie ahead in Northwest Arkansas.
We're now officially residents of Arkansas. Certainly nothing I ever thought I would write, but there it is. We've had so many mixed feelings about moving, but while we are sad to leave family and friends, we are looking forward to a new adventure. I guess I can't totally speak for Brad, but I think both of us feel somewhat proud of the fact that we are instilling a sense of adventure in our girls, and that we encourage them to seek new experiences, to have courage to do something new and different even when it makes you slightly uncomfortable. To meet new and different people in different parts of the world. These are important things, in my mind. It's good to learn them young.
The move itself was difficult. Brad and I really underestimated how much work would be involved on our part, even though we had movers there to do most of the packing. Since we hadn't yet bought a house yet, we knew we were headed to temporary housing for at least a month. This presented some packing challenges: we needed to pack for several days at my parents' house while the packing/moving rendered our house virtually unusable (the kitchen was the first room to get packed - yikes!); we needed suitcases for all of us for the first week we'll be in Arkansas, before our moving truck arrives; we needed boxes packed with temporary housing items, for the first 30-60 days here in a rental home; and then finally, everything else. Not an insignificant amount of organizing and packing there! We also had TONS of stuff that needed to be taken to the transfer station, etc., which mostly consisted of old toys and cardboard boxes from our last move that could not be used again. Thank goodness for the help of my fantastic parents. My mom watched the kids and spent some quality time with them before the move which allowed us to work at the house until all hours of the night; and my dad brought over his truck and helped haul a whole lot of junk to the transfer station.
Mid-way through day three, while the massive 53' moving van was being loaded (they estimated 23,000 pounds of household goods!), an intense thunder storm arrived which sent everyone running. There was literally a river running directly into the moving truck from the sideways driving rain, so the movers had no choice but to close up the doors and put the loading on hold. Despite the setback, the crew managed to be loaded and out by around 5 PM. I can't say enough about our crew -- they were friendly, efficient, and, well just plain good! I would recommend Humboldt (a division of United Van Lines) out of Canton, MA to anyone who needs a mover in Massachusetts.
They say that a house does not make a home, and I definitely think that's true. But I will say that I had plenty of teary moments packing up and leaving this house. This is the house that our oldest two kids have really developed their little personalities in, and become more independent in. And obviously this is the house that brought us sweet, beautiful Lyla - our favorite surprise. We've got some fantastic memories of great times with family, three little dancers putting on shows and giggles for us, and of course working at home and being able to be a strong presence every day, despite having a full-time job. So we don't leave this place lightly. But at the same time, I think we've got a lot of great new memories that lie ahead in Northwest Arkansas.
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