Saturday, August 19, 2006

Oh, WHERE do I begin?!?!

Hey all! Blond Girl is in the HOUUUUSSSSSSEE!

We are here safely in Illinois, but we have had a CRAZY week! First, I must give thanks and Kudos to Geekwif, who made this wonderful template for me as a gift. The exact type of gift I am not sure of; it is either a going-away present or housewarming present - but in anycase, she worked with me to give me exactly what I wanted and reflects my personality perfectly. Isn't it beautiful?!?!

Now, as for all our travails getting to our new home. Here's the looonng story short (Reader's Digest version, I promise!):

* Friday: We worked till about 6:00 getting everything done. We loaded a 26-foot truck with everything we owned and said goodbye to Robbinsdale, MN. Our eternal gratitude goes to our friends Mark, Steve, Paul, Dan and Tammy for the help. We would not have made it without them.
* Saturday: After a minor insulin scare (I realized I was out until my new insulin would be delivered to our new home, but my mother-in-law saved the day), we got on the road at about 10:00 a.m. Champs drove the truck and I drove our car with Sweet Girl tucked in back and a meowing, drugged cat riding up front (I still don't think Gus has forgiven me). What should have been a 10-hour trip became a 15-hour fiasco, thanks to a disabled truck. We spent a LOT of time in Eau Claire, WI getting the truck serviced (twice!) and finally arrived in IL, exhausted and disheveled, at 1:15 a.m.
* Sunday: After a nice breakfast at a local pancake house, Champs, Sweet Girl and I headed over to the rental house to clean before our friends and family arrived to help unload the truck. As I was cleaning in the kitchen, something was bugging me about the house. It soon became apparent that what was bugging me was... Bugs! The house had a very bad bug problem. The refrigerator had three dead bugs in it and one live one that wanted me to shut the door. The cabinets had little bugs crawling all over inside. The next door neighbor had a pest-control truck, so we went over and asked the man to tell us if what we thought we were seeing was valid. Turns out the kitchen and bathroom were infested with German Cockroaches (or "croaches", as Sweet Girl calls them). We packed up the few things we had pulled off the truck, called the landlord and told him we were not moving into that house. I explained that we would either need a better, bug-free house or we would need our money back. Later in the day, he met us at another available rental house which is beautiful. It's got more space, a family room with a fireplace, a brand-new refrigerator and kitchen floor, tons of storage space and a much nicer neighborhood - for only $70.00 more per month. So, we rented that, instead.
* Monday: Of course, with the house still being worked on, it wouldn't be ready for us until later in the week. The truck needed to be returned, though, so we unloaded everything into the garage of the new place (with invaluable help from my brother in law, Tank, and his friend, Eric. They are the ones who did all the update work on the house for our landlord). Then we went to return the disabled truck and sign a new lease - then contact everyone to tell them the change of address. Champs applied to SuperValu and hopes to have something come of that soon.
* Tuesday: I had a second interview with an Ameriprise Financial Advisor as a part-time para planner/project manager. I will meet with them on Monday to discuss final offer and compensation details, so my job seems to be settled, though I will still be looking into a few other things as I go.
* Today (Friday) and beyond: The house is finished and we started moving in today. Princsiss came and helped us clean; in fact, she got our stove looking stellar, but worked like crazy on it for hours. We joked that she'll be playing "the stove card" for a very long time to come anytime she needs or wants anything from me. We've got all the furniture into the house now, but this won't be the normally organized move that I am used to. The garage is a mish-mash of stuff, so it is going to be very interesting indeed to make sense of it all. Sweet Girl starts first grade on Wednesday, 8/23 and couldn't be more excited.

So there it is, in a nutshell. I left out tons of details. In the end, though, God is so good. We got a much better house than we had planned on, and we don't need to share space with "croaches". Hopefully we'll be completely settled in a month or so.


Here are some comments from this post:

Star said...
Boy, did you accomplish a lot. Glad to hear from you. Sounds like things are going well.

Ginger said...
LOVE the template!
Sounds like you've been having that wonderful, chaotic time that always goes with moving. Ugh. I'm always so happy when the things are at the new place and the settling begins. Glad you got into a much nicer place.

Linda said...
boy oh boy...I thought *I* had some moves from hades! At least you were able to get another place right away for a decent price. We just moved to Kansas, and it took us 10 days to find a place that wasn't WAAAAAAY overpriced. I spent a year in Germany prior to that (although my household goods only spent 6 months, traitors!). yeah...moves from hell just SUCK.
Glad you're getting settled and finding a home (and jobs).
Michele sent me today, but I think I'll be here regularly, I like how you write.

Geekwif said...
I must admit, I sort of skimmed this one because...
a) I know all (or at least many) of the details you left out, and
b) I got the email and read that one thoroughly.
I had to laugh when I read, "The house had a very bad bug problem." Okay, from what I heard, that is the understatement of the millenium!!! Just struck me as funny seeing as how you are not the understated type. :)
Missing you and your girl, though it's funny – I think we've talked more in the past week than we did in the entire month before that.
I hope you are unbelieveably happy in your new home. Wait, I take that back. If you're unhappy, maybe you'll come back to me...hmmm.
Nope. I can't do it. As much as I want you here, I can only hope you are happy where you are.

vanx said...
It was five years ago this month that we sold our home of 16 years and moved into our home of....five years. What an incredible experience. It was the beginning of big changes in my family's life. Some good, some bad. At any rate, the change was a symbolic juncture in our life. I think most big moves are.

srp said...
Here from Michele.
That moving with the U-haul can be so trying. My stuff is all in storage as I stay with my folks and I keep saying that when things work out and I again have a home, it will be like Christmas opening up all the boxes.
Good luck.

princssis said...
I know it's been a crazy week, but you've made it through and ended up with something better! A better neighborhood, house, school. What else could you ask for?
I welcome you here, but now you need to change your location on the sidebar to your new state! I know you'll always have Minnesota in your heart, but I know, with time, you'll bleed orange like the rest of us!!! Hee-hee.

utenzi said...
Holy Carp, BG. You and your family have been through a lot this past month. I hope the job change works out great for both of you and that your daughter loves her new school.

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