Moving

After a very long, drawn out process of trying to close on the house, we are finally in our new home!! The closing was a week ago yesterday, and we began moving that afternoon. Wouldn't you know it--the temp was 100 degrees when we began packing up the UHaul! It figures--when we moved to Grayson, it was the coldest day of the year--it was in the teens when the movers arrived and it took them over an hour to get their truck up our steep driveway in Douglasville. Of course, I wasn't even helping during that move--poor Noah had been sick for days, and we ended up at the pediatrician. They went to catheter Noah to test his urine, and he was so dehydrated that they couldn't get anything, so they rushed us to Scottish Rite. After 3 bags of IV fluid, we were released and got home late that Friday night. The movers had gotten everything into the house, but there was a lot to do. Unfortunately, Noah did not get better, and we ended up back at Scottish Rite on Sunday. A month later, Katie got a nasty case of the flu that kept her in bed for literally a week, and at one point, her fever got up to 106 degrees, and I rushed her to the hospital, where she also had some IV fluids. We had a rough start in Grayson, but we truly loved the area and made friends. It was only appropriate for us to move away from that house on the hottest day of the year after moving in on the coldest day of the year. I must admit, I'll take the heat ANY day over the cold. When it's cold, I can't help because I get too cold to move.

The move on Friday took 12 hours. Luck was on our side. UHaul said they had no big trucks for the weekend, and Chris' friends who had volunteered to help us move were all busy, so we were about the call movers when Chris' mom said her friends were willing to help. Chris went to UHaul to get a small truck, and was surprised to find out a large truck had just been returned and we could have it until 9 am on Saturday. Quickly, people began arriving to help us out. The kids went with Chris' parents for the weekend, and suddenly, we had about 10 people helping us out. God was looking out for us. Our next door neighbor in Grayson unexpectedly showed up to help, as well as Chris' co-worker and numerous other friends. We loaded up the truck and came to Dacula to unload it. It took 5 men to get our poor washer up the stairs, but they worked quickly and efficiently. Some people left after the truck was unloaded, but others stayed for another run back to Grayson for another truckload. The UHaul was unpacked for a second time around 3:30 am, and we ended up dropping it back off and stopping at Waffle House for some breakfast. We got to bed just as the sun was rising, and we got up aroundv 10:30 am. Chris had to work, but I went back to the Grayson house because our friends were helping to take the swingset apart and move it for us. We ended up moving for another 12 hours that day, and we had to get a new toilet for the downstairs half bath. Saturday night we went to be around 5 am, so at least the sun wasn't up yet. Chris let me sleep until 1 pm on Sunday, but he couldn't sleep, so he unpacked. We went back to Grayson to clean up the house, and we left it spotless. The bank rep. was so impressed on Monday! He said they would be able to put the house on the market immediately, and he thanked us profusely for keeping the house in such good condition. I had to scrub our new house because, unfortunately, the prior tenants did not care and left the house a filthy mess. I bleached the counters in the kitchen, and scrubs the floors. We had had the carpets dry cleaned and disinfected, and we replaced all of the toilet seats. We have begun replacing the crummy, dirty blinds with fresh plantation blinds, and we have painted the kids' bedrooms and bathroom. My poor kitchen has a really ugly floor, so I am hoping to pick up some hours at Van Adams to save up for a new floor! We will begin painting the family room and kitchen soon, because it desperately needs paint! The house was a fantastic deal, but it will take a lot of paint to get it looking great inside.

Now my stress is different--I'm stressed about making our house a home, which is nicer than worrying about getting the house!