The Northern Migration

So we are here in our lovely new to us home and we really really love it.  There are still some lingering boxes in the main parts of the house but for the most part we do know where most things are. 

The journey north started 2.5 weeks ago; I had to attend a leadership course in Atlanta at the end of the week prior to the movers starting the following Monday so I camped out in our "furnished and staged" yet non- functional Atlanta house.  The fridge had been unplugged and the pantry emptied so it was mostly like living in a hotel, just that it was our house.  I found myself spending most of my time at home on the front porch with our neighbors....I didn't realize how much I had missed outside time with those that know me!

The weekend was great for many many reasons.  First I got to spend some quality time with the dear friends we are leaving behind in Atlanta.  Ed arrived to join me on Sunday after 3 days of solo parenting and we had plans of making some last shopping runs in Atlanta but joyfully spent most of our weekend on living room sofas saying goodbyes to the people that made Atlanta so special for us. If you are one of those folks you really really are special and will be missed.  Secondly I had an entire day in Atlanta for myself!!!  It was great doing what I wanted to do when I wanted it for an entire day; of course GE took part of that time while I got caught up on work stuff after 2 solid days of training; but after that I hit the mall, nail salon, and dinner with some special ladies.

Then the drama began; first our moving company had called the Friday before to tell me that they weren't going to start our move until Tuesday instead of the originally planned Monday.  Now this sent me into a panic for a few reasons:  1) We had to be back in Virginia on Thursday at 3pm for the closing on our new home and 2) We have never had a move run on time and know very few people who had.  Our move to Atlanta 6 years ago had Ed and Abbie dog pulling an all nighter road trip to Atlanta to make our closing on the Atlanta home.   Not something I nor Ed wanted to repeat.....  I tried my best arguing with the moving company and insisting that it was going to take every minute of the planned time.  The company agreed to note my concerns and check in more frequently to make sure we met our closing time.  So off we went to work on Monday trying to remain calm knowing that things were going to be tight....very tight. 

Tuesday morning the truck arrived on schedule but with only 3 persons: 2 solid looking guys and 1 lady.  Now I am all for gender equality and probably more adamant on this topic than some but when it comes to moving furniture some male brawn is needed....so this team did not make me feel we were going to hit the road in time.  The first day(Tuesday) they didn't even get completed with packing the house. They did inform me though that they were picking up 2 more local people for Wednesday so there was hope :)  Needless to say it was down to the wire getting that truck loaded...and of course a typical Atlanta thunderstorm hit at about 5pm that required all the garage items to be carried up through the basement vs through the backyard.  Ed had to join in with the team to get it done 1 hr after the deadline I had given the team. 

Day 1: not much made it on the truck


So we hit the road at 7pm in our 1 way rental car packed with flammables, aerosols, plants, and paint(moving co won't take these things).  Our desire was to get some road behind us in the 7 hour journey to Virginia.  Now recall the "God is in the details" posts because it hit me when I realized how tight our timeline was going to be that we should spend the night in Greenville, SC which is about 2.5 hours north of Atlanta.  Now it just happens that our best friends from "life #1" in Roanoke live in Greenville, SC so isn't it fitting that on our return journey to VA that we did an overnight pit stop with them? After a rather somber, drizzling trip up I-85 it was uplifting to be greeted by folks that understood where we were headed. 

Pulling away...you can't see the weepy eyes through the camera!

Needless to say we made the closing and in fact were about 30 minutes early.  We signed our life away for the next 30 years(again) got our keys and headed to back to our apartment to get some essentials and go check out our place but instead crashed for about 2 hours.  The stress of the past week had taken the best of us and looking back on it would continue to for about 5 days more so this rest was definitely needed!

Unloading that truck the next morning(Friday) was a slowwwww process.  It seemed like they spent all morning on garage and basement stuff(Ed pitched in again because it became clear it was taking forever and that stuff is his....lots of it ).  I was just itching to get my hands on some boxes that had critical content....like the kitchen boxes.  Those didn't come off the truck until 6pm....no energy left but tried to unpack as much of it as I had the energy for.  The team left at 8pm.  The next day started with the team headed to our apartment to pack it up then unload it to our new house.  It again took a full day; the team left at 7:30pm.  Kitchen stuff again was last to unload.  Our morale was very low because we were swimming in a sea of boxes despite the team's help setting up beds and unpacking some items.  The kids were returning with grandparents in tow to help the next day and we couldn't even find where our underwear were to take a shower.....  Having moved from essentially 3 locations(1 house, 1 apartment, and 1 storage unit) was making for a confusing mess.

Sunday morning we woke up with sore feet but an energized spirit; we were excited to show our kids their new home so we kicked it into overdrive after some coffee and breakfast and got the place somewhat live able by 4pm.  Then of course the dread of returning to work on Monday set in.  I had 2 sets of high level guests coming Monday staying through Wednesday and Ed had to figure out how to get his computer set back up and find his desk to re-start remote work Monday morning in the sea of boxes that had piled into his office.

Needless to say the kids loved the place; or should I say they loved being reunited with their toys.  Before we had even gotten through the first floor tour C asked to see her room.  She is so excited to be back in her big "princess bed" and Little Man is sleeping fine solo in his own room again. 

Now the real kicker for the kids was their swing set and that is why G-Dad was here for the installation.  It took a few days but we saved a significant chunk of money with G-Dad's efforts and the "love factor" included in the installation is huge; C will always remember G-Dad building that for her(with Papa and G-Mama's help) and I know G-Dad will remember C's exclamation of "I love it" when she arrived home to it complete on Wednesday evening. 

Adding a little splash to the ride in their new play-yard

So in addition to the transition, Friday July 1 was our 11 year wedding anniversary so my parents gratefully spent 1 more day with us doing 1 more project and providing babysitting for a date night: Mom continued to pull the weeds that are threatening to take over our house(morning glories go away!) while Dad and Ed(despite the anniversary) scraped paint, sealed windows and repainted the back entrance to our house which had been totally neglected the past 6 years.  Ed and I still got the opportunity to have a wonderful dinner out at a restaurant owned by our former neighbors.  The food was honestly as good as any I have had at any Atlanta restaurant and it was only 1/2 mile from our home! Roanokers check it out Rockfish

It has been a great 11 years with my best friend; our life has been a great adventure and we are both so excited to see what is in store for us next!  Happy 4th of July....a future post will detail the coming block party!!

We will not be sporting these in our 4th of July parade tomorrow.  Ed pointed out that velvet hats in 90 degree heat likely wouldn't be fully utilized!

One final note: our moving company is sending a check to compensate Ed for his "extra efforts" to keeping us on schedule.  They were very embarrassed a customer had to help with their work.  They also admitted our load was around 20% over the weight estimated for us.....just as we had said ;)