Moving: Phase 2

Good things come to those who wait! :) This is my new motto as our patience on the house selling front paid off ...

Our house is finally sold!! Closing was a week ago today -- Friday, October 28th at 10:00 AM. I am really thankful to have this process done and over with! And for our AWESOME buyers, who stuck it out for 120 something days and agreed to pay more for the house and in closing costs then they originally offered! God is SO good!

I do miss the house now, and living next door to our awesome neighbors and friends, but since we had to sell it, I am glad that everything worked out ... even if it did take months! :) And I am SO glad that last week is over!!!

I scheduled the movers to come on Wednesday morning {October 26th}, which was the earliest I wanted to have them come since the buyers didn't terminate their due diligence period until Tuesday morning {after an inspection on Monday}. I arraigned for Ryan to have a fun day out of the house -- he went to his Sport Tykes class that morning with a friend in our playgroup, and then headed next door to have lunch, play, and watch movies for a few hours with his BFF, Ellie. Everything was packed {thanks to David for all his hard work before he left, and to my dad and mom for their help over the weekend}, the fridge was defrosted, the washer and dryer were unhooked {never mind the fact that the linoleum floor in the laundry room was ripped in the process :o), the stuff that needed to go to my Dad's house had been taken, and the furniture was dusted and ready to go sit in storage for months {I know I am just as anal as David, in some regards :)}.

This is what the house looked like at about 6 AM on moving day :)

I was prepared for moving day. Or so I thought, until the movers {4 men} stayed at our house for 10 HOURS!!! By hour 6 or 7, I felt like I had been taken hostage since I couldn't leave with them there. It was an absolute disaster!! And the moving company was highly recommended. I hate to even think what would have happened if we had used another {unrecommended} company. I can pretty much guarantee you that I will never move again without David present ... not with young kids at least. M.I.S.E.R.A.B.L.E!!!

The truck that we filled to the brim!!


They padded and shrink wrapped everything. Hopefully
that protected it during the move, and keeps it safe in storage.

Ryan's furniture ... all packed up.


We packed a lot of boxes!!

All I have to say is thank God for my friend/neighbor and my brother!! I truly couldn't have done it without them! Lisa gladly kept Ryan from 11 AM to 7 PM {much longer than she was expecting!}. She fed him lunch and dinner, and made me something for lunch -- which was a lifesaver considering how long the movers took! Not to mention that this was all in addition to having us over for a yummy dinner the night before. Uncle Alan came to the rescue after he got off work {and releaved Lisa so she could get her kids to bed}, canceling his evening plans with a friend. He fed Ryan another round of dinner {since he hadn't eaten yet}, got him a character cookie at Publix for a fun treat {and saved me half :)}, put Ryan to bed since he was exhausted and hadn't had a nap, and let Riley out to go to the bathroom -- she had been stuck at my Dad's house all day {and Dad was in Cleveland, Ohio on a business trip}.

R enjoyed playing in his empty room for a brief second :)
He didn't quite understand where all his stuff had gone though.

There were 2 moments from my LONG day with Atlanta Peach Movers that especially stand out ...

1. Moving the 500 pound gun safe out of the closet in the master bedroom and down the stairs. I had been worried about how this was going to be done for weeks since the sales consultant estimated that the safe only weighed 50 pounds! It took all 4 guys at least an hour to get it on the truck. Thankfully no one was hurt and nothing was damaged. I had my doubts for a little while!

I snapped this picture, which I'm sure thrilled them,
and then hid in the closet until they were done :)

2. As it started to get dark {around hour 8}, there were still some big items in the house -- the big flat screen TV, entertainment center, refrigerator, double mattress and box spring, queen mattress and box spring, and decorative tree come to mind. This wouldn't have been a problem except for the fact that the truck was basically full! Did I already mention that this experience was a disaster?? So, the supervisor went out to the truck, unloaded a bunch of stuff on the driveway, and then repacked the truck with flashlights. I was dying at this point! Some how he managed to fit {or should I say jam} everything on board, with the exception of the tree, which he put in the front with him, a few small garage items that I said I would just take in the car with me, and all of their extra pads, blankets, and dollies -- someone else had to come out and pickup all the supplies the following afternoon.

The truck is filling up and there is still A LOT of stuff to load!

Some of the stuff, waiting to be packed/repacked
on the truck in the dark.

I finally left the house about 9:45 PM, and headed straight for Chick-fil-A for some dinner {we ate there 5 times last week!} At this point, I just hoped our stuff arrived in Kentucky in one piece, was glad to no longer be a hostage, and was thrilled that I didn't have to deal with the movers at the storage unit in Kentucky ... it was now David's turn for some fun :)

Unfortunately, the next day {Thursday} wasn't much better/easier. I spent ALL day cleaning and trying to repair the laundry room floor {I had NO idea what I was doing!} since I didn't get to do anything on Wednesday afternoon like I was planning, except for deal with movers. I was also really tired as my adrenaline had worn off! Lisa took care of Ryan again for me for a few hours after he finished at school, and Aunt Laura came and got him after work -- she took him to see her dogs, which he loves, fed him dinner and took him to Target to get a new toy {2 actually, a dog puppet and a big animal figurine}.

Looking back on everything, as well as the fact that I was basically a non-existent single mother for several days, I have several thoughts: (1) moving is not fun no matter how prepared you try to be, (2) I am lucky to have some wonderful people in my life whom I was able to call on when I needed help ... it was such a relief to know that I didn't have to worry about my sweet boy with everything else that I was responsible for handling, and to always know that he was being loved on, well taken care of, and having fun was awesome!! Thank you so much Lisa, Uncle Alan, and Aunt Laura!, (3) that God doesn't give us more than we can handle ... or I wouldn't have survived to tell about it!, and (4) as I already mentioned, I am SO glad that this phase is now over :)

As for our stuff, it got to the storage unit in Kentucky around 5 PM on Thursday evening. The final weight came in around 10,000 pounds, which was 1,500 pounds more than the estimate ... probably the reason the truck was snug! Thank goodness I fought to get a binding agreement on Monday so we didn't have to pay anymore!! I had a feeling the estimate was off based on the weight of our stuff when we moved from Fayetteville and the fact that the safe added 450 pounds alone. David was there to meet the truck and apparently gave them a hand, even though I don't technically think he was allowed to go onto the truck. He didn't unpack anything but didn't hear any glass jingling around in the boxes or see any damage to the wrapping on our furniture ... so hopefully we aren't in for any big surprises in a few months when we go to unpack! The only thing noticeably broken was a knob on the dryer, which they will have fixed.

And the best part of the unloading story is the fact that the moving truck got stuck in the mud at the storage unit {it had rained earlier in the day} and they had to call a wrecker to tow them out at 11 PM when they finished unloading :) At least David was able to lock our unit and head home at that point!

It was a memorable few days in the Harris household! :)