Whew! Glad That’s Over . . .

Naturally, it rained on moving day, which was last Tuesday. I cringed as the new house filled up with soggy cardboard boxes, muddy footprints, and the smell of wet dogs – certain that everything would be ruined in the process – but eventually, the truck was empty and the movers moved on. It turns out that almost nothing was broken or soaked beyond repair. Even the piano landed safely into its new nook.

That first night in our new house was pretty glum with everything piled willy-nilly around us, appliances unexpectedly missing, no phone and no Internet. We could not find our shower curtains, but we showered anyway (I don’t recommend the practice). Mick and I were so glad to finally take possession of our new home; nothing could dent that satisfaction. We happily dashed off to buy new appliances and other essentials. We were dead tired when we dropped into bed that night, but we were home.

Katie and Honey turned up early the next morning to help us unpack. Honey’s favorite thing right now is sorting things – laundry, the contents of my purse, the pots in kitchen. She loved helping us take stuff out of boxes and move stuff around.

Working one box at a time, the adults slowly transformed the mayhem. By late afternoon, Katie had pretty much finished the kitchen, and the other rooms were roughly taking shape.
Tashi found a hole in the fence and ran off in the afternoon, but we were able to retrieve her almost immediately because someone found her and called my cell phone. By that second night, we could start to feel almost comfortable here.


Thursday, everybody came into town from Perryville, even Leo. We had our first family dinner that night – it was pizza – and Travis installed our new refrigerator, range, washer and dryer for us, with help from Mick. It’s amazing how thoroughly those appliances improved our comfort level.

Today I could shop for groceries, make a meal in the new kitchen and eat at my own dining room table. Whew. That feels good.

The commute from our house to Perryville is 40 miles each way. And so yesterday, we settled Leo into his own room out at the Coffee Creek motel about 2 miles from Heifer ranch. He is volunteering full-time at the ranch this summer – working for Travis in the maintenance department – and we decided he would be better off living out there.

This morning, I begin to see how life can settle into a regular routine here. And it looks very good. The hardest parts are behind us now, especially the uncertainty about what house we would buy and when we could move into it. Now, we’re just left with the small details, which can be fun, like where to hang the pictures or which lamp to put where. Heck, we even have lovely new shower curtains in each bathroom. O joy!