I.left.Indiana.
We finally have a connection and I will be back to entertain you. I will have to give you a short rundown of the move. It was exhausting, so so so exhausting. This is what happened approximately:
- Saturday/Sunday: We set up the garage sale, we sell a lot but not everything. We leave unsold stuff by the driveway. It disappears a few seconds later - most likely taken by annoying unshowered neighbor who tried to "buy" our semi-new lawnmover for whole $10!
- Monday: ABF trailer arrives super early. Local packing company comes to load half of trailer - my brother and I continue packing and collapse at the end of the day. Veronika learns how to crawl.
- Tuesday: We pack the rest of our trailer by ourselves, we pack until the very last moment before the driver comes to pick it up. I feel like I'm about to cry from exhaustion every 15 minutes. We pack some more. We collapse at about 7.30 pm - right after the semi pulls out of our driveway. We run some errands (!) and leave Valparaiso, IN for good at about 9.30 p.m. We drive for 6 hours all the way to the Ohio/Pennsylvania border, we check in the hotel, the dog poops on the carpet. At 4.30 a.m. we fall asleep.
- Wednesday: We start our drive to CT. We are late leaving at around 10.30 a.m. We drive and drive. Pennsylvania is huge. We drive some more only to realize we will not make it to Danbury by 6 p.m. to pick up the keys to the new place. We call the rental company - they want a written authorization to give the keys to a friend of ours. My cellphone is dying. I beg and beg - they give in and accept an authorization by phone with help of vital secret information. We relax a little and continue driving. We arrive in Danbury, CT at 6.30 p.m. - we marvel in disbelief over having actually entered NY state and having a real address in CONNECTICUT. We unpack the van and go to sleep on inflatable beds in our new place.
- Thursday: We find out our trailer will not be here until Monday. Big disappointement. Then we are glad we get to rest until Monday. We initialize settling down process.
- Friday/Saturday/Sunday: We experience life without tables, chairs and TV AND INTERNET!!! Digby rejects kennel confinement and turns into a sleepy lapdog (the actual main event of this move).
- Monday: Lincoln and my brother rent a Budget truck to go pick up our stuff from Stratford, where our trailer is located - they collapse after loading everything on the rental truck, driving back and unloading it all at our new place. In the meantime Veronika and I paint our toe nails at home. We eat our first meal at the table.
Well, since Tuesday we have unpacked and unpacked and are still not done. It seems when you have a bigger place you need more furniture, but when you blow it all on a super-luxurious-full-service-mover (this is an ironic statement, we did the opposite, so that's why it's funny) and a magical van-ride across half of the country you have no money left and those brown boxes seem quite charming all of sudden.
Anyway, I want to start a savings account for my next move TODAY, so someone else can collapse from exhaustion for a week every day while I sip my coffee in the nearby hotel. Something tells me this will never happen, but hey, if Digby, the most hyper and wound-up dog in the world can turn into a cuddly puppy who is sleeping on my bed as I write, then I might actually see the day when I can pay hard cash for a full-service-moving-experience.
More later.
Posted at 10:05 AM on July 27, 2004
Hey! I was wondering when you'd get settled. It's good to see you back on.
When we move into our house in a few months, we're hiring some high school boys we know to do the moving and labor for us. I've moved too much recently and I refuse to do it again. ;-)
Hey!! Ohio/Pennsylvania border???? I'm on the Ohio/Pennsylvania border. Sort of. Where abouts did you stop? And, yes, Pennsylvania is huge. Definitely huge.
Glad to have you back!! (even if you're farther away now)
Dinka,
I am glad to hear you are all doing okay. Can you believe I am still not unpacked from our move to MI three months ago? If you need extra hands I have just discovered www.craigslist.org as a wonderful source of finding affordable help. I hired a very nice college student last weekend to help me with the ever growing and soon to become man eating weed problem that I have. I notice they have a link to hartford, and maybe some other places closer to you. Oh, yes and I found a very wonderful, and affordable doula there also. So if you find you really need the extra help but don't have a lot of extra cash, you might want to check it out.
I miss "seeing" you online. :) Take good care of yourself.
a huge pregnant momma,
maria
well, you have been missed!!!
Glad to see you back. I agree, moving can be such a stressful and exhausiting event. Rest up - and maybe you have some nice coffee to get you going in the mornings??? :-)