This post is about moving into house number 4 in one year.
The recap:
We sold our house in Monument (house 1), and moved to the House in the Woods in April.
That house (house 2) sold and we moved to the House on the Prairie in October.
That house (house 3) sold and we moved to the house in the Town on the Prairie in January.
Ok, "Town on the Prairie" is a stretch, because we're back in the City of Colorado Springs, right next to a major park that features hiking trails up a huge bluff, and the neighbors say there are deer, turkeys and coyotes that makes appearances. I can see Pike's Peak from the front porch. But, we're keeping with the Laura Ingalls theme, right?
So! With two weeks' notice, and a couple I knew from college staying with us the entire last week we were in the house (they are moving to town... but not to that house) we got the entire house boxed and packed. During the weekend of the Bronco's (successful) bid at the championship, we ordered a UHaul, and loaded it, after calling the rental place approximately 8 times to change our pickup in order to accommodate being able to watch the football game.
On Friday evening, we picked up the keys to the new place, and spent the night cleaning the carpets, bathrooms, and cupboards.
If I didn't mention this about the House on the Prairie before, the house had several garages. The homeowner worked on motorcycles, and off of the basement, there was a heated, well oversized and partially carpeted, one-car garage with a sealed floor on the part that wasn't carpeted. We swept that out and used it as a staging area for boxes. Eric maneuvered the truck around the snow pile (which is STILL THERE), and he and I spent a glorious (weather wise - high's in the 50's with sun) Saturday afternoon loading boxes and further refining my Tetris skills to get the boxes, several pieces of furniture, and all of the garage/garden items (you know, that stuff that is weirdly shaped and doesn't fit well anywhere) into the truck. Success. Don't mess with me friends... I can square pack tighter than anyone.
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| When I say "load random stuff in the car..." |
We then took a load of random stuff (lamps, toilet paper, more cleaning supplies, garbage cans, and most of our food) over to the new place. I cleaned some more and put things away.
Sunday, we were up early, and the two of us (We were going to have our cadets help, but with the change in plans to make sure we saw the Broncos in action) took the truck (and another carload of random objects like clocks and more food) over to the new place. In just over an hour, we had the entire thing unloaded into the garage.
Seriously, we are getting good at this packing and unpacking thing. We are also learning to use smaller boxes, so we can more easily haul them around.
Eric took the truck back, and walked the prairie back. Because there was a Uhaul rental and storage facility just down the industrial powerlines from us. Because that's how I gave directions out there on the prairie.
I ran back to the old place, loaded frozen food and house plants into the Civic, filled the Subaru with televisions (ours, for the record, not just random televisions), and headed over. We unloaded, and then Eric took off to develop a plan for watching the game. He returned a little while later with our friend Steve, NeNe (Steve's truck), and our recliners. Because we now had recliners, food, and televisions at the new place, we were set for the championship game... which I ignored most of in favor of setting up the kitchen.
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| Steve, Eric, and the Broncos. Good way to finish out a move. |
At half-time, Eric and Steve moved boxes to their appropriate locations, and by the time the game ended, we were pretty much cleared out of the garage. Oh, and in case you hadn't noticed, the Broncos pulled off a WIN over the Patriots (and my least favorite QB, even if he did go to Michigan). Bronco mania has taken over this state, and its fun to see our adopted hometown team make it to the Super Bowl! We'll always be Lions fans, but since the likelihood of them going to the Big Game in our lifetime is rather slim...
Go Team!
Anyway, after the game, Eric and I moved the rest of the boxes out of the garage, to their appropriate areas, to make sure that we had a clear path for the movers on Monday, should they want to use the garage entrance to move in furniture. We got decently unpacked, then headed back to the old place to clean, consolidate, and sleep. Who knew that putting your mattress on the floor because you broke down your bed would be so comfortable?? Why did we invest in furniture again?
Side note: moving over a weekend is such a great idea! WAY more relaxing than trying to do it all in a day... why didn't we think of this before?
Monday, Eric had to head to the office, and I took the day off to be in charge of the movers. We had colder weather, but a good day, although the later the day got, the more ominous the skies looked. While I finished cleaning the old place, the movers packed up the furniture, and by the time they were ready to roll into the city, all I had left to do was vacuum the main room and mop the floors. Everything else (bathrooms cleaned, cupboards emptied, basement vacuumed, refrigerator washed out... trust me, except for that one time, you want to live in a place after I've moved out.)
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| Two Men, a Truck, and a driveway |
The driveway in the new place, while short, is quite a challenge. This is a 1960's brick ranch, complete with matching brick walls on either side of the driveway. The 45 degree-angled driveway that has seen more than its share of bottom-outs, by the look of it. However, the movers (did I mention that this is the first time that I have had gag-producing movers? They smelled. Bad. I mean, I would smell too if I moved someone else's furniture for a living, but they stunk up rooms they weren't even in!) managed to get their truck parked and ramp out (which looked like an expansion bridge over the drive!) and the furniture in. The house has narrow halls (more on the house in a future post) and there were some challenges getting the furniture to the right areas, but they managed. 7.5 hours from the start, they were done. Efficiency! I like it! Just as I signed off on the bill, it started snowing. Talk about timing!
It snowed as I set up the living room, messed around with side table and tv placements, and had it done by the time Eric got home from work (and couldn't get up the driveway, due to the snow and angle.) The rest of the rooms came together over the next day or two... just in time for my parents to arrive!
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