Moving Adventures

We got the keys to the house and went over to check it out.  

That's when I realized the true condition of the kitchen.  Looks super pretty on the outside, was looking a little done on the inside.  I suspect a case of refacing.

Why I didn't open all the drawers and cabinets before and move their stuff aside, I don't know.  Politeness, I guess.  I opened a few, but apparently only the good ones.

Now, I know better.

Thank goodness I have a little experience with kitchens that need some TLC.

I went over to Lowe's, stocked up on scrapers, paint, brushes, rollers, drop cloths, etc.  I had many of these items already...but they were packed.

So with three days before move date, I rolled up my sleeves and threw in my sweat.

This is how it looked before I started.

Some drawers had contact paper residue and some drawers had peeling contact paper from the 80's and 90's.

Some cabinets looked like places where the juvenile delinquent spiders would hang out...

amid the peeling contact paper...

Some cabinets had this interesting vinyl covering which looked sturdy and clean...but was slightly bowed and missing sections of vinyl....

Seriously?  What is with the missing vinyl section?  Cut a rectangle and finish the job!

Some places were partially painted.  Uh...I think you missed a spot...

Lots and lots of peeling contact paper...from three different eras...

Super sketchy...

I pulled up contact paper, scraped the residue, painted first coats, got paint in my hair, worked, worked, worked.

And while I worked, Everett played.  He hung out in the kitchen, eating snacks and trying to paint too.  (I gave him a paintless roller and brush to work with.)  He hung out with Mater and a ball in the empty family room.

And then it was time to clean up and get lunch before we got the boys from school.  Except that I couldn't find the house keys to lock up.  For an hour, I searched an empty house.  I was ready to cry.  Was I going insane?  Ev had been within sight of me the whole time.  Where could the keys have gone?!

I finally had to leave to get boys.  Then I grabbed some food from home and took my little detectives back to the house to search.

Forty-five minutes later, James found the keys.  

Ev had thrown them away.  

Not in the trash bag I was using and had searched through used contact paper and paint detritus three different times.  No.  He threw them in a little trash can in a cabinet that had a single piece of paper towel wrapping in it.  I had searched the can several times.  But the keys were tucked under a fold of the trash bag.  

And all the while, Ev said nothing.    

*****

The next day, Ev and I returned to the house for second coats of paint.  

I, much wiser now, put all keys up on the counter.

I painted and waited for the appliance delivery.  And waited.  And waited.  When they finally came, I was in crunch time to pick the kids up.  I had an hour.  Could they do it?  They said they would try.

Great.

Except that they couldn't fit the washer and dryer through the bathroom doors so they had to take them around the side of the house and remove the laundry room door.  

Then the washer line (from the house) ended up leaking when they turned it on.  We would have to call a plumber.  Then they couldn't find all the parts.  But then they did.

Eventually they got the fridge hooked up and dryer working.  Washer would have to wait and I had to go.  I appreciated their hustle.  

I grabbed my purse, keys, and Ev.  But...I couldn't get the front door locked because in order to open the double doors, we had to drop a latch and I couldn't get it back up and out of the way of the deadbolt lock.  

Twenty minutes of pushing, grunting, and mormon swearing later, I gave up.  I raced to get the boys, got some lunch at home, then returned to see if James could help me jimmy the latch up.

He shoved and grunted.  We were both frustrated.  

Then (because our fingers were so dang sore) he got a broom handle and pushed up.  The latch slid up out of the way like it had never given us a moment of trouble.

*****

Moving day went well.  I was very organized, my body was cooperating, and the moving crew were hardworking.  

We nearly lost the piano twice (once into the pool!) but thankfully we only broke one goblet and the movers broke only one piece of glass for a coffee table.  It could have been much, much worse.

*****

The next day the plumber came to fix the issues. 

Just after they left, we got a visit from a city official about a broken valve to the sewer.  Apparently the plumber called it in.  Still in question is whether or not he broke it.  The city realized we just moved in and said they would fix it.  That was a surprise.  However, by fix it, it means they may have to jackhammer into the driveway.  

*****

So the cabinets need a third coat of paint and I can't put the dishes away until the paint sets.  I thought it would be a few days.  My MIL suggests maybe a few weeks.  Ugh.  But I think she is right.

But here is a snapshot of progress...

This is one of the scary cabinets, now plain white.  No place for teen spiders to hang out.  

And these are the freshly scraped and painted drawers.  An improvement, no? 

*****

Husband fell off a ladder yesterday, rolling his ankle.  I fell down one step, rolling mine.  I am better.  He is limping but moving.  

The bathroom shower area may be prone to mold, as we have taken a shower or two, it seems to be coming out.  The custom doors scrape the tile and need to be sanded down.  We have to put a custom door into the toilet area of the room (using curtains now), still need to get quotes on built ins in the living room and blowing out the tiny walk in pantry, and one door has fallen off its hinge in the blue room.

But we are in.  And moving forward.

The house looks like all the boxes vomited our belongings.  But...slowly it is coming together.

Moving is an adventure indeed.