Beating the boxes back, one by one

It’s been a busy, tiring week, and we’ve all been working our butts off with no time to while away on the computer. But TubaDad says I’d better jot down at least a few words to let everyone know we made it. So here’s a quickie move post with some pics.

The move was great! For the first time ever, we paid movers to do our packing. And although we went back and forth on this decision (my cheapskate tendencies are only rivaled by my ability to worry about stuff I’m not in control of), this ended up being a wonderful choice for us. They actually packed and moved the entire house in one veryveryvery long day. Wow.

Ro and Ree were champs during the move. Quite excited to have “move pens” on ribbons around their necks just like the grownups, and also pretty ecstatic that they got to watch as many movies as they wanted. They played, made up games, amused themselves, and were honestly no trouble at all.

We had an art and crafts table set up for Ro and Ree in the new house, and that occupied them for HOURS. Actually had to pry them away to do a Target run. Yes, my friend Maggie and I got to dash to Target in mid-move. Now that’s a good day. (We were getting contact paper and last-minute move supplies, but still, any trip to Target is a good one.):

We got everything we own into the house by about 9pm on Saturday, then sat down among the towering piles of boxes and just breathed. (I might have had a glass of wine or three.) All of the furniture was here, the stuff in the downstairs was even in the right rooms, and we had enough emergency supplies and clothes in our Move Kits to last for a few days while we figured out where the heck specific things were. TubaDad had already hooked up the tv, and his next task was wrestling with the computer and internet. Thank god we have an amazing tech guy living with us. I tried to take a pic of him in the office that night, and forgot to pop the flash. But then, the eerie feel of this pic just amused me. Doesn’t it look like the desk and pile of boxes and computer equipment are threatening to swallow him whole?:

The girls squealed with glee to find the hidden shoe closet downstairs, and immediately claimed it and organized all their shoes. There was a heated debate for some time about whether to organize the shoes by color (Ree’s preference) or type (Ro’s preference), and they eventually came to a compromise. All of the boots are on the bottom shelf, and then the shoes above are sorted by color. Funny little girls.

Anyhow, we’ve made huge progress in the last week. Maggie came over three days in a row to help sort things out and even tackle the kitchen (which previously looked like this):

Thank you Maggie!!! So now all of the essentials are unpacked, and we can eat, bathe, and get dressed without problems (well at least without any more problems than we used to have, heh). The rest of the boxes have been dragged out of the way and we’ll get to them with time (or after the construction).

And in the meantime, the boxes apparently make perfect kid furniture. Who knew?!:

It’s all good.

PS: Do I need to say who’s who now that the cast is gone? Move day: Ro blue shirt, Ree brown shirt. Jammies: Ro pink, Ree blue. Boot outfits: Ree brown shirt, Ro red shirt. Sitting on boxes: Ree white shirt, Ro pink shirt.