We're In!

What a joy it is to move. Why don't we do this more often?!?

It's Wednesday, the moving truck arrived on Saturday and I think we have just about dug ourselves out of the maze of boxes in our new home. That is not to say that there aren't lots of boxes still around. I'm stealing a few moments to write this as Chloe and I wait for Directv to arrive. They called over two hours ago to say that they would be here in an hour.

We were supposed to move in Friday, but our closing wasn't until 1 p.m., so we had the moving truck arrive on Saturday. Since we couldn't move anything in, we decided to start on some renovations and ripped up the carpet on the 2nd floor to discover beautiful wood floors underneath. Deanna and Matt filled the garage with the carpet. After we settle in, we will start of the 2nd phase of sanding and coating the floors.

Moving day was a chore on Matt, our truck driver Doug and my sister Deanna. We did get some help for 2 hours from our realtors son and his friend. I got lots of comments on the amount of clothes that Chloe and I had and the amount of kitchen items. I think those items together made up half of the moving truck.

It took me 4 days to finish the kitchen. So far the kitchen, living room, dining room, family room and bathroom are unpacked. I don't want to even fathom the pain that I will feel when I start on my clothes. I am holding off on that task for another day or so. My clothes are currently on 3 levels and Chloe is not to keen to have Momma running up and down stairs while she waits on the 1st floor. It is a project that will have to be started when Daddy can help.

So, back to the move-in excitement....Well, after starting to unload at 9 a.m. we were able to get everything off the truck by 4:30 p.m. The biggest disappointment of the day was that none, and I mean NONE, of our furniture fits in the basement. Now, our furniture would fit in the space if there wasn't a structural pole sitting at the end of the stairs, blocking the entrance into the basement. We couldn't get our couch, or big screen TV to go into the space, that's after knocking a giant hole into the pole. Luckily, Matt and Doug were able to get the washer and dryer into the basement's laundry room. But, unfortunately the plug for the dryer had been turned off and we had to hire and electrician to rewire it. I hate doing laundry, but I love my front loading washer and dryer and after having all of our sheets, bedding and towels in storage for 5+ months, I wanted to wash those items. I wasn't able to do that until Tuesday.

During our move we realized that we left some important items behind in Dallas like the rails to our king bed, our grates to our grill and a few other items. When we moved out of our house in Allen, we thought we were going to McKinney, not northern New Jersey. So, our packing wasn't the best. We also didn't have a clue that we would be moving into a smaller house. Lets just say that we have plenty of stuff for a garage sale.

Sunday, we hid Easter eggs and let Chloe search for them in the backyard. She didn't seem to understand why she was hunting eggs, but she had a good time searching for them. She found all 14 with the help of Mom, Dad and Aunt Deanna.

During all of our moving in drama, we had a plethora of neighbors come out to meet and check us out. They all seem nice and there appears to be a lot of children in the neighborhood. As I was told by one of our younger neighbors, "I hope you like kids because there are a lot around here!"

I don't think I could have accomplished anything without my sister, Deanna, coming in from Colorado to assist us with moving in and helping out with Chloe. Chloe enjoyed having "An Nana" here too because she gets to try new things, like Altoid gum. Yes, "An Nana" gave my 22-month old Altoid gum. Scary thing is Chloe seemed to like it. Despite the gum incident, I have to give a note of thanks to Deanna for taking Chloe to the park while I unpacked and making Easter dinner in a pinch.

Chloe also seems to be enjoying the laoyout of the new kitchen. I put her fruit snacks in a bottom shelf that she can reach. About 15 times a day she now brings me a bag of fruit snacks, which she calls "snaps" and wants me to give them to her. We have had some meltdowns today as she has been told "no more snacks". Being denied her 8th bag of fruit snacks, she then asks for chips. I am beginning to rethink the location of some food items in the kitchen.

For the last three days in the new home, I have been intrigued by the lawn maintenance of my neighbors. I have to go to the local lawn & garden center and have a professional explain the why and what for of the events occuring around my home. All day long we can hear the lawn mowers, aerators and roto tillers scalping and then completely ripping up people's front yards. We are one of only a handful of houses that has not anihilated the grass in our front yard, reducing the lawn to dirt. Yesterday, we watched our neighbor spend as much time destroying his grass as it took us to unload our moving truck! And today, my neighbor across the street is paying someone to destroy his lawn. I must find the answer to this mystery. Deanna "Googled" lawn care for New Jersey and we found no rhyme or reason to this phenomenon occuring around us. I have to believe that destroying and digging up your grass must yield a more beautiful lawn. If not, then I have moved to a city of nutters.

Despite the pain of moving, it is a relief to be back in our own home again. Matt says that he hopes I like the place, because we aren't moving again.

Well, Chloe has brought me some more fruit "snaps" and is now telling me "hit" (what she does when she gets mad) because I won't let her have them. She's putting on a good show for me...someone is definitely approaching two-years old. Anyone that gets that worked up over not getting a fruit snack needs a nap. We're off for a little shut eye.