moving ...sort of

Today Jon and his family helped him move out of his apartment and into our new house. I helped unload and clean on the receiving end, at the house. We got a later start than we hoped to because the sellers didn't pull out with their moving van until about 11am. They were so nice, though, that we didn't mind much.

And here's the thing about really huge, really old houses that are only about 75% restored: they are dirty. And once the seller got all her stuff out, I realized just how much scrubbing, mopping and baseboard dusting that needed to be done. So I did quite a bit of that today but have miles and miles of baseboard yet to scrub and dust.

But really, the house is in great shape. What's left to be done is stuff we can do on our own timetable. The only rooms in the house that are still in pretty rough shape are two of the three bathrooms -one bathroom is brand new. The rest of the house is in excellent shape (several rooms are completely restored) or good shape (kitchen is old but functional and does have a brand new floor). Bedrooms all need fresh coats of paint.

The sellers left a LOT of junk behind. 75% of it is construction trash -- they had done a lot of the major work on the house in the past few years. But about 25% of it is useful stuff they were nice enough to just give us, including a brand new, really huge couch. They also left us some curtains we needed and a lawnmower and some random furniture and one really nice rug.'

We worked really hard all day while Elliot and his friend Teddy explored the house and yard. It is such a thrill to see Elliot with so much SPACE to enjoy. I swear that the kids' playroom in this house is as big as our entire current house. He loves it. He and Teddy played in the bamboo growing on the bank of the creek in our yard, and ran back and forth across the bridge over the creek. And although he has no furniture in there yet, ELliot started organizing his new room, lining up some turtle shells he found along the window sill. He also found some old maps he wants to hang on his walls.

So I am typing this from our new GORGEOUS living room. Elliot is asleep on the couch next to me. I am waiting for Jane to return from her trip with the cousins. Henry is at a friend's house. We will be slowly moving stuff from our house, one mile away, to this new house over the next month, leading up to the wedding. We will also try to eat meals, etc over here at the new house as much as possible so our current house will stay as tidy as possible at all times while it's on the market. OUR REALTOR will officially list the house and start showing it on Monday. Let's hope it sells quickly.