My Life Packed in a Truck

I don't really feel like writing, but I figured I probably should before I get lost in the whirlwind of changes around here.

Well, we made the move--at least half of it!  It wasn't always smooth.  It didn't always go as planned.  But it worked out.

Friday night, after we had been packing for days with only taking breaks to eat and let Eliot nap, my parents arrived at our house.  We had done so much, but still so much remained.  How how how?!  My parents got to helping us pack right away.  I think they finally stopped at 11:00 pm because we ran out of boxes.

On Saturday morning, we got a phone call.  We were supposed to pick up the moving truck here in Lynchburg.  They said we'd have to drive to Gretna.  Where is Gretna?  Is that by Roanoke?  Or Danville?  Or Charlottesville?  I guess it is kind of by Danville and an hour away.  Chris and my dad got back with the truck right after the movers arrived.  Great timing.  Stressful, but it worked out.

Chris's parents arrived not too long after we got started.  His mom watched Eliot while my mom and I packed and cleaned.  Chris, our dads, and the movers loaded the truck.  After three and a half hours, the house was finally empty.  I don't have much experience with moving, but I think we made pretty good time.

After lunch with Chris's parents, we went to the house one last time.  We walked around, loaded up the pets, and locked the doors. Three and a half years of memories.  We asked if we had made a mistake--we loved our home, but the truth is that everything felt smaller as the rooms grew more empty.  And when the house was free of all of our belongings and bare, it felt the tiniest it ever has.  It was a great home these past few years, but we would have outgrown it quickly.

Chris and I drove separately.  I had Eliot in the back along with all of the pets--Chris's car just didn't have any space.  I was very, very nervous because Eliot does fine for the first two hours of a road trip.  Then the next two hours, he needs attention and entertainment.  However, he fell asleep right away (he hadn't napped all day and it was 4:00 pm) and went in between being asleep and awake (but not crying) throughout the drive.  It really was not bad at all.

On Sunday, we had the final walk through at the new house.  Every time we saw the house previously, it had been covered in leaves.  I mean, TONS of leaves.  We tried to kick them around to uncover the mysteries of the yard, but this time it was all cleaned.  We had known that the house had some great landscaping with great trees and bushes, but, man, we didn't realize all of the details.  There are brick walkways and pavers all around.  There are flagstone walkways and river stones.  The yard has three Japanese maples, hydrangeas, and so many more plants that I can't recognize.  I'm a horrible gardener (horrible!) and just can't visualize how to landscape, so I am really excited that the whole yard feels like a cottagey garden.

Chris and I have had a lot of grading to do with the end of the term, but we wanted to do something fun with Eliot this morning.  Realistically, we haven't gone off on a "fun" outing where Eliot could run around in a couple of weeks.  Poor Eliot has endured all of our packing and moving and watched a lot of TV.  So, this morning was an aquarium day.  Eliot was happy to run around, check out the seals, stare at the crocodiles, and watch the fish.

We still have to drive back to Lynchburg to close in a couple of days, but we could only get help moving on the weekend.  And then there is the process of moving into the new house and painting.  I'm taking it one day at a time and focusing on my grading too.  We're almost there, though, and I think getting all of our stuff here was probably the hardest part!