Remember the old saying, “All Dressed Up and No Place to Go?” That’s the limbo we find ourselves in this week. As most of you know, we are in the process of moving, and all is in readiness. So, in our main room of the house, I have one corner for the movers to pack–mostly paintings and outsized and fragile things, another corner for things we’re taking on our own in numerous trips so we can outfit the bathrooms and bedrooms and fill the fridge, and another place where we’re stashing boxes and things all ready for the movers to load.
The house is noticeably empty already. The dining table is gone to a new home, the walls are cleared so we see the original bones of the house, the garage walls are somewhat visible, closets are emptied, and the porch is swept and looking bare. We’ve done what we can a week before emptying the home we’ve enjoyed.
We’re busy doing change of address forms, changing house insurance to renters insurance, and waiting for visits from the moving people to deliver boxes and wrapping paper. The large yard nativity set is going to the Prentice household if the thunderstorms ever stop.
I’ve set up “zones” in the livingroom: one place fo the movers to pack delicate things, one for us to carry as soon as we get our keys, one for the movers to carry. I’ve packed the bathroom things, and on Monday will pack the “everyday” items in a suitcase to carry with us. I’ll take the cat, Daisy, who is all in a dither because of people coming and going and the house looking “oh,so different.” She has no earthly idea what is going on. This is only the beginning of change for her. Paul is renting a UHaul on Monday to move the garage tools to Nancy’s garage until he can transport them to Rockledge. It’s a two-stage process. He’s building kitchen cabinets for his house, and until he’s finished with those, his garage is packed. Eventually the drill press, lathe, table saw, cart tool chest, shelves, and other items will go to his house. The piano is already at Nancy’s. We’re making visible progress.
Today we will sign the lease on our new apartment and hopefully receive our keys so we can make sure the furniture plan works. We’ll be without chairs and other items we’ve given away until our new furniture arrives on the second of August, but we’ll manage.
In the middle of all this, we have two birthdays and two concerts and babysitting for rehearsals on Thursday, Friday, Saturday. Somehow, it will all happen, but right now it’s a dizzying panorama.
You can pray for our strength, endurance, and good humor when things go wrong. They will. We always have mini-crises when we move. We’re experienced at delays, weather things, no internet, etc., but somehow, it all works out. At least we don’t have an 1800 mile roadtrip, without husband, but with two kids and a howling cat. Been there, done that, and it’s a lot easier moving across town. But right now, we’re in the anticipation stage…all dressed up….and somewhere to go. Hence, the chaos pictures!
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