The deed is done.
Sunday, March 7th, 2010
One month on from my last post, and Jeremy and I are firmly ensconced in our new home.
The weeks leading up to the move on February 22nd were pretty hectic, but not actually as bad as I feared they would be. One thing is certain: having a bit of overlap between when we could move into our new place and when we had to vacate our old place was a godsend. It wasn’t great having to pay both rent and mortgage for a month, but it was definitely worth it. We were able to sort and pack at a leisurely pace, we managed to ferry a few things over to the new house before the big moving day, and on the moving day itself, we were comforted by the knowledge that we still had a few days after moving to sort out any last bits and pieces in the old place if need be.
As it turned out, the move was smooth and painless; the movers showed up at 9:30 in the morning, and five hours later we had everything in the new place. We were starving by then, so we left the chaos of the house and strolled into town for a late lunch: a very tasty burger and fries. After a quick coffee to fortify us, we headed back “home” to sort things out and get our bed and wardrobe put together.
It was at some point during the wardrobe assembly that I started to feel rather sick. I chalked it up to stress, exhaustion and eating too much for lunch—until Jeremy said he was starting to feel sick too, at which point we realized the culprit was probably what we ate for lunch and not how much of it we had.
Thus began a long, utterly miserable night of food poisoning. We just managed to get the bed put together before collapsing in a heap on the sofa. When Jeremy valiantly tried to get the TV set up to watch University Challenge (it being a Monday night), we found that we couldn’t get an aerial signal—and in my tired, sick state, this was enough to make me break down and cry. We drank some tea and watched a DVD for a while before schlepping ourselves to bed to spend a restless night punctuated by visits to the porcelain god. It was most definitely not the way I imagined spending our first night in our new home.
Things could only getter better from that point, and I’m happy to say that they have. As of today, we have no more cardboard boxes sitting around; everything is either put away tidily or hiding away in our vast attic. The lounge is a relaxing, cozy place to be, working in my office is a delight, and I love, love, LOVE our kitchen. I’ve been making good use of our dishwasher and compost bin, and as I write this, some freshly washed towels are flapping gently in the breeze in our back garden. We’ve still got some odds and ends to sort out (more bookshelves, a few rugs, a little island for the kitchen), and I’m still getting used to the new food shopping situation, but overall, I feel at home here much faster than I thought I would.
Now that we’ve just settled in, though, I’m planning to take off for a whole month. Jeremy and I are both heading to South by Southwest next week, but when Jeremy flies back here at the end of the conference, I’ll be intercepting my mom and grandma as they drive from Arizona to Florida to spend a week in St. Augustine. After that, I’ll ride back with them from Florida to Arizona, spend a few days at home in Sierra Vista, and then fly to Seattle, where I’ll rendezvous with Jeremy who will be speaking at An Event Apart. And after a few days in Seattle, we’ll fly back home together and settle into our new flat once more.
So it has been and will continue to be an exciting time for us. To be honest, I don’t know whether I’m coming or going at the moment (both, it appears)—but I quite like it that way.
Comments
1
It was great to see the photos of your flat,and to know that you have settled in . Great weather for getting the washing dry-outdoors. Have a great time in the U.S.A.
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