Moving Day - January 13 and 14

Our moving van was scheduled to arrive on Thursday morning between 8 and 9am. Unfortunately, the snow and the size of the truck conspired to make the move more difficult than anticipated. We expected that the big truck would be unable to make it down to the house. We let the moving company know that a shuttle truck would most likely be necessary to transfer our things from the big truck to our house. We didn’t expect the big truck to get stuck before arriving at a safe unloading location. After a two hour delay while we waited for the tow truck to get the big truck back on the road, our unloading went smoothly and quickly. By 7pm four hundred thirty-six yellow stickered items were placed in the house and outbuildings. Bed and tables were assembled and the moving crew was on their way.

We only had heat in part of the house. We had boxes stacked from floor to ceiling and door to door. It was impossible to see how the house might look when all was put away or even how it would be humanly possible to put the things away. We’d traded a 4000 square foot house in a subdivision for a 3000 square foot house and 37 acre farm. Our joy at actually being in the house was tempered with the uncertainty of the future we could only imagine. As a family, we chose to focus on the joy and toasted our move with champagne and kiddie wine as we prepared our second meal in our home.

The following morning, the unpacking crew arrived and set to work unloading boxes. The thing about unpacking is that the unpackers only empty the boxes and set the contents on a flat surface. They don’t put anything away and if you can’t keep up with them, at least a little, you can end up with a really big mess. Thankfully, my friend Sharon came over and took charge of the family room bookcases while I manned the kitchen. I was hopeful that recovering from the unloading of boxes in the bedrooms, living room and dining room would be manageable. Other than the mistaken unloading of several Christmas boxes, it was. The unpackers left with about one hundred and fifty empty boxes and the accompanying mountain of paper. Since that was really the point, getting rid of the boxes and paper, the morning was a complete success.

By late afternoon, Sharon and I had things reasonably under control. Books were on shelves and kitchen cabinets were filled. It would all take some fine tuning but the boxes were no longer blocking the doors and piled to the ceiling. We could walk through the house and see how it might, someday, be our home.