More stuff is here!

It was crisp (4 degrees) and clear this morning for Squirt's morning dash around the yard. There was a slight breeze which makes a difference at these temps. We are now just under 8 hours of sunlight.

Now...where was I?

Oh yes...at last the truck is here and we can start unloading. Robert's job is to point and direct in the garage and my job is to point and direct in the house and to unpack boxes as they bring them in. Squirt's job is to get in the way and he is the most accomplished at his position. There is a little boy living next door to us and you can see his face pressed against the window watching all of the activity. It is a little slow getting started as they have to cover the carpets and the hard floors but finally the first item is off loaded! Let the work begin!

Because we start with the second container, all of the garage items are the first thing off of the truck. Not exactly what I want to see, but it is probably best as we are able to put the garage in order first. Last time we moved, it took much much longer to get the garage straightened out and you definitely want to be able to put the cars in the garage (see opening comment). Finally, we see what we have been waiting for....THE KING SIZE MATTRESS. A real bed...no more sleeping on the floor. I don't care if there is a frame. We are going to sleep well tonight. BONUS -- the washer and dryer are in this container! After those items, I really didn't care what order the rest of the goods come off of the truck in.

Keep in mind we have a 3 story house. These gentlemen work very hard. Of course the bedrooms and the laundry room are on the third floor. That is where the weights, exercise machines, big furniture, mattresses, box springs, frames and all of our clothes need to be. In Houston, our master closet must have been three times what it is here. I am making this estimate by the fact we have now filled up all of the bedroom closets with clothes. (Leave a couple of boxes - I am not moving this stuff again - it is garage sale time.)

They move the washer and dryer into the laundry room and we discover something. The original builder had cabinets put in with an opening for the washer and dryer. Slick idea. The former owners put a sink and counter in next to where the dryer sits. Another slick idea. Too bad they put the counter 3/8 " over the top of their dryer. Big Sigh....fix number one for the new house. Only the dryer is on the pedestal now. The washer must sit on the floor until the hanging cabinets are moved. At least the cabinets didn't go all the way to the floor, we have our king size bed back and the air mattress is in the crawl space.

We spend Monday evening unpacking garage items, a few boxes inside and moving things around preparing for the next day. Tuesday dawns and once again, the crew pulls up about 8:30 am ready to work. Now the boxes really start to come in. EGAD where are we going to put all of them! I work on the kitchen non-stop for several hours. (I personally think 5000 of the 23000 pounds was paper.) All at once, I have an epiphany and it isn't a good one. Our house is too small. Where are we going to put all of the stuff!!!!! I am pretty upset. You would think that two people could fit just fine in a 3000 sq ft house. Leave some more boxes. I'm going to have a garage sale. (It turns out OK - thank goodness for the crawl space - BIG CRAWL SPACE.)

Of course the last things to come off of the truck are the piano, highboy and triple dresser. All of them still fully loaded - the packers neglected to empty them in Houston. We wait for the rest of the crew to get these inside and they did successfully without breaking any light fixtures going up the stairs. The moving crew leaves us to our unpacking and we walk inside - where do we start. Well - it will still be here tomorrow - let's go eat.

As you can imagine, we spend the next few days moving from room to room opening boxes, stuffing paper and shoving things into closets and bookshelves. In record time (two weeks I believe compared to 50 weeks at the last house) all boxes are opened, some have even been repacked and stored in the crawlspace. (Not by choice mind you. The dishpacks wouldn't fit through the crawl space door.) I have about 10 boxes of garage sale items - safely tucked away in the crawl space so when Spring arrives I can go back through them and save 90% of the stuff I was going to get rid of. I expect more garage sale boxes before winter is over. Squirt is exceptionally happy when his kibble box, food and water bowls, toys and beds are unpacked. Anchorage is now home to him.

Oh and the car titles are here. We can go get Alaska tags....wonder what that will be like?