Moving -- The Edited Version

I

My Big Oops

Me knocking down the electrical line when I backed the truck in on Thursday. Can you see it there, practically on the ground?  A rookie-stupid thing to do, huh?  But, gee whiz...

We'd backed the exact same-size truck in at the same place the week before with no trouble. I just assumed it would still be ok, but a windstorm the night before had loosened the pole that this wire was connected to, causing it to sag.  =sigh=  Dan wasn't home when I did this -- and I immediately went into freak-out mode. I admit it.  But the children said that it was an event worthy of freak-out mode so I got a pass for it.  All's well that ends well, though.  I got on the phone right away and called out the electric company and they referred me an electrician -- and we had a fix quick enough that Dan was able to drive the second truck in the driveway a couple of hours later.  Cost us a little chunk of money, unfortunately, but at least nobody was hurt and the move was not hampered.  Lisa is stupid, but God is good.

II

Packing the trucks

Accomplished by nine of our ten children (If you can call what the bottom three kids were doing help...), Dan, me, and cousins, Paula and Marc (who left a little early for Paula's rugby game).

The moving staff taking a popsicle break after both moving trucks are just about full.

III

Rolling Out

I drove one 26' moving van with Cathy and the bird on board, Dan drove the other van with Noe in her kennel, and Jon drove the minivan with the rest of the family and Brigid. The kittens made the trip fine in a big box in the back of one of the moving vans.

We hauled the children's jungle gym up and over the mountains in a trailer on the back of Dan's moving truck.  It barely squeaked past the stationary grill on our patio.  There's a follow-up story about this jungle gym.  Before we loaded it, we took off all the "accessories" to it and stored them in one of the trucks: the "climbing wall," and the slide, etc.  But, we left the roof on as it seemed solidly attached and it made the trip 100% intact.  Friday, though, after the boy took the jungle gym out put it on the lawn, we had a windstorm that blew the roof off, tossing it into the hayfield.  Ponder that for a minute.  ...  Scary, huh?  All I gotta say is, "Thank-you, St. Christopher!"

We left beind a weirdly empty, echo-y old house.  More on my thoughts about saying goodby to the farm later, when I've unpacked enough boxes to wax nostalgic...

The view of the back of Dan's truck that I tried to keep pace with for 331 miles. 

IV

Getting There

We finished packing up at around 6pm Thursday and got to the new property at around 2:30 am.  It was slow-going over some of the mountain passes with the heavy trucks, but we made the trip without mishap.  Deo Gracias!

Looking southwest from the new house.

Taking a walk on one of the little roads that services the irrigation canals that wind all through the country around us.  There is almost no traffic on these roads, only our nice neighbors tending their fields and the irrigation inspector fellow who comes by every day to check the flow of water in all the ditches.  It's a wonderfully safe place to go for a walk.

Being a labrador, Noe is absolutely thrilled with all the water at her new stomping grounds.  Look at that smile.

 V

Making Ourselves At Home

Here's a glimpse of the goings-on in the new great room.  We've always lived in older homes with none of the modern concepts for living.  I'll elaborate later on some of our discoveries, but the most immediate and obvious change for us is the use of living space.  The rooms we've been used to in our old homes have been functional and cozy, small and distinct.  But now we have a modern "great room" floor plan and having the contents of what were formerly three separate rooms combined into one has taken some getting used to.  But it's a delightful change.  I especially love it because I can cook in the kitchen side of the room and still be a part of the action in the living room and dining room.  The Littles can eat their cereal at the dinng room table and watch Bugs Bunny playing on U-tube across the room.  The big kids can play the piano and enjoy amazing acoustics...  There's just so much space!  Picture me as Julie Andrews on the top of the mountain swinging through the wide open spaces of my great room, arms open wide, singing.  LA!   Suffice it to say: I love it.

(Check out Jon reading Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs in a room that the children say is painted ketchup and mustard colors.  ;o)

More later.  Gotta go do some more unpacking!