Moving day finally arrived. I woke up as per my new cough-riddled routine at around 5am. At 7am we got dressed and started gathering our vital belongings. I had packed a backpack each for myself and the kids so that we could take our clean clothes straight out and put our dirty clothes in without having to risk leaving anything or losing anything. Everything was going to plan, I had the box out ready to pack up the cat and was going to go ahead to the new house with her and the kids. At around 7.30am, as expected, the movers called to say they were about 10 minutes away. As I was helping Littlest Bean to get ready I noticed the sound of pouring water from our bathroom. I ran to see what was happening and found cuddles standing in a flooded bathroom, toilet paper everywhere, water up to the rim of the bowl and still coming. Arghhh. I got very angry at him and banished him from the room. The plunger was packed so I had no choice but to go elbow deep into the toilet and fish the wodge of soggy paper out with my bare hands. G threw a load of towels on the floor, I just had to get out of there, I packed up the cat, changed Cuddles’ clothes and took the three of them and three bags down to the carpark. By the time we got to the car the cat had already pooed in her carrier, I have always assumed she does this when she gets especially scared but I guess being a cat it could be that she is just really pissed off.
We drove off away from the apartment with the windows open because of the stink. It was a little chilly and the kids complained the whole way. It was a little strange leaving without G. We stopped off at the drive through as per the original plan and got some much needed coffee and fruity oatmeal. I considered not going because of the cat situation but figured we needed to grasp the opportunity to eat. Suffice to say we didn’t eat till safely in the house away from the smell. The journey isn’t long from apartment to new house, about 15 minutes.
When we got to the new house the kids didn’t really know what to do with themselves. They kept asking for somewhere soft to sit over and over. Eventually I found a quilt that G had brought over a couple of days earlier so I put it on the floor and they both lay on it. They were obviously as tired as I was. I imagined that being in a big empty house with lots of closets for hiding in would be immensely exciting to them but as it turns out, it wasn’t. After a little while when Cuddles wouldn’t stop complaining about being hungry, despite having eaten a pot of oatmeal and a big cookie, we decided to go out. We went for a little drive and finished up at Trader Joe’s so we’d have something for us all to eat.
It wasn’t long after we got back to the house that G turned up which was an immense relief. Shortly after G’s arrival the movers appeared. They were very efficient and within about 2 hours we were all set up. I spent the afternoon turbo un-packing the kitchen and a friend came over with her daughter to help amuse the children. By the evening the kids had somewhere to sleep and the kitchen was pretty much finished. That evening when the children had gone to bed we reflected on both feeling a little sad about our old apartment. We lived there for over 2 years and in our 14 years together that’s the longest we have lived anywhere. We were also really pretty fond of it despite it’s inconveniences.
How could I forget to mention we even managed to keep half an eye on the Royal Wedding, it made both me and G feel unexpectedly homesick.
Saturday 30th April & Sunday 1st May
We really buckled down over the weekend and unpacked like absolute crazy. By Saturday evening I had both the kids bedrooms completely unpacked and G had sorted out the living room. He did a great job shuffling boxes around and removing empty boxes and packing materials for me. By Sunday evening we actually had the entire house unpacked. Our final room was the dining room which was quite heavy going as it had become the holding room for everything that wasn’t already placed. By 6 o clock we welcomed some friends over for dinner, a very basic dinner I might add and not cooked by me, to a tidy and relatively clean unpacked house. Sunday was Cuddles last day on antibiotics although we’re not out of the woods yet. We also had to get Littlest Bean Organized for her first day back at Kindergarten after Spring Break.
The kids are settling in well although they don’t seem to have quite got their heads around it all yet. They are still a bit reluctant to get their toys out and to play in their rooms. They mainly just follow me around and hang out wherever I am. Cuddles main activity the first couple of days was to investigate with his hands every hole, every wire, every nook and cranny, this makes for pretty nerve-wracking parenting. It’s his way of getting to know his new home, just like the cat who goes around sniffing everything. The cat is happy now, enjoying sprawling her furry body out on the floor in the hot sunlight and watching birds and butterflies out of the windows. We haven’t let her out to play yet, we will soon, just not quite yet.
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