Moving Again ...
Moving Again . . .
By Allan Olson
Once again the weekend was filled with moving boxes, appliances, couches and all the rest of the things associated with the moving process.
It seems like only yesterday that we were doing this, and now most of the family was together again going through the same process we did just over a month before.
Thankfully, this time it wasn’t me going through the process. I wasn’t the one funding all the trips to the hardware store for supplies; I was just grunt labor, not grunt labor and checkbook.
This time we were moving my brother into his house.
The kids were excited to go to Uncle Brian’s new house. Or maybe they were just excited to play with his little dog, the crazy little mutt that all the nieces and nephews love.
In the house, a few treasures remained, left by the previous owners.
Alivia found one of those treasures – a small Ukulele – and proceeded to serenade Grandpa and other family members with her ABCs while strumming the new-found toy, at least until it broke. I tried serenading with a guitar that was found, but my work wasn’t nearly as well appreciated.
With all the packing and again considerable distance from town, and the delay in trying to get plumbing supplies before leaving town, food provisions were underway before we got to the new home.
Pizza was cooking and the kids were eating. In fact, the kids decided that since they weren’t at home, perhaps they could get away with eating on his furniture and carpet. I stopped that action short as I scooped Alivia’s chips up from the couch.
“In the kitchen,” I said.
“But there’s no table,” Abigail complained, another victim forced to relocate from the living room.
In all the stuff that we packed and loaded on the trailers and trucks, somehow we forgot to grab a table.
I’m also not sure when a table started being a priority to eat on for her, but apparently it was a requirement that day.
I told her that it didn’t matter, she couldn’t eat on his furniture.
Knowing she wasn’t going to win the battle, she moved her food.
With no water, it was difficult to keep the kids around, so they were eventually returned to the grandparent’s house, 40 minutes away.
The trips to town during this latest moving adventure weren’t quite as numerous, but the adventure of once again moving into a house where hooking up the water was a requirement proved to be another challenge.
Once we had water flowing to the residence, it was determined that there was a leak underground somewhere between the well and the house.
Thankfully there was a plumber/well driller living nearby, and he was able to pinpoint the problem and drove his “Cat” across the two adjoining properties and resolved the problem within an hour.
However, we still had water issues inside. Other plumbing problems had to be resolved. The older-than-dirt water heater had to go, and despite the many trips to town for parts to get the copper pipes water-ready, nobody thought of getting the proper connections needed to install the new water heater. Hopefully, one of these moves we will remember to get everything in town on the first trip.
For our first weekend out of town since our move, it wasn’t very relaxing, but it was still enjoyable spending time with family.
As for our house, it’s gradually looking more like home. Color is being added to walls. Boxes have been unpacked, but more need to be brought in. We found time to paint some more walls and hang some family pictures.
As we get more into things, a little more freedom was given in allowing the kids to help. We unleashed all four of them on removing some wallpaper – the mess was great but the entertainment was worth it!
I can honestly say that I’m not ready for them to help paint yet. :-)
By Allan Olson
Once again the weekend was filled with moving boxes, appliances, couches and all the rest of the things associated with the moving process.
It seems like only yesterday that we were doing this, and now most of the family was together again going through the same process we did just over a month before.
Thankfully, this time it wasn’t me going through the process. I wasn’t the one funding all the trips to the hardware store for supplies; I was just grunt labor, not grunt labor and checkbook.
This time we were moving my brother into his house.
The kids were excited to go to Uncle Brian’s new house. Or maybe they were just excited to play with his little dog, the crazy little mutt that all the nieces and nephews love.
In the house, a few treasures remained, left by the previous owners.
Alivia found one of those treasures – a small Ukulele – and proceeded to serenade Grandpa and other family members with her ABCs while strumming the new-found toy, at least until it broke. I tried serenading with a guitar that was found, but my work wasn’t nearly as well appreciated.
With all the packing and again considerable distance from town, and the delay in trying to get plumbing supplies before leaving town, food provisions were underway before we got to the new home.
Pizza was cooking and the kids were eating. In fact, the kids decided that since they weren’t at home, perhaps they could get away with eating on his furniture and carpet. I stopped that action short as I scooped Alivia’s chips up from the couch.
“In the kitchen,” I said.
“But there’s no table,” Abigail complained, another victim forced to relocate from the living room.
In all the stuff that we packed and loaded on the trailers and trucks, somehow we forgot to grab a table.
I’m also not sure when a table started being a priority to eat on for her, but apparently it was a requirement that day.
I told her that it didn’t matter, she couldn’t eat on his furniture.
Knowing she wasn’t going to win the battle, she moved her food.
With no water, it was difficult to keep the kids around, so they were eventually returned to the grandparent’s house, 40 minutes away.
The trips to town during this latest moving adventure weren’t quite as numerous, but the adventure of once again moving into a house where hooking up the water was a requirement proved to be another challenge.
Once we had water flowing to the residence, it was determined that there was a leak underground somewhere between the well and the house.
Thankfully there was a plumber/well driller living nearby, and he was able to pinpoint the problem and drove his “Cat” across the two adjoining properties and resolved the problem within an hour.
However, we still had water issues inside. Other plumbing problems had to be resolved. The older-than-dirt water heater had to go, and despite the many trips to town for parts to get the copper pipes water-ready, nobody thought of getting the proper connections needed to install the new water heater. Hopefully, one of these moves we will remember to get everything in town on the first trip.
For our first weekend out of town since our move, it wasn’t very relaxing, but it was still enjoyable spending time with family.
As for our house, it’s gradually looking more like home. Color is being added to walls. Boxes have been unpacked, but more need to be brought in. We found time to paint some more walls and hang some family pictures.
As we get more into things, a little more freedom was given in allowing the kids to help. We unleashed all four of them on removing some wallpaper – the mess was great but the entertainment was worth it!
I can honestly say that I’m not ready for them to help paint yet. :-)
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