The Perfect Storm

I'm not a stranger to moving... even as a kid we moved from Texas (not sure how many places we lived there) to Washington (lived in 3 places there), then a quick move to Pennsylvania... then back to Washington (4 more places). Then I was off to college, lived in the dorm, then two different units in the Wilsonian, and then a move to Radford Court... followed by a drive across the country into Manhattan Square while I went to Eastman... then Andy and I moved out to Greece, then the Mills (where we've been for 4 years), and now finally... our new place.

As you can see, I can count 16 different times I've had to move... and more than one of those times being thousands of miles away. But this one just might take the cake.

1) We arrived at the rental place on Wednesday morning to pick up our U-haul that we had reserved for 48 hours. They had our reservation in their system as only being for 26 hours. Problem.

2) As we pull the U-haul into our apartment parking lot we were greeted by... another U-haul. Turns out another family was moving out the same day. Let the battle over the elevator start... Problem.

Ours is the little one

- Do you notice how they've positioned their truck so their ramp completely blocks the sidewalk to our truck? Let that be a small indication about how fun it was to move with these people. To say I hated the guy that was moving is the understatement of the century. I wanted to punch him on multiple occasions, but based on his girth, it would have hurt me a lot more than it would hurt him. I did give him the stink eye though... a lot.

3) We ended up using the stairs a lot more than planned because of the elevator situation. Remember, I recently had knee surgery. Problem.

4) As Andy and Will (omg thank you SO SO SO much Will for all of your help!!!) were moving the couch down the stairs this was happening.... "watch the light... good... just a little more... watch the light... good.. ok... watch the light..." Problem.

We did not watch the light...

5) As you might be able to guess by the earlier picture, our truck was too small and we weren't even close to fitting everything in. Problem.

6) We weren't able to get the keys to the new place until 6pm. We told him about our truck situation and asked if we could start unloading (we weren't really supposed to move in until the next day). He said we could in a few hours because... the old tenants still had to come back to clean. Problem.

7) We came back at 8pm with a brigade of 5 cars full of stuff (THANK YOU WILL, LISA, AND ALYSSA!). Our new landlord was feverishly trying to clean as it appears the old tenants decided not to actually come back and do that themselves. Now we are trying to empty the cars, while not getting in the way of him doing a rush job to try to clean up after delinquent tenants. Problem.

8) Next day... we woke up at 6am and go to unload the U-haul. It is POURING rain. Problem.

9) Because we were in a rush to get things off the truck so we could get it returned, we pretty much just put everything on the first floor. Side note... Andy's dad woke up at the crack of dawn to drive out to help us (another HUGE thank you!!!). Because of the rain, the new place is now covered in mud. Problem.

10) Now it's time to get the furniture in the right rooms. Mattresses go upstairs. Box springs...do NOT go upstairs. WTF?!? Seriously you have got to be kidding me. Massive Problem.

- We paused here because we seriously were about to lose it. Andy and I took Lisa and Will out to lunch at Wegmans (they both came over that morning to help with coffee and donuts...so so so nice of them).

An assortment of cookies - we ate our feelings

11) After lunch, Andy and I headed back to the old place to clean. It took a long time but I will say... we did a mother f*cking good job. However, even with wearing gloves, my fingers felt raw and my cuticles felt like they were on fire. Problem.

12) Finally at 6pm we decided to call it a day... a very busy 12 hours. We headed back to Sarah's parent's house (thank God for house/cat sitting) and ordered a pizza. It came (cold) at 8:30pm. Problem.

- I had dealt with enough problem's already so I called that place and gave them a piece of my mind. I now have a credit for a free pizza in the future.

13) This morning before work, we stopped by the new place again. Andy tried his key for the first time. It does not go in the lock. At all. We both tried many times. Problem.

- Thankfully the hardware store is right down the street, so we just went and had copies made.

14) Then we went to the old place to meet the professional carpet cleaners that we hired (mandatory for our complex). A woman (about our age) named "Essence" showed up 40 minutes late with basically a vacuum and spot bot. We could have rented something and done better... Problem.

15) Due to an unfortunate accident several years ago with super glue and the refrigerator, Andy had ordered parts for our old fridge so he could fix it himself and not lose money out of our deposit. They were supposed to be in already. After tracking them down all day yesterday and this morning, we found out they didn't actually send the order to the factory until today. Our walk through is this afternoon... Problem.

Is that enough for you? Because it's enough for me.. and honestly those are not even the only problems... there are many more. But before I leave for our walk through, let's end on a good note...

Andy and I are so lucky to have the support system we have here. My boss at Job #1 loaned us his dolly and even offered us a bedroom to stay in during the move (which of course we didn't need, but that was so nice of him to offer). My boss at Job #2 offered to let us park the U-haul at her house overnight so it would be in a safe place. Will busted his butt to help us get in and out of each place, and did it with nothing but a smile and some much needed optimism. Alyssa and Lisa both came over at the drop of a hat to help us load and unload things using their cars. Also a double "props" to Lisa and Will for surprising us with some Thursday morning sustenance. That was amazing. Andy's dad was able to adjust his work schedule to help us unload the truck at an ungodly hour... and remember he had to drive an hour just to get to where we are... so he was up REALLY early. We are so lucky.

And on top of that Andy and I worked side by side the whole time and only yelled at each other once, which considering all that's listed above is a freaking miracle. Things are not always perfect between us (which is perfectly normal) but the fact that we can make it through something so trying together and be such a good team... well, it makes me even more excited to marry him. Honestly, I think training and running the marathon together really helped us over these last two days - we both know we both have the ability to work hard and endure, even when times are miserable, to make it out on the other end. Shoot, if we can make it through this, we can make it through anything.

Ok, time for the final walk through to be officially done with State Street. Although I'm so glad to be in a new area, I will admit, I'm a little sad to say goodbye.