A Big Day

Maybe THE Big Day.

It was June 12th of this year, the day that we finished packing up our house in Buckley, WA. The day that we locked the padlock on our truck-full-of-stuff, closed up the house, and headed for the airport. No, now that I think about it, it was the 11th that we headed for the airport, but it was the 12th that we flew, and it was the 12th that our truck was picked up by the moving company to begin its' trip to Norfolk. I didn't know where we were going to end up at the time, it could have been just about anywhere in Virgina, Maryland, Delaware, or even Pennsylvania. But in the end, we settled right across the street from Steve's parents, with Steve's job just a 15 minute drive away.

And today, exactly 6 months to the day from when our truck left Buckley, it is being delivered to our new home. Not that it is actually our home yet, but we are working on that technicality. But before the truck comes (sometime between 9am and 5pm, they tell me) I am going to unpack the ceremonial First Box.

A couple of months after we moved out of Buckley, but well before the house actually sold, our real estate agent was in our kitchen looking for the spare keys we told here were there. She opened the drawer next to the stove, and there was all of my cooking utensils and some of my favorite knives - we had missed packing the whole drawer contents! She packed up the stuff, and mailed it to me. And I have had it here, in one corner of my in-law's guest room, waiting for this day.

There is a lot of stuff even in a modest three-bedroom house, and I may not unpack the last box for weeks or even months, but today I unpack the first one.

Are you getting sick of this yet?

Well, I'm not.

I went over to check on the progress yesterday - Wilson Custis and crew were working on the driveway and grading in front:

And when Chris (who works for Tidewater) saw that I was alone (no mud-tracking children with me), he asked if I wanted to take a look inside. Uh, yea!

Bamboo flooring in the living/dining/hall:

Carpet in the master bedroom:

And carpet in the boys' room - Riley picked out the color:

Carpet on the stairs:

Oh, I didn't get a picture of the kitchen, but the stove has been installed and the kitchen is looking pretty much ready to move in.

The guys were finishing up the siding:

Here is the parking area on the side - just sand so far, but there will be crush-and-run (?) (gravel):


And if you look closely, you can see that the siding is done on the dormers, too. They just need to clean up all of that trash!

Getting very close to done! We should have the CO by the end of next week!

Thanksgiving, house update

Do I look kind of sweaty and as pink as my shirt? Well, it's always a bit of a rush at the last minute getting Thanksgiving dinner ready, isn't it? We had the Ben Sadtler's and the Sr.'s here for the holiday, so a full house and lots of fun. Sorry I only have pictures of myself - I guess I was too busy in the kitchen to take pictures! Jeanie put me totally in charge of the feast, which was fine by me, actually. I was able to make all of my favorites!

The only hitch in the whole thing was that I had too much to drink the night before, and woke up with a wicked hangover just when I had to get up early and cook Thanksgiving dinner for 11 people! I got up at my regular time - around 7 - and I thought I was going to be ok, but when I opened the fridge to get the kids their "chocky milk" I saw and smelled the food in there and just about threw up right on the spot. I went back to bed for another hour and a half, and finally had to get moving to get the turkey in the oven at a decent time. I was a little shaky at first, but it got better from there and we had a great meal. I did a turkey with our fab cornbread stuffing (yes, I had my recipe book with me!), instant mashed potatoes (I'm not a masochist), a yummy green bean dish with ham and onions and cream and tarragon, cranberry relish with horseradish, and that pink "fruit salad" with cherry pie filling and marshmallows and cool whip - mmmmmmmm. Steph made a casserole with yellow squash (very good). Jeanie contributed dinner rolls and pies (apple, pumpkin, and peach). A fine feast.

Lots of action on the house this week - we have a driveway (almost, they are still working on it today) and some more siding and finishing touches on the porch. Oh, and over the weekend we painted the cinder blocks. They are working on the flooring, too, but I don't have any pictures of that yet:

All for now - busy busy. Aren't we all?