The Ups and Downs of Our Move

The ups and downs of moving into a new house....

1. Down: Having the movers show up at your old house and tell you that they can't come back the next day to complete the 2-day job, so they will have to pack and load everything in one day. Sorry if we'll still be packing and loading at 2 a.m....

ups: at least they left you bedding in which they agreed to pick up in the morning....

2. Having your husband away on business during the whole move process...

ups: at least he was able to get a new job and a salary increase in this drowning economy....

3. Down: Having to entertain two children in a house after the movers have already packed up their toys...

ups: having two amazing friends who were available to help me with them....

4. Forgetting that the moving company will not pack any cleaning supplies, flammable materials, including candles, gasoline and propane tanks, paint, art supplies, hairspray, bug spray, wasp spray...or anything else that could combust spontaneously while they are driving your home goods to the storage unit...Hummm, okay, I need to drive all of these things in the back of my SUV with two children in the car?

Ups: not really sure there is one?

5. Down: Once in our temporary apartment, having to take two large dogs out on leashes 500 times a day, when they used to an acre of fenced in back yard in which to roam free.

ups: They will once again experience the joy of a large fenced in yard...

6. Down: Having to take two large dogs out on leashes 500 times a day with two small children in tow (who want to run in opposite directions!) and having to pick up doggie poop at the same time.

ups: At least the apartment allowed pets...

7. Down: Yes, they allowed pets, but of course for a non refundable $300 deposit...for the four weeks we were there!

7. Down: Having to drive 35 minutes away to drop off and pick up your son at his new preschool...

ups: at least he got into one of the best schools in town half way through the year....

8. Finding out that the realtor representing the purchasers of your old home, stole a key to your home, let strangers into your home against your wishes, allowed them to do work on your home (while you still owned it), and then gave permission to the purchasers to move in BEFORE the closing...humpf....Contacting the BBB and filing a police report...!!!!

ups: Still haven't thought of one yet....No, wait, we sold our house within a two month period in a down housing economy...for a profit!

9. Finally seeing move in day to the new house only to discover that there are several, no, many, no a LOT of damaged items, and on top of that, the movers are in a really, really bad and unfriendly mood.

ups: We finally moved into our new and amazing house!!! I am so beyond thrilled and humbled to live here!

10. Having a water pipe in one of the bathrooms burst open at full force, sending tons of gallons of water massively swimming onto our floor and down into our heating/air ducts.....Thank God for neighbors who know where the water shut off valves are on your lawn and professionals who are available to come over on a Friday night and get the job done.

ups: Thank God for our being able to have water coming into our house in the first place! You never appreciate it until you have to go without it for a few hours....

these are just a few of the crazy situations we faced in our moving process. Overall, it has been worth it though! We love living outside of Columbia and are thrilled to be back in a community that offers so much diversity, culture and possibility....hopefully we won't have to do it again for at least another 20 years....