Very Quick Timeline of This Portion of My Life
Friday: Went to MUD to request in person that they set up my water account, as per the Rules of the MUD. Bought a couch which is back-ordered til mid August. Bought paint, and a lawnmower, and other housely things. Began what would soon be realized to be the longest cleaning job of my life.
Saturday: Prepped. Painted. Packed. All. Day. Long. Discovered that the painting will take four times longer than I’d first envisioned. Went to bed early.
Sunday: Up at 7:30. Tad and I packed while Mario and Letty continued the painting. Moved in between 3:30 and 6 PM. Took Letty and Mario to a Post Painting Dinner. Remembered at 10:30 PM that we needed to pick up a suit for Tad’s next-morning job interview. Got home late, slept like corpses. Everyone was sore from packing and painting.
Monday: Up at 7:30 to let tree-trimmers hired by the electric company into my back yard. Unpacked. Cleaned the nastiest refrigerator I’ve ever seen. Removed shelf paper that covered the nastiest drawers ever seen. I’m talking about removing crusty shelf paper that covers shelf paper covered with suspiciously curly hairs and fingernail clippings. Went to Home Depot and discovered that some men are attracted to the sight of single women shopping at Home Depot. Coveted drills and chandeliers. Made it a double by going to Lowe’s next door. Coveted faucets and ceiling fans. Bought a lawnmower’s worth of gas. Arranged for gas and trash service. Looked for things in vain. Slept like a mummy.
Tuesday: Found out where to get my mail. Was visited by utility-gas man, who gave good advice but smelled unfortunate. Drove to Austin to get my kids. Drove back again. Proudly showed kids the house. Cleaned up dog shit kids accidentally tracked onto house’s brand-new carpet. Located sheets for kids’ beds. Felt guilty for not mowing lawn. Slept like doornails.
Today: Up at 6:30 to take kids to register for new schools. At the high school from 8 AM to 10:45. At the middle school from 10:50 to 12:45. At the elementary school from 12:45 to 2 PM. Took the kids school shopping, even though it isn’t Tax Free Weekend, in order to have them try on pants, since they’ll be at their dad’s on Tax Free Weekend. Spent an hour or two at T-Mobile, replacing broken phones. Bought the new-middle-schooler his first phone. Weathered the elementary-schooler’s tears after telling him he wasn’t getting a phone. Considered buying groceries but was too tired. Took kids home and ordered pizza, caught up on Project Runway. Did a few piles of laundry. Will probably sleep like a baby.
Tomorrow: Back to work. Oh… right after I wake up early to buy groceries, I mean.
Was it all worth it? Yes. Very. Having this house is awesome, and I don’t regret any of the crazy-ass effort that went into getting it. So, it’s all good. I’m happy. More later, when I have something not-moving-related to say…
