Moving Journal, part 3

part 1 and part 2 are also available for your reading pleasure

Friday, October 19 -- the day we bought a house!

So we woke up, feeling much more refreshed after the previous day's craziness. The hotel had a decent hot breakfast buffet, and we headed out on some errands after that. We went to our bank to get a cashier's check for nearly $9000. That's always fun, no? We got some cash and a roll of quarters (to do laundry at the hotel), too. Then we went to the paint store to get paint for our new house (yay!). After that, we went to our title company's office to CLOSE ON OUR HOUSE. They were really nice there, and even had an area for kids to color and play with toys--thank goodness because G need some distracting. After some painless signatures (it really isn't as bad as some make it sound), we got the keys to our new house!

G is holding our new house key!

The day really had just begun, though, because we had a full afternoon too! We grabbed some rare-for-us fast food, Taco Bell, and headed to our new house. The paint guy was already there. Yes, my husband agreed to pay (thanks to a living social deal) someone to paint the hideously red-orange kitchen into a nice shade of perfect green. It's technically called Garden Sage, and we chose it from 20 or so swatches, without fully knowing how it'd turn out. When I envisioned the green kitchen I wanted...this shade is absolutely it, I couldn't be more pleased!

So we ate our lunch, picnic style on the living room floor, while the paint guy got started. Then I took my husband and daughter back to the hotel so that he could get her down for a nap. I then ran to Target and BB&B to get a few necessary items (like new curtains, because the ones in our bed room were disgusting).
Then I returned to the new house to see how the painting was going, and to meet our cleaning guy for a consultation. He informed me this was going to be a big job (and it was), so the price was a bit higher than I wanted to pay...so we decided to not have the windows washed, even though we had wanted that done. We'll get it done in the spring, since they'd get dirty in the winter anyways. I can't wait to have spotless windows and frames/etc to look at the beautiful Spring budding around our new house :-)
The paint guy finished, and it was perfect. I headed back to the hotel, and my husband, daughter, and I relaxed some, and got ready to head to dinner.
We chose Ingredient, a relatively healthy place with a focus on fresh foods. We are not eat-out-a-lot type of people, not just because of money, but because home cooked meals are just better for you! So choosing Ingredient just made me feel a bit better about dinner out for the fourth night in a row. And then right after dinner we decided on dessert ;-) We split pumpkin pie concrete and a chocolate amazing something or another concrete. It was ah-mazing.

Saturday, October 20

We headed straight to the house after breakfast because the cleaners were to arrive at 9 am. The had GPS problems, apparently, and didn't arrive until 9:30, but got started right away. After we were sure they had things under control, we went to G's new stomping ground; a park just up the road in our 'subdivision.' It has a pirate ship play structure, which seems pretty cool, but the morning dew was still covering everything, so it wasn't very safe or clean. Luckily, she LOVED the swing, and her daddy pushed her for a long time! (Usually, she loves the swing, but wants down after about a minute)
This was the first thing that was really all for her since our moving adventures had started, and it felt good to focus on her for just a little bit. Then it was back to errands--to get some painting supplies for other rooms, and other tools too. We also ran into the fabric store so that I could get material to make a hot pink bed skirt to match G's new room "theme" (pink is apparently her favorite color, without even pushing it on her).
After the errands, we had to rush the two of them back to the hotel in time for lunch and nap. I then returned to the house because I had carpet cleaners coming. The previous owners, and probably the ones before them too, had inside dogs. I am pro-pets, but will never have inside dogs. I personally find it gross to have hair all over the place. And our stairs are absolutely disgusting with pet hair. It nearly gives me night mares thinking about it, seriously, it's imbedded. So these carpet cleaners promised me that they would get it out. Long story short, they did not, yet still expected payment. I with held it until I felt like the girl had really given it her "best effort," but I am really still dissatisfied. It was a newer, 'green' method of carpet cleaning, that using less water, and more vibration of the carpet and pad to shake stains loose. The carpet does look a lot better, but I still feel like there's a lot of pet hair that needs removed still. I really just want to get new carpet, at least for the stairs, because that's where it is worst. And you know little kids, they love to climb stairs on their hands and knees. Ugh.
I have a really high standard of clean, so I probably made the carpet chick mad...but it's her job! And her boss promised me I'd be satisfied...and I'm still not. So yeah, deal with it lady!
The house cleaners were really quite good, but I must have unrealistic expectations or something...because I feel like it could have been better too. At least I don't feel like I got 'jipped' by them or anything. The bathrooms, doors/walls, and ceiling fans look great, and they did a good job on the blinds and kitchen. I just feel like they could have spent a bit more time on the dusting of base boards, closet shelves, and chair rails. I also wish their vacuum could have gotten more pet hair up too. Back to that....ugh, stressor! So the cleaners were pretty sweaty by the time they were done, six hours later, so I did give them a tip because it saved me a lot of hassle.
After all of this, I returned to the hotel--where my husband had been doing a great job of caring for G, while I handled all this house stuff. I am so glad they got bonding/alone time before he had to fly back to California for a week. I went to do some laundry, while he took her to the store to get some Home Depot items (like a push broom, rake/etc).  The laundry situation reminded me of my freshman year of college in the dorm...paying with quarters and dumping people's unattended {and finished} laundry on the table so that I could use the finished machines. I never understood why people would leave their clothes unattended...I brought my husband's iPad and some snacks and set up shop while the four loads washed and dried (though it was a hotel laundry facility, they were pretty small machines).
Once G and her dad got back, and I finished laundry, we cleaned up a bit to go to a really nice steak house for our last family dinner before over a week apart. It was so good--we had a Groupon for $40, and his company would cover the rest--thus, I ordered Steak Oscar, one of the most expensive things on the menu. It was a perfectly cooked & juicy 6 ounce Filet Mignon, covered in bearnaise sauce with lump blue crab meat and garlic butter asparagus on top. It was the best thing I've ever eaten, meat wise (If I didn't have such a sweet tooth, I'd say ever, period). I don't think I can ever return to this restaurant and eat anything else...even though it was 37 dollars. Who cares what the rest of them had....Steak Oscar is all you need to know!
We ordered a to go dessert to enjoy in peace once G went to sleep (which took forever...it's like she knew we had a treat waiting).

Sunday, October 21

No one really woke up refreshed, and I even felt a bit sickly (sore throat, runny nose, blah!). We picked through breakfast (which was a favorite, biscuits and gravy), and loaded up the car. We went to our new church for the first time...and it was nice (We were even like 6 minutes early!), until G had a melt down when I wouldn't let her write on books (or anything besides the paper I had handed her. I know her poor behavior was worsened by her poor sleep and anxiety from the traveling. Perhaps she could also sense that her dad was about to leave, too.
So church wasn't really all I had hoped it would be for our last morning together. After it, we dropped off some things at our new house, and changed into driving clothes. Then we drove my husband to the airport--stopping at Steak and Shake for a final lunch. At least G enjoyed her chicken strips and I got a lovely milkshake for the road...
We said our good byes, with minimal tears from me, and my husband headed off to catch his flight, while G and I took off in the opposite direction for my in-laws' house.
I really lucked out when she fell asleep before we were even off the airport property. She slept for nearly 2 hours, but then woke up really crabby. My sister had wanted us to stop to see her on our way, but I told her we'd have to play it by ear depending on G's mood (because if she was in a good driving mood, I didn't want to ruin it by stopping, but the opposite was also possible). Lucky for her, G was in a royal mood by the time we hit my sister's location. The pit stop served us all well. It was nice to catch up in person with my sister, and we enjoyed some Panera smoothies. G was really well behaved, and I had high hopes for the rest of the drive.
Err. False. It wasn't horrible, but on a scale of 1 (sleep the whole time) to 10 (gouge my eyes with a spoon)...I'd say it was a 7. Thankfully, we arrived in one piece, and G was so excited to see her grandparents (and aunt). They had pulled out my husband's sister's old doll house, and G went to town playing pretend and exploring all it had to offer. She also loved riding my husband's old rocking horse. We ate dinner, played some more, and then I put her to bed. This was the first night I started the staying in the room until she falls asleep business.

on her dad's old horse

I hate the habit it's become, but as I mentioned in G's 20 month update blog, I can't imagine how stressful all of the change has been on her. So for the rest of the trip I've been staying in the room with her until she falls asleep. It helps her feel more at ease, and we'll work on breaking the habit once we are settled in our new house. I stayed up too late, chatting with my mother-in-law, and then showered and went to bed.......