We're in the home stretch. All the official paper work is moving through lawyers' offices nicely and things seem to be progressing on schedule. That will probably mean a closing date some time next week.
My house is starting to echo.
The toy room/school room/den (we never really picked a name for it) that used to house packed bookshelves and comfy chairs is now just a home for two chairs. Most of the toys are packed. All the books are packed - and we have a lot of books!
Pictures are off the walls and extra shoes are packed away.
Vases and knick-knacks are piled on top of the china cabinet as they await their assigned boxes.
The back room - keeper of all things to be used out doors - is nearly empty.
The basement and garage - keepers of all extra furniture, tools and seasonal items - are nearly empty.
We're making good progress. I like progress. And I like that I'm not a super emotional or sentimental person. It makes all this packing just another item on my to-do list that needs to be checked off. I see all the things I will not miss. Would you like to hear them? Sure you would!
- The kitchen sink. Not only is it a permanent color of dingy white, impossible to clean, but it's also set very far back from the edge of the counter. I'm short to begin with but when you put a big pregnant belly on the front of a short person it becomes nearly impossible to stand comfortably at this sink. I wind up standing sideways and reaching over in an uncomfortable, wanna be yoga pose just to reach the faucet. Definitely won't miss the sink.
- The squeaky stairs. Josh has done his best to repair these but really. They are 105 year old stairs. You can only do so much. And they are so loud.
- The windows. Half of them are as old as the stairs and desperately need to be replaced. The don't open any longer. It makes these near 90 degree days we're having pretty unbearable.
- The tile in the front entry way. The grout is pretty much non-existent and some of the tiles are loose. We've planned to replace it for 8 years now and it's not happened. Now we don't have to!
- The loose spindles on the side porch.
- Traffic noise. I know this one may not get any better at our next location but in the long run it will. An 18wheeler blew a tire at 3AM last night. It's really loud, if you've never heard it. I won't miss that.
So this list could go on and on because there are lots of things I won't miss about this old gray house. And the longer the list gets, it makes it easier to not think about the door frame we've measured the girls' heights on for years - even if half of it did get scrubbed away by an energetic helper. Or the yard we've all poured ourselves into making just the way we love it, with the shaded patio that has been the center of so many parties and gatherings, the playground that's been the center of laughter and fun or the garden where we learned to grow our own produce. And the list definitely helps to push away the visions of nearly every birthday and Christmas we've celebrated as a family - Lael's first birthday party in the pouring rain, a little Alyssa riding her tricycle around the Christmas tree, a sweet baby Lauren who grew into a hilarious toddler, running around these rooms.
Nearly 8 years to the day that we moved into this house as a family of three, we'll move out a family of five-soon-to-be-six and ready for the next step. Thank God we can take memories and photos and videos with us. All we're really leaving behind are squeaky stairs and a dingy sink.
My house is starting to echo.
The toy room/school room/den (we never really picked a name for it) that used to house packed bookshelves and comfy chairs is now just a home for two chairs. Most of the toys are packed. All the books are packed - and we have a lot of books!
Pictures are off the walls and extra shoes are packed away.
Vases and knick-knacks are piled on top of the china cabinet as they await their assigned boxes.
The back room - keeper of all things to be used out doors - is nearly empty.
The basement and garage - keepers of all extra furniture, tools and seasonal items - are nearly empty.
We're making good progress. I like progress. And I like that I'm not a super emotional or sentimental person. It makes all this packing just another item on my to-do list that needs to be checked off. I see all the things I will not miss. Would you like to hear them? Sure you would!
- The kitchen sink. Not only is it a permanent color of dingy white, impossible to clean, but it's also set very far back from the edge of the counter. I'm short to begin with but when you put a big pregnant belly on the front of a short person it becomes nearly impossible to stand comfortably at this sink. I wind up standing sideways and reaching over in an uncomfortable, wanna be yoga pose just to reach the faucet. Definitely won't miss the sink.
- The squeaky stairs. Josh has done his best to repair these but really. They are 105 year old stairs. You can only do so much. And they are so loud.
- The windows. Half of them are as old as the stairs and desperately need to be replaced. The don't open any longer. It makes these near 90 degree days we're having pretty unbearable.
- The tile in the front entry way. The grout is pretty much non-existent and some of the tiles are loose. We've planned to replace it for 8 years now and it's not happened. Now we don't have to!
- The loose spindles on the side porch.
- Traffic noise. I know this one may not get any better at our next location but in the long run it will. An 18wheeler blew a tire at 3AM last night. It's really loud, if you've never heard it. I won't miss that.
So this list could go on and on because there are lots of things I won't miss about this old gray house. And the longer the list gets, it makes it easier to not think about the door frame we've measured the girls' heights on for years - even if half of it did get scrubbed away by an energetic helper. Or the yard we've all poured ourselves into making just the way we love it, with the shaded patio that has been the center of so many parties and gatherings, the playground that's been the center of laughter and fun or the garden where we learned to grow our own produce. And the list definitely helps to push away the visions of nearly every birthday and Christmas we've celebrated as a family - Lael's first birthday party in the pouring rain, a little Alyssa riding her tricycle around the Christmas tree, a sweet baby Lauren who grew into a hilarious toddler, running around these rooms.
Nearly 8 years to the day that we moved into this house as a family of three, we'll move out a family of five-soon-to-be-six and ready for the next step. Thank God we can take memories and photos and videos with us. All we're really leaving behind are squeaky stairs and a dingy sink.
What a wonderful post! The things to miss is small when you can take all those lovely people with you! Any chance you can copy the height chart onto another board and bring it along?
ReplyDeleteThis is a great post. I was thinking maybe Josh could replace thw part of the door frame with the girls heights with another board so you could take it with you. Although I was only living in there for 2 yr. I loved that house, despite all the stuff you don't like, it had character!
ReplyDeleteI'm trying hard to get this same mentality. It doesn't help that we practically built half of our house...with tons of time and memories associated with that, it's definitely not an easy thing...and with this being the only home our kids have ever known and the longest I have ever lived in one place, I find myself partly wishing I had more time to adjust to the thought of moving (cause I was really almost to the point of believing the day would never come). But you're right...nearly all of the things that made it "home" go with you and that makes it a whole lot easier :).
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