 |
| Moving Day |
So it takes me
a REALLY long time to unpack, and even longer to write about it. Over two months ago a large crowd of wonderful people came and helped us unload a big ol' truck. Betty, our beloved neighbor, some of Ethan's and Adam's friends, Danielle, the Jensens and Slaughters all came to help. When we arrived that day I was the last to pull into the driveway. I had been told some folks from our new church congregation would be here to help, but I knew there might not be that many, being as we moved to Egypt, and the church boundaries are pretty wide. I didn't imagine folks would want to spend a Saturday and drive all that way to help strangers.
Boy was I wrong. When we got here, there were easily a dozen faces I did not recognize, and folks were hauling our stuff into the house so fast there was barely time for introductions. Beds and dressers and pianos flew up flights of stairs (ha), and soon we were in Box-opolis. It was pretty amazing.
Wait. That was three months ago today.
Wow. We've already been here three months.
***
Our good buddies the Slaughters and Jensens and Danielle stayed all day that first day to try to help us make sense of the chaos. It was a good thing, too, because if they hadn't, we would have slept on bare mattresses our first night. Joanna brought dinner and even remembered things like napkins and dish soap, which was really good, because we didn't find that stuff in our box-ville for like, a week.
The Studio
(if only it still looked so, so... tidy. But I can't make art in a tidy space.
You'll see, I have thoroughly massacred that end of the room).
The other end of the Studio
Danielle unpacks the china
(though most of it is from Finland, not China).
My favorite room... The dining room.
Finally, a room big enough for our whole family to sit and eat!
(now if only we had a table big enough for us all! But it's okay, there is enough room for a kid table when company comes.)
The Living room
The TV stayed in that spot for a solid week.
It's heavy, and we didn't have the internet yet, so why bother?
Priorities.
I call this the "Main Hall", but when I think of it, I think of it as the heart of the home.
It is at the very center of the house. It is the one spot that all other places lead to.
Joanna and Miss Ellie, feedin' the masses some
stylin' Cinco De Mayo cuisine.
And Kathy, tirelessly keeping me afloat.
Ellie and Tessa's Room
(yah, it still looks about this messy. Different mess, still a mess)
***
Unpacking is a terrible thing, so I try to avoid it. Only then nobody has underwear. And so then they dig through boxes looking for undies and only find those little thingies that you stab into the ends of corn on the cob. And popcicle molds. And stuff that makes you wonder why you packed all this crap.
Seriously, why did I pack all this crap?
I should have been a better documentarian, but honestly, that first few weeks I was pretty checked out. Now that I have come to an agreement with the woods (You and your wild things stay OUT THERE, and I won't burn you down), things are a bit better. So there aren't photos of some of the rooms in their boxitory state (yes, that is a made up word, but I bet you knew right away what it meant). But "ya' seen one room full 'o boxes, ya seen them all!" ~Twain
(no. He did not say that. But he thought it)
I will post the after pix-es, though. We have managed to hang pictures on walls and the place is starting to feel like home (though I admit, when I close my eyes and picture home, it is a place about 49.7 miles away in the little house where my babies were born).
I know eventually this will feel more like our place. We are getting some routine to our days, and school will start next week (say it ain't so!) . We are making friends at church, and have felt very welcome there. The kiddos are making some pals. The Bigs both have jobs (more on that later).
We are figuring things out.
We are putting down those first, delicate, fine little roots.
And the forest has plenty of room for them to spread out.
