Movin' to 1601

This will be a collaborative post throughout the entire weekend of our continued rehab of the house and moving in on Saturday. The roof trusses have been supported; our friend Kevin had a crew of guys who busted their butt and got it done in a day, so the roof is ready to go. We also finished removing the fake fireplace and the rest of the wood paneling, the living room wall is completely clear.

Thursday night we got a lot of painting done; we had someone start painting earlier in the week, but he wasn't getting the job done real well, so we (well, T.J. - Jen hates to paint!) took over the job. As of Friday morning, we have bedrooms 1 and 2 painted fully (a sandy tan), bedroom 3 needs one more coat ("mauvey tan" according to Jen), the office/spare room is done, and there's a coat on the south walls in the living room and dining room, plus the entire hall (a greyish/blue, although it is tough to see). Jen got the rest of the old drapes down, and removed grates that the paranoid old lady had put on every door - it looks much better without the grates on there.

Of course... just as things were looking good at 1601, the condo goes haywire. We got home at 11 Thursday night, and flushed the toilet... and it clogs. Unfortunately this time, plunging the toilet didn't clear the clog - it pushed sewage water into BOTH bathtubs. Letting it sit and hoping it would clear itself overnight didn't do the trick, either. So we have two bathrooms that smell like a sewer treatment plant and a plumber coming over this morning. Hopefully this is NOT a sign of how things are going to go this weekend.

UPDATE: The move was successful if not exhausting. I forgot how much crap I had, not to mention all of Jen's stuff. we got 90% of it on the Lukes' Landscaping box truck. Mike and I loaded about half the stuff from the condo and got a helping hand from one of the guys he works with. Poor Dave ended up being late to a BBQ and it was his birthday to boot, but he made the process soooo much easier. We got everything packed and there with only two minor mishaps: first, I wasn't paying attention and was moving a box that was light and had pillows on top, and mistakenly thought it would have nothing breakable in it. Whoops - these oversized wine/martini glasses I bought Jen for us to decorate after the wedding are now in the recycle bin. Second, despite a good showing by Mike and I fitting everything in there as efficiently as possible, there was one soft cooler that didn't have anything supporting it and was pretty much going to fall over as soon as we hit the gas. Since we couldn't get back to it, I tried chest-passing a few blankets back there to keep it up. Bad move, at least when there's a bed frame sticking out, and its metal corner digs into your forearm. Blood everywhere, for the next 30 minutes, and soon to be a permanent scar as a reminder how unfun it is to move.

So our crew got everything moved in, in the one main trip, plus a second trip to get a grill from Lyn's and a kitchen table from Julie, and a third trip on Sunday by Jen and I to get the last few things from the condo and from our storage. It's a little tight in here now, but we'll get it organized over the next couple of weeks. Lyn got us some stuff from Costco, Jen scooted out after the main load was emptied on Saturday to hit a baby shower, and Opre and I went to get the grill/table, while Luke stayed behind and had a landscape crew come through and pretty much nuke the bushes and wood deck in the front of the house. It looks soooo much better cleared out in the front than it did with all the bushes. Corrine and Schaen stopped by, and John and Cheryl FINALLY made it over after saying they'd be there in the morning. We were able to make some semblance of the living room so that we could at least relax a bit, waiting for Jen to get home from a never-ending Cuban baby shower that was still going after 5 hours. By that time I was pretty much beat, so after some grilling and champagne with them, it was bedtime - our first night in the new house! Thanks to everyone who helped!!