Moving

Everything fit perfectly
in the moving truck

Where do I begin? I guess at the beginning, but it’s already getting a little fuzzy… My dad and Jord picked up the moving truck on Friday afternoon. The three of us packed up Sarah’s things, which only took about an hour. Jord and I then went over to Fairhaven to check out the floors and to drop a couple things off. The crew had completed the living room and kitchen and were partly through the hallway – we thought it looked like they had made enough progress to be done by Saturday evening… wrong! More on that later.

Saturday morning started off on the wrong foot. Earlier in the week we had discussed leaving the house at 6:00am, so I got up at 5:15 and got ready for the day. Turns out everyone decided we would leave at 7:00am and not tell me, so I was already pissed that I got up earlier than needed. I calmed myself down by watching a Sarah’s House episode – the season finale for the backsplit. She did wonders on that house! Plus we stopped at Hardees for a frisco sandwich, so that improved my spirits as well.

We headed straight to IKEA in Bolingbrook. Sarah and I had wanted some things that just wouldn’t fit in the Envoy last weekend, namely a large mirror – hers in orange, mine in white. We had strict instructions to get in and out without buying anything else, but both my mom and I found some things that we threw in the cart along the way. We were out of IKEA within 15 minutes, so I think we did pretty good. It took another hour to get to Sarah’s apartment in Wrigley. Unpacking the truck probably only took 90 minutes, but we were all screaming at each other and arguing the whole time. I’m sure the neighbors were just thrilled with the new tenant. Once everything was off the truck, we did a Potbelly’s run – oh, how I’ll miss it – and headed to Oak Park.

We spent the next three or so hours loading our belongings into the truck. Actually, I spent the first two hours inside, packing up the last boxes and cleaning before the landlord showed up to do the final walk-through, while everyone else hauled furniture and boxes. I presumed that we were ready for the truck, but I guess we should have spent a little more time finishing things up last weekend. We have accumulated a lot of stuff in the last few years! This same weekend five years ago, my dad and I did the loading and unloading of the truck, basically by ourselves since Jord had his bachelor party. This time around, it took more manpower and more hours. I just couldn’t believe it! Once the truck was packed to the brim and we triple-checked that we had everything, we closed the door on our life in the city. We’ll never forget our time in Chicago or our apartment in Oak Park – after all, that’s where Jord and I spent our first five years of wedded bliss.

Okay, now back to Davenport. My dad hit the road in the moving truck while my mom, Jord and I headed to Oak Brook. I had a return at Restoration Hardware – I bought a first round of house numbers, but they were all wrong – and a coupon to J. Crew that I couldn’t pass up. So one last shopping spree, a stop at McDonald’s, and we were off. The plan was to stop at Fairhaven on our way home to check on the floors once again and unload the car, but the late hour and the rain persuaded us to go straight to my parents’. Roundtrip, it was a 15 hour day – not bad for everything we did!

First thing Sunday morning was the Quad City Marathon. We went downtown Davenport to cheer on Kathy and Tootsie as they completed the half-marathon. Once they passed our location, we hopped in the car to get home and start unpacking that truck. Turns out we didn’t need to be in a hurry, as we got to the house and the floors were not yet completed. Jord got the floor guy on the phone, who was on his way over to get the work done – by himself, on a Sunday. Bummer, but hey, we warned him that we had to move in. Supposedly, he had a five-man crew at the house all day Saturday, but all that got done was the den… I don’t think so.

My parents, Jord and I spent the next couple hours unloading the truck into a big mess in the living room and basement. Not ideal, but our goal was to just get it off the truck. Again, we were cursing and yelling and I’m sure the neighbors had a lovely Sunday morning listening to our craziness. We took a break to head over to Kathy’s house for a BBQ to celebrate her half-marathon success and birthday. Didn’t stay long as there was a lot to get back to, but had a nice visit and filled up to sustain us during the long afternoon ahead. Once back at Fairhaven, we were at a loss of where to begin and what to do. Without the floors or interior painting done, it’s hard to start unpacking boxes. We did some yard work and other miscellaneous chores and called it a day at the same time the floor guy got done. The floors are perfect, by the way – just what I imagined. What a weekend!