Exhausted: adjective
- drained of one's physical or mental resources; very tired
- (of resources or reserves) completely used up.
Between packing, work, life and a sick baby, I am exhausted and we still have a long way to go. It has been a very busy few days getting things ready for the move and I have a full day of painting planned over at the new house today. With closing happening in TWO days, Brandon and I have done a lot of packing and planning lately. Since this move will hopefully be our last move until retirement, we have been coming up with ways to really make this house a home without killing ourselves. We want to really stay on top of home things and keep everything looking top notch. Our goal was to be in a single family home by 30. To make that goal six months before turning 29 means we're pretty proud of ourselves :) And we want that pride to be reflected in our home.
The new house is bigger than our townhouse so the idea of keeping it spotless was a little bit overwhelming. Brandon and I are HUGE checklist people. They make our lives so much easier and checking things off when they're done is one of the best feelings. I found a daily cleaning guide on pinterest and made some edits to it so that it made sense for us and for our home. I also made it into a checklist so that we can print it, laminate it and actually physically check things off each day. I have to admit, we are pretty excited about this. The breakdown makes working full time, having a clean home and a herding a toddler seem totally doable :)
It is so structured that it almost makes me excited about the cleaning itself but it definitely makes me excited about having a clean home! I love the idea of alternating the cleaning chore on Fridays. I know that my cabinets at the townhouse don't get cleaned often enough. I also know that our fridge could stand to be cleaned out more often. While I know Brandon does run the duster over the baseboards and walls, the idea of taking the time to clean those things in particular once a month is really nice. This plan also leaves weekends open! While I know there will be plenty of things to get done on the weekend, knowing that the bulk of our cleaning is already done is nice :)
Here's to hoping implementing this will be as easy as this chart makes it seem!
Preparing for the move has been insane to say the least. There is so much that needs to be taken into account. There is so much more that we need to do this time around. What do we do with the dogs? Where do we stay while we're doing the work? When can we get internet to the house so Brandon doesn't miss a step of his grad school work? That's right - Brandon's last two classes of grad school start up right before we move. We really know how to have fun :) That being said, this past week things are FINALLY starting to fall into place. We heard back that the sellers are going to do all of the work we wanted done! Yay! This meant, I was finally able to get my head out of my ass and focus on the tasks that need to be taken care of. Once I had a list of to-dos, I was able to forge my way through it.
First step: where are we going to stay while we work on the house that first weekend? How is that going to work because we have our sweet Nattie? Our realtor suggested I call the Hilton by his office because he thought they might give us a deal of sorts. Sadly, he was wrong. Not only were they unable to give us any kind of fun break, but they were total assholes. I called the Marriott nearby and they were amazing. They were super friendly, knowledgeable, helpful and less expensive! So now we have a place to stay. On top of that, my mother-in-law has graciously agreed to stay with Natalie at the hotel during the day while we get the house where we want it to be. It didn't take too much convincing :) I love that Lori will get to have some special time with Natalie and we will be able to get a lot done without having to worry about the little miss.
I called the kennel and made the appointment for Hank and Gemma to be in boarding from the day before closing until the Monday after closing. That will allow us to pack the truck, get moved in, get work done and have internet/tv installed without having to worry about them being monsters. We can go ahead and check that off the list! I was also able to reserve the U-Haul truck for two days. The person I spoke with, Susan, was so friendly and very helpful! Another thing crossed off the list! Thank goodness for checklists!
Packing has been harder to get accomplished. Brandon and I made a vow of a box a night during the week. Our thinking is that if we can get at least a box a night done during the week and then make a big push on the weekends, we should be able to get the house packed in no time and be able to spend the last week in the house doing some little fixes and cleaning. We have made a big effort for this and it is paying off! My favorite nights are the ones where we get a few more boxes done. We have had a couple nights where we luck out and get four or five boxes done. Our house is starting to look a little bit overrun by boxes.
We have also continued our list of things to be donated to Salvation Army. It's mostly furniture and some other odds and ends. We are going to try to get that stuff over there this weekend. We also plan to move some furniture to Michelle's house for part 1 of the bedroom set swap. I know once those things are gone - we will really start to see a difference in how much we have accomplished and how much (or how little) we really have left to do!
Step by step and one day at a time, that's all we can do. It is nice to have our little checklists so that we can feel like we're really getting somewhere! This move is going to be here before we know it!
