26 August 2013

We Didn't Move In

We didn't move in to our new house over the weekend and I am so tired, annoyed, spent, and tired again.

On Friday I stopped in to pick up the key, do a walk-through, and drop off a carload of stuff we'd been collecting from Target and Kohl's throughout the week -- new towels, shower curtains, that sort of stuff. I stopped in the leasing office, got the key, and drove over to our new parking space. I unlocked the door, admired the new flooring, and smelled a familiar, but unwelcome, smell. Cat pee. Pet odor, to put it politely. In the newly renovated condo we were leasing, they failed to rip up the old carpet and replace it with something less smelly. I went back to the leasing office. They said they'd clean the carpet that day and it would still be ready for moving in on Saturday. I wasn't optimistic. But I was tired of living in our hotel so I let myself believe that it would be possible to still move in on Saturday morning. And if it wasn't I'd stay at my dad's for a couple days and/or check into a different hotel if it looked like a long-term necessity, a hotel that was closer and more convenient to where we need to be.

On Saturday morning my mom came to the hotel to help Muffin and I finish packing our things and load them into our cars. Friends and family members gathered at my dad's house to await word from me as to whether they should start loading our stuff from his garage into their pick-up trucks.

We arrived at the condo and it still smelled. Back to the leasing office. There wasn't much they could do about it on a Saturday but they would rip up the carpets and we would be credited the rent for the days we're missing to next month. We drove to my dad's which is about ten minutes away. Muffin was riding with my mom so I took advantage of being alone to cry in my car. Mike was doing training all weekend and was out of touch. I felt horrible that I couldn't keep my promise to Muffin of finally having a real house to move into after about six weeks of transitory living. I imposed on friends and family members who had now wasted a Saturday morning. And I just wanted to unpack my suitcase and not have to pack it again for a long time.

Now, we have a cat, and while she's good about using the litter box, I can sympathize with having a cat who is not. Our cat is staying with my mom, not moving into the condo with us right away, and I refuse to move into a house that smells like someone else's pet. And when given the choice of a newly remodeled unit or a non-remodeled unit, we decided to pay the extra money per month for the remodeled one. I expected the carpet was going to be ripped up and replaced before the condo was deemed acceptable for us to move in to. I should not have found this problem the day before our move-in date. It's so frustrating.

I scrambled with phone calls on Saturday afternoon, rescheduling two deliveries and the cable guy that were due today. Today the leasing office should be calling me to say if they're starting on the carpet today or tomorrow. We should be able to move in within twenty-four hours of them starting; they do the job in one day. I'm hoping for Wednesday night in our new home, even if only our beds make it over there and we pick up the rest of the stuff from my dad's garage piece-meal over the course of the following days.

I wanted to be moved in this week. Muffin starts school next week and I wanted the time for her to adjust to a new home before starting a new school. She's being such a trouper and what makes me feel the worst over this whole experience is how much I'm asking of her to cope with things that most three-year-olds don't have to cope with. On the school questionnaire that asked if there are any issues the school should be aware of, I had a rather lengthy answer explaining our living situation and how she keeps talking about wanting to go home to Hyderabad. And when she's talking to herself she's started lapsing into Hindi. She has dentist and doctor's appointments this week and I still need to do some back-to-school shopping and plan lunches and snacks. This was supposed to be our back-to-school prep week and now I'm cheating Muffin of all that attention because I still have to focus on moving.

Mike will be home for the weekend and I am so looking forward to it.

15 August 2013

"Let me explain..."

"No, it will take too long. Let me sum up." --Indigo Montoya, The Princess Bride

The fog of moving is lifting. Five weeks ago we left Hyderabad. We spent a week at one parent's house and a weekend at another before moving into our hotel room.

We got new driver's licenses. I had to take a written test and a road test. The road test examiner clearly thought I was a waste of his time; he could have been playing video games on his phone rather than making an experienced driver take a token run around the test course.

We found a place to live and we move into it in one week. We found a preschool for Muffin. I am eagerly awaiting the start of school after Labor Day; Muffin is not. I'm too tired to argue with her about it. I want to get her settled in the new house and new neighborhood first. We've been visiting the nearby playground. I'm setting up play dates with children from her new school so she sees some familiar faces on the first day. Hopefully all those things will help her a bit.

Our first shipment of stuff arrived last week, which was mostly toys for Muffin to help her feel more at home with familiar old things in new surroundings. This morning our furniture from California that was packed into storage in 2008, before we left for Burundi, arrived. We're expecting one more shipment from India and a shipment from a storage facility in Europe to arrive within the next few weeks. I'm not worried about the slow pace. I have no where to put stuff other than my dad's garage, which is now almost full. A couple weeks between shipments means I have time to sort through things rather than be overwhelmed and do nothing. As the old furniture from California was loaded into the garage this morning I was making a mental note of what can go up on Craigslist or Freecycle right away. Mike's away at training and won't be back until after we've moved into the new house. I'm hoping to have the house mostly set up by the time he comes home so the weekend will be a real vacation for him, spending time taking Muffin to the beach and playground, rather than shopping or unpacking boxes. 

And that's about it. I've been working, both paid and volunteer, whenever Muffin takes naps or watches Sesame Street. I've hardly run at all but I'm getting back into it.

I'm starting to feel like I might have some control over life in the near future.