Hazy Crazy Moving Day

Yesterday was our big (and FINAL!) move out day. No more packing up the back of my car for me! WOO HOO! It was warm and it was hazy, but it was such a good day! SO HAPPY!

All of the furniture that wouldn't fit in the back of my Blazer went into the back of our non-U-Haul rented truck. We had reservations with U-Haul, but they wanted us to drive an hour away just to pick up their truck. Yeah. Right. Not happening. So U-Haul was fired and Budget Truck was hired!

My darling sister-in-law Theresa came into town to help us:

She's awesome slave labor. She and the Professor moved all of the furniture while I ran back to the house to grab more tools to take apart the Professor's counter/mirror/wine glass creation. I got back in time to help move the last two dressers...

It always amazes me how much debris is left on the floor after all of the furniture is moved out. Craziness.

As we were loading the last of the furniture into the truck, something both odd and fortuitous happened. Three random strangers in BVS t-shirts (Brethren Volunteer Service) walked up our driveway. Expecting them to start asking us questions about our faith, we were a little wary at first. But we were pleasantly surprised.

They were doing volunteer work around the neighborhood for the day and they wanted to know if we needed any help moving out. We had just finished with all of the furniture, so we thanked them for their kind offer, but we had nothing for them to do. The Professor and Sidekick Sister had already done most of it. Then they did something I didn't expect at all.

They offered to help me clean the townhouse. I was honestly a little shocked, but I wasn't about to turn down an offer like that. No way. Not if they were willing.

So the Professor and Sidekick Sister took the truck to the house to unload it, while I stayed at the townhouse with my army of three cleaning.

Do you know what's better than having three very motivated strangers help you clean your old home?

Nothing. Absolutely nothing. They flattened and nested boxes. They vacuumed every carpeted room. Just look at how clean that carpet is! They cleaned both upstairs bathrooms (minus the toilets - I told them to leave those for me!). It was AMAZING! And they didn't even try to convert me! Not once!

Not one to stand around while others are doing what was essentially my job, I cleaned the downstairs bathroom, the microwave, fridge, and kitchen counters. The place is practically done! I just have to go back with a few more cleaning supplies on Monday and finish the toilets and laminate floors.

I thanked them, A LOT, and when they left, I did a little jig of supreme happiness. I wish I'd had something to give them, like cookies, but the house was empty. I suppose I was happy enough to hug them. Awkward.

Before leaving, I removed all of the fancy lightbulbs and will replace them with 60 watters on Monday. I also took down all of the blinds. When we moved in, there were only 4 sets of blinds in the whole house. We asked the landlord to fix the problem and they informed us that they didn't provide blinds. So now all of the blinds are ours. Free. I don't feel bad at all. We didn't like our landlord very much.

Once home, we took naps, ate burgers for dinner, and watched Up. Very sweet movie.

This one amazes me. She's exhausted, but she still smiles all the time.

And balances cups on her head.