Well, Stage 1 of the Great Move is completed. On Saturday we moved out of our apartment and into my parent’s house. We lived on the third floor, so it was a rather daunting task to move everything downstairs and in a truck. Thank GOD we have such wonderful friends and family that helped! We had 11 people moving our stuff, and they pretty much emptied our apartment in about 30 minutes! Everything went so much more smoothly and quickly than what I was expecting, I was very pleasantly shocked! I spent the rest of the day painting and cleaning, and then a good bit of yesterday cleaning. I think I killed a lot of brain cells yesterday afternoon from all the fumes from the cleaning products. (I know, I know, pregnant women aren’t supposed to do that, but there just really wasn’t much choice in the matter, it had to be done.)
Last night Clay and I went back to wrap-up the loose ends, do a final vacuum, and say good-bye. On one of our last trips down the stairs to our car, Clay was carrying a HUUUGE garbage bag full of trash, and it broke all over the ground in front of someone’s apartment. It was already almost 10 p.m. and we were exhausted and so ready to be done. I think we sat there and stared at it for about ten minutes trying to figure-out how to clean it up since it was our last trash bag and the dumpster was quite a walk away. Jars of marshmallow creme and jelly and tobasco sauce were spilled everywhere all over the ground. It was horrible. We ended-up borrowing a few bags from neighbors, scooping all of our nasty trash into the smaller bags, and walking them to the dumpster. It was disgusting, but it got the job done. What a way to go out with a bang.
Then we had to go say good-bye to our home of four years, the only home we’ve ever known as a couple. This apartment is where we spent our wedding night, where we brought Evelyne home, and where we got used to life as parents. Each room holds almost every memory we’ve made as a married couple. It’s a visual reminder to me of how far we’ve come, how much has changed in four years. The room that used to be our junk room was painted purple and transformed into a baby room. Our dining area (that we never really used anyway) was turned into Evelyne’s play area. A living room once neat and simple was filled with bouncy seats and baby swings, and then cluttered with toys and baby dolls. Especially since I’m a stay-at-home mom, my life is mostly spent in those rooms.
Apartment life is usually so temporary, so for the four most significant years of my life to be spent in this one apartment and then quickly left feels really odd. I imagine someone new will move-in pretty soon. Hopefully they’ll replace the nasty carpet with all the stains from Ev’s spit-up when she was a baby. I’m sure they’ll repaint the walls that are marked from our picture frames and Evelyne’s high chair. It’s weird to think that the new owners can never know the blessings and the life that took place in that home before them.
So for this month, we’re living with my parents. Clay takes his physical therapy boards on Wednesday. After that, he’s free until we move at the end of the month. Literally the only responsibility either one of us will have is to take care of Evelyne, so it should be a fun next few weeks. (at least I can sleep-in!) Stage 1 of the Great Move is complete. Stage 2 happens in a month. Time is marching on.
