Well, we did it. We really did it. We packed up our whole family and moved to Omaha. Sometimes I still can't believe it. After this past year of talking endlessly about moving to Omaha, it's finally here. Sort of like a wedding, I guess -- you spend so much time talking about it and planning it, that you can't believe it when the "big day" actually arrives. Well, here's how our "big day" went down.
On Thursday, the buyers of our Elk Grove house had their walkthrough (and of course, they had complaints...anyone surprised?) They thought that the storage area in the basement - yeah, the one back by the crawlspace and by the furnace and all that stuff -- was dusty and they were not pleased that there were nail holes in the walls. Are you serious? This guy is from another planet! They have never owned a house before and he just kept saying, "well, a leasing company would fill the holes and repaint..." And then captain obvious would say -- "there is no leasing company, you idiot -- YOU bought this house!" And, at the last minute they decide that they don't want the extra refrigerator in the garage (who wouldn't want another refrigerator??) and they asked us to have it removed - um, let me think about that. NO. And as a final request, at the closing, they asked our realtor if we would send a copy of all of the remodel / addition information that we had. uh, sure, we'll see if we get around to that one, too...
Friday morning, we took our time getting going. We didn't leave Schaumburg until 8:30 or 9:00. We kew it would be a long day of driving and we though it would be smart to start with everyone in a decent mood, at least. The trip was 8 hours (with two stops). It really wasn't as bad as I thought it would be - the kids did surprisingly well - we had bought a "surprise" new video for the trip and lots of other little things to keep them busy on the ride. My mom had sent a bag of goodies for each of the kids, too - it was great! If anyone started to whine, we would just throw back a new book or a coloring book or something. It worked well.
Since our stuff won't arrive until Sunday, we planned to stay in a hotel on Friday night. On the drive here, Ellie must have asked a million times (or maybe more) about the pool at the hotel. When would we go swimming - before or after dinner - for a long time or a little time. Would she be able to stand in the pool or would it be too deep -- one track mind ellie! When we finally pulled up to our hotel, we learned that the pool was closed for some kind of maintenance. Ellie was absolutely crushed - one of those times when you really feel what your kids are feeling. She was totally deflated. So, we quickly diverted her attention by telling her that we had a surprise waiting for her at our new house. She perked up and exclaimed, "I hope it's a puppy!" Uh, disappointment number two in 5 minutes. not a puppy. We had bought the kids little scooters (as a "moving" present and also, we knew they would have anything else to do here for a couple of days...). So, we drove to our new house and they were very excited to see the scooters and also to run around the empty house. After all, we had all been in the car ALL day, so it was a welcome release for every one!
Today (Saturday), we spent most of the day running errands and (shocker) riding scooters. We ordered the sofa for the basement, went and picked up Frank's car, which was still at the airport. I even ventured out on my own to go to Costco and the grocery store. The Costco is new here -- I had to explain to a few people how it works, "...you go on one side and your cart goes on the other side." But, I will say one good thing about Omaha so far -- running errands at 2:00 on a saturday afternoon - not so crowded. Something, I would have tried to avoid at all costs in Schaumburg! We ordered a pizza in and did a "slumber party" thing with the kids -- popcorn and a movie. It was fun.
It's a weird town and a weird house that still "smells" like another family, and I need to ask for directions to go to Costco, but somehow it still feels like "home" since we're all together in one place. Hopefully, it will feel even more like home tomorrow when our furniture arrives!
More soon. yee-haw.
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