Weeks from Hell

I'll most likely edit this post when I have more time to add details, take out attitude, or whatever. :)

WE have had a tremendous time moving, and NOT in a good way, though hopefully in the end it will be. I have to just remind myself that God's hand was involved when we got those offers so quickly, and that we felt right about the house we were trying to buy ourselves. We were supposed to go to closing 7/30/08 on both houses. Since it was mid week, we couldn't find help to load up trucks and such, so we hired movers to pick up our stuff 7/29/08 morning, and unload 7/30/08 evening after closing. In the late afternoon of 7/29/08, AFTER THE MOVERS had come and taken away all our belongings but the 2 cats and fish, and some plants and pictures (you know, the bare essentials if you don't mind being naked or dirty and such...) We found out that the buyers for our place had some issues screwed up with the financing, and it wasn't going to go to closing. We weren't sure if it ever WAS going to go to closing, but it was all up in the air. We couldn't have the movers unload of course, we couldn't buy the new place until my place went to closing, I had worked extra hours at work to take the time off, but then we weren't closing any more. And I had nothing to do if I stayed home in an empty house (no projects, no entertainment, no books, no cleaning, absolutely nothing to do). So I went to work, and we hoped and prayed closing would happen Thurs or Fri. We never heard, other than "we're working on it." Meanwhile, after spending a night on the floor and not having any clean underwear, we decided to take Larry's friend Lisa up on her generous offer to stay at her place with the cats. So, we piled ourselves, my cats, the cat litter, cat food, and our big fat selves into her guest room indefinitely... And I finally had a bed to sleep on, which was very very nice. :) She lives in Alexandria, so it made commuting to all the different things (my place in Greenbelt, or Manassas, or Frederick, or Annapolis) extra long, but we did have a place to sleep and for the cats to be traumatized and cry under the bed for a few days (and get worms while they were at it!). As the saga continued, We were told closing would be Friday. but, it wasn't. Maybe Monday. Meanwhile, you have this pregnant woman (yes, that's me) who is uncomfortable, no clean clothes, one pair of shoes, no underwear that are clean (I only have 5 pair that can squeeze over my big fat belly, and the store for my "special underwear" is closed until end of September) without a home and everything in limbo.

Friday was a roller coaster. The people we were planning on buying from (and keep in mind it was 7-8 houses deep apparently, all resting on mine going to closing) agreed to let us move in early and pay rent, but we had to do the walk through first. So, we were excited that we would get to move in, even though it was risky with everything as it was, and save 400 bucks on the moving storage we had to be paying as the truck was holding our stuff until we had them unload it somewhere... Anyhoo... Fri night we went to do the walk through, hoping to move in Sat morning. WE got there, (after my 4 hr drive getting there as I was stuck on the beltway in an accident) and found out the AC wasn't working, and the house was almost 90 degrees inside. Being pregnant (again, yes, milking this) I got so sick, I was lying on the floor ready to pass out and throw up at the same time, so sick, and it actually took 2 days to recover from it. Also, found leak in the basement, and the windows that were supposed to be fixed weren't fixed, and the stove wasn't working, blah blah blah. Meaning, if we moved in, we accepted the walk through and the fixing and stuff would not happen. And since things weren't in working order when we bought, the home warranty wouldn't cover them either. So again, we were still in a bind/limbo about what to do.

The AC did get fixed that night, so we decided to go ahead and move in sat morning. Then, there was the fiasco with the movers, and being overcharged, told wrong things, and me telling the movers where to put things, and those things were found other places (i.e. basement or upstairs instead of main floor, or whatever). Also, they took FOREVER to unload, and our whole day was spent directing them where to put boxes (which didn't go well obviously). Then, drove to greenbelt to pack up the stuff left there that the movers wouldn't take, and forgot the key to the storage shed, meaning we had to go back yet again! Back to Manassas to unload, and then back to Alexandria to crash.

next morning we went to Annapolis, loaded up stuff that was there, went to greenbelt to load up the storage shed stuff, which we AGAIN forgot the key to, so George gave us a tool to cut the lock with. :) Then back to manassas to start dealing with boxes and mess and attempt to unpack late Sun night.

Mon I went to closing for my house, and yes, it did go through. Amazingly. But, it was all in spanish, and the ladies STILL said they were "working on it" in reference to Larry's request that we be reimbursed for our EXTRA moving expenses caused by their realtor not telling us in time about the financing problem, causing us to pay at least an extra 500 bucks (not to mention the inconvenience, floor sleeping, and crashing at friends house). They had led us to believe they were going to pay us for that. In the end, they refused, so Larry is debating on taking them to court or not for it.

Then, it was closing on the house Larry and I were buying. There were some missing documents we still need to obtain from the sellers, windows still need fixing, etc, but at least that was done. but I forgot a part. While at the first closing, my key ring with multiple sets of key rings on it was stolen. Including the new house and mail keys, and personal info like library card and store cards... So add that to the stress... (talk about one thing after another).

Larry's dad and sister had come that morning to paint one room so we could get the file cabinets put in it and start unpacking that one room, so they had spent all day Monday doing that for us while I was at the various closing. And larry's other sister and niece had come to help unpack boxes in the kitchen, so we had some great help getting started with the whole process! They are such a wonderful family to have married into. :)

So, it was back to work on Tuesday, wearing the same clothes of course, and shoes of course, as even though we had moved in, couldn't find anything even though boxes were labeled. And spent so much energy moving boxes around from one place to another trying to find other boxes, it just got messy. :) Oh, and don't forget, I had to get the cats to the Vet to check them out, and had more trauma trying to give them medications they refused to take. I have scars to prove it. :) But, I've been at work all week. not having time to unpack, so this weekend, we hope to get some space opened up by some unpacking.

We have to find a particular box, as it has my medical records and the sonogram slip to go find out the gender of the baby this coming Monday. So, the unpacking focus is probably going to be office stuff and file cabinets, even though typically it would be last priority... as I HAVE to find that box!!! :)

There was plenty I didn't add, and have now forgotten due to being so sick, exhausted, tired, and just plain wrecked. And, I need to get back to work, as I used up my entire lunch break writing in here, rather than eating. :)