The movers arrived on time yesterday.  My first reaction on seeing the 26-foot truck was “No way.  It’ll never fit!”, but three hours later, the three movers had managed to pack everything – well, almost everything – into the truck, brimful.  (The dumbbells went separately, in one of their pickup trucks, though I’m not sure whether that was to keep them from sloshing around in the moving truck or because they really couldn’t fit.)  There was just enough room to close the door; the loading ramp for the truck wound up in a pickup, because there wasn’t room.

Like this:

Around then, one of their other moving teams finished up, so we had five movers unloading the truck at the other end.  It took them one hour and forty-five minutes, following which the kitchen looked like this:

(Yes, that’s my Tinkertoy swift in the background.  An essential piece of kitchen equipment, wouldn’t you agree?)

And here is a small fraction of my sewing/craft studio:

Mike commented, “It looks like most of the boxes are going into your room”.  Well, I do have a lot of stuff.  I’m planning to go through it and cull things out.  I’ve already earmarked a bunch of craft books that I am evicting to the living room (where some paperbacks will likely go to Goodwill to make room), and some that I am giving away entirely.  Some weaving books, too.

Astonishingly enough, the number of boxes came out Just Right.  We had seventy-five small boxes, twenty medium boxes, and fifteen large boxes.  (The clerk looked dubiously at all those boxes and said, “Are you sure they’ll fit in your car?”)  When we were done packing, we had one medium and one large box left.  That was it!  An astonishing amount of Stuff, I’m hoping we can get rid of some of it as we unpack.

Still to be done: moving all the refrigerated and frozen foods, cleaning the last few items out of the old house, and putting out the trash.  We also have to pick up various post-moving debris (coat hangers, empty paper and plastic bags, etc.) to make sure we’re ready for the cleaners, who arrive on Monday afternoon.  And that will be it!

The Fuzz, I’m happy to say, seems to be adjusting nicely, except for an “accident” or two.  We’re hoping that as he gets more settled in, he goes back to pooping and peeing where he ought to.  But he is demanding attention, eating well, and jumping into (and out of) bed five times a night, so I think he’ll be fine.

And I am hoping to get back to fiber arts sometime soon.  But first, there is much unpacking to do.  I have the next week off, and plan to spend most of it unpacking.  I can’t wait to start playing with yarn and fiber again!

Hurray!  At very long last, we are Moved In, to our Very First House.

It’s 5:30am, and the movers are coming in three hours.  Fortunately, after a Herculean and sometimes Sisyphean-feeling effort, we’re ready for them.

Well, almost ready.  Ready enough.  There is still a bit of stuff festooning the tops of furniture, but mostly either packing related stuff (markers, tape, packing material) or junk that can be thrown away.  There is still detritus on the floor, but the big stuff has been put in big black contractor bags and set aside for the extra garbage pickup on Monday.  And the giant pile of Goodwill items has been put aside for the charity that’s picking them up.

Fortunately for us, the delivery of the refrigerator is proceeding on schedule; we got a call yesterday saying they’d be there between 7am (!) and 11am today.  Which meant we needed to get up way early, so Mike can go over with The Fuzz and “hold the fort” for the appliance delivery people, while I deal with the movers when they arrive at 8:30.

Such a momentous occasion, moving into our first house – but I have to admit, all I can think about is what last-minute items we missed, the laundry that still needs to be done, the delicate/expensive items that need to be loaded up into the car for moving ourselves.

And, of course, the terror of the zucchini, which continues apace:

If we don’t move in fast, we may find no house, only green leaves festooned with zucchini!

And, it’s starting to blossom (only male flowers so far, however):

Zucchini creating more zucchini!  It’s a wonder they haven’t taken over the earth.

Not nearly as scary as zucchini, but a bit alarming nonetheless:

I think the correct phrase for a patch of mint is “an exuberance of mint”.  It certainly does seem exuberant, anyway; it’s a good thing it’s in a pot.

Off to do more laundry!  (I know that’s a bit odd while waiting for the movers, but the washer and dryer won’t be delivered until July 5, so I’m washing everything I possibly can before we move out, hoping to postpone the inevitable trip to the laundromat.)

I have spent the last few days working on packing the studio.  Sorting three years of mess into organized packets is considerably more time-consuming than I expected, and I’m pretty worried about packing the rest of the house – we have exactly one week left before the movers arrive and the rest of the house isn’t even started.  Further, the cleaners arrive bright and early Sunday morning, so all the stuff really does have to be out of the house on Sunday.  No pressure, of course!

Fortunately, the studio mess is mostly (I hope!) done with.  It’s really down to the odds and ends now, and I think I may just throw them into a box and sort them out at the other end.  I am taking the entire week after the move as vacation – I had hoped to get some serious weaving done, but it looks like I’ll be unpacking!

And, the inevitable zucchini progress shot (this thing really is serious about taking over the world):

And the last two progress shots (these are all taken 4 days apart):

I find it startling that anything could grow that fast.  Plants, especially fast-growing plants, fascinate me.  A little water, a little earth, and some sun – and these tiny little seeds magically transform into a plant that grows rapidly into a huge green thing.  It’s really amazing.  Life is neat!

And so is the Stuff.

I have proof positive:

1. I packed eight boxes of books yesterday.  That mostly cleared out the bookshelves.
2. There are six more boxes of books this evening!  And all I did was clean up the final few books off the bookshelf and pick some volumes up off the floor, table, etc.  (OK, and pack some magazines.)
3. Clearly the boxes are breeding when my back is turned.  (It’s almost as bad as that zucchini!)

Since they are obviously trying to sneak up on me, I’ve taken this photo of the looming pile of boxes:

If I should mysteriously disappear, send in the movers’ SWAT team!  Beware, there are dangerous boxes here.  You could spend a life time reading and not get through all those weaving books/magazines!

I am, however, glad to say that the disorder seems to have peaked.  I have shredded most of the credit card offers that were composting on the forest floor.  (There is still plenty of leaf litter, but mostly of the recyclable kind.)  I have also put away a TON of fabric (handwoven and otherwise), and made a small dent in the giant mass of detritus on the craft table.  And I have collected the live-weight-tension loom weights and put them in a box, so I’m no longer tripping over 10-lb weightlifters’ plates every time I cross the room.  We progress.

Tomorrow, though, there will be no packing.  Mike and I are celebrating our second anniversary tomorrow, at a fancy French restaurant in Mountain View (Chez TJ’s), and I cheerfully hope to be out all evening.

Happy upcoming anniversary to us!