I'd just as soon not do that again. I think we all agree on that.
Moving house is right up there with the death of a parent as a mega-stressor. When you consider we moved house because of the death of Eva's mom, and then add in all manner of physical ailments amongst all three of us...this was an ordeal. Add the weather and it became...
The Finns have this word in their language, 'sisu'. It loosely translates as "stoic determination", but it's more like "this fucking thing has to be done, I hate hate HATE doing the fucking thing, but because it fucking needs to be done, I'm going to fucking do it. Fuck." Like that.
Just like that. Except with more swearing and a generous quantity of moans and groans. I am 53 years old and not in any wussy way, smooshy shape or flabby form can I be considered "fit".
Two Men And a Truck came last Friday to cart away our junk, about half a truck's worth. They came ther next day to move what was left.... which ended up being not just a truckful, but a truck crammed to capacity. I doubt a single additional garbage bag would have fit in there.
I have nothing but good things to say about this company. They aren't cheap. Service that good shouldn't be. It was almost like watching ballet. Although the soundtrack to this move was Russian rap. I didn't mind...whatever helped them work.
I was madly stuffing everything I could into bag after bag. Nikki helped me sweep the house up, thankfully, but I was not happy with the state I left the place in. We didn't have a great deal of choice: the later we left, the more likely we were going to find ourselves caught in the worst ice storm to hit my province since 1998. And here's where I put s plug in for A Mother Daughter Cleaning Crew. They were honest with their quote, supremely friendly, and did an excellent job dealing with....more than I'd wanted them to have to deal with.
Nikki and I left at 2:00 pm and made it to the farm by quarter to six. We saw our moving truck headed back to K-W about five minutes from the far,The freezing rain was just starting. It ramped up quickly: at 12:30 am we lost power, one of the last places in the county to do so.
The power was out until midday Tuesday and has since been out several times. The internet has been even more intermittent. We lost several trees, including one that fell across our driveway. All Saturday night we were treated to the ominous bangs and scratchings of branches hitting our roof. No serious damage done, but Nikki was stuck here until we could get the driveway clear. Being trapped in a place with no power...not fun. Especially since the toilets need power to flush. For the first time in my life, I shat outside like a bear. 1/10 do not recommend.
The freezing rain wasn't the last of the weather, either. Yesterday we got four inches of snow in the space of minutes, following by heavy thunderstorms all night long.
And right now it's 18 degrees Celsius. Go figure. It gave Eva and I a chance to enjoy our screened front porch, one of this home's best features.
Only one of Eva's mom's five(!) wiener dogs -- Peanut -- is giving Dolly any guff. The rest of them -- Itsy Bitsy, Teeny Weenie Tornado, One-Eyed Jack, and Cricket -- pretty much leave her alone. Our cats are confined to the back half of the trailer for now and they like it that way.
Now to make this place our own. Lots more involved there.
Thank you to Nikki, who gave me a place to stay Friday night, who delivered me here safely, who gave us all emotional support, and who didn't lose her temper once, even after she lost her keys.
Thank you to Two Men and a Truck and to A Mother Daughter Cleaning Crew for taking care of us.
Much thanks to Tom for his help as well.
And thank you to Eva and Mark for keeping me sane over the past few months. Now we start a new chapter.
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