The internets are back with us (somewhat), and we're getting set up. We're officially Londoners, and after the last several days all I want to do is curl up and sleep for about a week, unfortunately there's no time for that because there's loads to do.
It all started in earnest on Thursday. I took Thursday/Friday off to move last week, and Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday off this week. Thank goodness for that because it's Tuesday now and I'm just starting to feel like a human being again.
On Thursday morning we went to our lawyers to do the final paperwork. It's amazing how quickly you can sign away your life (and the life of your first born). We went back home where we packed a ton of stuff, disassembling various shelves, and packing away the last of the books etc. I even took some time to tear apart my computer on Thursday night. With Kaylin with us things went slowly because let's face it, who can resist hanging out with that crazy little mouse?
Friday we left for London around 11am, and braved a crazy snow storm and several white-out like conditions. At 1:30pm our lawyer called us (while we were outside of Ingersoll) to tell us that the house had closed. By a little after 2pm we were hanging out in our new house, having a delicious picnic lunch of McDonalds on our new living room floor.
Charlene was feeling quite underwhelmed by the house at that point. With no furniture inside for reference, she felt the house was way too small. This house is about 250 square feet smaller, and all of the rooms are a little bit smaller than our Ajax house, but it's still a good size at 1680 sq feet.
Friday night we left Kaylin with my mom and dad, while we went back to Ajax, where we packed into the wee hours, and had a ton of help from Jason and Jill across the street. I honestly couldn't have done any of this without Jason's help, who was awesome helping me carry tons of stuff up and down stairs.
Saturday morning the movers arrived around 9:30am, and Jason and I proceeded to carry more stuff up the stairs (and down the stairs). He and I brought down the king sized bed, and wrapped a ton of furniture.
There was another lovely weather system which meant the movers took from 2pm until about 5pm to get to London. I sent Char over to my mom and dad's to hang out with Kaylin, while my mom sent my dad over here to help me set some stuff up. The movers brought everything inside to the 1st floor, and Ryan, Kari, Paige and Cordellia arrived with delicious cupcakes and an awesome cordless drill (best…drill…ever). We proceeded to move the boxes from the 1st floor to their various homes (basement, office, bedrooms, etc), and I went over to my mom and dad's to see Char and Kaylin.
Char came back here and the two of us crashed out while Kaylin slept at my parents' place. The next morning we unpacked a bunch of stuff (Char the kitchen, while I took care of the office, and living room). We went and picked Kaylin up, who had been having a blast with Grandma and Grampa, and came back home.
Back at ye olde homestead, Ryan came by and helped me to move stuff around in the living room, and we also hooked up the washer, and a few other things.
The days since have been filled with unpacking, unboxing, buying little things (like a fawcett sprayer and a wireless router), fighting with Rogers (which will be the subject of an upcoming post), and making this house our home.
We both love the place now. It feels more intimate than our old home, our Ajax house was a little too big, and a lot of the excess space was wasted. Here things are tighter, more cozy, and the house has the feel of a cottage or a loft…which is ironic because we always wanted to make our Ajax house feel like a lake house.
Tonight before dinner I saw a pair of coyotes in the field behind our house, and at dinner I saw a huge bunny jumping through the field. In 2 years in Ajax all I ever saw in our neighbourhood was geese (loads of them mind you).
PLUS we can drive all over the place here and still be only 15 minutes from home. That is pretty cool.