January 27 to forever
This is it! The last Green House Project update! It’s been a long and arduous project that put a strain on our marriage, on my body and on my mental health, but at the end of it all, we finally have our forever home!
…not that it’s done…
The Lead-up
I spent the rest of the week after my return from Ottumwa helping Brandy finish up the packing of the last-minute things that still needed to get packed. After seeing how much there was left to do when I got back on Tuesday, I decided to take Thursday off to help pack up the last of the stuff.
Thursday, all of the boxes and smaller items got carted down from the upstairs and stacked in the garage. The larger items, such as our bed, Brandy’s treadmill, jewelry box and the washer and dryer, stayed in place until the movers could move it down. We finished the last of that stuff Thursday evening, then I broke down our workstations and got them ready to move.
Friday, January 27
I had already taken Friday and Monday off specifically for the move. Brandy had reserved movers to load the truck in Coralville and a different crew to unload in Ottumwa. We were a little worried about the loading crew as they didn’t communicate with us at all until I e-mailed them a little more than 2 weeks before the move. I asked what time they were going to be there Friday morning, they responded with “what time works for you? We can accommodate.”
I replied with “8:00 would be great.” I got no response or confirmation otherwise. I decided to reach back out to them Wednesday to confirm that they were going to be there. They assured me they would, so I trusted that.
Friday morning, I went to pick up the 26-footer from the U-Haul at the Coral Ridge Mall, a whopping half mile from the house. I got back to the house and backed it into the driveway and Brandy parked across the street, where street parking is permitted. Shortly after, the movers showed up and started loading up the truck. They got everything loaded quickly, finishing up at around 11:15 or so. We battled with getting a “payment code” that was supposed to have been e-mailed to Brandy but she never got it. Come to find out, she’d typo-ed her e-mail address on the website where we’d hired the movers from.
The movers left, we buttoned up the house and headed out at 11:30.
The drive to Ottumwa was uneventful. We pulled into the driveway at about 1:00 and waited for the unloading crew to show up. They showed up at about 2:15. I was disheartened to see that it was a family of drug addicts, likely meth-heads. I normally don’t pass judgement on people like that, but trusting them with our belongings made me a little uneasy. After a couple of “breaks” in their truck, they took about 2 hours to get the truck fully unloaded. Of course, getting the treadmill and fridge into the basement was a chore, but that was to be expected with the layout of the house and the narrowness of the stairs into the basement.
Once the truck was unloaded, we took it back to the U-Haul in Ottumwa and went to pick up Ash from Craig and Sue’s. Craig made some chicken legs on his smoker so we sat and had some then headed home and set up the couch, TV and bed, the only things we’d need Friday night. We had some drinks and watched TV before calling it a night and heading to bed.
While we had most of our stuff unloaded into the garage, we had several boxes unloaded into the house. We spent the better part of Saturday working through some of those boxes and getting furniture set where we wanted it, then, starting Sunday, we started bringing boxes in from the garage to unpack. By the end of the day Monday, we had a nice little corner of the garage carved out. If we keep up the pace, I believe we should have everything unpacked and in its spot by the middle of February.
In the meantime, my office has been set up in the bedroom in the basement. There has been no work done in here so I’m sitting on a remnant of carpet from the living room that’s just placed on the concrete floor. The lighting is terrible in this room and the walls are an awful shade of blue. None of the outlets in the room (and most of the outlets in the rest of the basement) are grounded (they only accept two-prong plugs.) I had to find a cheater plug (a three prong to two prong adapter) to plug in the surge protector so I can work. At some point, I’m going to install a GFCI outlet on the circuit and replace all of the outlets with three prong outlets.
Additionally, I wouldn’t mind taking down the roof on the closet in my office. I think it’s ludicrous.
As I mentioned in my last post, we will be back in Coralville this weekend to clean up the rental and to get it listed for subleasing, then I plan on a weekend of rest. The key word here is “plan”- there is never rest for me. I’m sure I will be working somehow, whether it’s more unpacking or starting work in the basement, but knowing that I won’t be on any kind of strict deadline will help.
Plus, being in the house now affords us the opportunity to stop working on it. That was our deadline prior to the move. That was the work that needed to be done for us to be able to move in. Now that we’re moved in, taking a weekend off from working on the house here or there won’t hurt us.
I am eager to get back out to adventuring and exploring. Actually, Alan and I had a bit of a conversation about that recently. He was encouraging me to find time to get out and continue my adventures. I told him that I was considering this whole house project an adventure as it is testing my mental and physical self. It might not be time out in nature or any kind of exploration, but I still found it challenging enough to post about it here, and to feel as accomplished as I do when I set new milestones in my life.
This house is just one more chapter in my great story.
What’s Next
Like I said, this will be my last post on the Green House Project. We still have a ton of work to do and many repairs have to be made, but I won’t bore y’all with the minutiae of that work.
In the immediate future, a familiar house guest will be arriving Thursday. Christy and Skye will be stopping in for a few days to visit and check out the new digs.
Then, as mentioned in a previous post, at the end of April, my parents will be coming to visit, which will include a trip to Wrigley Field to see the Dodgers take on the Cubs once more. I am also trying to facilitate a visit from Jarrod at that same time.
Before that, though, we do have a trip to Tucson, AZ, coming up in March. This will be the first time I’ve ever been to Arizona to sightsee. The only times I’ve ever been there has been just driving through. It’ll be nice to see what the state has to offer.
With the ever-increasing spending we’ve been doing on the house, the big, two-week trip we were planning will have to be put on hold for a bit until we can get our credit card situation under control.
In the meantime, Chief Wapello Trail, Foster Acres Indian Hills Loop, and trails at the Pioneer Ridge Nature Area are all begging to be hiked. They might not be the most picturesque trails at this time of year, with sub-freezing temperatures and snow and ice everywhere, but if it gets my boots and day pack on, I’ll do it anyway. I mean, they can’t be any worse than the Woodpecker East Loop trail I hiked last April.
Conclusion
So, at the end of this series, what can I say?
Well, I am a lot more skilled in demolition and construction than I thought I’d be, but I know I still don’t know everything. I found my limits physically and now realize that I need to lose some weight. I’ve gained a bunch back. I’m glad the worst of the project is over but see that there will never be an end to the work that needs to be done here. Yeah, there is a lot of ground work that needs to be done, but I can now pace myself and get it done when I can, rather than trying to race the clock to get us moved in.
I am extremely grateful for the help I’ve gotten from everyone, from financial contributions from my parents, to labor help from Craig and Sue.
But, most of all, I’m excited to wander again.
Stay tuned, folks, 2023 is going to be a blast!
-Phil