Packing! and Camping!

I'm nearly prepared for the movers, which is good because they're arriving very soon.  My goal is to have everything packed and ready for them.  My fallback goal is to have everything I can't move myself (due to weight, size, shape ...) ready for them.  I'm very close on the fallback goal, and I'm not too far off the whole megillah.

My contractor has done a fabulous job, but there is more gypsum dust in my future.  And my floor contractor seems to be waiting on supplies, so there is wood dust in my future.  My plan is to leave everything in boxes until the dust settles ... and is cleaned up.  I have two rooms with doors that are not impacted:  the front bedroom (originally the master bedroom) and the bathroom.  The cats will live in the front bedroom, and I will sleep on the guest bed and live out of a suitcase.  I'm thinking of it as "camping" in the house.

I was really hoping the dust making activities would be done by now, but my timeline was unrealistic.  We'll see how long it takes for me to hit the breaking point of too much chaos in my environment.  At least I'll have the internet available.

This house buying / remodeling / moving has been all about letting go.  I would have liked to have the tubular skylights installed, but picking out what I want has been more involved than I expected, so I'm letting that go for now.  I would have liked to have a screen door for the front door, but picking out what I want has been more involved than I expected, so I'm letting that go for now.  I would have liked to have the floors done before I moved in, but I'm letting that go for now.  You get the idea.

There are lots of choices I'll be making, and I intend to enjoy learning about the options and making the selections.

Meanwhile, I think purchasing some large drop cloths is indicated.

aaaah .... NOW I've visited

No visit to Syracuse is complete without at least one trip to Wegmans.  And we've had the bonus of two trips to Home Depot as well (fixing some stuff at Mom's). 

in da 'cuse

Oh yeah - this is how 25 degrees feels.  I'd forgotten.

Was chatting with Mom on her bed, and her tremors were shaking the whole bed.  I asked her when I needed to put in another quarter.  It took her a minute, but when she understood, we had a good laugh.

Flooring ...

Have two diff guys looking at the flooring job tomorrow;  someone looked at it last week but he's too busy to do anything before I move in.

At this point, it will be a miracle if it can be completed before I move in.  Cats will be spending some time in the front bedroom or the bathroom - the only way to isolate them from the floor treatments.

Sent the contract docs to the termite fumigation folks today.  There is actually a page you have to sign that essentially is "don't forget about Fluffy!"   I had no idea how noxious these chemicals are - I can't imagine doing this AFTER I've moved in.  You have to find a place for you, your pets, and your plants for 3 days.  You also need to thoroughly seal any foodstuffs.

Note to self:  do NOT move in any kitchen stuff until after fumigation, and after the post fumigation cleaning.

Leaves and a Sprint

As with my two other houses, my new house has mature trees in the yard.  Yay!

Guess what mature trees do?

They shed lots and lots of leaves.  Leaves get in gutters.  Wet leaves make the walkways slick, and thoroughly cover the lawn.  They stick to your shoes and get tracked into the house.  Dry leaves get blown into the house.  (For some reason, around these parts screen doors are the exception, not the rule.)

It's been raining on and off for a couple of days, so I have both wet and dry leaves.  I cleaned the gutters yesterday, mostly after the sun went down.  This afternoon I finished cleaning the gutters and did (another) big rake in the front yard, where the two trees have dropped all their leaves.   I did some raking in the back, but my giant curbside compost bin is full, so I can't fit those leaves into it.  (Pickup isn't for another week!  Eeep!)  But it should help keep the leaves outside, rather than inside.  I love the smell of fall leaves.  I'm glad there is a fall here, even though it's all due to non-native trees.  But I get to experience the colors and the smells, and that makes me happy.

I have a handyman combining the two smallest bedrooms into a single bedroom, shaped a little bit like Oklahoma, with patio doors at the end of the panhandle.   (Patio doors in my bedroom!  So very California!)  And widening the doorway between the dining room and the living room.  These changes have exposed gaps in the flooring (because they were under the walls), so I need a floor guy to fix it.  So we now have:

• handyman finishes wall changes, up to painting
• handyman hopefully installs tubular skylights!
• flooring person needs to install the new boards (with accompanying demo mess), sand them down, and apply 4 coats of finish.  no one can walk on boards during the finishing coats (and perhaps not in house due to fumes ... not sure) ... for 3 days.
• termite people need 3 days with no one in the house to tent and fumigate.
• cleaning service needs a day to thoroughly clean house (gypsum dust everywhere!), and garage (smells like an ashtray!).  Garage is currently the handyman staging area.
• Naomi visits her Mom for 6 days

All this before moving day!
After moving day:

• washer/dryer delivered and installed
• refrigerator delivered and installed
• everything out of apartment ... and work with apartment cleaning person so new tenants can move in Jan 1.
• unpack substantial portion before work resumes on Jan 3.

This situation feels very much like the end of a semester, when I was an undergrad.  There are a list of tasks that MUST be done, each with different deadlines, and there are too many tasks for comfort.  That flat out sprint feeling, while you constantly ensure that you're doing tasks in the right order to deal with dependencies and deadlines, but it's longer than a sprint, so it also feels like a marathon.

Unlike my undergraduate days, I intend to get a full night of sleep every night.