18,900

That's how many pounds of household goods we shipped to our new home. In fact, they aren't completely shipped yet because they are still in the truck, waiting to be delivered tomorrow morning.

What an adventure! It took three gals two days to pack up everything that went into the dozens and dozens of boxes. Then it took four guys a day to wrap up the furniture in furniture blankets and/or plastic wrap, then pack it into the truck. I'm happy to say it took "only" 3/4 of a trailer this time instead of a full trailer. I credit it to 1) incredibly tight packing and 2) I think the trailer was bigger than last time. It was cavernous. The trailer pulled out late Saturday afternoon and the driver called dh to let him know the weight. We're relieved because the company had estimated high and it went over the amount we are allowed by dh's new company. With this lower weight we may come in under the allowed amount, but even if not, the little bit over will be well worth it for the huge amount of service we received.

We had both vehicles in Gallup so I took E and S and left about an hour and a half before dh and C. It's about a 6.5 hour drive to the new town (yeah, yeah, go ahead and do a search to see what is 6.5 hours away from Gallup or just write me a note and I'll tell you where we moved). Because I was well ahead of dh, the girls and I stopped in a small town and I let them play in the park for awhile.

When we pulled into town I resisted the strong urge to drive directly to the new, as-yet-unseen-by-me house and walk through it. I didn't though because I knew dh really wanted to show it to me the first time.

After we all arrived at dh's bachelor pad, we went over to the new house. As expected, the girls couldn't stay away from the pool. It was a gorgeous, gorgeous blue and really inviting. Since they don't swim, we kept them with us at all times. The safety net that goes over the pool is scheduled to be fabricated and installed tomorrow. It won't be a minute too soon for my peace of mind.

The house is clean, but not nearly as clean as I left our house in Gallup. The dirty baseboards glared at me from every single room and I'm not even really a clean-baseboards kind of gal. I guess it was because my knees were still sore from crawling all over the old house making sure the baseboards there were sparkling. I also have to go over all the doors and that kind of thing to take off dirty fingerprints. I really think the sellers could have done that.

The sellers really liked their wall colors and two rooms are especially violent. One is a dark periwinkle and the other a dark turquoise. Shiny. On concrete block. Nasty. Unfortunately we have to wait a month or so before painting, but those two rooms will be first.

Even though we have only a carport intead of a garage, I think we are going to be okay on storage. There is a long shed at the far side of the yard and that will hold all of dh's tools and things, along with all the camping supplies, we think. That will leave the maid quarters (ha!!!) right behind the carport for "softer" things such as food storage, books, Christmas decorations, canning supplies, and that sort of thing. I think there will still be room to put up a curtain, then put a twin bed and a small dresser at the end near the bathroom. I think.

We'll be up early tomorrow and waiting to get this final part of the move done. Well, final as in "the part that relies on an outside contractor." Then we get to start unpacking . . . .