The Devil's Arithmetic

The past week has been so surreal and absolutely jam-packed...we {mostly my uber-strong hubby} boxed up our whole house. There is nothing like loading up every spoon, every tent stake, every temperamental houseplant to make you want to just sell it all on the spot.

With the help of our wonderful friends, we loaded the entire cubic metric crapload into one of these babies...

...in what became a life-sized version of rotate-this, tweak-that, shove-it-in Tetris from hell.

Bart pulled out early on Friday morning. I stayed behind to do a final refrigerator clean-out and to wait for the carpet cleaners to spruce up the science experiment that is our wall-to-wall covering. {By the by, I had an awesome experience with St@nley Steemer and highly recommend them to all you carpet owners out there.}

After saying a very tough goodbye to our first house, I dried my eyes and loaded the heartily protesting Sallie Cat into our truck. The ensuing 20-plus hours of driving were blissfully uneventful. Wyoming and southeast Idaho were so green from all the rain, and the drive was gorgeous. Miss kitty settled in on my lap with minimal yowling, the vehicles worked smoothly, and we caught a wonderful meal and a decent night's sleep at my mom's house. My insightful mom forcibly sent along unit doses of chocolate mousse for our second day of driving. {She somehow knew that we'd need a little fortification before flopping down for another night of sleeping-bag-and-air-mattress luxury in a new place.}

On our first morning in the new apartment, we discovered just why the Good Lord made college fellas...

With the exception of the freezer that we {again, mostly Bart} had muscled up the stairs the night before, these whippersnappers navigated the wretched climb with every heavy thing we owned. I merely had to lift the featherweight stuff and point to the rest, and Thor and Brutus flexed their muscles and made with moving magic. {Did I really just type "whippersnapper"? Soon I'm going to be shaking my cane at all the rambunctious young denizens of the neighborhood.}

I have been on one end of that dang couch in a previous move. I know the pain...

This was the best money we have EVER spent, hands-down. They saved us the cost of Bart's hernia repair and my spinal discectomy. {Get in touch with me if anyone out there needs a good Portland, OR-area mover. They are actually quite affordable.}

There were actually some times that I was a little worried about overtaxing the ramp...glad it declared its capabilities right up front.

Our first meal in our new digs: english muffins and eggs. I have to admit, there is a bit of romance in the concept of the first home-cooked food in a new setting.

And so it begins, the process of navigating the carboard jungle that is our apartment. We are on to Level 2 in the afore-mentioned demonic Tetris...getting everything to fit functionally in the ill-designed cupboards and closets of the new love nest. Going from a 3-bedroom house to a 2-bedroom apartment has its interesting moments. For instance, what to do with all the painting supplies and yard tools one accumulates in the sprucing-up of your home??? I'll take any advice on that front!

And one more thing. Does anyone have tips on how to effectively pour this ridiculous Northwestern-packaged milk without wearing it? Change is rough.