CLOSED!

The house closed on Tuesday. What a relief!

Time with Friends

Shane got to spend Thursday and Friday at Daniel's house. We had the boys say "Goodbye," on Friday, but I doubt either one really understood. We may still visit from time to time, but it will be a lot harder once we head south. A four hour round trip is a lot of effort for a quick play date! Daniel's family stays pretty busy, too. Mike flies all over the country (and sometimes the world). 

It would be great if we can keep in touch over the distance. Never say never, so I'll try to do what I can on our end. It's not likely, though. 

I would never have said that when I was a kid. However, I've discovered life drastically changes once you move out and start working full time. Then, when you get married it changes even further. Pop out a kid and all bets are off! It takes time and effort to keep up with people - both of which are in limited supply. There's only so much time in a day and lots to fill it with. But one can hope.

Saturday and Sunday, Shane got to spend time with Nana, Pop, and Bryce. Bryce is Bruce and Reina's son. They are long time family friends from church (Bruce taught Matt in Sunday School and went on a mission trip to Russia with the twins and I). Shane and Bryce know each other from play dates at Nana's, Thanksgiving, and some other holidays. This past weekend, Nana took them to the mall twice and let them bounce in the inflatable play area (Reina's idea). 

They boys are going to see a lot more of each other over the next month at daycare! Shane is going to go to the same home Bryce does while I live at Nana and Pop's until May. Then we'll have to have another round of "goodbyes." To Shane, a month is an unfathomable amount of time, though. He'll enjoy it.

Honestly, I think the move was pretty painless for Shane. He played his heart out from Thursday on while Carrie and I slaved away!

Final Bits

I cleaned out the last of the storage unit on Monday. One final load of crap. 

Most of the storage unit stuff was what I would deem "non-essential." I would have been okay with it all burning up in a fire. It was all the stuff we wanted out of the house for staging, but before we hit our "let's get rid of stuff" phase of packing.

Afterward, I went by the house to clean out the remainder of the garage. I drove by my agent's to drop off the keys and garage door opener and popped by the title office next. The former went quickly; the latter took over an hour. The lender wanted a new mortgage signed. They waited to email it until I was about to leave.

Thankfully, my parents have been awesome and laid-back with the Shane care. Without it, we would never have moved out in time.

I spent Shane's nap with a final dump run. No one picked up our last wave of curb alerts on Craigslist. I didn't think the new owners would want them either.

The e-cycling place closed 15 minutes prior to my arrival (again). They won't let you drop stuff off for the next day, either. It is great fun to throw a large TV into a dumpster from on high, though.

Shane and I will drive down to Cville tonight after I shower. When the soap is packed, moving can make anyone smell a little ripe.

Moving Extravaganza

Moving is an all-consuming process. Thursday the deadline stopped inching closer; It stood up and charged!

Thursday, I used a sick day to start the process. 

The Prius ended up much, much more full by the end of the weekend.

The truck started to see some business, as well.

It also ended up much, much more full by the end of the weekend!

If you ever want to get a true sense of how much stuff you have, move. Every time I felt like a room was almost done more stuff appeared. It popped out from under or behind furniture; It oozed out of every nook and cranny. I found some really old cheerios, too (not even the bugs wanted them).

Thankfully, the weekend was sunny. The temperature was barely above freezing, but with no threat of rain I could throw everything out on the driveway while Carrie packed and cleaned.

We dropped Shane off with my parents Saturday morning at 10:00 AM. We worked almost non-stop from that point on.

I almost didn't remember to stop and take a few pictures. When I did, I got a glance that told me there was still work to be done!

As the boxes piled up and up, our desire to move things went down and down. We kicked more things out as curb alerts. They've been a hit all week. I jumped out of bed Thursday night when Domino's pizza guy ring my doorbell at 9:45 PM.

There's not much time for sentiment late in the process.

I think moving holds a special place in people's memories. You block out how much work it is until it's time to move again!

Personally, I feel like just about everything up until you arrive at the new house stinks. It's all work, reminders of what you'll miss, and no new adventures (yet).

I do enjoy the puzzle aspect of trying to cram everything in, though. Especially the large items. Pop and I loaded the big stuff onto the U-Haul Saturday night. Carrie's knee was done. My parents have been instrumental in getting us from here to there. 

To boost my wife's morale, we had sushi Saturday night. 

We slept on our mattress on the living room floor.

Sunday morning, we woke up early and made the drive south. I got to play Tetris again.

We had a lot of fun trying to get IN to the storage unit, too. We were stuck at the gate for twenty minutes and a light cover fell on my head. We also saw the merits of the non-temperature regulated units curb-side....as opposed to the long hallway and corner we had to clear for ours!

Carrie stated her moving career is over. She wants to hire locals to unpack everything later.

We dropped off the U-Haul, unloaded the Volvo, and then dead another short morale-boosting trip to the barn. Carrie lunged Franklin for a few. It was better for her spirits than her knee.

We returned north for a final clean and to grab everything we missed.

The house has never been cleaner.

I still find it highly ironic:

We updated everything, new closets, new floors, new window...

.... and construction on the highway finally finished after half a decade.

The house is stunning and traffic is better than ever! And then we move.

Yes, I think it's the right choice (more on that later). I still find it ironic. Proof of God's sense of humor.

I hope that our old home serves the new owners well. We left the TVs and bookcases because they were screwed into the wall.

7:00 PM Sunday we deemed it mission accomplished. We the last of our scattered belongings in the garage and locked the house for the final time. Carrie drove south for the final time. I drove to Nana and Pop's to spend the night with Shane. Monday, my job was to get the last odds and ends and bring Shane south for Spring Break. 

Our time in Chantilly is at an end. We leave many good memories and good friends behind, but not forgotten. 

What Else Could Go Wrong?

Our buyers asked for a mold test in the basement. We agreed. Someone came out on Saturday and we received an email on Wednesday.

Attached are the results from the air test that were taken at your home on 3/20/15. I spoke to the lab and they say that the kitchen is fine, but the levels in the basement are a little high and recommend some extra cleaning.

 Doesn't sound too bad, does it?

They suggest HEPA vacuuming the entire basement while running an air scrubber as well as changing the filter on your HVAC unit and possibly having the ducts cleaned. Please let me know if you have any questions or would like to schedule the work to be done.

If we weren't in the middle of selling the house, I would take that as "It's fine, but we are a business and some extra stuff could benefit you so let me recommend some services." I am not surprised our basement read "a little" high because it had a week of contractors destroying and rebuilding the place. They removed the basement window from it's frame so they could throw trash out and come and go without marching through the house.

Carrie got a quote ($1500! What!?), contacted insurance (USAA), and they agreed to pay (Phew!). 

I came home on Friday to find this.

We didn't realize that they were going to run the air-scrubber all weekend long! They did a great job vacuuming, though. We didn't have to clean a thing downstairs.

Morale of the story: If you have USAA, get your home insurance through them. If you don't have USAA, join the armed forces or marry someone who's a member.

Hidden Gems

Sometimes you find hidden gems while packing.

Wait....What Did You and Your Siblings Do?

I may have alluded to my siblings and I doing some pretty "interesting" things growing up in a previous post.

If you count:

• My sisters rolling a trampoline over next to the garage and jumping off the house...
• Sneaking my younger brother, Matt, with a video camera into the back of Stu's car after pinning him in the driveway with my car...
• Hiding in the woods next to train tracks we were exploring while the police searched the area...
• Putting each other in trash cans to roll down hills..
• Swimming in a park lake and then running through the woods when the patrol boat came...
• Standing on the back seat of a tandem bike while someone up front pedaled...

Then we may have done some "interesting" things. There may be a few scars to show for different adventures, too.

I wonder if Shane's going to realize I'm not anti-fun before he's thirty and has kids of his own. I heard about plenty of the shenanigans Pop and his siblings got into growing up.

This was a fun post to write. I could go on and on and on...

PS - Carrie fought a bull in middle school. In Mexico.

PPS - What my sisters lacked in brute strength and wrestling ability they made up for with deviousness as we got older. One time, they reversed the door knob on our German exchange student's room and locked him in.

PPPS - My sisters broke into the men's room painted everyone's toe and fingernails while they slept on a mission trip in Russia (including the pastor). 

PPPS - The Pastor and the other adults got even by buying a butchered pig's head at market and leaving it in girls' room. 

Teaching Problem-Solving

It's impossible not to react, but I try to parent with the end goal in mind. Here's a great example:

Shane wanted to look inside a mailbox at Home Depot for the umpteenth time. He could not reach high enough to see in, so he wanted me to lift him up. I did not want to.

Obviously, Shane got upset. I still wasn't going to pick him up.

I want Shane to be a problem-solver. No one likes a whiner. It fixes nothing. I, also, want Shane to learn to take the initiative instead of waiting to be spoon fed.

So, I waited. Shane tried the usual pout. He told me I didn't love him, and all the usual initial reactions.

Then he started to try and climb. He looked over as he did it to gauge my reaction. I had my teacher face on. I may have arched an eyebrow.

With no condemnation, Shane tried to climb in earnest. He couldn't do it.

He tried a few more times and as he started to get upset I asked a pointed question. "Could you make steps?"

Got him. Shane stopped and thought. He looked around, but didn't see any obvious answer. "How?"

"Let's pull out some boxes a little bit."

The next lesson was "not too far or they will fall off."

I ended up with this for the next 5-10 minutes.

I don't know how thrilled the employees were, but at least I wasn't picking him up each time. Lesson accomplished.

There's also a fine line between making Shane think and giving him new tools to get into trouble with. I can't say it always goes my way. This time felt like a success.

Appraiser Approved

Got the word Tuesday the VA appraiser approved the house. We're going forward with the sale. There was a radon test in place when I got home.

Also, finally got a price on the flooring install (after it was done). They paid more than we would have wanted to pay, but it wasn't an exorbitant price grab. They were the only crew that could work on our schedule to make the appraisal timeline (even though it was more like they met him at the door and worked through him).

As far as I know, we are on track for next Tuesday.

Garbage Rider

Some days are still cold, but Spring is here.

Shane discovered his new garbage trucks from Nana are large. Large enough to ride.

I'm well aware that their use as a vehicle is not intended.

I inwardly cringe whenever Shane hops on. He's going to pancake at some point. That's the price of playing the game.

I swept all the gravel out of the way to try and prevent the sudden stops. I don't let him drive towards the dumpster either. The driveway flattens out towards the street so it helps him come to a manageable spot.

No big spills yet. He's fallen forward a few times, but nothing that's required a band-aid.

I think of it as "reflex training."

This is where my parenting philosophy and Carrie's diverge. She works to eliminate risks and is more cautious. I figure that if it hurts, Shane will learn not to do it. Either that, or he'll learn to be more careful in the future. That's how it worked with my siblings and me (Oh, the stories.....).

On my side, I want Shane to have a sense of adventure and confidence. I want him to try new things. Sometimes he'll fail and sometimes he'll succeed. I work to help Shane avoid death and severe injury, but I'm not adverse to him collecting bumps, bruises, scrapes, or even a bloody nose (Chicks dig scars).

On Carrie's side, she wants Shane to live long enough to develop a sense of self-preservation. She has a point, too. He's pretty reckless. He'll try and run off into a crowd or try to sprint out through a parking lot without looking for cars. Shane moves first and thinks later (he's "Full of Mike"). I grabbed Shane the other day when he started to try and cross the street while a car was coming. The car was decently far away, clearly saw him, and came to a stop. However, Shane didn't notice it until after I stopped him and said, "LOOK."  ("A white car, Daddy!" -- and that's why I stopped you, kid)

In the end, we both want whats best for Shane. Carrie knows how I feel and I know how she feels. We talk and work out whatever's needed, because that's what we believe good marriages do. It works well for us. As Shane gets older, we hope he'll see and learn from that.

And thus, I turned a short fun post into a longer rambling one. If you don't want to read, just watch the video!

Calendar

Not that I'm counting...

Visuals rock. I love crossing things off of lists!

Wrestling Party

I completely forgot about the wrestling get together on Sunday. It started at 1:00 PM. I looked at a clock a little after 3:00 PM and realized my gaffe. Shane resisted naptime and did not fall asleep until around 2:00 PM. I felt horrible. It got lost in the midst of everything. I really wanted to go, too.

Sunday Friends

"How'd the boys do today?" I asked the Sunday School teacher. 

He looked tired. "Shane and Daniel are like baking soda and vinegar!" He still smiled. "They feed off each other and keep going." 

They certainly do! The teacher said he had to separate the boys for music time. "Shane, you go here. Daniel, you go over there. Colton(?), you sit back there." Now, I want to know who the third boy is! Ha ha!  

Daniel and Shane sprinted away together after we picked them up. They passed their Sunday School teacher again on the way. "Just like that! All full of energy."

We're going to miss Daniel's family when we move.

We went over to their house after church for breakfast. Mike cooked chocolate chip pancakes, applegate bacon, and eggs. The boys played. Baby Eleanor watched some before her nap.

It was a good play session. Carrie and I got to sit with Mike and Jessica and talk with minimum tattling and squabbles. They only knocked the big chair over once (they are hyper).

Carrie mentioned that we could visit from time to time. Jessica mentioned they had a guest room if I was ever on the streets up their way, too. I don't know if we'll stay in touch after all the distance, but I'm thrilled we got to be neighbors. I hope that the new family moving in plugs in and their kids become friends with Daniel's family, too!

And Another Thing...

The bug inspector said we had carpenter bees in our deck. There were three hole he marked. I have not seen many bees around the house the last couple of years, so of course I investigated.

Two of the holes were bumpkiss. I stuck my finger and a pen in. They went nowhere. The last one left room for doubt (and that's me, the skeptical home-owner who doesn't want to pay for one more thing, admitting it). With a flashlight and a pen it looked like the hole could turn and continue to run along the grain. Looked like I had to pay up.

The inspector was a stand-up guy on the phone when I called. He remembered my house as the one "with the basement getting torn up." One more thing off the to-do list on the road to closing.

Saturday Easter Egg Hunt

The move keeps Carrie and I occupied, but Shane is not forgotten. On Saturday, his school had an open-house Easter Egg hunt. I took him while Carrie packed.

The eggs were not all hidden when we arrived. We colored and played some in Shane's classroom while we waited.

I spotted a certain poster. I had Shane sit next to it for a picture.

Soon enough, the staff called everyone outside for the egg hunt.

It was an Egg frenzy. Kids ran, screamed, cried, and grabbed as many eggs as they could.

Shane grabbed six. He might have gotten a few more, but he had trouble putting them in his bag (which was rather Halloweenish....but that's what I had in the car!).

He happily traded them in for candy.

After the Great Hunt (or War), we did some arts and crafts.

Then it was time for Round 2.

Can you tell how excited Shane was?

Shane only walked away with two eggs this time. He zigged when he should have zagged and ran where all the eggs were already harvested.

Thankfully, Shane was happy to get any candy. We ran around and played while the trade-in line died down, so I was able to prevent him from seeing the older kids' hauls.

Shane loved the Easter Bunny. However, he had a weird way of showing it. He kept running away.

Whenever the bunny looked his way, Shane booked it. Then if the bunny turned around he tried to sneak closer in. When the bunny turned back around...., well, rinse, wash, and repeat.

Eventually, the bunny cornered Shane for a high-five!

When we left, Shane said, "I'm going to miss the Easter Bunny." He's a cute kid (if I do say so myself).

Then Shane added, "Is the Easter Bunny going to come to my house?"

Carrie and I will have to make sure there's an egg hunt in Charlottesville!

BUNNIES!

We bumped into an Easter Bunny at the mall on Friday. Mommy had to coax him to give a high-five!

New Basement in Progress - The Finale

Basement in Progress Post 1 (in case you missed it)

Thursday, I came home to find the floor installed.

The floors were not painted, yet.

 
It was clearly a work still in progress.

We did not know when the appraiser would come by on Friday, so we had hoped to be finished Thursday night.

Martir showed up around 8:00 PM with dinner for the crew. They ate and stayed until 8:30 PM before calling it quits. They weren't done. 

Friday, the appraiser came at 10:00 AM. The crews were still at work. Hopefully, that doesn't hurt us. We won't know until we see the report he submitted.

The basement was finished when I arrived home.

It looks good.

The dome lights are a huge improvement.

We paid extra for a floor that can survive a flood should one happen again. I pray things stay dry.

Personally, I prefer Carrie's sense of style better. I pulled these off the listing online.

We are a little closer to being done. We never got a quote on the floor, so I am a little worried about that. We did not have much of a choice. The crew needs to pick up some of their mess, too.

It's hard to believe only eight days have passed. It feels like a whirlwind. I'm ready to sign the dotted line and move on! We've done our part to keep the economy healthy and employ people. 

From our vantage point, the timing of the flood stunk. I have faith there is a greater plan that this fits into perfectly. Maybe this gave the current people the basement they really wanted. Maybe this kept someone on the construction team employed when he really needed it. Or maybe this whole point of this was to build or faith and let us empathize with someone fifty years down the line ("This one time, we tried to sell our house and the basement flooded! Surprise!"). Who knows?

On to the next (whatever it may be!).