Grandma and Grandpa Return

Today, Grandma and Grandpa were scheduled to get back from three weeks abroad in France. They spent the first couple of weeks leading tours and a river cruise. The final week was spent in a villa with Uncle Chris, Aunt Rachel, Sophia, Noah, and Nate. 

Carrie wanted them to come home to find their home in better condition than they left it. It would be a show of love and appreciation - Carrie style. 

Which meant we had a lot of cleaning to do. Most of the random fixes were already done (though we did have an odd moment with the knockout on the disposal so that the dish washer would run). Carrie made an awesome ramen for lunch to keep us going.

Carrie asked me to drop off the recycling while she cleaned the floors (probably to keep me from messing them up as much as to help!).

Maps took me on a World Rally Championship tour. I was driving down a gravel road when a rooster ran up to my car and I clipped the edge of a pothole gawking at it.

I took a different route home.

I came back to see Carrie had been busy.

She handed me socks and said, "Tread lightly."

Grandma and Grandpa's flight would land in Richmond until 6:35 PM. We had to clean up the cleaning supplies and then clean up ourselves before picking them up.

Today I learned that you're supposed to go back and buff granite counters after using the polish to really make them shine.

Grandma and Grandpa landed early, but we were late picking them up. We left a few minutes late, turned around to make sure the garage door was down, and then hit a wall of traffic.

Carrie and Grandma hugged to greet each other and remember Boo.

Grandma and Grandpa were coming off a six hour time difference which made it around 1:30 AM for them when we picked them up. We thought they'd be exhausted and want to go straight home, but they asked to go to Longhorn Steak House for dinner. We got to hear all sorts of tales about the many rules of France, cave art, low bridges versus river boats, bullet trains, and the weird airplane food combination of popcorn and ____ (which apparently worked!).

Traffic was better on the way home and our cats greeted the newly returned homeowners.

Carrie was happy to show them her handiwork around the house. Grandpa had been planning on attacking the chores after they got over their jetlag, but he didn't have to worry about it now!

While at dinner, Grandma brought up how badly she needed to clean out her pantries and Carrie simultaneously breathed a sigh of relief and smother a Cheshire cat smile. Grandma noticed so it wasn't a total surprise, but everybody was happy and that's what counts.

It was a full day with everyone retiring to their beds early. Tomorrow would be another full day with closing on the house and moving in.

My only regret: Tonight was D&D night with Patrick DMing. I agreed to play and was looking forward to it long before I knew we would be picking up Grandma and Grandpa tonight. It came to light while I was updating our calendar. I thought the timing would still work out and then we hit a few snags on the road. Then I thought that I could be late until we went out for dinner. I'm hugely grateful for everything Grandma and Grandpa have done (and are doing) for us, so I didn't even mention it to them. By the time we did get home and I logged on the game was over. Family has to take precedence over fun, though.

The Purge

It started Wednesday. Carrie decided to do a deep cleaning and purge.

She purged all the outdated magazines and travel brochures she could find and had Shane and I load them in the Bucket 1 for a recycling center run.

There were only so many obvious things she could purge before she needed to talk to Grandma and Grandpa, though. Carrie wanted the cleaner and leaner house to be a surprise, homecoming gift, so she had to draw the line before she really wanted to. 

There are plenty of daily chores. Shane got to learn how to scoop a new type of litter.

And he practiced some stretching and acrobatics to access it!

Carrie designed a box to hold Boo's litter and prevent it scattering all over the floor whenever she covered her business. So far, it's working well!

The cats haven't helped. Boo throws up daily.

Every now and then I find a crusty spot that happened in the night or went unnoticed in the day. 

Carrie's done some vacuuming and cobweb clearing, but there's still work to be done. I find it hard to get in a dishes and laundry routine here since it's temporary, but I need to work on that. 

Getting Ready to Sell

Carrie sent me some pics, so I know she's finally feeling better (or at least, 'better-ish!'). She attacked Shane's room.

We're planning on putting the house up for sale in the spring, so there are things to be done.

I dislike moving. I like trips, vacations, and exploring new areas, but moving? It would be less painful if we were like a military family and had more experience and a system for doing it. We don't. There will be lots of packing, donating, trashing, and cleaning in the ensuing months. Carrie will want to fix all sorts of things and we will have to hash out what is worth fixing and what will be a diminished return.

On the plus side, the move has finally got Carrie moving on the bug! It's been sitting in the driveway forever and a day. I haven't overly cared, because it's her car and the property tax is minimal. It would have been nice to have a third working car, but alas. Carrie put the car up for sale and has already got some calls.

Unfortunately, it's not jumping. 

We'll see what sort of offers we get. It's a 2001, so it's not exactly new.