We Made It (and we didn't kill each other!)

We're here. Really, really here. Well, in Eau Claire that is. We're staying at a hotel tonight and we close on the new house at 9am tomorrow. We did the walk-through this afternoon and the boys ran around the empty house all excited. Hank is especially excited about what I am calling the Kid Pit, which is our finished basement. Our playroom in Maine was in the bonus room above the garage, which was nice but this will give them more space and Mike can have a little man cave down there as well. It's actually the one room in the house that has been recently updated. 

The rest of the house wasn't as bad as I remembered - the interior trim (doors, crown moldings, baseboards, etc.) needs to be painted white, wallpaper needs to be removed, and the flooring needs to be replaced but otherwise everything is in excellent shape. We met one of the next-door neighbors, a 16-year old boy who was really friendly and has a 19-year old sister (potential babysitter?). I asked him how long he had lived there, and he looked at me like I was crazy. "My whole life," he said, like duuuhhh.  Apparently most of the people on the street have lived there since it was built, so that is nice to hear. We'll be the youngins  on the block.

Oh, and happy birthday to me! We started out the morning with Hank going down the hotel elevator ahead of us, by himself. We grabbed the next elevator and when we got to the lobby, he was nowhere to be found on the 1st floor. Mike started racing up the steps.  My heart started pounding, and I now know what it feels like to break out into a cold sweat. I took the elevator back up to our floor, where he was sitting outside our room crying.  I gave him a kiss and a hug as relief washed over me. Then I screamed at him. 

The trip out here was not that bad - today we had a "short" day - only 5 hours. (I never in my life thought I would consider a 5-hour drive a "short" day). Both boys were amazing in the cars. Hank was fed a steady diet of Curious George, The Little Mermaid, Lilo & Stitch, and chocolate teddy grahams. I don't know what went on in Mike and Georgie's car, but they made it here in one piece, so I really don't care.  We made good time and rarely ran into traffic or construction, except in Illinois, which is ALWAYS under construction. I remember that from my driving-to-Indiana days. After a particularly rough section of construction around Rockford, we had to pay yet another toll, and I actually asked the toll booth attendant, "You mean you are going to charge me $1 for that mess back there?" And Mike made me get receipts for all the tolls, so he can claim them on our income taxes next year. Um, yeah, that 60 cent toll is really gonna make a dent, honey. But I did it anyway.

Our stuff is supposed to arrive on Wednesday. Tomorrow our washer and dryer get delivered, so I can make a dent in the 6 loads of dirty laundry that are festering in the car right now. (Why do our dirty clothes stink so bad? Are we really that dirty?) Our cars are so gross, I cannot even begin to describe. If I never eat another sandwich from our cooler again, it will be too soon. 

So I'm not sure when I'll post again - our internet gets hooked up on Wednesday, but we'll see if I get around to posting!