Movers & Shakers

Damon was gone for the last ten days before we left White Salmon. He had to start his new job and find a house for us to rent. We thought it would be easier to do it that way, rather than flying down for a house-hunting trip and then moving the whole family down before his first day at work.

We will NEVER do that again.

Just try packing up a whole house--while also keeping it clean and tidy for showings to potential buyers--and taking care of four children as a single mom, and you'll agree with me. Gathering the boxes alone was such a monumental chore that I didn't fully anticipate until it was done. (Thank goodness to some friends who stopped to say goodbye and then offered their attic-ful of boxes on moving day, or we wouldn't have made it.) It was a hard ten days.

But, we finally made it to Saturday, September 1st: Moving Day.  Damon flew into Portland from San Jose and picked up a giant Penske truck. He arrived on our driveway around 12 or 1 o'clock. I put him right to work taking apart beds and packing up the TV and computer. Luckily some neighbors showed up that morning to help pack, along with another friend who'd already put in some late nights with me earlier in the week. They got the kitchen finished and just generally saw things that needed to be done and did them.  Another friend watched my children most of the morning. I'm so grateful to the many people who helped me so much that week, whether it was taking kids, bringing boxes, or packing up. A few of you in particular know who you are and know that I really wouldn't have been able to make this move without you. Thank you.  

After Damon got home, he went and picked up the kids. He hadn't seen them for over a week and wanted to have a little time with them before shipping them off to yet another friend's house for the rest of the day while we loaded the truck.  The kids LOVED the moving truck and had great fun going up and down the ramp and running in the emptiness.

 

 

Before loading could begin in earnest, our good friend Carla arrived to pick up the kids and our luggage.  We swapped car keys and she took the kids in our van to her house for the rest of the day, even doing Damon's dirty laundry at her house that night. We spent the night there after we got our house emptied and cleaned.

That emptying wouldn't have happened without the 20 or 30 men and teenagers from our ward and neighborhood who showed up to help us load the truck. I wasn't quite ready for them when they arrived--I know, I was one of those people--but was sure I could stay ahead of them. Nope. Things went so fast. I wished I'd gotten a photo of our front lawn, since at one point it was just covered with boxes and furniture as we had to slow down and make sure we were getting the big stuff in. Many of us were quite sure that everything was not going to fit.

 

Finally, and with a big sigh of relief, we got the last of our possessions into the moving truck--some of them quite precariously--and were able to pull the door down.

 

On Sunday we attended church one last time in White Salmon before leaving town. I'm really glad things worked out that way. Every other time I saw someone and said goodbye in the preceding days, it didn't quite seem final since I always felt like there was some chance of running into them again.  This way we had most of our friends in one place and got to say goodbye and then really leave. It gave me a kind tidy finality that I think I needed after the stress of the previous weeks.

After leaving the church we drove back to our empty house so the kids could have a last chance to see the house. We had a picnic on the porch--no crumbs inside!--and changed into our traveling clothes before setting off. I drove the children in the minivan and Damon drove the moving truck. We drove to Grants Pass that night and then finished the trip the next day, arriving in Milpitas around 4:00.

At 5:00 Monday evening, about a dozen people from the church in Milpitas showed up to unload the truck. Damon had been able to attend our new ward the week before and make some contacts that helped pull together the moving crew for us.

Damon's parents also came down, stayed overnight, and helped with the kids, pizza delivery, and other essentials. That was a big help, and we're very grateful to be living so much closer to family now. We still find ourselves missing White Salmon, of course, but have felt very welcomed here and are settling into our home. I'll post some photos of the house later.