The 2 days we had movers were pretty rough. I've had much better experiences with movers, I'll just leave it at that. I was concerned we wouldn't get things done in time and we had plans to leave and hotels booked. I think Travis had worse once, but I wasn't there, I was on an oil rig on the slope. Oswin was an angel and napped in the wrap all day, but after a few hours that is extremely tiring even when it's going well. The second day, when everything was being loaded so doors were open all day, was quite cold and had some rain and bad weather. I felt bad for the animals. Kitty spent the day in her kennel, Roxi was locked in the front seat of my car, and Dinger had to be unceremoniously shoved in a coat closet for hours. I'd planned on having the dogs outside but not in the rain.
The actual trip here wasn't awful. Travis took the animals and booked it in 2 days so we didn't see him much. Oswin hates the car, so I was concerned, but he really only cried 3 or 4 times over the 3 day drive and just for 10 or 15 minutes. Lyra, on the other hand, was the actual devil. I expected her to be a pro traveler like the last time we did this drive. I think she was mainly stressed with a side of not feeling great. It was understandable but awful to deal with. She's nearly back to normal now minus an urgent care trip for a weird rash and sore throat that the pediatrician was concerned was scarlett fever. I never knew kids could just get viral rashes. It's happened at least twice now. Someone should tell you that before you have kids. The weather was ok for us, there was a couple hours of dicey wind and blowing snow with some icy roads on the very last day, but we made it.
Lyra provided some comic relief when she wasn't channelling Satan. I made a comment one evening about how thirsty I was. She piped up with, "Mama, you thirsty for beer??" Why, yes, yes I am, after 2 long days of driving with children. She also made up a song at one point. We can't figure out the words she's saying but it sure sounds like she's singing about boobies. Who knows.
It only took me a couple weeks to decide I was done with this parenting alone thing. Now my parents are helpful with the kids, but it's just a different dynamic. I had to take Lyra to the urgent care (we have both an ER and an urgent care visit on the books for this ove because of course it can't be low stress and uncomplicated) and my mom came along to help. However, once Lyra had a strep test and Oswin needed to nurse, I ended up with one kid on each knee, despite having backup. Having help is great, it really is, but it doesn't beat having the other parent around.
We spent a good amount of time scouring zillow and craigslist looking for rentals. I made lots of calls and sent emails and checked with random acquaintances. I looked into tiny houses, busses, airbnb's, and pretty much everything we could think of. The problem was the pets plus needing something short term. Buying sooner rather than later is easier with a relocation program. And no one wants to rent to you if you have a cat AND a large dog. Sometimes you find one or the other but rarely both.
So that brings us to the next adventure. 576 square feet, one bedroom, one bathroom, two kids, a cat, and a dog. Technically it isn't a tiny house, those are smaller than 500 square feet. But it is pretty small. On par with my first couple apartments. Dinger has to stay with my parents. Finding a short term rental is hard. Add on a cat and a small dog and it's even harder. A large dog in top of that has proved to be impossible. I love my family and I don't mind living with them, but having Travis nearly 4 hours away just isn't very doable long term. So we will be renting a tiny place until we sell and get a new house. We will be borrowing a lot of my parents stuff (it's ok, they have spares plus my brother left his stuff here and ran off to Spain. They have 9 peanut butters. NINE. That I've found.) and probably buying a duplicate thing or two while everything from our house (that didn't come in the cars with us) is in storage. Like coffee, that's probably our biggest indulgence. We have an espresso machine but while that's in storage we're getting a cold brew and a coffee siphon. Because we really like our daily caffeine to be high quality.
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| Peanut butter |
Travis always said he never wanted a tiny house. Or to live close to his in-laws (just kidding). Travis also didn't want a cat. Or a small dog. Yet here we are. Poor guy.
Anyway, that mini move is next weekend. Wish us luck and lend us a sleeper sofa or a loveseat for a few months. Only kind of kidding.
For now, the kids are enjoying being around the grandparents and uncle Chris. Lyra is so sweet with Chris, it's funny to watch them interact. He sticks up for her when we try and tell her to drink her water or eat her food or do quiet time or whatever. And she will very happily help bring him things or hand him things or play games and do crafts with him.
I'm anxious to get settled into our own space a little more. It's hard to make a new routine with kids and I think it will be good to get them to their own home with mom and dad and start making new friends and getting to know our new town. We will visit the grandparents a lot. The next weekend when we visit, there will be 7 adults, 2 kids, 4 dogs, and 1 cat. Plus, my dad promised Lyra a fish. Also, it's always just kind of crazy around here. Today for example, one of the dogs brought home a pig head. And a flock of turkeys came to visit.
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| The dead pig head. |
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| Turkeys. At least 15 of them. |
They won't miss us around here when we move out. Plus, we'll be back.
