Moving day has arrived and gone, and we transferred nearly everything into our new home last weekend! Loren happens to be an all-star at driving 24-foot trucks. I just stand and watch in awe has he deftly maneuvers such bulk, backing into driveways, over curbs, and between bushes. 

Luckily, several years ago when carrying mattresses down a narrow fire escape from Loren's Wicker Park apartment, we saw the wisdom (and sanity-saving logic) of hiring moving men, vowing to do so from that point forward. After pricing people out, we used Tetris Movers both this move and last summer, at least to help carry our solid mahogany furniture up and down stairs, and we've been very happy with their work. 

 

The weather couldn't have been more perfect for a summer-time move, complete with sunshine and a light breeze. Since Memorial Day was hot and humid, and we're still without air conditioning, we had a few concerns about how things would go.

We were VERY lucky to have a great crew helping...both my mom and Loren's mom, and Julie, Loren's sister. My mom drove up from Effingham and scrubbed out the entire house while I was at work all day Thursday, then helped me transfer and unpack our whole kitchen Friday afternoon (Loren did a great job with the glassware). Loren's mom packed and brought lunch for us all to eat on Saturday--they both carried boxes and boxes and boxes with unending energy. What would we ever do without our moms?

We also had several friends stop by to see the house and help out--both big and smaller helpers!

We still have lots of unpacking and organizing, rearranging, searching--and hopefully finding--of things before we know where everything is around the Madden home in Ann Arbor. Even with a slight degree of disheveled chaos, I am absolutely amazed at how our house has been transformed. The painting continues with many more projects yet to be done, but things are going well : )