I didn’t write a post yesterday. Instead, I filmed a virtual tour of our new house and you probably already saw it on Facebook. If, for some strange reason, you are not following Tenor Dad on Facebook, here is a link to the page so that you can see the video and click “like” and then get all future updates! Yes, we are in a new house. For real! We spent our first night here last night, which neans we got to discover all sorts of new things! Very exciting! You can see above that Bear has already unpacked his box! Here are a just a few examples of things that you discover in your first 24 hours in a new place.
- Are there lights? – You don’t really know this until it gets dark, but you will soon notice whether or not there are lights in every room! Spoiler alert: there are not. Some of the rooms have lights that do not work. Some of the rooms have no lights at all. Other rooms have way too many lights! The upstairs bathroom alone has four light switches and more lights than switches! Luckily for us we are used to this. The co-op does not include any lights in the bedrooms, so we came equipped with some tall lamps that we put to good use. Next time we will check before it gets dark!
- What was that noise? – Any time you are in a new place, you will need to adjust to the new noises. When we moved to the co-op we found ourselves on a major truck route, so we got used to large truck noises rumbling by at all hours. I don’t even notice them anymore! But here in the parsonage there are no trucks. There are other, undefined things (probably ghosts/monsters) making sounds in the night. We’ll get used to them at some point. Once we figure out what they are.
- Have you lost your cat? – The answer to this question is clearly yes, because you have large rooms full of boxes that are perfect hiding places for frightened kittens to escape to when they are nervous about being in a new place. You may spend several hours looking through the many rooms in search of your cat, but don’t worry! You will find the cat at some point, meowing from your son’s bedroom in the middle of the night, having spent several hours snuggling in none of the locations you had been dissecting.
- Where is that darn water shut-off valve for when the place is flooding? – Poor Chesty Jillians. He did so much work on this place, and I’ll bet he was hoping to not get random calls at night asking where the water shut-off valve was. But he is a very good sport. He knew right away that the washer probably had a bad connection, and where the valve was to stop the flood. Now it is all fixed, and we probably owe him at least two dinners for everything he has done, and continues to do.
- Is there hot water? – Another thing he had to come do is get that hot water heater working again, after it was quickly and shockingly discovered this morning in the shower that there is, in fact, no hot water in the house. Well, there wasn’t. Now there is. And I couldn’t fix it because we don’t have a basement key, so he had to come in on his day off and turn it back on for us. Thanks, Chesty! (I think we are up to three dinners…)
- How much exercise am I going to get living here? – Boy, in the co-op we only really had one room, so everything was in it. Getting ready for camp this morning I spent half the time running up and down the front and back stairs trying to bring things from the kids’ rooms to the kitchen, to the living room, I really got a workout! This is great! Now I don’t need a gym membership; I just need my kids to keep forgetting things on the other side of the house one at a time.
- How is the water pressure? – You know, I really like my showers to just beat the crap out of me. None of that wimpy dribbly stuff for me. I will know right away after we move somewhere how happy I will be there based on the water pressure. Because showers are one of my favorite things, and if they are good, well, then everything is good. And how is the water pressure here, you ask? Glorious. Ooooooooh, I am so excited to take so many more showers! Pow! Pow! POW!
- Does the shower actually drain? – Well, no, but neither did the shower drain at the co-op, so we feel right at home. Old pipes, probably. Or I am just a very cloggy person. Although in this case it filled up the tub before I ever even got in it, so we might have to have that looked at. Another day. I think Chesty needs a break.
- Will you love it? – You don’t need a year, or a month, or even a week to know if you will be okay where you have landed. You will know pretty quickly. Ruby, who spent most of the week being as miserable as possible because she didn’t want to move, spent the whole evening with a smile on her face as she excitedly set up her new, brother-free room. She will not admit this of course. When asked, she will decry the move with every breath. But she likes it here, despite not wanting to. Edward slept in his new room, in his new bed, in the new house, the entire night. He didn’t wake up and get into my bed, which he has done every night for the past two years! He was buzzing with joy about his new room when he woke up this morning. We don’t need another day to figure it out. This place is amazing, and we love it. And once all the kinks are out, you are going to find a very happy family here. And you can quote me as knowing that on day one.