We are a servant to the new house.  It rules over our every move.  It works us to the bone. 

Jon and I are exhausted with a big ol’ capital E.  Our bodies just ache and our feet could be rubbed for days and still not feel ready to pound the street.  Jon has been absolutely amazing with the new house.  He wanted to be in charge of the entire master bedroom project and all of the direction relating to the painting and molding and touch-ups in the other rooms.  He had some great helpers (shout out to Jason and Dave) but he really kicked it up a huge notch to get our master bedroom and the rest of the house together prior to our move on Tuesday.  He reinforced his reputation as “the boss” during the last month – he certainly had to ream our helpers a few times to get ’em moving or lead them in an organizational meeting to put their heads around what they needed to do first, second, third….  But he also created a reputation for himself as a hard and dedicated worker, willing to make five trips to the hardware store or paint trim or carry drywall.  He has put some serious sweat and energy into our new home, which makes me love our new home even more. 

Maria dusting

Maria and Mario have been so great through all of this business, too.  Maria helped me pack (she found a little vase box and shoved her undies and Mario’s undies in it; taped it; and then proceeded to write (Maria’s undeez and Mario’s).  She loves to write with a permanent marker so she helped us detail the items in each box.  She is getting better at spelling but I have to admit, I still love to see how she spells certain words that don’t sound anyway like they are spelled (e.g., kichen and cloos (kitchen and clothes)).  She also did a great job dusting; she finds it a challenge to try to get cabinet knobs as sparkling clean as possible and desk tops looking new.  I think she also loves spraying the Endust can everywhere.  She had the choice to head to her friend’s b-day party on Saturday morning or help pack and she wanted to pack.  It was only after I talked with her about the fun she would miss out on and the fact that we would be packing all day that she went to the party.  She rode her new bike all they way there with me only holding onto her on the hills and at the corners of streets.  She is getting so big!  And once we got there, I wanted to stay!  Her friend’s mom made a sheet cake with skewers of timbits poked throughout it.  Cinnamon rolls, too!  Heaven. If only a gallon of chocolate ice cream was beside it, I would have planted myself right there for the day. 

Mario doesn’t quite put forth the effort that Maria does in helping to pack or clean.  He uses all of his energy playing Wii sports or watching tv.  He has gotten his share of tv shows in the last few weeks because that is how we keep him busy while we clean, pack, and clean some more.  It keeps him in one spot so I don’t have to worry about where he ran off to in the neighborhood.  Hopefully, not all of his brain cells have been killed off.  We test him every once in a while with a hard question, and he responds correctly so I think he is fine.  He will play Wii tennis and boxing and golf for an hour or more.  He gets so competitive with the computer and he still spends a good amount of time “creating” his player.  The boy has to look super cool before he will play a game (which usually means black spiked hair, tinted glasses, and super skinny).  He also has gotten into the Barbie.com games based on Maria’s fascination with them.  He sang “I’m a Barbie girl” while waiting in Stauf’s coffee line yesterday and then proudly showed off a kickin’ purple dress he placed on a barbie.

Mario keeping busy with the Barbie.com game

I have not talked to either of the kids about the move much.  Jon and I ask if they are excited to move and both say “yes; Maria emphatically so.  I try to remind them that this current house has given us a lot of memories and there will be times they miss it very much.  Mario just shrugs his shoulders and moves on but Maria seems to process it and explain it more to Mario.  The other day when I told them we would be moving soon and asked how they felt, Mario responded “fine, mom.”  Maria turned him around to face her and said “Mario, mom and dad brought you and me home to this house when we were little babies and watched us walk in this house and get older.”  I had just mentioned all of those things to her the day before when I talked with her about why I sometimes got sad about moving.  God love her.  Between the two of us, hopefully Mario will get some of our compassion!

And so, here we are.  Two days away from moving into our new home and sleeping in our new rooms, and waking up to our new street.  I feel exhilarated while at the new house and melancholy while at the old one.  Tomorrow, I am going to come home early, sit in the living room of this current house and soak in all of the energy and memories and love and laughter swirling around this darling home.  And then I am going to plant myself in the family room of our new house and release all of it into the air for our new home to soak up.