Old, new house to New, old house

Wow, that sounds almost like a Dr. Seuss title. Instead it's a simple description of our piecemeal move. If you ever thought to yourself "I'd like to be completely stressed out while pretending to be totally in control of every situation and manage to smile even though my children have asked me no less than a zillion times when we'll be there and when will our stuff be there" I suggest you commit this post to memory!
  Our journey starts in the Spring of 2013 when we realized we would be renting a house in TN that is smaller than the one we were currently residing in. In my sheer excitement at the prospect of living in a town that boasts more than just a Wal-Mart, I agreed that the kids and I (and our less than stable dog, Ollie) would move 2 weeks ahead of my husband. The plan was simple: the packers and movers would come to our FL house, I would load up my van with boys and pet and get to TN to await the moving truck all while said husband stayed in our empty (and peacefully quiet) FL house and continue to work. Easy, peasy lemon squeezie...
  Well, when I told the kids not to ask me "are we there yet?" I had no idea how many variations they would come up with-"what time is it? how far have we gone? how much farther do we have? how many more miles until we get there? how many minutes has it been? will we be there before or after lunch? are there ninjas in Tennessee?"
  Once we got to our new, old house it was game on or so I thought! It took the movers 5 days to get there!!!!! Imagine being stuck in an empty house with 2 wild spider monkeys with very few snacks and no toys and still attempting to get something done. NOT. A. CHANCE. They were used to our old, new house.

Notice the huge yard and fence designed to keep them contained?





  A house that needed very little maintenance, was well laid out, had more space, and had an abundance of friends. Pretty much the exact opposite of our new, old house. I'm not complaining about the new, old house. It has been somewhat updated and belongs to family so the rent is very affordable for the area but it's a BIG change for everyone. When we said goodbye to the old, new house we said good bye to a fenced yard, updated plumbing and electric, and walk-in closets.
   When our things finally arrived, they were several hours late. It seems the moving truck driver got lost. Seriously, who doesn't have a GPS in this day and age? Even my 4 year old talks about our GPS. But they did make up for it by having an extra guy help move our stuff off the truck. Plus, the kids got an impromptu dance lesson by 2 of the movers. There may not be anything funnier than watching 2 large black men trying to teach 2 very young, very white, very rhythmically challenged kids to dance. It was a good day.
   The getting our stuff high wore off quickly though. A day later, more like 12 hours later, my oldest gets up at 3:30am to inform my that his throat hurts. Uh oh. I know what's coming but I try with all my mom might to use the power of positive thought to make this just a run of the mill cold. No luck, apparently the super mom cape was lost in the move. A trip to the Urgent Care center later and we are awarded a genuine case of strep throat and some antibiotics.
  Furthermore, the thermostat was broken, none of the igniters on the stove were working, there may or may not be mold in the crawlspace, our couch was broken in the move and our dog decided to be a shy pooper (read: he would not poop while on his leash). He would simply disappear in the house and then we would smell why. This earned him the title of Phantom S#!tt@r when small ears aren't around. Did I also mention that we had no cable or internet during all of this. I know, I know #firstworldproblems. But it was brutal!
   It has been 3 weeks and a few margaritas since this disaster. Said husband joined us after about 2 weeks and we are finally getting settled in. Pictures are hung, multiple workmen have been in and out of the house and more are slated to come by. All in all I know it could have been worse but I truly hope it never is. I always thought I wanted to live in a historic home but this short experience has taught me that sometimes the vision is more fun than the reality. This new, old house is a mid-century ranch that we'll call home for a year and learn to love for the charm it offers while we build our new, new house. Even with all of the minor mishaps I have to say that this is a beautiful pit stop on the road to our "forever home".

Don't mind the ladder, some things are still a work in progress!