Cut Off in the Keweenaw: What an Ordeal!

I don't hear that phrase very often anymore, but I think it applies - if ordeal is defined as "an experience that is very unpleasant or difficult." (Merriam-Webster)

What was the ordeal? Packing and moving most of our possessions - and many of my mom's possessions - with a U-Haul - in November - in the snow!

Does that mean we're not excited about our new house?
Of course not.
Does that mean we're not looking forward to unpacking our possessions at the new house?
Absolutely not.
Does that mean we wish we would have stayed in Saginaw?
No way!
No pain, no gain. Right?

OK, back to the ordeal. Let me set this up. The new house isn't done enough for me to move into yet. Steve is working on the house and staying there during the week. He comes home on Saturday nights and leaves again on Monday mornings. Call me crazy, but I want a functioning bathroom and a functioning kitchen; and I prefer to live without saws, scaffolding and piles of sawdust in my living spaces. I know. I'm really spoiled that way. Mom is moving into our Calumet house. When we told her to give notice to her landlord, we had no idea that winter was going to arrive so heavy - so early. The snow has slowed some of the progress on the new house the last 2 weeks, but we decided to move many of our things anyway. The longer we wait, the deeper the snow will get for the next 4 or 5 months. We rented a U-Haul and enlisted some help. Our original intention was to move items in several trips in several days. As last weekend drew near and we watched the forecast, we knew we had to move as much as possible in one day and that day had to be Sunday - not what we would prefer, as we don't like to miss church. But, Sunday it was. It was a good decision, as the forecast proved to be true.

We picked up the U-Haul truck at 9:00 a.m. and the first piece of furniture left the Calumet house at 10:18 a.m.

It was the coffee table.

Yes, it was cold. Yes, that's a Yooper teen wearing shorts in November.

The crew worked really hard for 9 hours. They got things moved from the Calumet house to the basement of the new house. Then, they moved things (mostly boxes) from Mom's townhouse to our Calumet house. We ordered pizzas and ate during the final 20 laps of the Nascar race before they unloaded the last load from the truck.

The professional movers are coming on Tuesday to move our big items out of Calumet (bed, triple dresser, 2 armoires, washer, dryer and upright freezer). Then, they'll move everything remaining in Mom's townhouse into this house.

I did snap some photos on Sunday. Here's the kitchen BEFORE:

DURING:

AFTER:

That brown rug caught a lot of snow tracked across the living room, so I spread it out on the kitchen floor to dry.

Here's some of what's left in the office. I have to leave my desk, computer and printer set up in there to work on the church books until I make the permanent move to the new house. Mom will use this room as a guest room.

The front door area BEFORE:

AFTER:

Next, the living room the way it usually looked for the last 3 years:

Remember how our friends recently purchased a home up here in Mohawk? They aren't ready to make their permanent move yet (probably in 2016). When they were here 7 weeks ago, we gave them our plaid sofa to use in their Mohawk house until they move, and we moved our recliner from the office into the living room. So, here's the most recent BEFORE view of the living room.

DURING:

AFTER - with 2 of Mom's end tables and her lawn chairs.

Moving during the winter is extremely messy and hard on your carpeting. I was doing my best to keep the traffic patterns covered at the beginning of the day on Sunday, but it was impossible with 5 men making hundreds of trips back and forth. I had a lot to do and couldn't stay in the living room all day rearranging rugs, so I gave up and decided not to obsess about it. Since the professional movers are coming on Tuesday, it made no sense to have the carpet cleaned this week. Mom is thinking about replacing the carpeting in January anyway.

Moving is also extremely hard on your back. The men held up better than I did. By the time I finished cleaning up the floors on Sunday night, mine was in pretty bad shape. This was my view all day on Monday.

Yep, the bedroom ceiling. Those blue lawn chairs were the only things I left myself to sit on. Not too smart for someone with a bad back. Steve brought me one of our collapsible chairs on Tuesday that was large enough to "pad" with some firm pillows. That enabled me to sit with ice on my lower back - very, very helpful - and my back had improved significantly by Tuesday night.

Mom needed some smaller furniture for this living room, and the furniture store was able to deliver her new sofa, chair and ottoman yesterday - a little too floral for my taste, but she loves it. The pieces are very comfortable, so that's helpful for my back, too.

What's next? Again, the movers are coming on Tuesday, and Mom is moving into our Calumet house. On Wednesday, the store will deliver her new bed and small chest freezer.

Since I can't move into the new house yet, we're leaving our queen guest bed in the Calumet basement. The basement has a small bathroom with a shower. We'll give Mom the full use of the bedroom and bath on the main floor, and I'll crash downstairs until the new house is done enough to move into (by Jan. 1st?). Steve will stick to his current schedule of returning to Calumet on Saturday nights and leaving on Monday mornings.

Most of our pictures are still on the Calumet walls, and our things are still in the kitchen cupboards and pantry. I'll do the cooking and we'll use my pots and pans and dinnerware. As our permanent move-out date draws near, I'll pack my kitchen items and unpack Mom's things. The wall decor will probably morph into her wall decor throughout the month of December.

Wow, this post has taken me way too long to prepare. I cut my finger on a dog food can the other day, and I'm a 10-finger typist, not a 2-thumb texter. I was able to downsize to this smaller bandage yesterday afternoon,