Timeline

The past three weeks have been full of upheaval and change for us. Here is a quick re-cap of what's been happening:

• January 8: (Thursday) Mr. Q is in New Hampshire, waiting to close on the house. Our teenager is preparing for her first semester exams of high school.
• January 9: We officially become homeowners!
• January 10: Mr. Q returns home.
• January 11: Our family pet, Bear, passes away unexpectedly. We have a going away party and birthday celebration for our youngest daughter at Chuck E. Cheese in Las Vegas.
• January 13: (Tuesday) The professional packers arrive to start boxing up everything. They inexplicably start with the toyroom. We have a small family birthday party with ice cream cake and sparklers. It was our last dinner and last night in our home.
• January 14: The packers return to finish up the house. We drag all of our suitcases and belongings to a Residence Inn.
• January 15: We say good-bye to our best friends in Las Vegas and the moving truck arrives. I spend most of the day cleaning.
• January 16: We finish cleaning the house. Our teenager finishes her final exams and says good-bye to her first high school. Mr. Q's co-workers have a good-bye luncheon for him at Claim Jumper. We eat one last meal at Del Taco and Chipotle (we let the kids choose). We take one last drive on The Strip, stopping at the famous "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" sign (for the first and only time).
• January 17: We fly from Las Vegas to Boston and then drive to our new home in New Hampshire. On the way, we stop for dinner, get muffins at Hannaford and clean up a potty accident. I am pleasantly surprised by all of the creature comforts Mr. Q and my in-laws have arranged for us at the house. Right around midnight, everyone is settled in and the first snowflakes start falling.
• January 18: (Sunday) Mr. Q spends over six hours shoveling the foot of snow that fell overnight and early Sunday, plus the snow that was already in the driveway when we arrived. I help out a little. Sears cancels the delivery of our new refrigerator due to the storm. I practice driving in the snow to pick up a few groceries; we use the back deck as a freezer and the garage as a refrigerator. We have our furnace serviced, but the technician actually makes the problem worse.
• January 19: My dear friend Amy and her boys come to visit. She brings us lunch and a dorm-size fridge to borrow.
• January 20: Barrack Obama is inaugurated as the 44th President of the United States. We listen on NPR. Later that day, our cable modem, telephone and television are connected. I check my email for the first time in days.
• January 21: Our new refrigerator arrives. We have the carpets steam cleaned. We spend $450 at the grocery store filling the new fridge and the pantry cupboard. After just a few nights of sleeping alone, our five year old is lonely and decides she does want to share a room with her younger sister. The baby insists on having his own room. We decide that I will be able to have my sewing room upstairs instead of in the basement.
• January 22: (Thursday) Mr. Q goes to work for the first time since we moved. I take my teenager to Home Depot to look at paint colors.
• January 23: Our stuff arrives!! My in-laws drive up to help with the kids while we set up the kitchen and some of the living room.
• January 24: We decide to make a "den" in the basement with a shared computer and space for our homeschooling supplies. I donate my computer to the room, which means I will not have it as a distraction in my sewing room. (I have mixed feelings about this).
• January 26: Mr. Q goes to work. Our vehicles arrive. I drive into Boston to pick up Mr. Q after he returns the rental vehicle. I make it to Logan without a map and with no stress.
• January 27: (Tuesday) I register my teenager at her new school and we get library cards.
• January 28: Another snow storm keeps Mr. Q at home. The furnance is finally repaired.
• January 29: The washing machine is finally repaired by Sears (after they miss two appointments). The kitchen, family room, bathrooms, master bedroom, baby's bedroom, girls' bedroom, den, playroom and dining room are almost fully unpacked. Nothing is decorated yet, but we have years to work on that. We also have some time to go through the totes of "storage" items we've accumulated over the years. I'm hopeful that we'll be able to get into a regular routine starting next week!