A new chapter begins, much as the other first chapter began, with the sounds of hammers and saws blaring in the background. Why would that be? Rather than replace old carpet with new carpet, we’re putting new hardwood flooring on the three downstairs rooms that didn’t have hardwood before. By the time they finish installing, sanding and staining, the whole downstairs will be of a piece. We decided while we were in Arizona that if we didn’t do it now, we’d never do it, and believe me, it’s happening.

Yesterday the moving van arrived from Tucson.  It spent the entire day parked at the bottom of our driveway, turning the barely two-lane street below into a barely one lane passage.  I’m sure the neighbors weren’t thrilled, although no one bothered coming up to the house to complain about it.

We spent the whole day trying to defy physics and see if we could cram the contents of two 4400 square foot houses into one.  Not easy.  To be sure, some of the furniture and extra rugs went to live next door in our property manager’s house. And most of the tools and a lot of the pots and pans kinds of things went into the former barn on the property which is now storage. A couple of bedside tables and a headboard went home with the young men who did most of the physical labor and heavy lifting moving entails.

Somewhere along the way, the underpinnings of the king-sized platform bed and the hardware for the Kawasaki electronic piano went astray.  “Have you gone through all the boxes?” the moving consultant asked me.  The answer to that question is a definite NO! There are literally hundreds of boxes involved, and considering the flooring issue, unpacking those at this time isn’t in the cards. We’re hoping to be able to order replacement hardware for the bed. Bill says he can find what he needs to fix the piano at Ace.  All I can say is more power to him.

For now the bulk of the furniture from the Seattle office, living room and dining room along with the art from Tucson is stacked in the dining room, the flooring of which was refinished earlier this year. The furniture from the bedroom is piled into our bathroom.  As for the dogs? They’re still at the Academy for Canine Behavior.  I expect they’ll be somewhat better behaved dogs when we get them back, but with workmen and movers coming and going, leaving doors and gates wide open, having Jojo and Mary here with us isn’t an option right now, especially since we’re destined to live upstairs until the flooring situation is complete.

The cars have been banished from the garage which is currently packed with boxes of books which include thousands of author copies which will need to be sorted and dealt with eventually, but not until after I finish writing the next Ali book.  Also in the garage are the furnishings, rugs, and household goods that migrated up from Tucson. In other words, it’s a circus right now, but hopefully the results will be worth it.

In other words, we’re safely home if not exactly settled.  

One day at a time, right?

All we have to do is keep on putting one step in front of the other.