Goodbye ... Hello

Yesterday was a momentous day in the Feitner household - the moving truck came. It was the biggest one Penske had (26 foot), and luckily came with a ramp and a lift gate (which was extremely helpful by the end of the evening when muscles got tired and furniture got heavier!)!

The truck arrived at 4 pm, and within minutes the men were working up a sweat! All together, 11 (or was it 12?) men (who came and left at different times) loaded all of our earthly possessions into the truck, one van, and one of our cars in a mere 4.5 hours! This even included a break (during a passing light shower) for dinner (sandwiches, chips, fruit & soda).

Aaron and I had a friendly bet going. I thought everything would fit - he wasn't so sure. The wager was a caramel mocha from Starbux. Well, after lots of creativity (and building up), I won! Yippee! The final things were finagled in, and the door was pulled down at 8:27 pm! The last bit took lots of creativity (notice the upside-down couch). Great job, guys!

So, finally it was time for the men to just visit a bit and let everyone's muscles relax a little before mustering up the strength to go home. Alex took the opportunity to dream!

My goal was to head out today by noon - and we were only 7 minutes late! (Not bad!) Aaron and his dad (driving the van) got on the turnpike and headed West. I decided it was time to get my prize, so I swung through Starbux (and did two other errands) before leaving town. But since I could drive a lot faster than they could, I caught up with them well before Pittsburgh.

After checking into the hotel, it was time to do the walk-thru at the new house. This was Alex's first time seeing it in person - and he was THRILLED! But he was less than thrilled that the kids were trick-or-treating in the neighborhood while we were there (and he wasn't). But we met some of the neighbors who seemed incredibly nice (the one is also a stay-at-home mom!), and they offered Alex some goodies. That helped to soften the blow of not dressing up.

While we finalized things with the realtor about tomorrow's settlement, Alex had a great time playing in the leaves. He "raked" them into a pile with his feet and jumped in them over and over again. He was extra excited because the development we just moved from didn't really have any leaves on the ground for him to play with. Finally - a real yard!

So - tomorrow morning we officially buy the house. Tomorrow five friends drive to town for the weekend to help us unload the truck, to get the furniture placed, and to do odds and ends around the house. Tomorrow we officially become Pittsburgh-ers - guess it's time to start rooting for the Steelers! Go team!