Adventures in Moving: Preface

Recently we moved. We as in my family and I. We sold a smallish house and purchased a bigger house, and moved the whopping 1.2 miles down the road in what can only be described as "a typical move."

But, anyone who moves can tell you.. there is nothing typical about a typical move. The typical move experience is packed full of bizarre little incidents and inexplicable situations. Local oddities and global phenomenon. You, your old house, and your new house make up a kind of Bermuda Triangle where logic and reason enter on various plotted courses but vanish from the radar of common sense never to be seen nor heard from again.

Our moving experience was no exception. So, I thought while my memory still functioned in a near-average capacity, I would share some of the madness for your enjoyment. Laugh at my pain, I beg of you!

What will follow are scatter-shot recollections from this experience, arranged in some kind of attempt at being semi-coherant.

Why Move?

I had owned my house for about 15 years.. having purchased it when I was a bachelor. It was during "the seller's market" phase of the economy. It was quite difficult to find and purchase a good house back then (believe it or not), and I spent considerable time looking at houses and bidding on houses before I got one. It is a nice house, when I got it it was a fixer upper of sorts but had a basement and a separate garage, in a neighborhood that was in a great location. Great school system too.

I met my wife, we got married, and had kids and fixed up the house even more along the way. It was still small though. Not for one guy, and not for one couple, but definitely for a family of four. Especially when that family consists of two strapping young boys who start literally bouncing themselves off of walls for their enjoyment since they didn't have lots of room to run.

My mom, my wife, and her mom and dad all wanted us to move. For years I heard about it. Finally I decided.. maybe if it's me against everyone else.. maybe, just maybe, I should consider the idea that everyone else was right and I was wrong.

So I mulled it over with an open mind finally and thought "yea let's try to move." After all, if we put the house up for sale and it didn't sell.. nothing lost. If we put it up for sale and it sold.. we would then find a new house and get a good deal on it. There was no downside to this equation.

Also I would finally buckle to the pressure and get everyone off of my back.

So we got an agent and put the house up for sale. We got ready for the long process of showing the house. We made plans to be gone on weekends for some open houses. The first people came to look at the house. We made plans to go look at some houses. We thought about... Hey hold on. What? The first people are interested in looking again? Fine, maybe they can give us some constructive... Hmm. What was that? They made an offer!? No wait, are you kidding?

We haven't even looked at any houses yet! By the time we go out to look, as we look at our first house our agent and the agent of the people who want to buy our house are haggling by cell phone. By the end of the day our house is sold pending inspection!

And so the journey begins, as we are still preparing to think about the journey!

Next up.. the frantic house hunt begins.