Everyone was excited to arrive and the smiles continued most of the morning. Only one stop for gas / bathrooms about 45 minutes out and then finally we had arrived.
When we got off the elevator, Aunt Gretchen and Jen were already waiting and we all proceeded down the hall to our condo. Melissa, the builder’s wife was scurrying around with cleaning supplies and a screwdriver installing the switch covers. And three movers were hauling in our furniture and assembling it. First the condo is beautiful! I can picture it finished and it is just the way we hoped. However, its not quite ready for us.
What we found was a bit of a mess. Much of the dust and dirt from construction was still on the floors and caked the windows / cabinets. Several lights had not been installed yet. Piles of closet organizers were on the floor and a few other noteable projects unfinished.
After a few short minutes and feeling in the way and overwhelmed on how to help, we decided to grab some lunch and make a plan so we all headed to Red Robin.
So, the condition of the renovations wasn’t what we had hoped for but it wasn’t the end of the world either. We decided that we would just spend a little extra time working with the builder to complete the work and getting it the way we had hoped.
So once we got back, Aunt Gretchen went right to work on scrubbing those floors, hoping to get as much up BEFORE the furniture went in. I tried to help the furniture men by quickly letting them know where items go as they brought them in. The builder went to pick up our mattresses so we’d have something to sleep on tonight and Scott began work on some of the more pressing projects.
Jen brought the kids to the pool. Yup, she was bundled up on the side but those crazy kids from Michigan were loving the heated water in the unseasonably cold temperatures. Later Jen brought Sammy to the Disney store and played the Switch with Tyler... what a blessing that we knew they were happy and staying busy so we could focus on the work at hand.
At 5:00 pm, the furniture was in and the subcontractors have to leave the building so it was just us again. We grabbed some Outback for dinner and enjoyed our new dining set (even if half of the chairs are blocked by shelving for the closets (eye roll).
Then we were reminded by security that we only had 24 hours for the trailer to be on site and only today before it had to be moved away from the building so we decided to unload the trailer... it only took 4 trips with 2 carts but we got it done. Stacks of our housewares, clothing, and Scott’s additional construction supplies now piled in the living room helped to offset the already present closet organizers.
A huge load of groceries arrived which was good cause we needed toilet paper and a few other things!
It was getting later and we were all exhausted after the drive and stressful, physical afternoon. He had just started to crack open a few boxes when Aunt Gretchen found almost an inch of water in the cabinet under our kitchen sink... Oh my word! (By the way, we had upgraded to a plastic basin for that cabinet so there was no damage - PTL). So now we were down a main sink and soaking up the mess knowing we had no washer / drawer to handle the dirty towels. Ugh...
There were a few other surprises / disappointments today: The room where Sammy was going to sleep had no lights and no windows so we decided to have the kids share a room for now. I cannot find the kids or my underwear but am certain its here somewhere, the stove and dishwasher didn’t arrive again.
So we got the sink taken care of and the groceries put away and decided to call it a night. Scott and I finally crawled into bed and were just nodding off when his cell phone rang... it was the front desk checking when we were going to move our trailer. How could we have forgotten? Of course, we’ll be right down. I didn’t even bother to put on my clothes... robe and pajama pants would have to work. We ran out and moved that trailer with an escort from security. They really are pretty uptight around here but its “for our own protection” as one of the gentlemen reminded me. I really am ok with it... it was just a big day and we were tired. At this point we are just trying to keep a good attitude and enjoy the space, knowing that we will have some sweat equity and funny stories to remember for years to come.
