The Family *roll

Ellie looks west towards her new home. And she's 8 feet tall.

So here we are. We arrived on Thursday evening, closed on the house Friday morning and our truck came Saturday. Ellie was a complete pain the last couple of days in Chicago and we briefly considered leaving her at a rest stop in Wisconsin. Belly sensed an opening for re-taking #1 and has been completely charming during the chaos; so charming, in fact, she only threw up once in the car ride up here. Eleanor clearly sensed the canine’s challenge and straightened up big time. She has happily played in her bouncer while we clean or sleeps soundly in her Baby Bjorn while Dan and I unpack. She also slept through the first half of the closing at the lawyer’s office and then loudly pooped through the second which totally won over everyone’s heart if not their noses. Our true love these days, though, is Ryan B. who came from Ottawa to help us move. It’s hard to imagine doing all of this without him.

The house is lovely if a little scruffy. The very fetching window box on the front of the house had completely rotted out. When we pulled up to the house, we saw it had fallen halfway to the ground which was pretty heartbreaking and nervous-making about what other surprises were in store. Additionally, the “garden” is full of thistles and saplings and varieties of plants that strike me as 100% weed. The dandelion lawn had not been mowed once this year. The cure? Neighbors. Our already beloved across-the-street neighbors have mowed the lawn and have plans to remove some stumps for us. We also took off the window box and things look much better. Dan and Ryan have also been busy at work digging up the garden so we can hopefully get some perennials in soon.

The inside of the house was much better off and shines after a manic Emily cleaning. However, every wall dent, chipped paint or imperfect baseboard takes on new meaning now that every problem is our problem. I try to keep the hyperventilation down to a minimum and figure we’ll do just fine.

But overall, we’re thrilled. The neighborhood is exactly what he had hoped for: quiet, steps away from downtown, neighborly. The past three evenings, we’ve walked downtown for ice cream and marveled at the ducks in the river, the tree-lined streets and friendly people. So friendly that a 80-something gentleman in the Econofoods yesterday asked me to let him know if he could do anything for me (I was carrying Ellie) including changing the baby’s diaper. I declined but expressed great appreciation.

Right now Ellie is sleeping upstairs, Dan and Ryan are outside digging up weed roots from the garden and I am sitting in an unpacked and sunny kitchen. I’m happy and looking forward to it all.