Coming Out Of My Man Cave

Friday, June 22nd--After not hearing from our realtor for over two weeks, I go ahead and text the people living in our soon-to-be house to make sure we're on the same page about moving day the following Tuesday. We're not. Somehow the contract we signed for closing on the 25th and moving in on the 26th didn't get communicated. I still have no idea how this happened, but they said they were told repeatedly they had until the 30th. My parents, sister, and nephew were flying in town on the 28th and Elizabeth was scheduled to be baptized on the 30th.
Saturday, June 23rd--Full blown panic mode. We have to be out of our rental on Tuesday so our landlord can clean carpets and do small repairs for the next tenants moving in. We also have movers scheduled for that day. After trying unsuccessfully yet again to contact our realtor, Brandon and I go to the temple in the evening to think and pray, wondering if we are barking up the wrong tree since everything is suddenly unraveling under our feet--even though up to this point everything had just fallen into our laps! (Crazy emotional roller coaster . . .) We both feel total peace and like we should move forward. (This really is pivotal because we were feeling like we just wanted to forget the whole thing and find another rental.)
Monday, June 25th--Should have been closing, but still no word from any of the powers that be. We pack our brains out all day long anyway. (As a side note, in all the frantic packing leading up to the big day, I missed my hair appointment. Knowing I had three weeks straight of craziness coming up with no other time for an appointment, I buy A GROUPON for a cut and color ((the color is the vital thing here, I've got grays like you wouldn't believe)) at a place I've never heard of. On this most important last day of packing, I spend no less than FOUR HOURS getting my hair done at this place where I had to insist she fix the color TWICE because it was essentially black with orange tiger stripes! I THOUGHT I WAS GOING TO DIE! As if moving isn't stressful enough! I had to do THIS to myself???)
Tuesday, June 26th--1st moving day. With still no word from anyone but the current renters of the house, Brandon finally contacts the owner of the house directly and makes arrangements to move in. It took several hours to work out the kinks, but ultimately we were able to tell the movers they could take our stuff over to the house rather than a storage unit. (We didn't know where our stuff was going until about 2pm.) Because the current renters of our new house weren't ready to move out, we had everything moved into the garage and basement. While packing up the last of our house stuff, we simultaneously packed for the hotel.
Wednesday, June 27th--Spend the vast majority of the day (into the night) moving the smaller stuff that didn't fit on the truck over to the house in small batches with our cars and doing some cleaning. This, like everything else, is more of a pain in the neck and takes way more time than anticipated. Moving every last stinkin' item from one home to another is my definition of hell on earth. I am developing a bladder infection. Thankfully, I've got connections and Brandon gets me a prescription. (We also picked up a wonderful over the counter bladder analgesic I didn't know anything about since I am not a frequent bladder infection sufferer, but now I feel compelled to share this info with you in case you are. It's called AZO. And it turns your pee BRIGHT orange.)
Thursday, June 28th--Brandon goes back to work and I spend the morning trying to find available bodies to come move my stuff again from the garage into the actual house on Friday morning. My family flies in from Iowa in the afternoon. (Yay!) I get a text from the current renters at 10:30pm saying the house will be ready for us by noon the next day, but my moving guys are coming at 9am. I'm in panic mode again for the umpteenth time in just a few days. I have a hard time sleeping that night, but when I get a text at 6:30am saying the house is ready for us I feel like I can finally relax. (They apparently worked all night after I told them our movers were scheduled for 9am. Thank heavens!)
Friday, June 29th--2nd moving day and Brandon's mom flies in from California. We eat out for the 147th time and go back to the old house for the last time to get all the food out of the fridge/freezer. My neighbor, Jen, takes the freezer food for us and we pack up all the fridge food in coolers to take back to our house. Somehow I forgot (or we never talked about) that the renters of our new home had purchased their own fridge and were taking it with them, so our new place is fridge-less.
Saturday, June 30th--All 11 of us check out of the hotel with Kate's harp and Will's cello (we didn't want to let those string instruments sit in the heat of the garage all that time--poor piano!--and they needed to practice the song I put together for them to play as a duet at the baptism) and head over to the church for Elizabeth's baptism at 11am. Everything comes off without a hitch--it's definitely the high point of the week! After eating at Elizabeth's two favorite places for lunch and dessert (Blue Lemon and Orange Leaf), Brandon takes his mom back to the airport and we finally go with my Iowa family to live in the new house FOR REALS. (Yes, June 30th will be the birthday of The Lighthouse. Yes, I named it.) Brandon works hard to set up beds for everyone, and I am at Lowe's until closing that night and thankfully find a sweet deal on a sweet fridge.
Sunday, July 1st--Attend church with our new congregation. (What a bunch of great people!) We eat breakfast burritos for dinner from the food we are keeping in coolers in the kitchen.
Monday, July 2nd--The fridge comes and I also hook up the washer and dryer. (Yay me! Though my dad said it was spraying all over the place when he started it so he had to tighten the bolts down . . .) Spend the afternoon at Kangaroo Zoo actually having some fun!
Tuesday, July 3rd--Spend the morning and early afternoon at Thanksgiving Point, and while eating lunch together at The Terrace Cafe, a waitress points out a massive fire blooming in the direction of our house. (Seriously?) We spend the rest of the day glued to the local news and staring out the back deck at the billowing clouds and flames on our beautiful mountain. That night we drive up the perpendicular mountainside to watch Mother Nature do her thing. It was like Los Angeles all over again, but at least this time we knew we wouldn't be evacuated. (And thankfully, no homes were burned/no one was hurt. Those firefighters are amazing!!)
Wednesday, July 4th--Still trying to get things set up in the house so we can function more smoothly. We go to a Japanese restaurant for lunch since it is poor, neglected Brandon's birthday, go bowling at BYU in the afternoon (my dad was such a hoot!), and attend the Stadium of Fire featuring The Beach Boys on their 50th anniversary tour that evening. (I'm embarrassed to say this, but we kind of scheduled Elizabeth's baptism when we did so I could also take my parents to this concert during their time here. It was so much fun! I grew up listening to The Beach Boys because that's what they were listening to.)
Thursday, July 5th--Chill and unpack. (Finally!)
Friday, July 6th--My family leaves at 2:00 and I spend the rest of the day . . . unpacking!
Saturday, July 7th--Unpack the house while packing up suitcases for the coming week of Brandon's family reunion in Park City.
Sunday, July 8th--Go to church and then head up to PC for the reunion. Brandon is on call and gets a call he has to respond to the exact moment he pulls into the resort driveway--about an hour from our home. (At least he got to eat dinner with us! It wasn't totally emergent.) He heads back to the hospital and plans to sleep at home and meet us the next morning at . . .
Monday, July 9th--Thanksgiving Point day
Tuesday, July 10th--Park City Mountain Resort day
Wednesday, July 11th--swimming/shopping/Brave/Cafe Rio day
Thursday, July 12th--downtown Salt Lake/Temple Square day
Friday, July 13th--Lagoon day, but Kate and I go on a hike in the mountains instead and head home early so we can go to Costco to buy and prep all the ingredients for the chinese chicken salad I'm in charge of serving to about 70 members of the extended Reynolds family at an even larger reunion taking place on Sunday.
Saturday, July 14th--more salad prep/unpacking/repacking for camping trip at Yuba Lake for the greater Reynolds reunion. Take a lovely walk around our lovely neighborhood with the kids in the evening. Many members of Brandon's family spend the night with us after checking out of the hotel in Park City and helping to chop up a thousand heads of romaine (among other things) for a good chunk of the day.
Sunday, July 15th--go together to our old congregation's meetings where Brandon is finally and formally "released" from his position as a member of the bishopric. Pack up all that food in coolers (quite a chore, let me tell you) and then spend no more than 10 minutes packing for myself personally when I realize everyone is in their cars all ready to go. Head up to Yuba Lake to serve said salad and enjoy a wonderful evening sharing thoughts, memories, and feelings with our extended family as we sit around in a big circle at sunset.
Monday, July 16th--play at the beach and on the water toys/boats for most of the day and then head home in the late afternoon.
Monday evening, Tuesday, Wednesday, Today--I go into my man cave to recover from what I am calling, "Packing Fatigue Syndrome". I exhibit zombie like behavior interspersed by sporadic bursts of unpacking and organizing. I only leave the house to go to the grocery store or take children to classes or lessons. (Today all I really focused on was this post for Deseret News. I've had someone fill in for me for the past three weeks, but now it's back to business as usual.)

And THAT my friends, is where I've been and why I haven't been blogging. (Not to mention I didn't have internet most of the time.)

Gobs of pictures to follow . . .