Transition Adventure: Part III - Reintegration

The first night arriving home we spent at my parents' house. After that grueling trip, the last thing we wanted to do was drive even another half hour to the new place. That was for the next day, Monday March 11th. Unfortunately, the kitchen remodel that was supposed to be done prior to our return, was delayed. So the next morning we found our empty condo full of construction debris and contractors. Cable guy was coming on Tuesday and movers on Thursday. Cabinets weren't in. Countertops weren't even measured or manufactured, much less delivered. It was about to be hectic.

All that week we spent unboxing and organizing without about 50% of our place available, since the kitchen was unusable the stove and fridge were in the dining room, leaving little room for maneuvering. It is hard to get settled when you make more of a mess than you get rid of.

So since Monday, March 11th we have diminished a pile of paper about 5 feet high by 3 feet deep by about 10 feet wide. That is 150 cubic feet of paper. We've folder, bundled and tied it all up and about half that volume in cardboard. The kitchen is now completed and gorgeous and everything is away. We've learned the area; we've filled the cupboards and fridge; we've replaced lights, set up TVs and basically are close to completion. Still loose ends that need organization and finding homes for things and there are definitely surfaces that are bare and Linda is twitching to put knick-knacks on. Suffice it to say that the home part of the transition adventure is complete, for all intents and purposes. Anything else is aesthetic and inconsequential.

During this process, Miss Linda had a big birthday. She turned 30 just yesterday, the 24th. The night prior we went out to dinner. It was my plan to make it a surprise, but gathering folks during our adventure proved too lofty a goal for me, mostly because with my distance I hadn't met any so I was blindly inviting people based on names I recognized from her stories by hunting through her Facebook friends list. So I had to tell her. The seeds had already been planted, location secured and big rocks all aligned. All she had to do was finalize the head count and make sure nobody was left out (it's surprising how many people don't have Facebook). The event was a success. We had her cousins and friends from that group all together. In another group was people she went to school with. A couple of my friends that she's gotten to know were there. My parents were in attendance (Mom helped with many of the smaller details while I was gone). Finally, of course our mutual friend that introduced us came with his better half. She spent the whole night wandering and interfacing with important people from each area of her life and I have now met them all as well.

Our house is 99% settled, we've had time to socialize, she's back at work, I'm tidying up loose ends around here and transition is almost at its terminus.

There is still one major part of this transition looming. We hope to be able to update everyone soon.

Then our life truly begins and we can start all new adventures.