Ahh...the Joys of Moving....

Not me, fortunately....but all three of my children are moving within three weeks of each other! Torrey and Chris moved this last weekend from their townhouse into The Dumpling....more about that....

Jill and Derrick are bandersnatching my sweet Deven and taking him to live in Naples, Florida. They actually leave on May 18. If you are interested in buying a loft on south Michigan Ave, have a look at what they are leaving behind...

http://www.realtor.com/Prop/1058861006 (Click on Featured Tour to see the loft in living color)

Not to mention, of course, they are leaving Grammie and Papa Bob. And Auntie Ruth and Uncle Joey, cousins Joey and Donovan....(Derrick's sister's family). And leaving the midwest. And Chicago. And the CUBBIES!! Surely the Cubs would be reason enough to stay -- but no, the winter warmth of Florida beckons.

Sigh.

Tim is graduating from Taylor on May 20 and is moving home until he is able to raise enough support to embark on his exciting adventure as a missionary somewhere in the Middle East....

But back to the move this weekend. I spent the week in Santa Barbara, arriving back at O'Hare at 5:00 on Saturday morning. Sleeping and planes are something that don't mix for me, so while I might have dozed for an hour, it wasn't much. Bob picked me up and we drove straight to Indy to start loading boxes and making sure they didn't leave anything important behind.

The Dumpling is adorable -- it's as dumpling-like inside as it is outside. This incredible week of painting paid off -- the colors are gorgeous. Very Torrey-ish. Steve, our painter, would love it. The landscaping is fabulous, and the deck -- oh the deck....am looking forward to lazy evenings of just relaxing in the hot tub!

I cleaned. Vacuumed the whole house -- all 1400 square feet -- then scrubbed sinks in the bathrooms and kitchen, and washed down all the cupboards and refrigerator before anyone put anything away.

Dear friends of the MC -- Michelle and Brad; Brad and Lori with Kaelyn, came early and stayed late and worked hard! BIL Eric with Nephew Aidan came later. Kim from the house behind The Dumpling arrived to introduce herself and offered her services if anything was needed. Friends and Family -- what a great gift from God!!

Pizza for lunch and take out Chinese for dinner. Paper plates came in so very handy! About 10:00 that night it was just the four of us sprawled on the two couches which take up almost the entire great room and just stared at all the boxes yet to unpack.

Moses and Mijo serenaded us all night off and on. Poor kitties. What an uprooting! In their short lives, this is their fourth home....

Sunday morning we spent opening boxes and putting things away -- Chris and I worked on the kitchen; Bob and Torrey did the office and the living room.

We left about 1:00 -- a fairly quick and easy drive back to Wheaton where I discovered I had body parts I didn't know existed! Bob had spent the week clearing out the attic so that Jill can take what she wants to Florida -- all the things she has left behind yo these many years -- and we can garage sale the rest. Tim & Torrey have quite a few things to go through as well -- and there are at least 50 stuffed animals -- most of which will be put up for sale, I'm sure. I didn't realize we had collected quite that many!

Moving is not for the faint hearted. Here's hoping we have a few more years at the old homestead. Downsizing is not going to be pretty.

Not pretty at all....