Home Sweet Home

Lots of catching up to do! Let's start with Wednesday. Rob called in the late morning to tell me he had good news and bad news regarding the final inspection. The good news was that the inspector said it was fine for us to move in on Thursday. The bad news was that we did not pass the inspection. The not-so-bad-news was that there were just 3 issues to be remedied: we need to provide documentation showing that the windows in the bathrooms had tempered glass; the balcony railings are more than 4" apart and didn't meet code; and the back yard still needs to be regraded. All of these things should be taken care of by the end of next week, so we should be fine.

I went by the house in the afternoon. Just as I got there, Ian was leaving. He had finished grouting the tile in the master bath, and caulking in the kitchen and on the stairs, so his job was finally done.
I was going to put the finish coat on my birdhouse, but the painters had taken the poly with them. Rob said they were coming back that evening to do some touch-up work, so he'd ask them to bring it back. Then we went over the punch list and created a new one of all the pending items and both signed off on it. The old punch list has so many notes and additions and water stains that it was barely legible.
The SAI trailer was gone, as were most of their tools and equipment. Just this lone tool box in the back yard remained.
That evening, Josh and I packed up a few things and brought them over to the house. The painters were there doing their last round of touch-ups. Then we went back to the apartment and stayed up until 1:30 am packing and getting stuff ready for the movers.

Thursday morning was sunny and humid, but not terribly hot. The movers showed up a little before 9 am, and started loading the truck.
We used the same movers as we did to move out of our house. They were able to get everything in to our apartment, so we were fairly confident that they'd be able to get everything back out, even though it was a different crew. My desk and the sofa were the most challenging.
It took a few tries, but they did eventually get the sofa out the door, around the corner, down the stairs, and into the truck. Once they had finished loading everything up, we followed them over to the house.
Rob was there trying to hide in the kitchen so he wouldn't have to leave.
Actually, he was taking care of all the last little details for us -- like installing a shelf in the kitchen cabinet. Emanuel, the Verizon guy, was also there setting up our new FiOS phone, TV, and Internet service. Josh did a good enough job on installing the outlets that he was able to get the TV set up.
And the Internet and TV running in my office. The phone was a little trickier, but by the end of the day, we did have one functioning phone jack.Halfway through unloading the moving truck, the skies opened up and it rained like it was monsoon season in Bombay. It couldn't have come at a less convenient time, but since it hadn't rained for weeks, we really needed it.Our sandy beach in the driveway quickly developed a shoreline to go with it.
The movers took a break and we offered them some cold drinks and pizza, hoping it would stop soon enough, but of course it kept raining until they were done unloading the truck. Still, they did a pretty good job of keeping everything dry as best they could.

Once they were done, we got to work unpacking and setting up the TV components and my office. Steve W and his son Ben showed up around 5 to help out. They brought us a traditional Jewish housewarming gift of a broom to sweep the bad spirits away, salt to add spice to our lives, and flowers from Steve B, who was unable to join us. Steve W happens to know the catering manager for Lebanese Taverna, a local chain of restaurants, so she showed up soon after with enough food for 30 people. We were joined by Rob's wife, Addie, and Steve's wife, Efrat. Then John showed up with his wife, Elsa, and their 5-month-old baby boy, Petro. It was quite a party! We had a great time -- it was nice to be able to just relax and hang out with everyone.
From left to right around the table: Josh, Rob, John, Steve W, Elsa & Petro, Ben, Efrat, Addie.

And now, I must go to bed, as I am utterly exhausted. I'll try to get caught up tomorrow....