Fourinarow.net

…That is the question.

There’s a fairly new show on HGTV where people who are thinking about buying a house spend the night in it first to try it out. Right. Like anyone is going to let you do that. Plus - what a hassle, right? Well, I’m starting to see the brilliance in that idea.

The first day/night in our big yellow dwelling was spent moving in and unpacking the necessities. Exhausted after a long day, we went out to eat, came home and went to bed bath/shower-less. Gross, I know, but it was late. Everyone was dragging.  I didn’t hit the sack until much later because I had so much to get done.  Better to do it without “help”.

Early the next morning, the cable/tv/phone/internet guy was due to arrive, as was the washer hook-up man. I dragged myself out of bed and started working on the house some more and dealt with the guys. After a long day, the house was looking much improved. As of right now we only have some book boxes left to unpack in the main part of the house. After that are the boxes in the basement (which I’m tempted to dispose of unopened.)

Jack had his first full day of school today, so last night we needed to get the kids bathed, fed and in bed quickly. But, we still had to get Dan’s work car from the hotel parking lot. Rush, rush, rush. I ordered pizza and Dan got started on baths. We chose to use the bathtub downstairs because the upstairs tub needs some sealing around the drain. There’s a leak somewhere below where the tub is and we think it might be the tub that’s leaking.

Dan started to fill the tub, only to find that it wouldn’t hold any water. The lever thingy that adjusts the stopper wouldn’t work. At all. So, desperate to get our kids clean, we put a washcloth over the drain so we could fill the tub and limp through. When we went to drain the tub, however, it wouldn’t drain. Ugh! Dan took some things apart, said a few thousand choice words and we moved the rest of the bathing to the upstairs bathtub, despite the possible leak.

Also in preparation for school, I washed some uniforms yesterday. I’m going to have to remember to keep the door to the “laundry room” open while the washer is on, ’cause if the spinning cycle causes the washer to walk at all, I won’t be able to get back in. There is just about zero clearance between the door and the washer. Guess I won’t ever be getting the kick ass kind.

It’s a good thing we don’t use a lot of ice… we discovered we don’t have an ice maker. Two fridges, but no ice maker. The fridge that came with the house doesn’t have one and the one we brought and put in the basement doesn’t have a water line anywhere near it. And, no, we don’t want to switch them ’cause ours is white and the one in the kitchen is almond and matches the range. (Which, by the way, has a non-working burner on it.)

At the end of another very long day of unpacking and arranging - frustrating when there is no cabinet space to speak of and you have the shallowest pantry ever (you can’t even put a box of cereal in there unless it faces you), I looked forward to a hot shower. The tub had finally drained, so I started the water, found a temperature I liked and switched on the shower head. I reached up to adjust the direction of the spray, only to have it start spraying madly all over the place (from places it’s not supposed to spray from). Dan was able to adjust it, but I’m not allowed to touch it again.

By the time my shower was over, I was standing in 5 or 6 inches of water, but whatever. I was clean, finally. And, all our clothes were put away (albeit in several different closets throughout the house, since the “master” closet is the smallest.) Yes, we could have chosen a different room, but then we’d be sleeping on twin beds. Because anything bigger can’t fit up the stairs. Really. Maria has a queen sized bed and the movers had to CUT THE BOX SPRING IN HALF to get it upstairs. But that’s okay. Dan is going to nail it back together. Some day. Good as new.  Until then, she’s sleeping with the mattress on the bed frame, which causes the end of the mattress to sag.  No matter. She sleeps up at the top part of the bed.

This morning I was able to get in another quick shower before starting the before-school routine. I was able to get clean, apply my make up and brush my teeth.  However, drying my hair was slightly challenging. There is ONE outlet in our bathroom. ONE. And, it’s on the opposite side of the doorway and vanity. So, I had to dry my hair with very little cord give and hope that no one walked in and clotheslined themselves.

At breakfast time, we discovered we bought a house not equipped with a disposal.

Later today, the upstairs bathroom toilet quit working.  It won’t flush.  Plunging doesn’t seem to help and somehow, it doesn’t seem to be clogged so much as refusing to work.

Oh, and Lukie just bashed through the sliding screen door.  As if we didn’t have enough to worry about already.

At least we have a roof over our heads (for now - it is on the older side) and I have the internet while the kids have the TV. There is beer and juice in the fridge, so we have the necessities. No matter what happens, we’re well equipped!