I last left you where we fired our contractor and were still hoping to get into the garage in December. Things were very bumpy for a while. We had this great plan, you see. I took our daughter up to my mom's house for Thanksgiving. Grandma was then going to watch the little one while I came back to Nashville to help Scott finish things up and pack up the apartment. We would move the following weekend, and when Grandma drove down with the little one, we would be all moved into the garage. You know what happens to the best laid plans. Unfortunately, the day after Thanksgiving, we got the phone call that my grandma took a turn for the worse and was headed for a short Hospice stay. My mom, being the pillar of strength that she is, took my beautiful baby girl and one of her girlfriends, and raced down to be with my Grandma. I still headed back to Nashville, somehow hoping that I could get everything done. Once I got back and we had a real look at what needed to happen before we could apply for occupancy, we realized that moving the following weekend wasn't going to be possible. I didn't feel comfortable asking my mom to keep her an extra week. My Grandma's memorial service was set for the Thursday of that week, so I packed up what I could in the apartment, and headed to IL to say goodbye and pick up my sweet pea.
At this point we came back to an apartment mostly packed (all her art stuff and books, of course) and the further realization that it was going to take every extra second of Scott's nonwork hours to make this move happen (we had to get out of the apt on Dec 12, as they already had another tenant lined up). We decided that it would be best for me to take Little Miss up north, again, to Grandma's. This time the dog and I stayed also and settled in for the long haul. Scott worked his magic, hired some people he trusted, called in his dad and did everything he could do get us occupancy. It worked! Our stuff sat in a Uhaul truck for about a week (the most reasonable short term option we could find), but we were finally in!
Here's what we learned- the Certificate of Occupancy just means that your place is safe to live in, not that it's finished. So, when we finally arrived back in Nashville on the 19th, we had a livable space, but there were still no shelves installed in the kitchen cabinets or the built-in bookshelves. Scott barely had time to install hanging rods in the closets and there were no drawers or shelves. I'm not posting pictures, because I don't feel that the place is 'picture worthy' quite yet, but we're learning how to settle into a place that isn't quite finished and getting things done as quickly as we can (I now have kitchen shelves, yay!). We didn't have a traditional Christmas tree, but we were able to draw one on the chalkboard wall and we did have presents, and our little one was thrilled so that was all good.
Life is settling back into a routine, but slowly. School starts again next week and I feel like I'll finally have some time to breathe, settle in on my own, and finish doing what it takes to make this space really work for our family.
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