House Hunting Chronicles: Oh, the pain!

The movers will be here in one week.

Let me pause, here, while I try not to panic.

I’m beginning to think that moving is akin to childbirth. I know, weird comparison, but think about it. I have strong recollections of what my body felt like while in (a very long) labor, but I can’t actually conjure up all the myriad of physical and emotional sensations. When I think about giving birth, I mostly feel the love for my children.

But there are other things I had forgotten about from our last move, like the crushing depression and anxiety that set in when we were waiting for a buyer. Logically I know that moving is hard, and stressful. And I do have a memory of feeling overwhelmingly exhausted at the end of the last move, even though we hired movers to do all of the heavy lifting.

It took 6 months, start to finish, to sell our last house. We spent just over a year prepping, moving all the children, grandchildren and their pets into their own homes, then tackling the deferred maintenance that we had so artfully ignored for most of the ten years we lived there.

For those of you who aren’t counting, it’s been 13 months since we decided to sell our house in Ukiah and move home to Sonoma County. By the time escrow closes, this house will have been on the market 5 months. I could argue that we had been tackling maintenance more consistently at this house, and we certainly have made many improvements in the 8+ years here. It’s been a very long haul. Again.

This time around, our bodies have become more and more vocal about resting, with no regard to the deadline we are facing. My achilles tendons are often tight to the point of impeding my mobility, so walking is a challenge until they warm up. This morning my left knee (which has a complex meniscus tear) and my right knee (which has no definitive diagnosis) were very clear from the moment I got out of bed that they want a day off from packing and hauling. My lower back and left shoulder are happy to join in the chorus of angry body parts and so have also made themselves known.

But the movers are coming in SEVEN days!

We have had some help, for which we are eternally grateful. But most of the folks who live near us are so busy with their own lives, I am loath to ask for their help. Everyone else I would feel comfortable asking lives more than an hour away. The logistics are challenging. And we are in the middle of a f*&%ing heat wave.

It’s okay. I’m fine. It’s all fine.