What a week it’s been!
After closing last Friday, David and I drove right to the new home and began the walk through to see what the previous owner had left us. I had said that if there was any furniture they didn’t want to take in the move that I would take it. It ended up working out pretty well for us since the previous owner left us a (slightly raggedy) couch, an armoire, a couple little side tables, and an entertainment center. There were a few other items left behind that we don’t have any use for, or will have to pay to dispose of so that was a bit of a downside, but overall it worked out great.
We unloaded everything from our cars right away while we waited for the internet guy to come and set up the Wi-Fi. Once 3 PM hit I started working while unpacking the rest of my clothes and belongings. My dad and Bobby came by later in the evening to bring my mattress and box spring from my parent’s house so we would have somewhere to sleep that night. My dad was even nice enough to pack up my big recliner that was in my old bedroom for us so we had another place to sit (David has been hogging my recliner since it was delivered). Bobby and Dad did their own walk around the house and the back yard while I kept working. They did discover that the oil tank in the basement was incredibly low, to the point we were worried about not having heat for the night. I ended up calling the oil company they had previously used and spent over an hour on the phone setting up a new account and trying to get an emergency delivery, but the earliest they could manage was Monday. We turned the thermostats way down and hoped for the best.
Once work was done and we had unpacked everything else we wanted to that night we crashed into bed.
We took a trip to my parent’s house the next day to grab a lot of supplies for the kitchen out of the basement. We ended up with a toaster oven, a toaster, an electric kettle, a coffee maker, a crock pot, tons of pots and pans, a full set of tupperware, a bunch of cooking utensils, a set of plates and bowls, some cups, and some other miscellaneous supplies for around the house. The Parent’s House is probably my favorite place to shop, since everything is free. We also visited my family cat while we were there (who desperately needed pets) and chatted with my dad before heading back home.
David’s mom, Thelma, and her boyfriend, Rick, came over not too long after we got home. They came with lots of housewarming gifts too! David and I both got mugs, and I got a matching plate for my mug. They are Winnie the Pooh themed and I absolutely adore them. Thelma also brought us some snacks, muffins for breakfast, a couch cover, and some extra toilet paper. You can never have too much toilet paper. We lit the gingerbread candle she brought as well and the house smelled amazing the rest of the night. She also brought us a towel set, some pillows, and some kitchen towels too. They stayed with us for dinner and we ordered from a local favorite spot right up the street.
After they left I ran some errands on my dinner break at work. I went back home to grab a bag my mom had left for me in my bedroom with more house warming gifts, and then I took a drive to Walmart to grab some other essentials including a small coffee maker so I could use it to make tea in the mornings.
A side note on the coffee machine: it was absolute trash. I bought the Walmart brand equivalent of the cheapest Mr. Coffee machine there was. It smelled terrible when it was brewing the water, the water wasn’t even hot after the brew, and the carafe was really difficult to slide back into the machine. I ended up returning it and getting the actual Mr. Coffee brand of a slightly more expensive version and it’s crazy how much better this new one is.
Walmart brand: 0/10
Mr. Coffee brand: 10/10
While I was at Walmart I decided to grab a tub of cookie dough as well and David and I had celebratory cookies when I got back home.
The bag my mom left for me had even more adorable gifts for the house. There were witchy themed spatulas and kitchen towels, a Winnie the Pooh salt and pepper shaker, and a Winnie the Pooh sugar jar. (Are you sensing a theme here? I love Winnie the Pooh). There were a couple of super cute oven mitts and pot holders and some other knick knacks.
Sunday was a big shopping and chore day. We stopped by The Parent’s House again for another round of shopping (and to return a few things we ended up not needing). We grabbed my mug collection, some extra baking ingredients and non perishable food, and some decorations and items from my old bedroom.
Walmart trip number two consisted of the replacement coffee machine, bath matts, cleaning supplies, and a Swiffer. After lunch, we got home and spent the whole afternoon cleaning the two upstairs bathrooms top to bottom and the top half of the kitchen. We made some more cookies to relax for the night once we got too tired to do any more.
The rest of the week went by in such a blur. We ended up getting our oil delivered Monday evening. We took a trip out to Boston to pack up the rest of our stuff from that house, we grabbed a few things from my parent’s house including my entire stash of yarn, and we had a couple of major cleaning days.
The cleaning was, to be honest, disgusting. We started with the two upstairs bathrooms and deep cleaned those and added the new bath matts. We started the kitchen on the first cleaning day, too, wiping down shelves and cleaning out the cabinets and drawers so we could start unpacking our dishes and utensils. We only made it about halfway through before we were exhausted and left the rest for another day. We finished it up later in the week, scrubbing out certain areas and then we began cleaning the fridge (which we still haven’t finished). There’s still a lot to do. We have yet to use the Swiffer that we got for the wood floors, clean the first floor bathroom, or begin to clean any of the carpets.
What I did manage to get done, which was probably most important, was switch the utilities over to my name and figure out the trash schedule. We ended up missing the trash day on Tuesday because we didn’t know the schedule yet, nor did we realize they have town trash in Blackstone. The previous owner also left us a lot of trash and recycling that we didn’t manage to put out on the street so we’ll have to figure out how to get everything out to the road over time.
I also need to get a mailbox since the one this house uses is a little rusty box nailed to the front porch…which means I need to figure out where to get mailboxes first. Think about it, have you ever seen mailboxes for sale anywhere?
I got to meet the neighbors which was awesome. They’re super nice and, apparently, all named Mike. This street has a lot of family living on it so all the Mikes are also related which was even funnier.
I got back into my creative groove and started with my first even crochet sweater which I managed to finish in 3 days, just in time to go to a Christmas party Friday night. I’ll do a separate post about the sweater later when I figure out how exactly to explain the construction. I’m lovingly calling it the Shitshow Sweater if that’s any indication to the process I went through to make it.
Cooking has been a bit of a disaster while I get used to the new stove. Our toaster smokes badly which sets off the fire alarms and somehow every time I turn on the stove it also sets off the fire alarms so at this point we don’t have fire alarms plugged in any more. We plan on getting a new toaster and toaster oven soon and I’ll get some more practice in on the new stove until I can cook without setting the oil in the pan on fire or smoking us out of the house. (I’m actually a good cook I promise. No really).
All this to say, we’re having a blast living in the new house. I can’t wait until we have more furniture so we can host more people. We plan on having a big party on New Year’s Eve as something of a holiday/my birthday/a housewarming party. That leaves us exactly two weekends to get some furniture and places for people to crash if needed since we’re pretty far away from everyone we know.
I think it’s about time to go start a new sweater now. I’ll be back.
