I'm not sure much could top the high I had Friday evening after finishing my one-day letterpress workshop (more on that tomorrow), but our day trip to Cleveland on Saturday to look for a place to live for this coming summer was sure to be exciting as well. Maybe? Just a little? Ok, not so much. I awoke Saturday morning feeling as though my head might explode at any moment and with a very sore throat. My husband suggested that perhaps I should stay home; he could take Ella to Cleveland on his own. Call me crazy, but the thought of laying around the house all day, sick, without anyone home sounded rather depressing so I got myself up and ready, determined to make the day an adventure, good or bad. I would say that the adventure was probably more of the later. (Although this photo, of my husband combing Ella's hair before we left, is a total heart melter.)
We saw an OK place downtown, but the entire building is being renovated floor-by-floor. While the floor where our apartment would be is supposed to be completed in May (we're supposed to move mid-May), the idea of living in a construction zone for the summer is not exactly what I had pictured. And as someone who used to work with contractors, I know full well that completion deadlines are meant to be missed.
We also drove by another apartment option downtown (though we couldn't get inside because the owner was out of town). The building is small, containing what looked to be only a few apartments, and the neighborhood seemed much more vibrant. And bonus, they will allow Henry (it's so difficult to find housing when you have an 80-lb beast dog). It may be that we will continue our trend of leasing before seeing.
I wished we had been able to see more options this weekend but coordinating times to make the trip with the availability of landlords and current tenants has been difficult to say the least. Relocating an entire family for just a few months, I am learning, is not for the faint of heart. Our dreams of finding that perfect loft in Ohio City are just not coming true (one can dream, right).
As this temporary relocation looms nearer and nearer, I've begun to realize that this is much more of an undertaking than I had originally imagined. What will we bring? Will we need a moving truck? Just a trailer? What if this disrupts Ella's amazing sleeping habits? Or worse, what if it totally throws her for a loop and she misses her home (ok, perhaps I'm projecting)? If we sublet our place in AA, do I need to pack up the various knick knacks in the house? Will I need to empty dressers? How many of Ella's toys should we bring? What if I want to come back to AA for a weekend? Where will I stay?
Right now, I have way more questions than answers. And whenever this happens, it's difficult for me to contain my thoughts and focus them just on the present situation. They begin to extend into related future events (as in, when Ted graduates and we must move the entire family permanently to another city).
So, have you relocated your entire family for just a few months? How did it go? What would you do differently? How did you prepare your children?
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