We're Moving!!

Monday's the big day!

The work in the house was finished earlier than expected, thanks to our incredible, hard-working contractor. Hiring our contractor Reuven turned out to be the best move we could have made. We're so happy with the result. To say we'll be living in the house of our dreams is not even accurate because we never even dared to dream we'd be living in such a great house...IN ISRAEL, no less!

So Reuven finished up earlier than the time he had originally told us, right around the same time we started having trouble finding movers. We had a couple of movers come to give us estimates and by the time we got back to the guy with the best deal, he was already booked. We called the second-to-best deal and it was the same with him. Started to get freaked out when Reuven recommended someone he knew and they agreed...and we said 'heck, why not move up the moving date?' ... and so we did.

Now comes the not-so-funny part...

The movers who were available didn't send anyone out for an estimate and we had to pester them a whole bunch for a faxed contract...which, when they finally sent it, was wrong. So this past Thurs, we were back to pestering them again for a new contract (which they were in no rush to send) when we got a phone call asking if they can come to our place to check on an estimate. We were relieved they seemed to finally be getting their act together and they showed up on Fri afternoon. The guy was great...very together and he lives here in M.A. too. We said 'it's a go' and he presented us with a contract which we signed, feeling relieved all the while. The guy left and we were putting away the receipt when we realized that 'Hey! The moving company name is different than we thought!...oh...uh,oh' Turns out this was a completely different mover who originally hadn't returned our calls and who just now decided to come and give an estimate...not the guys who were supposed to be sending us a new contract to sign, with whom we had a verbal agreement. We quickly called him and told him our mistake and he basically said 'tough luck...I've hired my guys already. We'll be at your house Monday morning, no matter what.' So we called the original mover who wouldn't talk but insisted we call back Sun morning with whatever we had to tell them.

We're dreading the call and hope that their not giving us a contract allows for a smooth break from them...but then again, this is Israel where things like this are difficult. I have a feeling there will be quite a bit of yelling involved.

Tomorrow is also my driving test. Kind of dreading that too. Trying not to think too much about it, though...which has turned out to be quite easy with the move coming up.

Looking forward to having all of this behind us and just settle into our new home.

Kids are excited to move into their own home and have new bedrooms which they were able to choose color of. Well, I chose Ami's because when asked what color he wanted, he answered "Brown. And blue. But I like orange. And yellow, too."
So green it is.
And of course Gali wanted pink in no uncertain terms...which Hila will have to live with too because they'll be sharing a room again.

Rich and I were talking about how the novelty of the new house will wear off after a day or so when they realize that our neighbors now are no longer right outside their front door. This past year, whenever they were bored or just wanted a change of scenery, they ran across the hall to see who was home. It's also going to involve more of us carting them around to friends instead of them going on their own next door or to one building over.

Believe it or not, Hila has become just as independent as the older two in this regard. Or she thinks she is. Thurs she told me "Wanna go nesstdoor." I said Ok and left the door open while she went to knock. I heard the door open and figured someone let her in. I was thinking it was too quiet so I went over and knocked...and knocked...and no one answered. So I cracked open the door and said "Hello?" and heard a little lone voice yell back "No! Go out nesstdoor!" Which roughly translates to "Leave me alone...I'm about to make trouble." It turns out that Hila let herself in when no one answered and was having a ball by herself, thank you very much.

So, as you can see, it's going to be a tough transition.
But hopefully our wonderful neighbors will visit frequently (hint, D and G :)

Thank G-d, we are so blessed....

Looking forward to writing the next post from the new house!!