It’s all too much.  My brain has done way more mental gymnastics than I thought possible.

Even a month later I fail to process all the ups and downs.

We were to close at 3:30PM… or so.
And we barely had a chance to do a walk through at 1:30PM.
Our initial impression was – what have we done?  It’s too small!!!

But what can we do now?  We need a place to live.

So we closed.  And I didn’t cry, though I had to work hard at it. 

On the way back, we picked up the cats from the vet and then we took the kids to see the house.

There were a LOT of tears and concern.  It seemed so small…

(Oh – and just to be sure this was a total Butler experience… Stewart had a job interview, but no dress shoes.  So John let Stewart wear his dress shoes, and he wore Stewart’s sneakers….)

Our house in NY closed on 7/19 and our house in SC would not close til 7/29.  We needed somewhere to live and God provided a very reasonably priced 5 bedroom house 15 minutes north of where we would be living.  The rental was across the street from the neighborhood Jeff and Marguerite lived in, to boot.

The house was cheap and five bedrooms.

The house had weird artwork and more books (I’d never let my kids read) then you can shake a stick at.
The beds were super lumpy.
There was animal hair on the couches despite a stern no-pet policy (ours were boarded).
The drive way was almost a 40 degree angle.
The house was filthy.

It was part of the adventure.

We found fun things to do.  We enjoyed the community pool.  We did some shopping.  We made the best of it.

We got to visit the Hoyt’s new house.

The plan was to be up and at ‘em early.  Head back to the house from the hotel to grab the cats and get on the road.

The packing supplies that our friends didn’t need had to be carried to the end of the driveway for the garbage pick up.

The cat carrying and computer load up situation was not as streamlined as we would have liked.

We got on the road a little later than we wanted to.

And it was pouring.

As I sit to type this almost 7 weeks later I remember just wanting to get on the road.  Having the goal in mind to get safely some 800 miles away.  There were no long good byes to an empty house.

But seven weeks later I do get teary.

This was a GREAT PLACE to live and have our family.

The yard was getting to be too much.
The house needed some more updating.
The layout would not lend itself to our needs in the next half-dozen years or so.

But it was home and it was great.

I am writing these blog posts months late. 

We had weeks of “blursdays” squeezed together. 

The best part of them were that we did them together.

Katriel was the only member of the family to try out the hotel pool.

Marie and Tab got to hang out with friends at Lauren and Jocelyn’s house.  Their mom offered this last minute good-bye party.

I sat in a parking lot being *still* for a few hours listening to podcasters.

The house was almost empty.

The girls and I had to hide in the basement most of the day.

Katriel enjoyed another impromptu play date with Madeline.

We are smiling. 

God does not change.

We can do this.

They literally could not get everything in.  What is more is we had gotten rid of quite a bit of stuff between the assessment and the packing.  I can’t imagine what it might have looked like had we not gotten rid of many tables and desks and chairs and toys.

In the end, the men left a lot of their supplies behind as opposed to getting a second vehicle as the upcharge on renting more vehicles was far more than the cost of boxes and some dollies.

Some photos are bitter sweet.

We are off to the hotel.  Marie has to work tomorrow, so we will wait until Sunday to leave for SC.  That will give us time to visit Ba and Poppy and do some clean up back at the house.

packing packing packing

Anthony, Mike and Jeff just kept packing boxes as it got harder and harder to be in the rapidly deteriorating “home.”  As more and more of our accoutrements  got stowed the house felt far less welcoming and I started to get the intense desire to leave.

John and I got our last run in to Ridge Donut cafe.

After a while it just was too awkward being at home, so the girls and I ran places…

My dear friend Jen came by with her Holly to offer a goodbye, as well.

By the end of the day there was almost no furniture and little semblance of home.

Honestly, saying goodbye to this wonderful house has been getting easier as the mess has ramped up.  It is a very weird sensation.