You don’t even know the half of our moving day adventure. We glossed over it because we knew you deserved empty shots of our old place and pics of the new house’s interior – but we couldn’t let this story go untold. So take a moment to pantomime the buckling of your seatbelt and get ready to enjoy the ride. As we mentioned earlier, the day started off with an unexpected surprise: a snowstorm. And even though it wasn’t a Friday, the thirteenth of this month (aka Monday) surely lived up to its less than lucky reputation. Which is so not a good thing when it’s closing/moving day.
Sure the snow was pretty, but it definitely had its hand in a few unlucky events that day. Like knocking out power at our attorney’s office, making it a bit more difficult to stay updated on what was happening and get transfers and files through in order to complete our closing on time (which is partially why it was delayed until Tuesday). But that was nothing compared to this, um, predicament:
Yep, that’s our 26 ft U-Haul truck in a ditch, blocking two lanes of traffic. And it’s not just any ditch. It’s the ditch at the end of our driveway- er well, the driveway that we had just sold. So technically, it was someone else’s ditch that was holding my truck captive about an hour before they’d be returning with the keys. Not to mention it was someone else’s mailbox that the truck was precariously leaning against. Sigh.
Here’s how it went down (pun intended). Sherry was already at my sister’s house with Clara and Burger playing the waiting game until we could move into the new house. I had been dropped off at our old house to meet the buyers and their agent so they could do one last walk-through of our old casa before closing (apparently to make sure it was vacant and everything was still intact… can you taste the irony already?). The walk-through went fine and I was leaving right behind them in the giant truck packed full of all our worldly possessions when this happened (though they were already too far up the road to see it). I blame it on some combination of paying too close attention to keeping the front end of the truck from ending up in the ditch across the street, snow that was hiding the edge of the driveway, and general inexperience when it comes to driving a big ol’ truck.
At least that’s how I like to tell the story. Sherry prefers this phone conversation play-by-play:
JOHN: Hey Sherry. Walk-through went fine. They’re off to go close and I’m headed to the new house.
SHERRY: Okay, be very careful. It’s snowy out there so drive as slow as you need, even if people are honking at you. Just take your time.
JOHN: I will. Don’t worry.
SHERRY: Great. I just don’t want you ending up in a ditch or anything.
[HANG UP, SHERRY GOES TO PUT HER PHONE DOWN BUT IT IMMEDIATELY RINGS AGAIN.]
JOHN: Crap, the truck is in a ditch and I think I knocked over the mailbox.
SHERRY: You’re kidding right?
[END SCENE, FADE TO BLACK]
We can laugh about it now, but let’s just say it was definitely a disastrous moment in our heads at the time. We had visions of everything in the truck shattering and having to wait hours to be towed out (which would definitely have pissed off the new owners who would be back with the keys in about an hour after their closing). Fortunately none of that happened. Heck, the mailbox didn’t even fall over.
Once I got the truck towed out of the ditch (within about half an hour- which was truly miraculous in that storm with all the other car-riddled ditches to be attended to) I drove it about one mile an hour over to our new house. Then I called our house’s new owners’ agent and agreed to replace the mailbox post (which had cracked in the process). Between that and the tow truck charge to un-ditch the truck, the whole ordeal ended up costing us $185. Sucky? Yes. But it could have been so much worse (so far not one thing that we’ve unpacked has been broken- which is a total Christmas miracle because the back of the truck crashed down at least 18″ when it slipped off the driveway). We’re just happy it didn’t result in a cracked flatscreen TV, a delayed closing, an injury, or any other number of things that could have gone wrong. And it somehow made making it into our house later that day that much sweeter. Like we’d battled all sorts of insane and unexpected adversity, only to end up where we belonged by day’s end.
Plus, later that night I redeemed myself by surprising Sherry with this:
I snagged it on lunaCielo’s Etsy shop a few weeks ago (after hearing Sherry admire Courtney Cox’s small gold turtle necklace during Cougar Town). I though it made a great house-warming gift because it came with this note about the turtle’s symbolism: “The turtle’s whole life is one of steadfastness, effort, and patience. There is a saying, “Home is where the heart is” — the turtle is always at home within itself.” As we switch from one house to another, it’s a good reminder that our sense of home stays with us wherever we are.
And perhaps on this unlucky day, it was a good sign that even our ditch-bound truck itself was emblazoned with a giant turtle. Coincidence? You be the judge.
So that’s the story of Monday the 13th. Don’t say I didn’t warn you about what can happen when a case of the Mondays merges with that unlucky number…
Sara B. says
Hilarious! I was laughing so hard…ahhh, the joys of moving day! ;) Then you finished with the touching turtle surprise. Great writing!
Kari says
Thanks for sharing your “ditch” story with us…I think we’ve ALL had our own ditch stories for sure!!! :D Glad you got it OUT and are unpacking even now! So exciting, can’t wait to see all the wonderful ideas you both have percolating in those minds of yours come to pass!! ;) —And the turtle necklace, such a beautiful gift and so thoughtful!! Loved the little “sentiment” that went along with it! Perfect!! Wishing you 4 a very MERRY CHRISTMAS in your new home!!
Handy Man, Crafty Woman says
That’s why I always make hubby drive those trucks!! Glad you were ok. Something’s ALWAYS gotta go wrong on closing/moving day, I swear.
I can just hear you thinking “Ok, now I have to get out of the truck and take a picture of it in the ditch for the blog!” :-D
Anne says
Ohhhhhh! John, you are a sweetie! What a great gift! How thoughtful. The adventure has begun!
Christine says
Oh, it brings to mind the chaos from moving out of our first house. The new owners stopped by the night before to park their moving van in the driveway. The dogs were going nuts and carrying on as I chatted with them outside. I come back in only to find blood ev-ery-where! One of the dogs cut their paw and tracked it all of the light carpet. I was supposed to leave that evening and drive the 3-1/2 hours to our new location. In a panic, I called our real estate agent and explained the situation. She told me to go ahead and leave, and she would take care of getting the carpet cleaned in the morning prior to closing. Thank goodness for her…she was such a life (and carpet) saver. Sorry you had such an adventure, as if having two house closings on one day isn’t adventure enough. Best wishes in your new home!
karol says
Love the story, the necklace, the symbolism.
drew says
When we were closing on our current home, 23 years ago, we were doing the final walk-through about an hour before closing. Flipped on the HVAC and nothing. Turned out someone ( we assume the teenage juvenile delinquent that lived next door )had loaded the outside breaker box, that controlled the HVAC, with firecrackers and blown up the breakers. Went to closing with the electrician at the house replacing the box.
katie says
Great truck story. Glad everyone is okay. The necklace story is priceless. Good Job on that one.
April says
OMG! That is super sweet. I think I am in love…er..your sweet for the necklace. Great Gift. Sorry about the Uhaul….it happens and it sucks. :)
Kathy says
I love your blog, and all your posts, but this is one of the best ever. So funny and moving all at the same time. And the turtle; I have been a real estate agent for years and I truly believe that there are no coincidences. Everything that happens is meant to be and for a reason. I love the symbolism of the turtle and it doesn’t surprise me at all that the truck had a big turtle on it. Congratulations on your new home and may it bring you nothing but love, luck and happiness!
Michelle says
oh my goodness. . . i laughed so hard. moving always seems to go that way for us. . . so i am sorry this happened to you but am also kinda glad we are not alone! gotta love unforeseen expenses. . . moving always does that (just not always to the tune of new mailbox parts at your previous digs)
Kathleen says
LOVE this story, love this gift—love that the truck had a turtle on it—thanks for sharing your life with us!
Sharron Clemons says
Oh, it brings to mind the chaos from moving out of our first house. The new owners stopped by the night before to park their moving van in the driveway. The dogs were going nuts and carrying on as I chatted with them outside. I come back in only to find blood ev-ery-where! One of the dogs cut their paw and tracked it all of the light carpet. I was supposed to leave that evening and drive the 3-1/2 hours to our new location. In a panic, I called our real estate agent and explained the situation. She told me to go ahead and leave, and she would take care of getting the carpet cleaned in the morning prior to closing. Thank goodness for her…she was such a life (and carpet) saver. Sorry you had such an adventure, as if having two house closings on one day isn’t adventure enough. Best wishes in your new home!
Jennifer says
LoL, that’s awesome! BTW, if my husband and I were the buyers we wouldn’t get mad :D We would have probably tried to help somehow actually, that’s just who we are.
Just kudos to you for trying to drive that thing in the first place, and to top it off, in the snow! When we drove ours (done it 2x so far) I was always amazed how well Nick (hubby) did. I will not drive it. Period.
This past move we hooked up our car to the back, talk about a heavy load, the small hills that you don’t notice in a car brought us down to about 30mph on the highway (we didn’t have a diesel)….you know, people who don’t know what its like driving on roads in a heavy load like that really do not respect you while you are driving. The people who get it, they’re the nice ones!
The only complications we had was a flat tire before we loaded everything, thankfully-b/c it got fixed before stuff was packed, and getting the trailer on the hitch in small, awkward spaces, one of which had a slope (we had to play superman and superwoman and lift/move it with our own strength at times-the trailer pre-loaded). Nothing like feeling ridiculous in broad day light while people are waiting for you to move and you can’t get a trailer on and then can’t squeeze out of a small space!
I feel you guys! Sending the love! :)
Congrats on the new home. Can’t wait to see what you have in store since the last one looked so awesome too!
Congrats on the family! Clara looks like Mommy :)
Susan says
John and Sherry,
That is a HUGE truck. I would have been terrified driving it. Glad everything turned out ok. Amazing how fast the tow service got you out of the ditch. I’m enjoying following your renovations in your new home…truly inspiring!
Susan
lunaCieloJewelry says
I’m so glad you love the turtle necklace from my shop. I have even more turtles now! I have set a a coupon code for your awesome followers. Enter code YOUNGHOUSELOVE for 10% off through Oct.31, 2011. You can purchase directly from me if you don’t wanna make an etsy account. http://www.facebook.com/lunacielojewelry.
[email protected]
Thanks! Erin
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks for sharing the coupon code Erin!
xo,
s
Cait says
This exact same thing happened to us when we moved to London, Kentucky! We got our UHaul stuck in the ditch in front of our house, so we had to just unload it that way to get it unstuck. Weeeeeell, out in the country, they don’t wait for you to get out of the way, so this guy decides to go into someone’s yard to get around us and HE gets stuck IN THEIR YARD! To make matters worse, the snow was so deep at that point that the TOW TRUCK got stuck! Finally, 8 hours later, we had all three vehicles pulled out of their respective ditches and all the boxes inside :)
YoungHouseLove says
Oh my gosh- that’s much crazier than our debacle! So glad you finally got unstuck and were able to move! So crazy!
xo,
s