Day 5: First night in the New House!!!

{Written before the fact.}Tonight we're having a slumber party/work party at the new house.  Significance:  First day sleeping in our new digs.  One day before our beds and other furniture gets loaded in!

{Written after the fact.}
I worked a full day at work, so only got home at 6 or so.  We eagerly anticipated the arrival of Heidi and Scott to help us get some of the gear over to the new house.  The idea was that Natalie would watch the boys while the adults and Sean got some work done at the old house to get it ready for the movers.  In general, the plan was that there would only be a mound of boxes for our moving crew to put on the truck, and there would be no "last minute packing" required.  It was a good idea, and I think we were almost there, but somehow things still show up not being packed once the movers arrive.

Here's how it really went down, written in present tense so you can live the experience:

• As soon as the Pratts arrive, Joe and Scott take over a load of boxes (and mattresses for the sleepover) to the new house, and unload the dish boxes into the kitchen.  
• Scott takes the tour and is excited to come and visit us in our new digs! 
• Jen and Heidi arrive with dinner while we are unloading, and we decide to go back to Bartlett Drive to eat with the kids.
• (Now about 8pm) We pack up the kids and go over to the new house to get the kids set up for bed.  
• Ian and Nat set up in Ian's new room, sharing a twin mattress centered on a rug in the otherwise empty room.
• Blake is on his trundle bed and Graham is in his pack'n'play in their new room.  Blake ends up sleeping with all his clothes on and his green L.L.Bean Parka because he doesn't want to put his pajamas on.
• Graham thinks his bed is really the fuss'n'cry (he didn't really sleep well=>Jen doesn't sleep well either).
• Heidi lies down with the little boys to help them get some shut-eye while Scott, Sean, Jen and I go back to the old house to put more things in boxes.
• We take apart beds and cribs and other furniture until after midnight. 
• After having moved the "important things", we are basically down to the stuff that just gets thrown hodge-podge into boxes.  These are the things that have to be sorted through carefully on the other end and we will have to decide what to keep/trash/give away.  Hopefully there can be a peaceful resolution to their destiny. :)

In the end (noted after the fact), Heidi moved to the air mattress in the big bedroom, Jen "slept" (lay there and didn't sleep well at all) in the little boys' room, then transferred to the playroom on the sofa bed.  I slept on the sofa-bed in a sleeping bag quite comfortably until Jen showed up around 4am shivering and cold, so I found her a sleeping bag as well, which didn't really solve the problem.  She must have been chilled to the bone!  Sean slept on a cot in the middle of the living room.

Observations: 

1. When sleeping in an empty house, you're gonna have to compensate for the cold night by turning the heat up more than you think is necessary.  Air mattresses and temporary sleep situations are not as warm as your usual bedding in an empty house.
2. The night before the move ought to be a stress-free relaxing night, with all the hard work already done or waiting until the next day.  We burned that candle on both ends.
3. Many hands makes light work.  It was wonderful to get so much done with Scott and Sean's help.
4. Every house sounds different.  I hadn't expected the sounds of the furnace, or the clanking of the baseboard heaters, or the sounds of cars on the road in the morning.  (We're used to the end of the culdesac, where no cars dare visit!)
5. Perhaps camping out in a new house is overrated... but at least it gave us a chance to thump around for 4 more hours before the help arrived to load the truck in the morning.

Next up, the actual move day, and all the joy that ensued!