Are we crazy?

Sometimes I consider updating this blog a chore and dread sitting down to record the mundane in entertaining ways. However, I've realized that blogging is actually a luxury and a joy that can only be enjoyed when I'm properly situated with life. The last six weeks have been crazy. Literally.

I'm about to lay before you the plans of a family who has no real concept of what is "normal" or "feasible" for a family of our make-up. Obviously, Karl took a call to a new congregation in Palatine, IL. In and of itself, the call made perfect sense. He had served at Trinity, Davenport for three and a half years in the role of a "generalist"associate pastor. According to the book he read called Inside the Large Congregation, three years as a generalist is fairly typical before moving on to a more specialized role within a church body. The call from Prince of Peace, Palatine came out of the blue and after visiting the congregation, we decided it felt very much like a place where Karl could specialize and grow. not crazy.

When Karl accepted the call, I was six months pregnant with baby #3. In my mind, this gave us 2 months to move and settle and then I'd have 2 months left to get to know the community and congregation before greeting little baby Fay into the world. That may have been a little idealistic on my part. We ended up moving when I was 35 and a half weeks pregnant (and utterly useless when it came to all things move related). At six months pregnant, you think you'll have energy forever because you're living with all those nesting energies. At nearly nine months pregnant, your body has given up trying to live with this new invasion and is merely interested in hanging on until labor and delivery are over. Naps are a requirement and physical labor is laughable. Putting on my shoes takes effort so packing a box to move or driving three hours with kids by myself requires caffeinated Cherry Coke.

Ruben had just turned two and June turned four in the middle of this transition. Enough said.

We had initially looked at about 5 houses when we went to visit Prince of Peace in late November. By early December after Karl had accepted the call, we put in an offer on a really awesome house on Sanborn Drive. Unfortunately, we just missed it and had to start from scratch. We came back the next week and looked at every house in our price range. One stuck out as a good amount of space for the money. It was also around the corner from the church so our transportation budget would go down significantly. Karl drove back to Palatine for the inspection where a number of significant issues were discovered along with a multitude of little things that had just been neglected. We still liked the house, but needed to have the power and water turned on to make sure we weren't throwing ourselves into a money pit. We knew it would take TLC, but we didn't want to spend the next 5 years solely on house projects. The inspector was able to check the house again after the power was on but once again bad communication meant the water was off. Turns out the owner had an enormous bill to pay with the city and wasn't going to pay it until he was sure we were going to buy it. We weren't going to buy it until we were sure the house was sound so after a month of back and forth we finally were ready to back out of the deal. The initial closing date on the house had come and gone and the thought of starting the house hunt from scratch was terrifying now that I was seven months pregnant and Karl was getting installed two weeks in the future. And then God performed a miracle just for us. The house on Sanborn was back on the market and as we were filling out paperwork to put in an offer the listing agent lowered the price by $22,000. WHAT!?! Who does that? We offered over asking (but still way under our initial offer six weeks earlier). Three days of crossed fingers and constant prayer and the offer was accepted but the closing date (we had asked for early February) was moved to March 1. Great we had a house! Crap, we can't move in for seven more weeks! My due date and the closing date were moving a little too close for comfort, but God had dumped this amazing house in our lap so we were going to trust that we'd have the ability and help to get moved in and settled before the baby arrived. Karl's a fantastic painter and handyman so even if I'm laid up, at least he'll be able to throw some energy behind the move in. Okay, this will work.

From January 22 until March 1, Karl primarily lived in Palatine with some amazing members of the congregation who fed and cared for him better than I've ever done. The kids and I mostly lived in Davenport during the weekdays but spent most weekends in Palatine (I think I figured that I drove the route from Davenport to Palatine or vice versa 9 times by myself with the kids - yucko). Thankfully it was only a 3 hour drive and the kids had ipods and toys enough to keep them entertained. While in Davenport, we spent time doing our regular activities - dance class at the Family Museum, walking the mall with Michelle and Ellie, Mom's Group at Trinity, Jan's house while mom got stuff done, etc. I also managed to pack up most of the house, keep it clean enough to show on a regular basis, and start to arrange some necessities for the move like a new doctor for me and all those utility changes - who doesn't like to call 800 numbers. The time actually flew by, and pretty soon I was starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Our house in Davenport had a slew of people in one weekend and after the threat of a second offer we accepted an offer above what we were asking! Seriously, God, you're amazing with real estate...you should consider a side job. The inspection on the Sanborn house was fairly tame compared to the other house but we knew we'd need to replace a lot of the appliances but otherwise the bones of the house were great and the neighborhood astounding.

And then Karl broke his arm. In thirty years he had never broken so much as a toe and now he goes out for a run a week and a half before we're scheduled to move, slips and breaks his distal radius. Really. Wasn't the timeline already challenging enough for us! Since it was his right wrist, we weren't playing games and he went immediately to an urgent care facility where he was sent to an orthopedist who happened to work in an office that mainly does nose and boob jobs. The initial cast was placed up to his bicep completely freezing his wrist, elbow, and most of his thumb. After a few more days in Palatine trying to figure out how to hunt and peck with his left hand to get some work done at the office, we all headed back to Davenport for the big packing party and send off. If he felt useless at work, he definitely felt just as useless at home. Somehow or another we managed to pack up everything in the house and even find some amazing deals on Craigslist to help furnish the new house. We threw a house cooling party that the Schmitzers and Tuckers soon found out was more of a "you lift the heavy stuff that we've been avoiding" party. By this point we knew that this move was not going to be feasible unless we enlisted the help of anyone and everyone who offered it. Rather than try to narrate the entire "help came where help was needed" story, I'll just bullet point it.

• Nana cancelled her week of clients so she could come clean (first the carpets in Davenport, then the kitchen floor in Palatine) and help with the kids. She also found all the baby clothes and supplies, sorted and washed them, and left them in nice neat piles ready for the baby's use in a few weeks
• Jim McCabe picked up a washer and dryer from Craigslist, stored, then delivered it.
• The Wiemann's organized an entire team of people to come on move-in Saturday to install appliances, clean and paint
• A member of Prince of Peace installed the washer and dryer and the new cooktop (which required him to totally rework the drawers and countertop since the cut out was too small for the cooktop we bought on Craigslist)
• 12 people painted 70% of the house. We still painted the kitchen on our own and will paint the kids' rooms eventually.
• The move team hired by the church were incredibly punctual and efficient and had us loaded up before one on Thursday and unloaded Saturday morning by noon.
• Rachael and Chris Hooker (cousins who live 10 minutes away! Thank you God!) provided childcare as well as toilet renovation and mold removal.
• a member of the call committee volunteered to be our lawyer for the closing of the house so not only was it done with tremendous care but also was enjoyable since we got to spend time with a good friend
• Another round of Wellertives helped clean and move furniture and unpack on Sunday.

I'm sure I've forgotten so much already, but this gives you a general picture of the help that was provided. Besides some last minute cleaning in Davenport, I spent most of the move directing traffic and sitting on a chair in the living room like a sack of potatoes. I've never felt so lazy in my entire life. Here's my new house and I'm not even participating in the process of turning it into a home. 

We've lived in our new house for one full week now and while we still have plenty of boxes to sort through, things are starting to get done. The kitchen is fully functioning with a fridge that cools,  a cooktop that cooks, and a dishwasher (!) that cleans way more efficiently than I do. We've even got a few meals ready to be cooked as well as a couple of frozen pizzas in case the baby shows up way ahead of time. Karl organized the garage and basement bedroom today to create a toy room in the basement for the kids and one whole stall for a car to be driven into (the other garage door doesn't open and that stall is completely full of stuff anyway.) I can drive around town without getting lost and even know which grocery stores I like for which items. I got June enrolled for preschool next year. I've found an OB that will let me do a VBAC again and I'm going to see a chiropractor on Wednesday to put back in place what I have damaged while trying to lift things too heavy for a pregnant woman to lift (like Ruben). For both of my appointments this week I have volunteer babysitters from the congregation. I've joined a mom's group on Friday mornings, and I have a built in friend in Rachael. How cool is it that after 30 years of living more than 6 hours away from family, I move 10 minutes down the road from a cousin who has kids my kids' ages. Not to mention, we actually get along as well.

So answer me this. are we crazy or has God just challenged us to step beyond our comfort zones and ask for help when we need it? If the latter is the case, would you please help me inform him that I would have been challenged enough with perhaps half of challenges. 

p.s. I know this post would be better with pictures, but that's just one more thing that I haven't gotten to yet. Eventually...