April 1, 2010
Another eight days passed, and finally April 1st arrived. It was a day I'd anticipated for soooo long that it had started to feel like it might never come!
I wanted to rush straight over to the new house and make sure I wasn't the victim of any really-unwelcome surprises on this April Fool's Day -- i.e. maybe the people had not been able to move out in time?? -- but we woke up late for once, and had to hurry to slam down breakfast, get dressed, and make our Gymboree class at 9:30, so that took priority.
Which left me on pins and needles for the entire class.
Ayize, on the other hand, had no such qualms...
"Blue balls, Mama! I got me some blue balls!"
Bouncing up and down on the air log, arms filled with kittens, courtesy of some help from our very sweet teacher, Miss Allison.
Okay people, Olivia * officially * loves me. Look at that smile!!! and try to deny it! LOL
Lukey was pretty jolly this morning, too.
Anyhow, class ended, and we dashed to our car. I was eager to get to the house but also nervous; a lot of possibilities ran through my mind, most of them scary. What if they hadn't been able to move out? What if they had moved, and the movers left a lot of damage?? What if they moved, there was no damage, and I was about to walk into my own house in less than ten minutes, a proposition that was as terrifying as it was enthralling???
Anyhow, I strapped Ayize in the car seat, keeping my emotions in check, and away we went.
So far, so good. No cars in the driveway, no lights on in the house.
Ayize got out and ran ahead to scout the situation since his Mom is a wussbag.
He confidently climbed the stairs as if he'd done it a thousand times before. I was impressed. No fears.
Unlocked the front door, stepped inside, and was struck by two things right away.
(1) Got my first of two happy surprises (I promised to unveil these in the previous post, remember?) when I saw the coat hook by the front door was still hanging. I thought it would move with the previous owners. After all, she had adorned it with her own original artwork, these adorable hand-painted glass globes. Turns out that they had left me every single piece of artwork that I ever commented on throughout the months of the house-buying process as a house-warming gift! I only wish now that I had mentioned so much more, because I loved so much of Nancy's art that "lived" in the house!!! Anyhow, such a sweet and touching discovery!
(2) I also realized that although we were only in the (enclosed) mud room, I knew immediately by the sound of the echo within, that the house was as empty as a dinner plate after Sunday supper. Still, I nervously creaked open the second entry door that leads to the rest of the house to confirm...
...and voila, the echo proved true!
Ayize suddenly burst into the house, skipping and singing and shouting and dashing about from empty room to empty room, squealing with delight and surprise!
He even tried his hand at shoe rack removal, whoa there hoss!
Another mini-surprise -- the previous owner had made me a small piece of her painted-tin art, a sweet little bird, and incorporated it into a wonderful housewarming card, affixed to a welcome plant. The note she wrote was so touching. I read and re-read and re-read it.
Then I put it away carefully, hung this cute print on the fridge (another one left behind because I'd mentioned I thought it was neat), and tucked the handmade envelope behind it. Such a cheery sight in my new little kitchen!
I had commented on how cute I thought their daughter's long-ago artwork was, attached to the top of this kitchen outlet, and they left it too!
They even left Ayize this fun surprise out by the garage!
He immediately ran up to it, had a small conversation with its mouth full of teeth, then set to petting it and telling me it was his "goggy" (dog). Mmmm-kay!
Ayize was all over his new alligator but I simply stood agape and totally enthralled that they'd left the garden for me mostly as is. That had been my fantasy, though I'd assumed she would of course take her paintings, metalwork and hand-painted ceramics.
Nope.
They'd left every single thing I'd ever commented on. I said it before and I'll say it again -- I only wish I had mentioned more...
How I'd loved the Chinese foo dog, guardian of the garden, and painted to match the garage artwork! And the...and the...and the...
[In the event that I'm sounding just plain greedy here, let me further explain: I heard from the neighbors in the days following that the owners sadly threw out the majority of their garden and house paintings and pieces because they were moving to a much smaller place and simply wouldn't have the room to accommodate it all. Unfortunately, it had all been picked up by the city before I got there. So what I mean is, I wish I had expressed more of what I loved because I would have loved to "save" it and have it remain in its house or garden where it was loved for so many years by these people.]
But anyway...beggars can't be choosers, and I know I'm overlooking the forest for the trees, so I'll just shut up now and be grateful for what was left. I promise to include better photos of what they gifted us with in a future post. I was just awestruck and so happy and appreciative. I could hardly believe my luck!
"This one looks sharp!"
Another fun surprise awaited us inside the garage: they had left me all of their gardening stuff! And not just a little gardening stuff: they left me rakes, hoes, shovels, trowels, and any other kind of tool you can imagine; gardening gloves and shoes; hand-painted ceramic pots in every size, pattern and fun color combination; watering cans (much to Ayize's delight!), sprinklers of various types, a large plastic enclosed wind-up hose organizer and what must be at least a hundred feet of hose, plus extra unattached hose in the garage and various watering attachments; hand-painted support stakes, bamboo sticks, and all sizes of metal coil supports; every kind of fertilizer, mulch and potting soil; a multitude of bug deterrents and other gardening chemicals; snow and ice removal tools for my car, a large snow shovel, and a cute kid-sized one (Ayize was in heaven!); yard waste bins including a large, city-pickup one (saves me $75!) and various small ones I can carry about and use as I go; garden brooms and cleaning pans; extra rocks, garden edgers and concrete decorative pieces. All this, plus all the garden art and sculptures I had admired on past visits. Oh, and more -- a push mower for the front lawn. Large bath towels hung neatly on hooks inside the door to clean my hands on, that were color-coordinated with the paintings hanging on the garage. A large wooden standing storage area inside the garage plus several carry-and-go garden tool organizers.
I was just absolutely floored. And I can guarantee this list is not even comprehensive.
The second garage painting. The metalwork affixed to this one reminds me of my niece Madison. I had tears in my eyes when I saw this one, too, was left. Hooray!
Anyway, home sweet home at last.
Our first few steps into the beginning of this great adventure.
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