The Countdown Begins...

Our house overflows with boxes Wifey packed up.

We finally got our move in date for our new (rental) house in Northern Arizona! Mr. and Mrs. Owner will be moved out in time for us to move IN on September 14th. I have requested that the moving company re-evaluate our assets next week, after I get a chance to move some things up north myself.

The hospital has graciously allowed a $9,000 moving allowance.  According to the hospital spokesperson, that money can only be used toward physically moving our stuff. If there was any left over, I do not get it. If the cost runs over, I have to foot the bill myself. So far, with the first assessment by the moving company, they concluded that it would take a whopping $12,000 (GASP!) to move our household!

What the...? Seriously?

That began the two day banter between the moving company and myself regarding how exactly they come up with these figures. To make a long story short, they pimp out things to third party companies instead of doing it themselves...which, of course, is more expensive than if they actually DID IT themselves. Go figure. Note: this is the ONLY company that my new hospital is contracted with to "direct bill" for relocating a new employee. Can you say MONOPOLY?

Mirror so large it's hard to get it in one picture

Anyway, the silly things they contract out are things like: our bedroom set mirror. It is quite large hence a large liability. So the moving company hires out a third party company to come to my house and crate it up for freight. Same with our grandfather clock, flat screen tv (although it is actually pretty small compared to what I see in most folks houses), and a few other fragile items. Lots of money WASTED and I'm not paying for it. I'll be making a few runs up there for New Hire Orientation anyway...I'll just take a trailer full of boxes every time I go. I can take the mirror, clock, and tv in my trailer. Nothing a few strategically placed blankets can't handle. I have to get the cost down to being within the allowance.

The front of our new home in the pines. Full front porch!

Turns out the house we are renting isn't cheap either but it is directly in line with what we would have paid in Oklahoma. So, I'm fine with it. I'm SO excited about the 2.5 acres that it sits on. We'll be able to garden to our hearts content. It also has a large, custom chicken coop that I can't wait to show you. It is bordered by half hewn logs, if that's what they are called? Like, when you  use you own saw mill on a tree and you cut off that first slice with the bark that makes for a flat side on the tree? That top piece is what Mr. Owner used to make the walls of the coop with. A large branch perched in the middle holds up the thick netting to repel predators.

!!!! MAN CAVE !!!..and a little woman nook. :-)

There are already two small gardens near the coop that grow food specifically for the chickens. Not sure what is growing but I bet we'll figure it out eventually. There's also a small wooden playhouse next to a fire pit for the girls to play in. Oh, and Mr. Owner has left lots of firewood for us too. There's also state forest land DIRECTLY behind us. He said with a $20 license of some type, I can cut down my own firewood.  I am really looking forward to a nice COLD winter up there with lots of fires. Did mention the awesome three car garage / workshop?!! With a LOFT?!! Woo hoo! And it all sits perched atop a nice low mountain with views of the pseudo-valley below.

I have some video footage of the house when we were looking but I went so fast with excitement that I blurred most of the still frame shots. The whole family is excited and I'm betting that the next two weeks C..R..A..W..L.. by.

~OJD