The Reyes Report

I have no idea how to close that sentence .. it’s a flurry of emotions. Here’s a short recap:

Wednesday afternoon, Day 1

- pre-Closing: Visit bank, withdraw more money than we knew we could; depressed it isn’t more as we’re in the middle of a market collapse and the stocks we cashed in were at an all time low when we cashed them last week, but continue to drop lower .. does that make it a good loss then?

- Closing: Everyone in the same, warm room. Seller’s lawyer is a jerk. Wish we had him instead. Somewhere in the world, a forest is crying. Keep signing. Keep signing. Keep signing. Keys? Ok.

- Arrival: No furniture. No chaperones. Champagne. Dreams of tomorrow. Literally, tomorrow .. since we closed 3 weeks later than we hoped.

… also, my mom has major back surgery.

Thursday – Day 2: Planning the move. And the utilities. And the movers. And picking paint colors. And sending a plea out to NYC friends to help paint on Sat!! 8:55pm – get kicked out of Home Depot; in search of dinner; talk to mom, she’s wigggling toes! 10:30pm Try paint picks on the walls. 11:30pm – Uh oh, we don’t like 2 out of 3, that’s $40 of “test” paint down the drain (not literally of course).

Friday – Day 3: Noon – Open house in our current apartment – kicked out to Starbucks. Find a paint store with pre-mixed mini’s of Benjamin Moore. 6pm – Paint take 2. Love it. Yes!! Now we need paint. And supplies. Drive to Home Depot. By car. To the Bronx. Traffic. Store closes at 10. Lots to buy. Their color matcher is out of order. Stress mounts. Head to another HD. Success! Push OVERFLOWING trolley and arm loads of stuff to register 10 minutes after store closing. Check-out clerk hates us, nicely. Proudly present 10% off coupon. $80 off. Sweet! Find a diner. Conrad eats possibly the worst fish & chips ever cooked. Awesome. Drive home. Because that’s what it is now: our home. <Euphoric moment> Shoot. It’s late. Tired. Unload mini. Impress neighbors with just how much you can cram into a mini. Survey our new palace. And all the goods. Dred mounts. Need sleep.

Day 4 (Saturday): Head to Harlem. Wash walls in prep for painting. Turns out there are a lot of walls. Lay out drop cloths & supplies. Find Jimbo’s – get great breakfast sammiches and coffee. Hope they’ll learn to know us there – odds are good. Tape off molding & ceilings. One ladder. Shoot, sharing makes job go slow. 2 helpers arrive – Joe & Marty. Rock on. First coat of paint takes a long time. Pizza helps. Marty puts in overtime. Conrad and B finish 2 coats, remove masking. LOVE the colors. Even the veuve-inspired orange bathroom. Tired. LONG day. Tomorrow: pack.

Day 5 (Sunday): Plan to head to Camp Osmon to visit mom. Pack overnight & off-to-MA stuff. Start to pack. Shoot… no packing paper. C goes in hunt. Takes a LONG time. Frustrating. Comes home like a sherpa with about 50 pounds of paper strapped to his back. Pictures will follow. ‘Rents call & ask we come later. Frustrated: if I was a boy, driving alone would be a non-issue, but not worth stressing them out – so agree. Argggg. Stubborn. Head up to Harlem for delivery of floor sander. Mask shoe-molding. Drape kitchen in plastic to protect from mountains of sawdust. Remove doors to rooms. Shoot – tired again!

Day 6 (Monday): SANDING day — yay! And packing day — boo. C takes Monday off from work & sands floors. B works from home. Really works. No time for packing. Movers coming on Wednesday and so far only 6 boxes packed. Stressed. C calls – floor sanding worked, sorta. B goes to condo to check out the work. Darn. Sander gets up finish but not evenly. Much of the stain is still down. Much deliberating. Choices: Pay professionals; Attempt a dark stain & hope it doesn’t look awful; Rent a more aggressive drum sander; call it rustic, put down clear coat – live with it and get lots of area rugs. Decide to rent the crazy-intense drum sander and try again tomorrow. Return home. Pack. A lot. On a roll now. Sorta. 25 boxes and only most of living room done. Need to be up by 6 to get to HD by 7 to rent sander — call it a night ~ midnight. Stress mounts .. clock ticks.

Day 7 – Tuesday: Early. Rain. Move car. Find out alternate side parking was suspended. C goes to HD for new rental. Delivery arrives in Harlem around 10:30, by noon-thirty, at least one room is down to raw wood floors. YAY! Now we’re on a roll with the floors. Hopefully we don’t screw them up too badly. 2pm. Kitchen almost packed .. boxes piling up around us.

… So that’s where we are now. Hope we make the 8:30am deadline on Wednesday, as that’s when the movers arrive!