One of the worst aspects of buying a new house is moving. Okay, not one of the worst. THE worst.

Moving into a new house is like writing a novel. Everyone *says* they want to write a novel, but nobody really does. Rather, they want to *have written* a novel. It's the same thing with moving into a new house. Oh sure, we wanted to *be* in a new house, but that didn't mean we wanted to actually do the moving part that is necessary to get from House A into House B.

Luckily for us, we could afford to pay professionals to move the big heavy furniture, and we had a few Very Good Friends willing to help me move my books. As the saying goes: friends help you move, good friends help you move bodies, and really good friends help you move books. Paulette and I are blessed to have so many very good friends that it only took a week to get that particular job done (Friday night saw the last box of books leave my old den in my previous house and enter the new house, and last night we saw the last of the interior of that house entirely).

Aside from the PITA factor of packing boxes and physically carrying them from room to car and then from car to new room (this is especially a problem when moving into this particular new house -- the rooms are so huge that carrying boxes from the driveway to the "library" involves changing zipcodes), there's the problem of stirring up all the dust that had accumulated in the old house.

I am allergic to dust.

Our new house had the option of including a dust zapper (which we chose to get), so that should be less of an issue in the future. Not that we ever plan to move again. But stirring up all that dust at the old house wreaked havoc with my sinuses and gave me a sore throat (and a crabby disposition). My voice became unrecognizable on the phone (perhaps not such a bad thing, given that most people think I sound on the phone like that Moviefone guy and refuse to talk to me because they think I'm some automated telemarketing device thingy).

New houses, like new cars, have a distinct aroma that is produced by the "outgassing" of the new components -- particularly the paints, glues, and most especially the carpeting. In the case of cars, there's also the plastic parts, but our house doesn't have too many plastic parts as far as I can tell.

The best way to handle the "new house smell" is to open the windows and run the fans (whole house, bathroom, and any ceiling fans) for a while. We were having absolutely perfect weather for just that kind of thing right up until moving day (well, the day the hired help came to move the big pieces). That's when the temps dropped by about fifteen to twenty degrees and the Seattle sunshine began to drizzle down in the way it absolutely hasn't done for most of the winter (which is why we are now facing drought conditions, even with this most recent spat of drizzle).

What do you call a drought in Seattle? Four hours of no rain. Har, har, har.

So, with my dust-addled sinuses and lungs making for general upper respiratory ickiness, I'm unable to find much relief just yet because the paint and carpet fumes at home are still a little bit thick.

But my aching back (from the move) and wheezy lungs aside, I'm glad we're finally getting settled into the new place. It's a nice house, considerably larger than the townhouse we lived in before, and the neighborhood is pleasant and quiet. I'm looking forward to meeting more of our neighbors and exploring the nearby trails with little Alexander. We've already taken a stroll down one of them, and Alex really seems to enjoy it when the trail veers away from the houses and streets.

So there you have it. We are officially out of the old house, and now we're unpacking boxes and setting up shop in the new joint. Also, I'm starting to put in full days at work again, which is a good thing (just ask my boss). Paulette has already mentioned a couple of "if we had to do it again" observations, and I agree with every point, but I don't even want to think about doing it again. Not for a long, long time. I'm optimistic that we won't have to. Even if we have several more kids, this place should hold us.

Speaking of having more kids....