Moving day for the Cord family

After eight years of living in my beautiful Charles Village neighborhood (in three different locations, all within four blocks of each other), my wife and I are finally moving. We always knew this day would come, but we did not expect to outgrow our condo so soon. It’s a little bittersweet.

We ended our apartment-dwelling lives when we became homeowners a little over two years ago. We saved every penny for the perfect two bedroom condo unit. The location was great—the lush Johns Hopkins University walking paths were nearby, we had a Barnes & Noble bookstore on the corner, plenty of sushi places, Starbucks (for my wife—I hate coffee) and Chipotle were just steps outside of our home. We got rid of all of our old IKEA furniture, upgrading to Pottery Barn couches and Restoration Hardware chairs. I finally had the home office that I wanted since I was 12. It was a big move for us, and it felt like we finally made it. This was home.

A year after moving, the time was right for us to start infant foster care. A crib was moved into my office, and when our first baby arrived, the laptop became a regular fixture on the kitchen table. I wasn’t prepared for the amount of stuff that babies use. We are minimalists, but even keeping things to a minimum, the stroller and the swing and the ExcerSaucer (the coolest invention ever—I’d like a desk modeled after that!) all have a sizable combined footprint. The condo was getting tight. And, if we ever had two babies at the same time, I have no idea what we’d do.

So, with interest rates and home prices down, we started keeping an eye out. And then my wife spotted the perfect place: 2200 square feet, 4 bedrooms, single-car garage. Sadly, not in Charles Village. Looks like we’re moving to Hampden.

So, this weekend was filled with visits to Home Depot. We bought paint, a new mailbox, and new door handles and deadbolts. I’m not a great do-it-yourselfer, and I always regret not paying more attention to my Dad growing up (he can fix cars and do anything around the house or in the yard). So, with some trepidation, I started tackling my projects.

There were some hiccups, and I probably took two or three times as long as I should have, but the locks work, and the mailbox is up. It’s a different sense of accomplishment than “attorney work.” These discrete, hands-on tasks have a primal feel and, unlike the law, the sense of completion is almost instantaneous. When doing things like this I sometimes think crazy thoughts like “I could be a locksmith—a nice nine to five job, not taking work home with me.” But, that’s crazy (what would I do with all my free time?).

We have a few weeks before we need to actually move, which gives us enough time to get the prep work done. Everyone says to just hire movers. I may need to do that for the big furniture (I’m 135 lbs soaking wet), but I know that I’m just going to suck it up and do everything else myself. And after this, we’re never moving again!