Steps 2 - 16

Step 2: Marvel at the good moods of the three movers loading 15,800 lbs of Beauregard possessions onto a 52' truck.
Step 3: Sleep in sleeping bags on the kids' floor using towels for pillows after forgetting to keep pillows out of the moving boxes.
Step 4: Watch our cars be taken away on a flatbed, then hop in a taxi headed to the 5th Ave. Suites in downtown Portland to celebrate Colleen's birthday and our last day in the Pacific Northwest.
Step 5: In a downpour, take the kids to the Pepsi Waterfront Village to watch the spirited kick off to the 99th Annual Portland Rose Festival.
Step 6: Wake up early to fly to Boston through Seattle and have everything go exactly right -- from the boys' behavior, to the flights leaving on time, to no one in the rental car line when we arrived.
Step 7: Revel in the hospitality of the Gaffney's, with whom we stayed until the truck arrived.
Step 8: Marvel at the strength and endurance of two of the movers unloading our stuff in the new house, and marvel at the sheer stupidity and laziness of one mover.
Step 9: Wonder how we would know where to tell the unpackers, who arrived 1 day after everything was unloaded, to put everything....Then realize there job was just to place everything in boxes on the floor. Talk about a mess! But, I fully recommend this service, since it prompts you to put everything away as quickly as possible.
Step 10: Spend 10 hours organizing the two-car garage full of stuff from a three-car garage. Step back and admire your hard work, then crave a beer and realize Colleen didn't buy any on her initial shopping trip.
Step 11: Meet our WONDERFUL neighbors. The wife is an interior decorator who, as a house-warming gift, is giving us her services for free. The husband owns a MinuteMan Press franchise and wants to give me printing services for my Realtor needs. The daughter is 16 and a babysitter. The son is 18 and is a musician home for the summer (he goes to U of Colorado).
Step 12: Say to my wife, "There's no need to keep on the landscaping services, I'm going to mow the lawn from now on." Three hours later, after cutting more grass than I've ever done in one day saying, "You know, let's keep him on for now." Then, figuring his services would cost about $1200 a year and saying, "Let's look into a riding mower!" and getting a positive reaction from Colleen. Step 12a: Begin research! Yeeha!
Step 13: Be confounded why I can't get Vonage to work in my new location despite a quick, painless and successful self-install of my broadband service.
Step 14: Hire a pest service because big, juicy, hardy black ants are invading our house. We come to learn they are carpenter ants, and are a problem for everybody right now because of the heavy rains Massachusetts received in the last few weeks. We caught them in time, thank goodness.
Step 15: Try to figure out why Tivo screwed up my cable reception, but enjoy watching "The Deadliest Catch" episodes the Tivo recorded on our last night in Portland more than a week ago.
Step 16: Finally start blogging again!