I am exhausted. This whole month-long turmoil has literally taken its toll on every one of us. We are slightly off. Well, maybe more off than normal (hey!). We are all just this side of cranky.
But, we are BETTER.
The movers came with their cigarettes (seriously, do you have to be a smoker to be a mover? They ALL smoke...and these guys were especially delightful in the fact that they had their ciggy's in their mouths while IN the truck WITH all our stuff. Super extra nice with a side of UGH). Honestly, I started the day off chipper and excited: they were here to MOVE our stuff OUT of the YMH.
However, I soon grew VERY tired. Sleepy. Emotional. Exhausted. Within one hour of arriving (slightly late due to road construction in downtown) they had pretty much emptied out the entire one car garage and were then on the side of the truck, smoking, and taking a break. Now, I'm all for breaks but holy crap, they had only been there an hour AND we were paying them by the hour. I wanted to go over there and "snap, snap" their asses back to work (I didn't).
Can I state for the record that I HATE to watch the movers move my stuff. When they decided to tackle the refrigerator, I had to take the dog for a walk and not watch. We ended up going with a UHaul service and so we had to rent all the dollies, blankets, and the truck (they drove) and then you hire out a team of men (we hired four for 9 hours) to simply load and unload. Unfortunately for everyone the furniture dolly (the heavy duty one with a strap) was broken and the UHaul people didn't notice that fact before they put it in our truck for the day so our movers had to CARRY everything.
I almost had a heart attack watching these men (complaining) how heavy everything we owned was...and carrying my furniture, large TVs, glass hutch, a few FRAGILE boxes and so on BY HAND. At one point one of the guys was trying to hand off something heavy to a guy on the truck while barely holding a mirror box filled with, well, BREAKABLE mirror/glass stuff...OMG!
At the end of the day my head was pounding. I was tired of their smoke. I was VERY tired of their bitching and complaining about how HEAVY ALL our furniture was. And the "main" guy and all his stories of bullshit about how he moved Elton John's piano (he might have, but I really don't give a crap) because mainly he wanted to chit chat and I didn't. I was paying him by the hour and I don't need to pay people to chit chat. I was nervous and stressed about that YMH and wanted to just be done and out.
They had to make two trips and bitched some more when I told them where the heaviest of furniture was going (upstairs). Then, because they had to work slower without the heavy-duty dolly and carry everything it took them longer...so, by the end of the 9 hours they were just barely finishing with the last of the stuff in the truck. However, they hadn't put anything together. Are you kidding me? We were willing and ready (with cash) to pay them overtime but they were about four hours past the time they wanted to be DONE and sitting somewhere having a cold beer. Give me a break.
So...that meant that none of the beds were assembled, none of the tables...hell, they weren't even going to put the feet back on the couches! I was irritated. Then, when we walked upstairs with the talkative-Elton-John-Moving-Piano guy (the other three were already in their car ready to GO) and I noticed where they put all our master bedroom furniture, I about lost it. I told him he was going to have to move some of this around because Larry and I wouldn't be able to! Ugh. It wasn't until later that night I noticed that they put the heaviest TV we have (the sucker weighs probably 500lbs. and it came from our built-in in the family room in Idaho and it took Larry, me, Mike, and Linda to hoist that bitch into the spot and we four struggled with it) on the floor in the bonus room on the farthest wall from the TV jack. Are you kidding me? We have NO clue how to get that TV up on ANYTHING so right now it is in the corner of the room (luckily, we are not without an excess of televisions so we have plenty to spare for the time being!).
Larry did go and get these furniture mover pads that you put under the furniture and you can literally push with one finger all the furniture around. I don't know how much they cost but they are worth their weight in gold, whatever they cost. We were able to move an impossibly heavy filing cabinet across the bonus room without any effort whatsoever.
But, I digress. Bottom line is this: I'm done with movers. Tired of them. Tired of listening to them. Tired of telling them where to put shit. Tired of trying to find pieces that go with other pieces that were placed God knows where. Tired of touching boxes, opening boxes, finding boxes. And, tired of trying to make things fit (and in the sad case of our refrigerator, it doesn't fit in the spot...it is too wide, dammit...luckily, the refrigerator the guy put in here is at least brand new and stainless steel but it is smaller than mine and I miss it. SIlly, I know).
We are at least in a nice cape-cod style home in a very nice neighborhood. We have met people (having dinner with the neighbors across the street tomorrow night) and have taken walks around with the dog, waving and making small talk with neighbors. The house is a good size for us, despite the fact that it is taking some time getting the kinks out that just naturally comes with being in a different place. I know I've said this before, maybe a hundred times or more, but our home in Idaho was just so perfect in so many ways, and therefore it makes any place else just a bit challenging...
...for instance, I apparently tripped the GPI on the washer not once but twice. Why? I don't know. Luckily, our landlord is awesome and very organized and gave us a name of a very nice "handyman" (Joey) which we call for anything, he comes out and fixes it, and sends the landlord the bill. (Kinda liking that.) Lightbulbs are one of those things that Larry is obsessive about. He wants the right amount of wattage in the right places so he is fixing that. The shower in the master bathroom is older and comes out too slow for what we are used to so he replaced that. The air upstairs is FRIGID (totally opposite than our home in Idaho!) and the downstairs half is nice but the kitchen/nook/dining room/laundry room half is NOT quite cold enough for me and we can't seem to figure out the system. I'm sorry but on a 84 degree muggy day, 77 is NOT cold enough for me. And, like our house in Idaho, this one also has dual air conditioners, how awesome is that? Anyway, just little things to get used to.
Overall, we love it here in this house. We are SLOWLY going through boxes. We are SLOWLY setting up furniture (mainly the desks is all that is left and beds). I am finding that by 9pm I am ready for bed, exhausted. I am anxious to get boxes unpacked and start putting things away and hanging stuff on the walls.
So, we are in, but not settled just yet. Time. I know. It will just take time, like anything. I will say that while I am meeting people at the church, etc. and the neighbors seem friendly for the most part, I am very lonely here. It is hard to not "know" anyone. Not to call a friend and ask them to meet you for lunch. Or, hang out on a Friday night laughing our asses off. I miss my family, I miss my mom, I miss my friends, I miss our neighborhood in Idaho...and, even though they are in the midst of very hot weather, I miss the Idaho summer (and I have a feeling I might miss the Idaho winters too...holy crap...we are apparently in a higher elevation here even though we are only 12 miles outside of the "big" city...I'm scared...Darcie, what will I do without you??!?). Right now, we are in the midst of a major thunderstorm and had one hell of a lightening storm in the middle of the night! Of course, it is about 81 degrees and muggy but it is pouring rain!
Hello Idaho, I miss you!