Thank freaking goodness....
Richard and I got hold of the U-Haul early Saturday morning and went to my old place to meet the Elders (who were scheduled to help with the move) and, while no one was there immediately at 9:30 am we weren't worried. We just started hauling stuff to the truck and figured the guys would show up at 10... after all, we said anytime between 9:30 and 10 would be great.
Ten came.... and went.... and still no help.
Then came ten thirty....
Finally I dug out our EQ President's phone number and gave him a call....
EQ Prez: Hello?
Me: Hi.... this is Sister Zimmerman....
EQ Prez: Hey Sister Zimmerman.... how is the move going?
Me: Well, fine.... considering its just my husband and I hauling things out.
(pause)
EQ Prez: You mean NO ONE showed up?
Me: Not yet....
EQ Prez: Lemme make some phone calls....I know I had a couple guys lined up for you today...
Fifteen minutes later I get a call back....
EQ Prez: I can only get a hold of one of them.... but he'll be right over. I'm still working on getting you a few more guys so I will call you back
Another fifteen minutes or so go by and then I get a final call...
EQ Prez: I am on my way and there should be a couple other guys coming right over to help....
Me: Thanks!
It took about another twenty minutes before anyone at all showed up, but then 5 or 6 guys showed up in dribs and drabs. By this time all that was left were two large items (my tool chest and the china cabinet) that Richard and I couldn't handle by ourselves, and about 15 or 20 boxes (Richard and I had already handled the other 3/4 of the boxes and the rest of the other furniture items)... luckily once they got underway we were loaded in another 15 minutes. It is amazing what a crew can accomplish rather than just the individual....
Believe me... I was grateful for the help.
We got the last of the stuff loaded and I (foolishly?) asked if anyone needed a lift over to the new place to help with the unloading (which our EQ had promised would not be an issue when I set this whole help-us-move-thing a week and a half prior, seeing as we were moving just down the road not even a mile away).
Guys: Uh.... you want help unloading?
Me: Yes please.
Well two guys managed to come over and they helped Richard haul the china cabinet and tool chest in the house before they had to bail to do other things. I was still grateful for what help we'd received (we'd have never been able to get either one of those things up those stairs by ourselves!) but we were already tired and not looking forward to hauling all those boxes up the stairs by ourselves.
Enter Aiden. Cute kid... maybe 11 or 12. He lives further back in our complex and was apparently dying of boredom, because he offered, at no cost, to help us get stuff up the stairs. He could certainly talk though, and kept up a steady patter as he ran several of the small boxes up the stairs and helped Richard with the lighter cupboards. He and Richard then devised a system where Aiden would find all of the light boxes and shove them to the back of the U-Haul. Richard would then carry the boxes over to where I stood on the balcony and he'd toss the boxes at me and I would then stack them immediately into the outdoor storage room on our deck.
It was a good system.... stuff was certainly flying out of the rig.
Once we had all of the lightest stuff out, we kept Aiden pushing boxes to the back and Richard and I hauled stuff up (well, Richard mostly hauled it up and I met him at the top of the stairs to take it from him and then decide if I was putting it in the house or carrying it out to the storage space, while Richard would head back down the stairs to grab another box).
The truck was cleared out, and we were able to return it to the facility just before the 2pm cut-off time (hooray!)
Of course, now we have a pile of boxes in the living room and office. Our bedroom was spared the majority of it, but once I have my bookshelf up tonight I will be dragging a few boxes of books down there to fill it with (which will actually clear out the majority of living room boxes... the rest of the living room overflow is some bedding and stuff to go into the china cabinet).
Have a I mentioned I own a lot more junk than I should? Pretty sure I have several times over by now....
We were both so tired Saturday after dropping off the U-Haul, but we had to stop back by the house to grab a couple of storage bins that were overlooked, and a couple of boxes of items from the cupboards in the kitchen (which are still sitting in our cars...neither one of us had the energy to lug more things up the stairs). We then went to WalMart to get a vacuum cleaner (we still hadn't picked one up, but after that morning's load of stuff, we certainly needed one ASAP!)
We then grabbed dinner at Kneaders, drove home, took showers because we were both completely filthy, and then tumbled into bed at 7.... too tired to care that it was early. We ended up watching a movie (Scream 4... which was surprisingly good) before we both passed out.
Sunday morning found us both incredibly stiff and sore. We crawled out of bed around 8:30, made breakfast, headed back for bed at 10 and slept until around 3pm! We were both too sore to do much besides shuffle a few boxes out of the way and we watched a couple movies (Pirates of the Caribbean 4--total crap and Green Lantern--not half bad). Then Richard decided he had the energy to haul a load of laundry down to the laundry room...which was a great thing, since we were getting low on clean clothes. (I look forward to getting a washer and dryer in a couple of weeks... no more hauling clothes around!)
After work tonight I will stop by the store long enough to grab some shrimp and steak (its our one-month anniversary today!) and then head home. After dinner Richard will move a few things around in the bedroom so my bookshelf will fit while I tackle the stuff to go into the china cabinet. Once he has the bookshelf set up (it will be the third one in our room and I think we could easily fill one or two more.... we both love to read and it shows in our collections!) we'll pull out as many books as possible to fill the shelves. I think once those things are done then we'll be able to navigate our way around the living room again.
For the remainder of this week I plan to get off of work on time (I am trying for no late nights at all) because I want to have the rest of the boxes in the house unpacked by the weekend. That would just leave me with every night going through a box or two in storage and weeding out a lot of the stuff. I would love to be much lighter on junk before the holidays.... and then I can be ruthless again in the spring. I would love to have our next move (in a year or two) to be much more manageable.
As it is, what a relief to know we don't have any more of those dire "must-get-stuff-out-now" deadlines... we can both come directly home after work and not have to worry about finding time to go pick up more of my stuff. From here on out, what you see is what we've got... no more "uh, really I have no idea how many more boxes we still have to haul over..."
And what a relief to finally be feeling better.... the cyst has either gone or is too small to be causing any more issues. Major relief with the move this weekend to not have that pain to deal with!
All-in-all we are doing good. We can both breathe again, and I can finally finish up all the stuff I've been meaning to do these last few weeks (I have package's for Y, L and M to box up and mail, as well as finish addressing my thank you cards and editing my wedding photos!)
I'll be busy for awhile, but we really are doing good.... we send our love to everyone who has been so patient with our not being available, and not really keeping in contact. Honestly, we did not fall off the face of the planet!
Until later,
Shawna
1 comment:
Wish we were close, we'd have helped! ;)
Glad you're moved in!!
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