I’m still here. So are all the children. And Dan. The packers showed up this morning, along with the washer/dryer-disconnect guy. I wonder if all the women give him the evil eye? I mean, how can I have had all my laundry done by 7 a.m.? Needless to say I got up at 5:30 to get what I could finished. Then the guy showed up late. Dammit.
We put everything we didn’t want to end up in storage for God-only-knows-how-long in one closet and told the kids to keep away from it. I told them that if they left their blankies lying around, they’d get packed, so they better keep them in the Do Not Pack closet.
That worked… for about 12 minutes. Then everyone wanted their blankies because, you know, there was nothing else to do. Several times throughout the morning, I found blankies not in the hands of a child and not in the closet. I returned them to the closet only to find them again with the child they belong to a little while later.
At one point, Jack, Maria and Luke were all on my bed, blankies in hand, watching TV. “You better be careful,” I told them. “You don’t want those blankies to get packed.”
“Mine won’t,” Maria informed me. “I told those guys not to pack it.”
Great.
As soon as the words had left her mouth and Luke had had a chance to digest them, he bolted up the stairs to where the packers were packing and said, “Hey Packer Guys! Don’t pack my blankie!”
A second later he was back. “What’d they say?” I asked Luke. “To put it in the closet.” Hmm.
What shy, shy children I have.
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Dan had errands to run and boldly offered to take three of the four, which left Jack and me sitting around in front of the TV. We watched a little Discovery (some Most Dangerous Fishing thing) and then we put it on the Cartoon Network for some old Tom and Jerry re-runs. (We came across that channel the other day and found The Smurfs, Huckleberry Hound, Tom and Jerry and others I used to watch. The kids LOVE them. And, I think they’re much better than some of the crap on today.)
While Jack and I lounged around, Dan didn’t fare so well. He came back P.O.’ed, to say the least. The kids were HORRIBLE. They dropped the equipment (several times) in the Charter office before he could return it. They ran wild at his office while he talked to a colleague. I have no idea what happened in the bank drive through, but I’m sure it wasn’t pleasant. And to top it all off, we found out that the house appraised for more than what we sold it for. He was so upset that I at first thought it hadn’t appraised. But, no, it did. But now we didn’t sell it for enough.
Oh, and here’s a cherry to go on the very top of it all: an email from Chicago that says… be patient, everyone. No assignments yet, but if you want to go ahead and house hunt, go for it. (No matter that there are FIVE offices in the Chicago area and we know NO ONE who can help us sort through the fourth largest city in the country to find an area we’ll enjoy.
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I am now relaxing pulling my hair out with three of the four MONSTERS in a very small hotel room while the fourth naps and Dan supervises the packing back at the house.
No matter. I’ll survive. Somehow.
5 responses so far ↓
1 Sarah // Jun 24, 2008 at 3:27 pm
I just sent you an email to see how you are fairing. I guess this is my answer! Tell Dan to call and talk to Chris about the appraisal. He may be able to make him feel better about it.
I’ll be praying for you guys. I hope you get more info from Chicago soon.
2 Maddog // Jun 25, 2008 at 1:52 pm
Ah, yes, the movers. I recall one move where the movers packed all the trash, and another where they packed items Mom had gotten out of the fridge for the kid’s breakfast. She’d set them on the counter and when she looked again… gone. Our noses found them at the other end.
3 Kristina // Jun 25, 2008 at 1:56 pm
Aaarrrggghhhhh! PTSD! We recently unpacked a box of trash, ourselves. Inexplicably, we are still missing the trash can it was all in?!? Call when you get a chance. I’m still hoping to lure the Homeless Hemmersmeiers to Maryland for a vacation in the near future.
4 Jennifer H // Jun 26, 2008 at 4:03 pm
We moved ourselves last time, and we still had stories like that. My daughter’s blankie actually DID get packed, and it was not pretty. Made for a very long drive from Indiana to Arizona.
Good luck with the house search (may it be quick). And hang in there with the rest of it.
5 James // Jun 28, 2008 at 12:00 am
I hate moving. It’s rough. I feel your pain and hope that you get settled in somewhere in the less congested parts of Chicago.
I’ve only been through it once. I got stuck in traffic for 4 hours! I’d recommend making sure you’re in an area where you can avoid that if possible. Good luck!
James
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