Sunday, July 11, 2010

Big Time Rush or Not

Obviously, my boys like a certain Nick show about hockey players who have a band. But, this has nothing to do with that show. No this is about our big time rush and wait, rush and wait, rush and wait. . . .

So, last week I was rushing around trying to put together a birthday/farwell party for the boys. They love LEGO Star Wars, but you cannot find Lego Star Wars decorations, cakes, etc. . .I tried to make some Lego Star Wars plates and we hired a friend, Susannah, to make an absolutely fantastic Star Wars Lego Cake that was the hit of the party. And, of course, because I was in no mood to figure out games for a party, we had it at a swim center. Gotta love built-in entertainment! Of course, I forgot a cake server and matches. My mind is in too many different places I guess. Luckily, our friend Emily had a matchbook from a restaurant and SAVED THE DAY! And, Susannah, who also came to our party, was kind enough to serve the beautiful cake she made using the plastic cutlery we had available. She is amazing!!! But, my biggest reward was when my now seven year old son said, "Mom, that was the best party EVER." Cue a BIG smile on my face hearing that. Now, on to the next thing.

The movers came this week. On Monday, they took our air frieght, so that was done in the morning. We shipped 700 lbs of mostly toys, but included some clothes, linens, and kitchen items (because as much as my boys insist, we cannot actually live off of legos). On Tuesday, the real work began and the guys worked a full day. On Wednesday, they didn't have a driver, so weren't able to come until 1:30 PM, but sent a double crew to get as much done as they could. And, Thursday was a full day and our final day of packing. How in the world did we accumulate so much CRAP. And, every move, we get rid of STUFF, but still. . .Of course, buying a sandbox and BBQ at the last minute probably didn't help. So, anyway, just a tip, if you ever have movers. . .More than anything else, the movers kept telling us how much they appreciated that we kept our house supplied with Coca-Cola and water and NEVER bought them PIZZA for lunch.

We provided lunch on the two full days the movers worked. On their last day, I went to Wegmans (only the greatest grocery store that has ever existed) and ordered a sub-sandwich tray. The tray came with four 14" sub sandwiches, cut-up into quarters. Wegman's, being such a great place, provided a bunch of condiments/extras for free (pickles, peppers, olives, mustard, tomato, lettuce, cheese, etc. . .) and chips. The tray cost $33, but fed 5 moving men, Seiji (who eats like 5 moving men), Kai and me. The movers couldn't stop thanking us for the food. They said they had never been treated so well, all because of a sub-sandwich tray. So, there is your tip. Now, we wait to see how many pounds over we are on our HHE (stuff being shipped by boat from here to Sofia). I shutter to think about the rushing around we will have to do if (more likely when) we find out we are over our 7200 lb. limit.

Today, the contractors came to the house at 8 AM. They have a lot of work to do. They need to patch and paint, replace carpeting on two of the three levels, regrout the bathroom tiles, fix some lights with broken sockets, and a multitude of other odd jobs to get the place fixed up and all this needs to be done by Monday night. The cleaning lady comes on Tuesday to do a final clean and then that afternoon we are supposed to go through the place with the new tenants and our property manager to write a condition report and hand over keys.

Now on to other things. I went to Verizon this morning to cancel phones, but they wouldn't let me as hubby is the "primary." How stupid is that?! I'm on the account, but because he is the primary, I cannot cancel the account. I'm thinking I should be the primary from now on. But, I fear if everything was in my name, they would not allow me to use his government travel orders to cancel without termination fees. Oh well, what can you do. . .

And, so, down time is over.

No comments: