BOCs: Basics of the Move

• Recall, Bug and I camped out at my parents' house for 2 weeks to avoid the packing and unpacking, as well as appliance installation, etc. Naturally, everything was delivered and unpacked a day late, so we ended up spending the night in a hotel anyway. And the movers didnt put Bug's crib back together so he spent another 2 nights in a port-a-crib while we hunted for all of the pieces.

• Our appliances ALSO were delivered a day late, so we were without refrig and washer and dryer ANYWAY in spite of all the money and time we spent synchronizing everything. THEN, the Moron Twins who delivered the appliances couldnt find the brackets to stack the dryer and secure it, so we now have a hooked up washer and a dryer in the fucking kitchen hallway. STILL. It has been one week and the brackets still have not arrived. [WARNING: This is kind of gross]Oh, and one of the Moron Twins overflowed the toilet in our fancy guest bathroom. Yeah... that way. OMFG. Spouse had to clean it up. Thank GOD we dont have a rug or carpet in there. But, I havent been able to go in there since (not even walk in, I mean!) and it really is a lovely bathroom. Shame. I wanted to call the delivery people and bitch up a storm about how the guy did it and then didnt even fucking clean it up, but Spouse--as disgusted and angry as he was--said it wasnt really his fault since there was something wrong with the refill valve (or some such) and that he half-heartedly offered to clean it up but got distracted when the other dude asked him for help with something. I just cant get over this, though, and not just because it is soooooo disgusting, but because I cant figure out why someone would do, ahem, that, at the home of someone they dont even know!!!!!!!!!!! Barring physical emergencies, adults can hold it. Enough of that. I'm sorry if I grossed you out. EWWWWWWW.
  
• As you know, our cable/phone/internet wasnt installed until we'd been here a week. They were scheduled to do it days before I arrived but fucked it up the first time. And I barely get a cell signal here so I was pretty much isolated for a week. Just me and Bug and piles of boxes. I broke down 2 days in and bought a portable speaker for my ipod. I LOVE IT!!!!!! I highly recommend this JBL The sound is quite good, the remote is excellent, and it is tiny enough to fit anywhere. Plus, it charges your ipod while it sits in the cradle. Love it, love it, love it.
  
• I am also LOVING digital phone service. When people call, the caller ID pops up on your television screen! Same with call waiting ID. Of course, you need to have the TV on to benefit from this (fortunately, this is not a prob for me...).
• Also, I [heart] our fridge. We have it in stainless.
  
• The house... awesome. When I arrived a week ago, I wandered around for the first half hour and felt really overwhelmed and really out of place. It seemed huge and scary and empty and not mine. But those of us who've moved often know that once you start unpacking your things and placing them around, any place starts to feel like home. In time I also started to notice things that I hadnt when we viewed the house in May that, fortunately, I really liked, such as the tile in the Master bath and the hardwood on the second floor. Plus, the house is FULL of sunny windows. I'm starting to feel like we belong here (although I'm not quite there yet). This house is so us in so many ways. It has issues (like a major drainage prob in the front yard causing big-time erosion), but it is extremely well laid out and it has the one thing we really wanted above all else: character.
  
• Although we are in a "country" setting here, there has been a lot of commercial dev't recently. The shopping area closest to us (but far enough away not to cause traffic probs) is booming. We have a HUGE supermarket and lots of good shopping within a ten minute drive. We also have a brand new Target... this is both a blessing and a curse, as I have been there about 84,000 times in the past week. I have also been to 2 other Targets around town looking for stupid curtain rods. I will be going on another Target run just as soon as Bug wakes up since I keep forgetting to get enough hand soap dispensers for all of the GD sinks in this house.
• Speaking of the Target runs... we are so going to go broke. This move is killing us. I know you know what I mean. It doest matter what other people pay for, or how much stuff you've accumulated before the move, whenever you arrive at the new place you realize that there are a billion things that you MUST. HAVE. IMMEDIATELY. Some of these are large and necessary (read: expensive), such as a fridge, washer and dryer, lawn tractor, new TV since the movers droppeed yours. Others are small and only slightly less necessary, such as curtains and rods, drawer liners so that your crap doesnt slide around every time you open a drawer, nice rug for in front of the kitchen sink, hundreds of dollars worth of cleaning supplies.... Every sentence we speak lately begins with, "We need to get" or "Can you remind me to buy...?" I love to shop as much as the next person, but I'm actually getting sick of it. Wow. That is really telling, isnt it?
• The puppies were so good on the drive down, even staying in a hotel for a week and a half! I was so proud of them. When we moved into the house, they didnt run around like maniacs like I thought that they would. Instead, they were nervous... and stuck to us like glue. They wouldnt even go outside! (Yeah... we were loving that since they were part of the reason we decided to live out here... to have more room! Not to mention the 1k we spent on having their invis fence reinstalled! Oh, yeah, add that to the list of expenses!!) We made a point to play with them and get out their toys first so that they felt a bit more comfortable. Finally, we bought some frisbees. They've been in and out, back to their old playful selves ever since.
  
• Finally, Bug is adjusting really, really well. He is such an amazing and accomodating kid. He is pretty much all smiles all the time lately. He is really, really into mommy right now, too. I think that this is mostly a function of all of the changes (and I've been the only constant, right?) and I have tried to encourage Spouse to get involved in little ways so that Bug becomes reacquainted with his role as the 2nd caregiver. I hope it works... Love the little dude, but mommy is going to end up with a permanent stoop from carrying him so much.

More soon... Bugger just woke up (as he always does when I blog about him!)