Transition #1, or a Lesson in Checking the Weather Before You Move

Just wanted to give a brief update to the blogosphere on this hot and sultry night of which I am thankfully not a part as my sister-in-law puts her A/C to SUPERIOR use.  Why go the funky route of blue nail polish when you can turn your whole toesies icy instead?  I don’t have my main lappy set up yet (it needs to resurface from amidst the frantic packing that ensued this weekend) and upon that mighty machine resides the bulk of my photos, so instead how about some highlights of what passed this weekend?

As you may have read, we moved out of our apartment and into the husband’s sister’s home.  This is a temporary shift, for the next 6 weeks or so until other plans come to life (ie I figure out where we are living!!) but temporary or no, it still required completely wrapping up my homely comfortable life into too many boxes and not enough suitcases. And a few plastic bins. And trash bags. You get the idea.  The move itself was already a strain, but neither of us have been heeding the weather channel as of late, much to my most chagrinliest of chagrins. I can only say now how incredibly relieved I am that this sucker didn’t try to break through on that random lightning storm that bombarded the East Coast.

And three cheers for electricity holding strong in our apartment! That was the only saving grace to what turned out to be a horrid, mind-wrenching, soul-sweating drama that unfolded like a lost Shakespearean manuscript. All I needed were some well-placed Elizabethan insults, preferably directed toward the unfriendly and unaccommodating first UHAUL buffoon–You churlish earth-vexing whey-face!–or the completely useless neighbor who just watched us while his car warmed up as we struggled with mattresses into a moving truck we only obtained for three hours–beef-witted lumpy loiterer!

Yes, we had the bliss of having a truck for a mere 3 hours, within which the two of us managed to move a sofa, 2 dressers, a very heavy desk and a smaller one, a mattress set, a tv, suitcases, some boxes, and our swollen and ragged hands from our old apartment to his sister’s home.  And then we got to return the truck. And then figure out how to move the plethora of all that remained (which was alas so much more than one anticipates).  All because this ridiculous storm just HAD to cause electrical outages. and that just HAD to make all the rental facilities’ systems irretrievable, rendering the reservation null and void. Never ever ever want to go through that again. Ever.

Thankfully, once we had moved the big items, we returned home for a late lunch and supposed last meal in the abode, feasting upon some delicious remainders from the night before plus sister-provided broiled chicken (yum!).  These thai leftovers were gleaned from a meal that I am HOPING the husband will write a review about, thus commencing a new regular feature of CD: restaurant reviews a la Gautam.

What-could-be-a-longer-rambling-story short, a very kind neighbor and her super helpful young son helped us the rest of the evening through nightfall, offering their van to supplement the amazing towing powers of my tiny volvo.  Thank goodness for generosity! With everyone’s help we were able to stuff everything in and get our move on… except for one thing.  That darn’d electricity, which while remained in our soon-to-be vacated home, was nowhere to be found in the SIL’s home.  Thus making it pitch black and super hot.  Soooooo…..

Perhaps we stayed a few hours extra at our apartment (ok, 9.5 hrs but who’s counting?) but I need my cool air and light ok? And seriously, without all these problems we’d have been gone hours earlier, if we could have had our truck at a decent hour for A FULL DAY! This all happened Saturday so we were gone early early Sunday.

BTW, we also invited the helpful family to chill (quite literally) with me, the husband, and the SIL. With husband, wife, and 4 adorable young sons, I think that’s the most people we have ever had in there.  I’d say that’s a nice way to end the legacy of our first official home.

So what lies ahead? We’re still looking for a new place, but it isn’t quite where you might expect…