Moving right along… or not.

This moving in thing is going so ridiculously slow. Even when the hubby is home, or my mom comes to “help”, I still just don’t get enough time to do what needs to be done. Some things – the biggest things, the most important-to-me things – can’t be done in a 10-15 minute chunk. And I get overwhelmed. Then everything starts sliding. And I can’t understand why nobody – including myself, but oh so definitely EXcluding my oh-so-perfect mother – knows where the damn garbage can is.

I need a vacation. Or for someone to take the babies away from the house for longer than a walk. I need to just *do*.

Hubby is out of town tomorrow. When he gets back, I’m going to cut the grass and see if that makes me feel better. It’s been a while since I’ve done it, but I actually like it. There’s an immediate result. I turn the machine on. I walk and push. I turn around, and there’s a swath of cleanliness and organization behind me.

Why can’t everything be that easy?

And we’re in!

We’ve been sleeping at the new house since Saturday. At that point, we also gave up on finishing packing things in the old place, and we also haven’t brought anything over from storage. I find it amusing that, although we aren’t bringing anything new into the house yet, the things that are here are multiplying. I swear we have probably three times as many clothes as I brought over here. CD’s seem to appear out of nowhere. Empty boxes… there can be one on the edge of the wall, and in the morning, 10 will be all over the floors of the house.

I don’t understand, but I’m not questioning. We’re here. That’s what counts. Well… until we find the energy to really get everything finished.

I just thought I’d drop a little update. I may put up some pictures in the upcoming weeks, but I’m not promising anything.

I see carpet…

Slowly, surely. We’re actually moving into the new house. We still haven’t slept there, and I plan on that changing this weekend. In case you haven’t figured it out, we’re not using a moving van, just my car and hubby’s company truck (although this weekend, my parents’ truck may get into the act as well). This means that only a few boxes or pieces of furniture get moved at a time.

I was hoping that moving slowly would keep me organized, with few boxes, etc. For the most part it has. The kitchen isn’t organized the way I’d like for it to be forever, but it’s functional. There are designated places for a lot of things – like using the coat closet for alcohol, cookbooks, craft supplies, and until we get the office set up (The Siblings have to clean it out and divide the stuff) it’ll house sewing supplies as well. The playroom is mostly set up – I just need to find appropriate linens for the twin bed we’re keeping in there, and get some baskets/buckets that fit the shelves of the changing table that we’re using to store their toys. The babies’ bedroom is halfway done – I need to bring all their clothes over, some more linens, oh, yeah, and bring the mattress from my mom’s house for one of the cribs. Our bedroom… is packed. Okay, not totally packed, but man, using that room for the unpacking staging ground may not have been my best idea.

So, that’s my moving update. Oh… DirecTV finally got it right – the serviceman was great, even if the company itself claimed that the work order had already been completed last Friday when I called to see where he was. BellSouth… well, I have to call them tomorrow, because DSL still isn’t working. Then again, it could be user error in the setup. I never can figure out what order to do and redo things to make the stupid DSL modem work right.

Oh, and I cleaned lots of stuff with Murphy’s Oil Soap. I love that stuff. Oh, and did a load of laundry too. I had a busy day.

Tomorrow: I need to go over (hopefully bring at least a couple of boxes from upstairs at mom’s with me), do laundry (2 loads of darks, 1 load of towels), empty at least 3 more boxes of things (I’ll have to search for the obvious ones to unload), straighten out our bedroom’s box pile so that we can fit the chest of drawers, the hope chest, and a bookcase in there, bring over most of our most-worn clothes, finish bringing over toiletries and such, and when Daddy gets off of work, bring over the sofa and the loveseat. And we need to move the portable dishwasher and the microwave. Oh! And I need to get my mother to take down the stuff on the wall where we’re putting the hutch.

Saturday: Hopefully, we can get the hope chest, the bookcase, the recliner, the hutch, and then move out some more The Siblings things. I’ll consider that a successful day.

Sunday: Get Hubby and my dad to install the new air conditioner to get that ridiculously huge box out of my bedroom. Unpack. Enjoy the first day after our first night in the house… hopefully.

Wow. I really know how to entertain you folks, don’t I?

Bellsouth and DirecTV suck.

Oh man. I’m still wired from today. Since we’re keeping the phone number at the new house AT the new house (my grandparents had it since the 50’s, when it was a “subdivision/town 123” type number), but trying to get all of our features moved over there. We have one of those Bellsouth bundles, so our local, long distance, DSL, and cell phone are all on one bill, and DirecTV bills us with a discount as well for the bundle. Should be easy enough, right?

I spent about an hour on the phone with Bellsouth while they set everything up. Then, because the bill was being switched into our names instead of my deceased grandfather’s name, they needed approval from my husband. I tried to three-way call, but got disconnected. The woman said if I got disconnected, to just call back, that all that needed to happen was to get his verbal approval.

So, I called hubby to come home, and we call them back. Between being on hold, the guy trying to figure out what was happening, and approval, we were on the phone another 25 minutes. All is well, right?

My mom is at the new place, waiting on the DirecTV guy to move our service today (as the owner, she wanted to make sure they placed everything according to her wishes). She gets a call there – Bellsouth wants to verify approval of new local and long distance service at “new number” for [enter grandpa’s name here]. Mom says, “oh no. I mean, yeah, we approve the change, all of that is correct, but it’s supposed to be under THEIR name, not my father’s.”

You guessed it. They cancelled the order completely. I called them back, and we had to do it ALL OVER AGAIN… this time it only took 45 minutes, as I made them transfer me directly to a supervisor. So, I’m frustrated.

Then, DirecTV guy never shows up. Turns out that an hour before the end of the appointment time, he tried to call to confirm. I’m sorry, but when I make an appointment, and someone takes the time to be there or take off of work to be there, then someone better damn well show up. Yeah, well… even though we verified my cell phone number as a contact number TWICE during the call for the move, they didn’t bother putting it on the work order. So since he didn’t get an answer, he left town.

Then the woman told me that they’ll reschedule me – for nearly 2 weeks from now, when someone will be in my area again.

Oh no. I tried being nice. Then I got firm. Then I yelled. Then I cursed. And miraculously, and appointment this Friday opened up.

Then I called DirecTV themselves (the other b.s. was dealing with the technicians office) and spoke with someone, and proceeded to ream him out, and got the date moved to Wednesday.

I’d have been nice if anyone would have been honest with me. First they say he called to get directions (house is clearly marked, on a well-known road, not in a rural setting), then they said he called to confirm the appointment. Then they tried getting him on the phone at 4pm (end of appointment time, that’s when I called them), and NO ONE – for the FIFTY MINUTES I was on the phone with various departments – could get him on the line. Then miraculously, an 1.5 hours later, he’s 1.5 hours away, just getting the message, and can’t come back.

And DirecTV has already taken $50 from me as a “non-refundable deposit” for the installation, and because we’re moving, they are requiring another 1 year commitment, which we already agreed to, and for which there is a cancellation fee if we tell them to stick the whole thing up their a$$. And learning all of this, I spent approximately 2 hours on the phone with them today.

Don’t even get me started on the local politics I had to deal with today. I’ll post about that tomorrow, because that made me livid as well.

You know, some days, people really are out to get you. It’s not paranoia if it’s really happening. I’ll update Thursday and let you know if everything has gone smoothly – as Wednesday both DirecTV gets installed and Bellsouth gets transferred. No one has common sense, or common courtesy, anymore, do they? Is my time not as valuable as anyone else’s?

Growing Pains.

Moving is always stressful. Who would have thought that moving to a bigger house would be as stressful as downsizing?

Here’s the situation – technically, some of our stuff is in a mobile home that we lived in for several months, some of our stuff is at my parents, and the biggest chunk of stuff is in a storage unit.

So. We’re going from our stuff being scattered and essentially being nomads to having this really great house (technically it’s 5 bedroom, living room, family room; but we’re rearranging things to it’s 3 bedroom, 1 playroom, 1 office, 1 storage room, 1 family room). The only issue with the house is the one bathroom.

So there should be room for everything, right?

I’m not so sure. In addition to all of our stuff, we’re also keeping some family pieces in the house while The Siblings (the owners of the house, my mother and her brother and sister) decide where they’ll put the lovely heirlooms. And then there’s the furniture that a cousin brought over, because she got a vintage bedroom set – and of course, no one in my family can ever get rid of anything, it must be handed down and around.

Am I frustrated? A bit. I wanted this move to go so smoothly. And it’s not going horrifically, it’s just not like I wanted it to be.

BUT.

The closets are painted, the bathroom is painted, the walls are clean, the carpets are clean, and we’re moving things in. I’m hoping that, even though we’ll be nowhere near really moved in, that DH, the twins and I can start sleeping there Wednesday at the latest. DD9 is staying with grandma until we get settled in, as her room used to be the formal living room, therefore has the biggest exterior door and straightest line to the rest of the house for furniture moving.

We will beat this moving thing. We will fit everything. We will declutter as we go. We will move in, and enjoy it. Whether we like it or not!

There.

Have a good week, everyone. Not sure how much I’ll be able to be online until we get the DSL set up in the new place.

Beige Hair? Oh, I mean, Honeymilk.

So, it’s nearly time to move. The carpet cleaners are going to be at the new house tomorrow. My mother and I spent the day painting closets – she primed, I painted. Now, I want to do a colorwash in the living room with a color called “Lazy Sun”. I’ll probably end up having to put a burnt sienna over it as well to get the color right, but that’s another post for another day.

The idea was to practice my method in the closets. The ones in what will be the babies’ bedroom, oldest daughter’s bedroom, and the kitchen (think coat closet) hadn’t been painted probably since the house was built (50’s), or possibly when they added on to the back of the house (’69-ish). I got a nice beige color from Lowe’s, called “Honeymilk”, that looked like a nice rich white. Yeah, well. It’s not much different than the nearly-contractor-beige that was last painted through the house about 6 years ago.

Am I complaining about my color choice? Yeah. No. Not really. I just expected… oh, I don’t know… something to seem different when they were painted. But no. They look great, much better than the nicotine white with rust spots that they were before. But now they just look like, well, closets. Yeah, I know.

I decided not to practice. I’m going to just jump into the fray and colorwash until my heart’s content in the living room later. After continually bumping into the walls in the closets, and getting tons of paint on my butt and in my hair, I just had enough.

Tonight, Hubby and I went to The Big Huge Blue Big Box Store That I Hate But Can’t Stay Away From Because It’s The Only Superstore Within A Fourty Minute Drive to pick up paint for the bathroom. Mom, who is going to be there with the carpet guys while I stay home with the twins, decided she wants to paint it for us. Bless her. Oh God Bless Her. So we picked out a nice dark blue that doesn’t make the tile backsplash or floor look too brownish, and the woodwork and tub surround will be painted, yeah, you guessed it… Honeymilk.

Maybe Mom will come home with Honeymilk hair tomorrow. Bah. Actually, come to think of it, I think that’s the color of her grays…

Speaking of, the placement of wisps of hair around my face that aren’t black wasn’t making me happy. I’ve sworn for years now that I wouldn’t dye my hair again. I used to dye it in my early 20’s (eggplant was really my favorite color), but I was embracing my gray. Yeah, well, that’s easy to say when the gray is a few miniscule streaks coming from the top of my head down the sides and the back. Around my face? I don’t think I can be the crazy lady with the waist-length salt-and-pepper hair anymore (not that I am now, it was a future aspiration).

I guess I’ll have to think about it. I mean, if I’m gonna start dying my hair to hide the gray, shouldn’t I just start now, and do all the fun colors while I’m still young enough to pull them off?

Anyway, I’m going to go scrub the Honeymilk off of my knees and the bottoms of my feet, and hope that it comes out of my hair.

After all – tomorrow is my only day to rest (as much as one can with year-old very active twins) before the fun that is moving begins.

Grocery Woes.

This is going to sound ridiculous, but I’m scared to go grocery shopping.

I used to be a great shopper. As a single mom, I could squeeze a dollar out of a dime and we very seldom lacked for anything because I just had some mad shopping skills.

The problem is, after I got married, my husband took over some of the grocery duties. I still went for “big shopping”, but he was the one who got milk and such. And then when I got pregnant with the twins, well, I never seemed to leave the house. Then we moved. Then we had the twins. Now I’m always home with the twins.

Staying near – and then with – my parents, well, there’s numerous problems here, but let’s focus on the obvious: my mother shops. And since my husband works, has a company car and seems to drive past every grocery store 20 times a day, well, he does shopping when needed. I stay home with babies.

In the next few weeks, God willing, we’ll be moving into the new place. And I really, really need to do a full pantry grocery shopping trip. But I’m trying to save money, there are no “big brand” stores within 30 minutes of here except for a SuperWallieWorld (which I try to avoid when I can). That means no Kroger, Meijers, Aldi’s, Sav-on, Winn-Dixie… none of the chains are here. Top that with – get ready for this – they only end up doing sale papers every couple of weeks. Wanna know the sales? Go into the store and get one.

Now, there is a Sam’s about 30 minutes away, and we have a membership. But I remember from experience that a lot of Sam’s stuff isn’t really cheaper, just more convenient.

So, my dilemma. I need to comparison shop, because I’m going to be spending an inordinate amount of money on groceries really soon. But… the only way to do that is to go shopping – but everyone else does the shopping. And when it comes down to it, my mom isn’t going to want a bag of King Arthur flour; I do. And there’s nowhere to put it. And what if I buy it at Store X and it’s $1 cheaper at Store Y?

I know this sounds stupid. Just shop, you say. But I get little catches in my throat when I think about going shopping without a game plan, without a price book (even just an idea in my head). I mean, I don’t even know the aisle layouts here anymore.

Such a pithy post, I know. There are tons of things more important going on in the world than my apprehension/anxiety at grocery shopping and my (probably sick, false) pride in what an amazing job at it I used to do.

But I feel like whining.

I wanna be super shopper again, and I want to start with the biggest shop of the year, possibly of the next couple of years (counting not only quantity of items but the sheer variety in what we need that will no longer be supplied at my mom’s house).

I’m so glad I’m on medication.

Oh bun feet…

Will someone please tell me why I am having such a difficult time finding feet for the sofa and loveseat I’m reupholstering? The current legs are meant to be behind a skirt, and I’m not doing the skirt. I’m probably finishing with upholstery nails along the bottom, and just want some nice, substantial yet simple bun feet to peek out (and not sink my sofa to the ground).

Someone please tell me why I didn’t splurge for the new furniture? And we haven’t even started with the recovering process yet.