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The Wal-Martians Have Landed

Posted by amy on December 14th, 2008 — Posted in Mayor's Decree

After packing what seemed to be half of the earth’s contents into boxes we were finally ready. The 48 foot moving truck arrived and remained parked outside our house for the next four hours while the movers determined how best to stack and cram our stuff so precious things labeled “DVD boxes” and “basement shit” could arrive safely the next day in Bentonville. Following some moderate cleaning of the house and crating of the cats Randy and I headed south as well. Surprisingly Lucy did NOT puke in her carrier. Not surprising Shirley DID cry in her carrier most of the way.

The big truck rolled in around 8:30 a.m. the next day and for the next two hours it was an amazing display as the movers efficiently transferred all of our stuff to the rental house in semi-organized piles. We made amazing progress unpacking and were pleased to discover there is no need to rent a storage building. We should be able to just stack stuff in the attic, garage, second bedroom, closets, under the bed and in any other unfilled crevice.  Bonus: nothing appears to be broken!

Things We’ve Learned Along the Way:

1. Our house IS indistinguishable from all the others on the street, especially at night. Randy thought I was exaggerating the week before when I told him I pulled into the wrong driveway.
2. The Frigidaire Ultraquiet III is truly just a marketing tag line for the dishwasher. It is about as quiet as a small freight train at dawn.
3. When you move into a brand new house be sure you have a mailbox AND that the U.S. Post Office actually recognizes your new address. Apparently neither has happened for us so the two weeks worth of mail that was being forwarded from Overland Park has either been returned to sender or is somewhere in U.S.P.S. limbo. No one can give us a straight answer on where our mail is, when we will get a mailbox or when our address will be granted official status. And the government is baffled at why the post office is running in the red. Hmmm….let me count the ways. BTW, UPS had no trouble successfully delivering a package to us in Arkansas last week.
4. As one of the last border-town stops leading into a dry county the Wal-Mart Supercenter in Jane, Mo. has an amazing wine selection. Sorry folks, no Ryan’s Cream.
5. While the movers did not benefit from the obnoxious color-coding system I created for our boxes it has been extremely helpful in helping Randy and I sort and unpack. There is justification for my neurosis.
6. Movers are the way to go. No well-meaning advice from relatives, no sense of beholden commitments to friends, just people there to lift the heavy stuff and then leave you to sort it however you please. Amen.

So, here we are with one more day to unpack and organize before I go back to work. The cats are beginning to adjust although we had some concerns.

• Shirley – so traumatized she wouldn’t even come out of the carrier. This after crying for nearly four hours because she had been put in one. She was restless and cried most of the night. “I wanna go home!”
• Lucy – holed up in a corner and glared. “You bitch, where have you taken us?”
• Ethel – prowled the house until she found the special treat. “My, my, my is that cat nip I spy?”
• Hippo – as only a silly little boy can do, was ignorant of the upheaval and took great pleasure in the new toys I had bought to ease their transition. “Wow, look! The woman bought a scratching board. And a cat tunnel that crinkles inside.”

Alas, we have no picture of our chaotic adventure since the batteries ran out on the digital camera before we departed Kansas. I know we have more around here somewhere. They are probably packed with the wine glasses or small framed photos, all which were coded orange for long-term, climate controlled storage. They could also be with office supplies which are coded yellow and destined to be unpacked right away. Or could it be they are in with Halloween decorations (pink coded) and are destined to wither away in the attic?

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