the long awaited post...

okay...for all of my devotees, my apologies. i haven't been to michelle's in a couple of days, and time warner just came today to get my internet hooked up. loving the fact that i am up in my loft laying in my bed and updating my blog. yess!!!

some of you know the story, but for those who don't...go potty and get a fresh cup of whatever you drink before you start reading, because you're in it for the long haul!

MONDAY:

it's been such a crazy week, i really don't remember all that much from Monday. mostly, we just puttered around the (mostly empty) house, mom reading and me running various errands all over town. had to go up to the hospital to get my TB test and inprocessing paperwork. Occupational (employee) health then sent me upstairs to have titers (levels) drawn to make sure i have chicken pox and Hepatitis B immunity, among other things. then off to a clinic to pee in a cup and prove to "them" that i do not have an affinity for fentanyl, versed, morphine, or any other drug i might come into contact with in the hospital (and some that i would only come across under the I-35 bridge). i think there was probably a trip to wal-mart in there, somewhere. heaven knows i've been like 20 times in the last four days. got a confirmation call from the freaker idiots at express...*SOAPBOX ALERT* DO NOT EVER EVER EVER USE ANY MOVING COMPANY THAT IS IN ANY WAY AFFILIATED WITH EXPRESS RELOCATION...EVER!!!! *soapbox over* ...that my stuff would indeed be delivered Tuesday morning, probably around 9ish am. fantastic...and about freakin' time!! i crawled into bed feeling reassured that i would soon have my life back.

TUESDAY:

0700: alarm clock goes off. hit snooze.
0709: alarm clock goes off. hit snooze.
0718: alarm clock goes off. hit snooze.
0727: alarm clock goes off. turn off alarm. roll out of bed, tug jeans on. deodorant and perfume. grab keys and head off to Shipley Donuts *heaven!!!!*
0800: place order at Shipley's. proceed to dump out purse before realizing that debit card is at apartment. blast.
0819: retrieve debit card from home.
0834: retrieve donuts.
0848: pick up OJ and milk. call Nationwide to tell them that movers were supposed to be here between 8 and 9 and i still haven't heard from them.
0910: dispatch at Express calls. "we're really sorry, we're just getting your truck loaded and we're gonna have to weigh it. we should be in SA about noon." fantastic. see you guys then.
0935: after enjoying the bliss that is Shipley's, crawl back between covers on air mattress and proceed to weave in and out of dreamland for the next couple of hours.
11:50: check phone clock, realize that i should probably get off my hump and help mom start moving what little stuff is out, out of the way.
12:10: stuff out of the way. still haven't heard from movers.
12:30: called dispatch directly. um...i still haven't heard from the driver. when are you guys gonna be here? "oh, we're really sorry. we had a lot of trucks to load and unload today. they just left about an hour ago. tehy'll be there about 3:30, 4:00." grr! fine, i guess i can wait another couple of hours.
4:20: movers FINALLY SHOW UP!!! Hallelujah!!!

...or not. The furniture was in the back, so it got unloaded first. They brought in my office furniture, etc., and then started unloading my bedroom suite...the relatively expensive one that I bought when I graduated from nursing school. they got the headboard and footboard upstairs, and then scuffed up the ceiling dragging the mattresses up and not watching the height of the ceiling vs. height of mattress. (there's plenty of room). the list goes ON and ON...i'll save you the narration and just get right to the dirty, sucky details. they had a hard time getting my couch to fit through the front door. during their several attempts, the blankets the couch was wrapped in slipped off. they tossed them aside and proceeded to drag my leather couch across cement in their effort to get it inside. a big decorative mirror was broken (fortunately, it was from wal-mart and so not expensive, but still, it's the principle of the matter). multiple boxes were waterstained. most of the boxes looked like they'd been through three or four moves. mind you, pretty much all of my boxes came from the hospital or the surgical center that i worked at (thank you thank you my trisha friend) and so were in very good condition when i got them. they were all taped up very well. when i got them, they looked like they had been thrown around several times. i know that they were offloaded and reloaded at least once, because the truck they left Lubbock in and the truck they showed up to san antonio in were different. my two end tables were taken apart and thrown into a box and are not fixable. my washer and dryer are scratched. every box that i labeled "this side up"...well, that side was most definitely not up. grenadine syrup leaked all over one box, cough syrup all over another. the middle reinforcement leg under my bedroom dresser had small pieces of wood broken off at the supports so that it's integrity was compromised. they left a HUGE pile of tape and trash at the end of my walkway where they offloaded everything. they left water bottles all over the parking lot and even stuck in the bushes. then, they forgot to give me a reciept. after a day and a half of sorting through boxes, i realized that my BRAND NEW vacuum was missing. when i got ahold of the company on thursday to ask them about the forgotten reciept, i happened to ask about the vacuum. the OWNER OF THE COMPANY (i know he's the owner because i asked) told me, "oh yeah, it's here. we're gonna bring it back next tuesday when we're back in town with another shipment." HELLO!?!?!!?!! how's that for customer service? were they just going to show up here with my vacuum if i hadn't called and hope i was home? (the moving truck was nowhere near full, btw). they never called to say, "hey, by the way, you may have noticed that your vacuum is not there. we're sorry, we accidentally forgot to put it on the truck. we're back in town tuesday, so we'll drop it off then." HOW HARD CAN THAT BE???? so it has definitely been a series of most unfortunate events. note to all of yourselves...

NEVER, NEVER, NEVER USE EXPRESS RELOCATION, INC. (BASED IN HOUSTON) FOR ANY MOVE YOU MIGHT BE CONSIDERING. EVER. UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES.

As my friend beth said..."U and Haul could have done this one way quicker and with much less heartache...and with friends who would have been much more careful with your stuff!" yes, sister...you ARE correct.

Tuesday night and wednesday night were spent unpacking boxes like a maniac, just trying to get the boxes out of my house and make room. See, all of the boxes were stacked four high and three deep against my stair wall, which also happened to be the wall that my TV would be on. i had to get the boxes out of the way because Time Warner came and set up my internet and cable thursday (which is why you're finally getting this ridiculous-long post). Bubba got here last night, and we got up this morning and started hanging pictures and trying to get rid of clutter. We're getting there, very slowly.

tomorrow, we'll put mom on a plane back to Amarillo and then it'll just be me and mark. We'll probably spend the rest of the weekend unpacking and arranging. Bubba will have to go back Sunday night and then it will finally just be me. don't get me wrong, i have absolutely been so grateful for their help and would probably be sitting on the floor cross-legged and rocking back and forth if not for them. but until i am here by myself, i don't think it will be real. say some prayers, huh? that's gonna be interesting.

orientation is monday and tuesday...get excited! back to the grindstone. side note...met my right side neighbor today. older man. bubba was taking bridget out and saw him sitting on his porch, so he introduced himself. old man comes over to meet me (who hasn't showered in two days and is wearing pajama pants and a hoodie so as to put off the wearing of certain other garments), and waltzes right into my house and plops down in a chair at my kitchen table!!! he told me that he does free computer repairs and that he's a coffee fiend, so any time i need a cappuccino, just knock on his door and he'll fix me up. he kind of creeped me out a little.

ok, gotta take myself to bed so i'll be willing to wake up at a decent hour. much love to all!