Just a note to say I've added a few more pictures to the new house slideshow. There are a few of the master bedroom, although it's quite bare right now but hey, it'll get there. And also some mid way shots of the fence. We were quite pleased when a crew of 6 guys and many trucks showed up this AM and quite upset when four of them left halfway through. They are now running extremely far behind and it's a holiday weekend. Let's just say I'm taking deep breaths.
Click here to see pictures
We are so frustrated working with outside people right now...
First complaint: Some of you know that during our move (we hired professional movers),
they packed our computer and the monitor ended up broken. We're using Matt's mom's old one--although we are grateful we do have it to use, it also takes up the whole computer area. The company, after 5 days, gave us a poor excuse for a temp.
replacement and said they would work on a true replacement for ours. The
temp replacement was so crappy that I just shoved it into a corner and
am using my mother in law's. Yeah it's been 5 weeks now and nothing. Matt's
phonecalls have become increasingly nasty. Now we're threatening to take
it all online if they don't step up. I don't just mean the BBB either
but yellowpages.com and any and all local business website I can possibly find. I knew the owner was looking on craigslist but this morning I found his actual post: "Not looking to over pay for this, but for a well kept monitor 15" flat
panel I'll pay up to $25.00. Call R..."
Yesterday, he also emailed me saying he'd just give me $25
to find one on my own. We are so upset with his total lack of professionalism and his desire to find the cheapest replacement he can that we contacted the BBB this morning to help us resolve this matter. We'll see what happens. It's a shame because their crew
were all very nice, very considerate, on time and even wiped their feet every
single time they came in and out (it was raining) and were very gentle
with our stuff--hell, if they even so much as saw me attempting to move
a box to another room because I had mislabeled it, they jumped in to
move it for me, but hey something broke and the owners aren't stepping up to replace it properly. I would have actually recommended them even with the
monitor breaking because hey it happens and as long as they replaced it to
our satisfaction, I would say go ahead and use them but not now. <Sigh> When will people learn? You don't mess with people from Jersey. Lesson learned: Do not fully trust a company just because they, to this date, do not have complaints on BBB. Always be cautious.
Second complaint: Sears.com. I ordered an almost $500 table online. A few days later I
found the exact same one being sold online from a guy 2 blocks away for the fraction of the cost and it was available right away instead of several weeks from then. It was in great shape, just needed the painting done. I immediately canceled my Sears order. I've called four times since then because I had yet to receive the money although I was told it would only take 5 days (it has been 3 weeks now). They claimed the company
that makes the table is not responding to their emails and there is
nothing else they can do. Now I am getting emails from Sears saying the
order is delayed--yeah I don't care if it's delayed, I dont' want it. Right now it's set to arrive while I'm in NJ. God help them if I come
home to boxes on my porch. I am supposed to refuse delivery and wait to
get my money back apparently. That could take 3 to 4 months at this
rate. Lesson learned: be 110% positive you want something from Sears
cause otherwise they make it true hell to cancel.
Third complaint: fencing companies. We had an estimated start date of July 1st. I spent
the day before mowing our almost 1/2 acre by hand. Granted it may not
sound like much but it was over 90 degrees out and our backyard is not
flat. It was rough--I would have been less out of breath if I had just
run 5 miles, but I got it done. Then they never showed or called. Matt called and
now they said probably July 3rd they will start. Yeah the next day is a
holiday--a common drinking holiday. Lovely. I am seriously doubting they
will have it done by close of the 7th like we requested. Lesson learned: be flexible if you have to hire someone to build a fence--it may
begin Tuesday of this week or Tuesday of 7 months from now
The overall lesson learned in all of this: do not deal with outside people if you can
help it. It appears no one is a professional anymore. Granted in some circumstances, you can't help it--you'll have to deal with companies or so called "professionals" but proceed with caution and never fully trust anything they tell you
*Sidenote--you may all be happy to hear that we have not, recently, had
any nightmares with Verizon, but I am sure it'll happen in the future.
We're also still waiting to get our gas bill to see if the outsourced
employees were finally able to spell our names correctly. And the final
kicker is that our old post office, despite my use of the proper request
form long in advance of our moving, then going in person after our move,
then also calling, is still not forwarding all our mail to this address.
I have notified everyone I could think of of the new address but of
course there are still companies or people that mail to the old house.
Luckily the new owner or our old neighbors are catching it and we're
picking it up.
*Edited to add: A little while ago, our fence guy and his crew showed up to start setting posts. We were extremely happy they are starting a day earlier than we were told yesterday. He said he wants to make sure he has it done by our deadline. Also, I just received an email from Sears.com saying our order was canceled and money refunded. Wow...two out of three issues corrected in just a few short hours. Now if only I could get a new monitor!*
We've all been held prisoner here in this house for several days as a stomach virus made its way through. Luckily only Madilyn and Jules got hit and somehow, by the grace of God, Matt, Alyssa and I escaped. Madilyn only had some weird diapers but otherwise was her normal, crazy two-year-old self but poor Jules suffered big time. Her temp hit 104, she didn't eat for two days, lost a ton of weight to the point of seeing her jaw and cheek bones and we were seriously close to taking her to the ER. Luckily on day three, she magically turned around and was able to keep down (and keep in!) a bagel and some random light foods. Now on day five, she's back to normal--fighting with her sisters.
What a way to start the summer!
Things are trucking along at the new house-this past weekend, we tackled more of the porch. We added an evergreen tree, park bench and the mandatory American flag. I added the other shots I snapped to the slideshow which you can view here.
I've added a few more pictures to the new house slideshow including the sunroom and Miss Kitty's private potty area.
You can see them here
After 7 years of living on one level, I am starting to see the disadvantage of two story living.
My knees are killing me.
I've always had questionable knees-they would crack as a kid constantly as I went up and
down my parents stairs. Then all my years on track/running on my own I am sure messed
them up. But I am surprised by how sore and achy they are now. I dread
having to go up and down the stairs. I've been leaving items to go upstairs at the
bottom to do them later or asking the girls to do the runs for me. It
really makes me nervous down the road given my young age now. And it's summer--my joints are
always really bad off in the winter. Matt wants me to get them checked out but what they going to do? Injections? No thanks. Physical therapy? I don't have time or the
chance with matt gone so much. The typical navy way--throw pills at me? Nope
not into pill popping. It's bad enough I'm on RX pills for my headaches.
I told Matt I wonder if we should have bought another rancher! He's
going to have to put in a motorized chair for me at this rate! Of course
I am sure he could do something fabulous with wood and black metal
scroll work ;)
--
I was the first one up this morning and while waiting for the coffee to brew, I was standing at the kitchen sink looking out the window. It hit me what a different view I have now than just 2 1/2 weeks ago when I would look over our little strip of lawn and then the neighbor's house right behind us--they were almost so close that I could call over to borrow sugar for my coffee. Now I see this and hear our neighbor's roster...gotta love it :)
I can not believe it...our girl graduated fourth grade today and is on her way to the top of school--a fifth grader come Sept. She will be the new student but hey atleast she'll be one of the "big fish" and will have a chance to make friends with this new group of children before entering middle school with them.
I still have memories of her first day of kindergarten--she ate too fast and threw up on her brand new, perfectly picked out clothes and had to change at last second. If you look closely at that picture from back then, you can see she's a little teary. I also remember walking her to the classroom and seeing children really lost and confused--bawling and clinging to teachers. And there was our girl, confident as ever. She looked at me, shrugged and sat down to color. Her love of school began that day despite the chaos around her and continues today. Today, however, was very difficult for her--she has been crying off and on since school let out at 12:30. Normally she welcomes summer vacation but this year was different--it was her last day in the school she has grown up in. The mom guilt overwhelms me at times but I keep reminding myself we did this move mainly for the children--to give them a better environment and better schools. And yet, it's still hard not to blame myself for her tears.
On a sidenote--girlie girl received principal's list AGAIN. Which means she missed having it all four marking periods by only one point--in Math. She received a 93 one marking period instead of a 94. We're incredibly proud but she beats herself up over it--little miss perfectionist.
For a "graduation" present we gave her the "Brainage" game for her DS...you know, so she "wont get stupid over the summer". (and yes, I did actually tell her that as she opened it)
For those signed in, I'm off to post a picture.
Ugh it's those little things that make moving annoying
#1--Verizon--yeah I'm saying it online--is HORRIBLE. I can't even go into how many issues we've had, how many hours I've spent on the phone with them trying to make this move because you all would be bored to tears and stop reading before the post was over. But after many, many headaches, we finally thought we were good to go when our house phoneline stopped working. Verizon techs showed up yesterday to fix our phoneline. Their exact quote? "the previous techs did a halfass job with your phone box..it was a mess and shorted out" but we should be good to go now. I am so over dealing with them.
#2--Although I put in a change of address request with the USPS and
received two confirmation letters, we received a call from the new owner
of our old house that all our mail was showing up there, so I stopped by
today to get it. Yeah, bills, insurance claims (btw, jules ER visit cost
$500..luckily we dont' pay anything!), etc.--important things were not
making it to us. SO I marched right to the post office and yep, our
carrier never received notice. lovely.
#3--For the life of me, I could not remember and could not find Miss
Kitty's paperwork to update her microchip information with our new
address. I called the vet's office and was told what company to contact
so I did. They claimed I never registered her although I remembered
doing so. Thinking I was having a ditzy moment a year ago when we had
her microchipped, I went ahead and registered her again for $18. Today
I found her paperwork--from ANOTHER company! argh. it took two seconds
and not a cent to update her records with them. I am angry with myself
for not following my gut that I had registered her already and mad at
the vet's office for giving me the wrong company name. There's $18 down
the tubes and now she's registered twice.
I don't want to move anymore--as in never again. I am sure we will but I hope it is a couple decades from now so I can forget this whole mess.
Wow...one week has passed already?! I can't believe we have lived in this house that long already--given the whirlwind of moving, it feels like just a couple days. I don't know if the realty has fully sunk in quite yet but I am sure writing the first mortgage check next month will help with that!
Here are some pictures of us getting settled--we have a long way to go but this will give you an idea of the new house. I'll keep adding them as we get more things in place.
