Furniture adventures and packing up
Monday was the best day in the world. Then that all changed.
So I got a call Monday morning from our furniture sales lady (Jessi) and she told me our furniture was in! We thought it wasn't going to make it in time for the movers but there it was. We arranged to have it delivered on Wednesday and I got to quickly posting my old stuff on Craigslist.
I posted it under the "free" category. We didn't pay for it and living in a military town, as well as being close to where the hurricanes have hit, there is always someone in need. In less than 24 hours I got almost 70 emails asking about it. It was hard to decide who to offer it to, there were so many people who needed it. I decided on someone who was contacting me on behalf of their new neighbour who had relocated here the day before after losing everything in one of the hurricanes. When the neighbour decided to go buy new stuff (I'm sure they must have had insurance) I went to my next choice - a youth group in Temple. I sent the guy an email Monday evening giving him my cell number as we were heading out of town the next day.
Tuesday we woke up nice and early and hit the road on our way to Shiner, TX. Chris' favourite beer is Shiner Bock and we've been meaning to make the trip down for a long time now. We had a nice drive, took a wrong turn, called Misti and she set us back on track. We arrived around lunch time, had a yummy meal in town and headed over to the brewery for a tour.
The tour was interesting and we got to sample a few of the beers in the gift shop/hospitality room. Chris picked up a few souvenirs - a golf bag, golf towel, pint glass to match his other Shiner glass, and a poster. We drove home with a stop in Round Rock for Steak n Shake.
Once home we got the furniture ready to be picked up. We started out by using the love seat to test the angle and possibility of actually getting the couch out the front door. I think we brought it into the house through the back door when we moved in and the now not only is the entertainment stand in the way but there was a lot of Chris' army stuff blocking the back door. If we couldn't manage it we'd have to make sure we had time to clear the way to get it out the back.
Well it worked. We got both couches out into the front. We removed all the feet and I set to work pledge-ing the tables, dusting the lamps, and vacuuming the couches. The people who run the youth group showed up and we helped them load it all up. They were off and we were furniture-free and looking forward to our delivery on Thursday.
Thursday morning the delivery guys arrived and I anxiously watched as the chair was unloaded. They brought it in and it was flipped over so I could see the underside. Uh oh. The bottom dust cover had been cut away, as we'd been told by Jessi (sales lady) they do for the floor models so customers can see the construction. That and the scratched plastic cover on the foot board thing (it's a recliner) made it clear that we had been given the display chair. I told the delivery guy that I would not accept it. They called the store, there was another chair there, maybe it was just a mix-up and we'd hear back from them. They left with the chair and I waited. A bit later I got a call saying they were on their way to the store to swap chairs and would be back soon.
I called the manager of the store and told him how disappointed I was. I made sure that he reassured me that he'd check the furniture himself before it headed back out to us.
When he called me back a bit later there was a problem. The brown furniture had been taking so long to get in stock that they had swapped out the floor model of the set with the black furniture. The brown furniture was put back "in stock" and automatically showed up on my ticket as being ready for me. He offered me 30% off the floor model but I said that wasn't going to happen. We invested in expensive, nice, leather furniture so it would last. Yes he would be giving me the full warranty but that doesn't include the leather and it would be damaged from having sat in the show room. He said I could come in for a full refund but then I told him that I was now furniture-less after donating mine and about to move out of state and that would be a problem. With so little time before the holidays I really couldn't be searching and waiting months for yet more furniture to arrive. He agreed and I asked if there was any way to have it sent from the PA store (there isn't one in MD)
I got a message from him a couple hours later that he was working with the district manager and the PA store. There is furniture on its way to PA but they didn't want me to be put at the bottom of the waiting list. I probably wouldn't get any of this delivery so they were working on transferring my order and keeping me at the top of the list.
I got a call from the PA store and the guy I spoke with was fantastic. They expect to have it at the distribution center in a couple of weeks, then it will be another week to get to me which works out well as that should give us time to get settled in to Ft Meade. He said that he would inspect every inch of it to make sure it was 100% perfect, one of his guys was working on a delivery route that evening, and as soon as I get settled in I just have to call him to get things rolling. They are even setting aside a whole day of deliveries just to make this one shipment to us. It's a 330 mile trip from Erie, PA to Ft Meade, MD so they want to make sure it gets done right. I can't even tell you how blown away I am that they'd do that. 760 miles, one whole delivery day, 2 delivery guys to drive and unload. Wow. I'm so happy and grateful.
With that all sorted out I got down to work setting aside all that we'd need for the next few weeks as well as getting my house organized for the packers. We got to bed very late and I was wide awake around 6am today. I couldn't sleep because I knew there was stuff left to be done.The packing ladies arrived at around 8:30am and they got to work upstairs. I gated the girls in the kitchen with me where I was finishing up what I needed to do. All day Audrey was upset and stressed and even hid under the kitchen table. I eventually shut both of the girls into the laundry room with Audrey's tent just so they'd have a calm quiet place to rest and not be so freaked out over everything. When the packers moved downstairs I let the girls out and Audrey actually just headed for our bedroom where she stayed all day. Even after the packers left it took a lot of coaxing to get her to come downstairs. I've never seen her act that way. Tuesday evening we'll be at my in-law's and Audrey will get some peace there.
The packers left around 1:30pm. They were great and everything is all organized and ready to go. They even packed my jar candles! I napped from about 2-4pm when Chris called to tell me he was on his way home from the gym. We got cleaned up and headed out to Pluckers for dinner. Audrey was exhausted and stressed all evening and I just feel so bad for her. I did my last couple loads of laundry tonight. Tomorrow the movers will be here to load our boxes and furniture and I will clean my blinds, windows, ceiling fans and light fixtures (hopefully!). Since our house will be very empty we're heading to Candace's to spend the weekend. We'll be back Monday morning to finish cleaning, probably stay at Candace's again Monday night and then Tuesday I have all of my carpet services and such here before our final inspection.
But right now it is bed time!