I'm So Moved! I'd Like To Thank...

Thomas and I are finally moving this weekend.  Stressed doesn't even begin to describe how I feel right now, but we're getting through this.  Luckily, we've had a lot of help, and I'd like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude.

First of all, to the nice German family that moved into my parents' neighborhood:  thank you for letting us have your wonderfully-constructed, heavyweight boxes and packing material.  Without your need to ship things internationally, my china and crystal would not be nearly as safe as it is now.  Also, your son left his Spiderman crocs in one of the boxes. 

Next, to my amazing step-dad:  thank you for stopping the truck in the middle of the road and stealing the nice German family's packing boxes. 

To Bed Bath & Beyond:  thank you for putting the quilt I've literally been dreaming about on Clearance and marking it down $100.  You have truly outdone yourself. 

To Foosackly's, Pizza Hut, and Lenny's:  thank you for feeding us.  I know we paid for it, and all, but still.  Thank you for allowing me to not have to cook.  It would have been difficult, what with all the dishes and pots and pans being packed.  (If you have no idea what Foosackly's is, it's a local chicken finger chain, and the best chicken I've ever eaten.  It's addictive.  I left home for several months and practically went through withdrawal.)

To Pepsi:  thanks for bringing back the Throwback.  That one's just in general.

To Genna:  thank you for listening to me.

To Curt:  thank you for missing a football game to help your big sister pack, and for giving up a weekend hanging out with your girlfriend to help us move.  I would tell you that I love you very much, but I know that would embarrass you, so forget I mentioned it.

To Friends:  thank you for putting up with my incessant Facebook status updates about packing, my blogs about decorating, and my rants about everything else.

To my awesome mom:  thank you for biscuits, coffee, and packing up 90% of my house.  Seriously, were it not for you, we'd have packed DVDs and some photo albums, and that would have been about it.  Heck, we'd have run out of boxes before we got that far.  Most of all, thank you for being my Lorelai. 

To Thomas:  thank you for being the best husband a girl could ask for, and for continually amazing me. 

True story:  The apartment (townhouse, really) that we're moving into has two bathrooms.  The one we're currently in only has one and a half, so we needed all new bathroom accessories, towels, the works.  This is also the guest bathroom, so it's the one that most people will see.  Money's tight right now (for everyone, I think), so any and all purchases were researched, discussed, and treated like they were major expenditures, and not the soap dispensers or trash cans they actually were.  Well, after two or three weeks of comparing shower curtain rings at every store in town, we finally decided on the perfect set.  They matched the curtain, were a little art deco-y, and I loved them.  I went to the store, picked up the rings and some cedar blocks, brought them in and set them in the kitchen, near the bag with the shower curtain.  I wanted to keep them together. 

So, fast forward a couple of weeks.  Thomas and I had a few other things for the apartment, and we wanted to put all the new stuff together in one box.  I went into the kitchen to get the curtain, rings, and cedar blocks...and found the curtain.  Nothing else.  This was not good.  At this point, one of three things had happened.  1) The bag was thrown away, contents and all.  Not likely, considering they were very heavy and would have had to have been separated from the shower curtain.  2) The maintenance man who came by to check the air-conditioner took them.  I hate to think that way, and can't see any reason why he'd do that(well, other than spite--he doesn't like us).  3) They were already packed.  Possible.  Very possible.  We unpacked everything we'd already boxed up, frantically turning the house upside-down.  Nothing. 

I was really upset.  I couldn't imagine either of us just blanking out and throwing them away, and I hated the thought that someone might have taken something out of our house, but they obviously weren't on the premises.  And yeah, I know they were just shower curtain rings, and not even terribly expensive ones at that, but I was stressed.  We'd been through the lay-off, then the job search, then not knowing exactly what the new job would entail.  We'd been through mold and floods and crooked walls and floors, and were thrilled that we were definitely out of the current apartment, but weren't certain that we were going to get to keep the new apartment, and the alternative solution, while viable, would only be temporary, and then what?  We had this movie and my album hanging over our heads.  I kept finding little things that reminded me of Grandma and Daddy, and had just gotten through the anniversaries of when we lost them, and...I freaked.  I sat down on the stairs and cried my eyes out over shower curtain rings.  Well, that and so much more. 

Eventually, I calmed down.  Thomas told me to just hold off on getting new ones until we got moved and knew for certain that they hadn't hidden themselves in a box, and that seemed reasonable.  Besides, we needed to spend that money on other things, like dishes and renting a U-Haul, not rebuying lost shower curtain rings. 

The next week, I came home from work to find a box from Bed Bath & Beyond.  Thomas asked me what I had ordered, but, truth was, I hadn't ordered anything.  I opened the box, and there were my shower curtain rings and cedar blocks, along with a note saying, "Sorry we ran off like that".  I looked up, and Thomas was grinning from ear to ear.  He'd ordered them while I was crying on the staircase. 

I love my husband.

Well, now that I've embarrassed Thomas to no end, I think I'll sign off for today.  I know this wasn't a traditional AN post, and really wasn't the post I set out to write today, but I promise that the reviews, samples, and challenges will all be right back as soon as the dust settles.  Thank you, again, for bearing with me.  Now, can someone tell me which way to exit?  This statue is a lot heavier than it looks!