A Disgruntled Passenger

our note on the basement door

We are so glad to be past the point of having to keep the house like a model showroom for possible buyers. As I've said before, it's impossible for two imperfect people to live peaceably in a perfect house for long. 

Thankfully the Lord gave us a buyer very quickly, so that uncomfortable stage did not get to point of straining our marriage. The real estate market in Denver and the surrounding areas has been very strong over four years now (since we sold our last house).

chairs-in-waiting

While the main floor of our ranch-style floor plan was as tidy as an old maid's apartment, the basement was another matter. It, too, was very orderly (that's just my style), but we brought down a lot of extra furniture to 'stage' the main areas like they do on HGTV. 

boxes packed by me

When we weren't being shooed out of the house by the real estate showing service, I was very busy in the basement, packing boxes and bins. I confess to enjoying that activity, for the most part, except when I had to make tough choices about things to donate, dispose of, sell, or keep. In our retired status, we don't have Beloved's corporate employer paying for our relocations any more, so keeping the weight of the moving truck in mind is wise.

our basement

Although we are moving to a large house, we will have to bid adieu to the huge basement of The Brown Bungalow. This feature has been one of my favorites in this house.

3 sets of storage shelves

Beloved and his namesake built the most wonderful storage shelves so we could get most things off the floor and keep things tidy. With this move, I don't expect to ever have it this good again with regard to storage space.

So, you are probably wondering why I titled this post, "A Disgruntled Passenger." I will get to that now.

breaking the news to my staff

You may recall my post on April 21st, when I called a meeting of my staff to announce we are moving to the Land of Flip Flops to be closer to the grandchildren (and their parents, too, of course). 

You may also remember  Mandy Sue (dressed in the pink apron with cupcakes and a pink hair bow in the photo above) was the first one to offer herself to get packed for the trip. Her enthusiasm was an inspiration to those who might have felt some reluctance to leave The Brown Bungalow and all the fun of living in Colorado.

Mrs. Berniece Mertz

Today Beloved and I decided to open up some of the boxes that had already been packed so we could combine the contents more efficiently into large plastic bins. When I opened Box #12 (yes, they are all catalogued into a spread sheet on my computer), Mrs. Berniece Mertz popped up with a smile on her face.

"Oh my! Are we here already?!"

"No, my dear," was my reply. "We are still at The Brown Bungalow. We just need to make some changes in our packing arrangements."

A shadow of disappointment flickered across her face, but she quickly recovered herself and returned to where she had been sitting among the crumpled packing paper.

However, a muffled little voice emerged from deeper in the box and I realized all was not well. As I leaned closer in an effort to understand what was being said, it became apparent that the aforementioned Mandy Sue was no longer the cheery positive example to the rest of the staff that I had thought her to be.

I really didn't have the time to deal with her reputation for tantrums, so I refused to let on that I could hear what she was saying.The problem seemed to be she was bitter for not having been given a window seat for this trip across the country.

'A window seat'!??, for goodness' sake! It's a brown packing box!! 

Freddie, packed and ready to go

I thought about it and figured out she must have heard Beloved and me talking about the transfer of the staff into clear bins and she wanted to be able to see out, to see what was going on. Well, I couldn't blame her for that since I always try to claim a window seat on the airlines.  

Rent-a-Nurse, Mrs Berniece Mertz, Eaves Dropping and bunny with hat

Still without letting on that I could hear her complaints, I did my best to arrange her in the clear plastic bin so she could see out, but alas, packing the staff was like putting together a jigsaw puzzle. 

packed and waiting for the moving truck

Everything (or every body, I should say) could only fit a certain way if the lid was to snap on securely, so as it turned out, only the smaller passengers were given a clear view of everything. Others had to remain inside the white packing paper...

It's a tight fit for all

Moving is a lot of work that pulls at the emotions in a variety of ways. Blessedly with this move, I can stop and rest (take a nap!) when the strain is too much and then return later to tackle what remains of the job.

It is helpful if all involved try to have a positive attitude and to keep their disgruntlements to a minimum.

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