Didja Miss Me?

Loveland, CO! We made it!

J, tonight: "Blah blah blah blahG - that's all your blog is!"

Boy the last few days have been crazy. So, so busy. We are exhausted!

Let's see. On Wednesday morning we had to check out early so we could be home in time for our range delivery from Home Depot. After that arrived (it's sweet!), we grabbed some lunch and headed into Fort Collins to transfer over our driver's licenses.

The DMV here is kind of a trip. I stopped in to Rite Aid near the DL office to get snacks for G, and heard the woman in front of me telling the cashier that she'd spent 4 1/2 hours there. Ugh. It's one thing to wait that long but quite another when you've got 3 kids, one of whom is not so easily entertained. We went in and got our numbers - 358 and 359. They were on 302. We waited for a few minutes but the line wasn't moving. We decided to window shop for furniture at a store we saw going out of business on the way in, then come back and check the numbers. If they still weren't moving, or if we'd missed it, we'd try first thing in the morning. But as luck would have it, it was on about 352 when we returned and we only had to wait about 15 more minutes.

So we now have official, if temporary, Colorado driver's licenses. Here's a funny: The clerk asked Ro his eye color and he said blue, and then added, "and my hair would be brown if I had any." She just looked at him and said, "I can see that," and proceeded to type BALD into the computer for his hair color. LOL

On the way home from Fort Collins we rented another U-Haul. We stopped by Sam's Club and ended up buying the couch set we really liked every time we sat on it (SO comfy!!!), and some mattresses for the kids. Good thing we had the U-Haul, too; that worked out well! Dinner at Applebee's and home to sleep on the floor. Well, the kids had their mattresses, but Ro and I slept on the floor. What a night. I don't think Ro and I managed 4 hours of sleep at all. We're too old to sleep on the floor for one thing. Plus it was hot - then it was cold - then G woke up - yada yada yada. What a night.

Yesterday wasn't such a great day. We were expecting the POD delivery, as well as the appliances we'd ordered from Sears. They were both scheduled to arrive at the same time, in the late afternoon, plus we had J's ice cream social, and Tom was coming to help us move after that, AND we had to return the U-Haul. It was crazy - nothing planned in the morning and everything at once in the afternoon. We spent most of the morning running errands and emptying the storage unit.

The POD came just before 4:30, and the Sears delivery never made it. I am so frustrated with them I could spit, as my grandma used to say. I'll give you the short version. :) We had a window of 2:30-4:30, and J's social started at 4:30. 4:30 came and went and I called them - they said they were running really late and they'd be there by 7:30. 7:30 came and went, called again - still coming. 9:00 came and went, called again. I asked to reschedule for the next day but the best they could do was Sunday. Grrr... They assured me they would be there, no matter how late. I called the final time at MIDNIGHT and you know what they told me? The drivers went home! I am so blown away by the lack of customer service and the basic courtesy of a phone call. We are so irritated and if it's not here by 11 tomorrow, as promised*, we will surely cancel our order. (*Somehow they found a Saturday appointment. Still not great, but better than Sunday.)

Meantime we went by C's school. She is so excited to be on the Cougar team, have a top locker, and she got into band. We practiced her locker combo and checked out where a couple of classes are and she is really excited to begin school.

The ice cream social at J's school was wonderful. It was an awesome way to come meet his teacher and see the school. I'm not entirely sure his teacher is actually old enough to teach, however; I swear he looks about 12 years old. We visited awhile with his teacher, and the school librarian (wow, they have those here!), looked around a bit, and headed home.

We enjoyed seeing Tom last night, but hated that there was no real time to visit. As soon as he got here we ate a quick pizza and got to work. He worked his tail off, along with Robert (my tail will never disappear, I'm sure), until midnight. What a chore - all that heavy stuff, up and down stairs. They got the POD probably 95% empty and my mattress upstairs. I was thrilled with that! But I sure felt bad for poor Tom. After that he had to drive back to Longmont, and work this morning. :(

We sure slept wonderfully last night though!

I have to say... the first night when I couldn't sleep, I went into my bedroom and looked out the window, and God treated me to an incredible display of His power and creativity. I watched the most beautiful lightning show for quite awhile. No thunder, no rain, just flashes across the sky. Then last night, just as Tom was leaving, it started again, this time with thunder and hard rains. When Ro and I finally trekked up the stairs to go to bed, the thunder was so loud I was sure it would wake the kids... but they were pretty tuckered out as well.

Today we worked mostly around the house. Ro got the computer and the kids' beds set up and we unpacked a few things here and there. Mostly though we are just absolutely beat. I even took a nap. I felt guilty, but man, you get to a point where if it takes you an hour to just decide on which box to open, you need some rest. :) Later though I took C shopping, and we got the rest of her school clothes, some shoes, and a shelf for her locker. That was fun!

Tonight was a lot of fun, too. We went to the Loveland Corn Roast Festival. For those at home, think of Thursday Night on the Square but on a much, MUCH smaller level. It was wonderful. We had some amazing barbecue, strawberry limeade, shaved ice, and of course, roasted corn on the cob. I hope we'll have time tomorrow to go back and support our duck in the Rubber Duck Race down part of the Big Thompson River (and get milkshakes and funnel cake since we didn't have room tonight for it!) The money for our ducks went to support a fundraiser the rotary club does every year to purchase hardback dictionaries to give to every third grader in the district. Isn't that cool?

It was just such a nice, quaint, relaxing thing to do this evening. We are really enjoying Loveland. It's so small that things like the Corn Roast Festival are wonderful family events, and yet it's big enough to have pretty much everything we need, if not here in town, then not far away. We've met a couple of our neighbors - all who have been welcoming and nice and have had only good things to say about the town and the neighborhood. I think we are going to be very happy here.

I need to get the bug to bed, and then myself. A final note, though - I've been so busy that I haven't even checked my e-mail since we left the hotel. If you've sent me some, I'll do my best to catch up with it tomorrow. G'night, all.