Grateful for moving companies and company

We moved recently.  3 people,  1 large moving van, a bunch of strangers toting our stuff, and a beautiful new house, courtesy of the church, made for a fun time.  And it was raining.  Not just any rain, but the rain only a Nor’easter can produce.  It was sloppy, gross, and cold.  Thankfully we made it intact and so did the cats, dog, hubby, and kid.  But oh what a trip and memorable move it made! 

I had to come ahead of Brandon and the movers since the internet man was coming to hook up the connection and heaven knows we can’t be without that.  So with my van loaded down with things we needed to keep handy, which ended up being way more than I intended, and the cats in a carrier next to me, I set off on my 2 hour journey south in the pouring rain.  Mixed emotions and 2 cats squawking at me to get out, filled my time.  I’m thankful it was raining so hard, it made me concentrate on driving and staying focused. 

When I arrived at the new house, I got in, threw the cats in a bathroom, and went back out to the van to unload the junk.  And what to my eyes did appear?  Two of our church members standing right there in my driveway, eager hands, and ready to work.  They offered to help.  I took them right up on that offer and had to laugh when I opened the back door of the van.  “I promise, we’re not hillbillies…” was all I could say.  It was ridiculous, all that random junk hanging around and out and they just got to work unloading for me. 

That day, those very first few hours in our new town, in our new house, nearly 10 people dropped in to say hello and offer help, food, and encouragement.  Some might be overwhelmed by that, by how public ministry families have it, how people just drop in and by all the time.  But during our move when we were leaving it “all” behind and starting somewhere new and different, those people were welcomed.  They remain welcome.  And it’s win-win because I’m grateful for them.

Just in case the town didn't know we arrivedThis post is linked to heavenlyhomemakers.  Stop on by and see what Laura's cooking up or tracking down.

Black Friday and Shopping with the Hubs

You could find us in the masses, the belly of the beast, the long lines, and the chaos of Black Friday.  Never ever ever have we done Black Friday shopping.  Never.  And I doubt I will get too excited next year to go out and do it again.  But since we’ve moved, we have to either make a whole day of shopping or buy it online.  So we decided that since we were in the “big city” for Thanksgiving, we should jump into the fire and see if we could get anything good for our loved ones in need of something marked low enough last week. 

Brandon and I went together while my parents and Augy slept.  We saw the headlights going to and from the big shopping area in Short Pump and my mind got confused, thinking it must have been 6p.m. and not a.m.  Seriously folks, that’s a whole lot of shopping and buying and traffic and morning breath to greet the day.  The night before, people had camped out, literally camped out in tents and everything, at an electronics store.  Too bad for them that it rained and stormed that night, but hey, at least they were there, ready to shop at 4a.m. when the store opened and they may or may not have received what they wanted. 

We hit a few places before returning to my parents for breakfast.  Was it worth it?  I think so.  But I learned that Target and the big stores might not be the best approach if I forget the experience of this year and go Black Friday 2010.  Borders Books ended up being one of the more productive stops along the way and we did not wait in line 40 minutes like we did at Target.  (Yes, 40 minutes and every one of those minutes was absolutely ridiculous and I’ll never go there again on Black Friday)  We are such nerds and book lovers; you can guess what lots of people on our list might receive this year!  The Borders shopping experience was much more low-key, softer, slower, and quieter.  No mommies screaming or yelling for their kids to be quiet and sit down since they dragged them out of the house at 5a.m. to go shop for toys they couldn’t play with right then.  No guys drooling over cheap portable hard drives or flat screens T.V.’s.  No overwhelmed checkers running cash registers.  Nope, just me, the hubs, and some books.  Now that’s a Black Friday I will consider doing again.

Why I love shopping with my husband…

On Black Friday when you see mainly women elbowing and shooting off their potty-mouths, my calm and gentle husband strolls along the aisle, the picture of ease, never hinting that he’d rather still be in bed sleeping.  His loyalty to go with his wife into the pits of you-know-where astounds me.

When the cashier at Borders asked my husband if we needed or wanted gift receipts, he looked at her and said, “Nope, if they don’t like it, that’s their problem.”   She honestly stopped and didn’t move until my dear husband reached across and took the bag from her.  I had already started towards the door, face hurting from laughing so much.

He appears to wander, at times, aimlessly through aisles or around displays.  I fear he’s going to “pull an Augustine” and knock it all over or make a mess.  Meanwhile, he’s thought long and hard and helps make a wise decision about which gift is right for which person.  Hence, his belief is the previous statement. 

Giving Up Wonder Woman for Wonder Bread

Yesterday I decided that with packing and cleaning and moving and chasing a toddler, I would give up being Wonder Woman and let us eat Wonder Bread.  Normally I make our bread.  I love it.  We have a handy bread machine  and I plop all the ingredients in it.  Then I hit "start" and it does its thing.  I hate the way it bakes bread though, so it only does the hard mixing for me.  Then I roll it out, let it rise, bake it, eat it, and we're all happy and fed.  But the next 2 weeks will go by in a blur and with barely enough time to shower, bread may not make it on the list.  Yet, we still need to eat- I hear that's important. 

I told Brandon I intended to go to the Wonder Bread thrift store, not far from us, and let them provide our bread for the next few weeks.  He was on board with this, anything to make life easier for me is his idea.  So after lunch yesterday (which we ate out on account of me not remembering we needed bread, not making it, and therefore not having anything to eat for lunch) I took off for the Wonder Bread store.  I was excited.  After all, I'd given up trying to be and do everything in order to just tackle the priorities, like feeding us. My mouth watered thinking of maybe splurging on a package of bagels or buying a fun treat for Augy.  But as I got closer, I remembered they only take cash or check- no debit, no credit, no bills over $20- like I have bills that high anyways.  Normally this wouldn't be an issue, with a checkbook in my purse.  Yet, Brandon took it out yesterday to pay bills.  It was gone.  I got to the Wonder Bread outlet, looking forward to saving us money and freeing myself to not bake our bread only to discover I had to back-track, waste gas and time, and go back in the other direction in order to pick up a loaf of bread.  So much for saving money.  So much for making it easy on myself.  But at least we have bread in the house.  Oh, and I did splurge on a package of English Muffins.  Yum!

Now, don't get me started on the rest of my afternoon.  It included a flooded washing machine, some wet towels, and 5 pillows now residing in the trashcan outside.  Wonder Woman I am not.  

Feeling Like a Wordless Wednesday

I'll give you cash, and take your clunker

We’re on the Dave Ramsey plan.  Some call this the beans and rice plan.  Others call it insanity.  I don’t care what name you put on it, we’re getting out of debt, once and for all!  We’re close, real close, and I won’t bore you with details.  But Ramsey’s a hoot-and-a-half and if you haven’t heard this guy or read his books, and you’re the least bit interested in getting out of debt (yes, ALL debt), this girl encourages you to find out about him. 
     One thing that we will never ever do again is buy a new car.  No more car payments.  He breaks it down for you in his books, online, and on his radio show.  But it’s really common sense that makes total sense and you end up kicking yourself thinking about all the money you could have saved if you weren’t obsessed with a new car smell.  They bottle that smell by the way.  And a bottle of that stuff is bound to be far cheaper than a whole new car.  He advocates buying, driving, and fixing up beaters, oldies, and those clunkers that everyone else was turning in, to get a great deal you know. We already had one new-to-us car, our van.  Which Augy sees in a parking lot and lovingly says, “Augy’s car.”  Yup. 
      Just recently we bought another new-to-us car, a Montero.  Yes, it has a few dings, dents, and one window doesn’t like to stay up on its own.  But it’s ours, in full, no payments ever.  Even if we sink some money into repairs, we still come out far better than a monthly car payment.  I can’t help it, as much as I like the smell of a new car, I like the smell of old dirty money in my pocket better.    

Clunker #1

 Clunker #2

Yay for new-to-us cars!