THAT kind of day

After a lousy four or so hours of sleep, get up and rush a bit to make it to the 10am closing appointment in North Dallas. Get there on time to wait and wait. At 10:30 they finally get their act together and the signatures begin.

After it's done Corey and I go to lunch at August Moon, a Chinese restaurant we used to frequent when we worked nearby. The waitress recognizes us even though it has been several years since our last visit. We enjoy a great lunch...the day is going so well!

Go home. Realize the Salvation Army rejected my two chest of drawers this morning when they did a pick-up because the deemed them "broken" and they don't do repairs. Okay, so one has no drawer pulls. The other has two drawers out of six that stick and are difficult. But if my house had just burned down, I'd be thankful for the four functional drawers, so I arrange for them to pick up again tomorrow.

Corey goes off to work for an important meeting. I head to post office for my new mail key. This is my first experience with a group mail box, located across the street from the new house. A small brick column holds 8 boxes. Get to PO and there are 13 people ahead of me. More than I've ever seen. After five minutes one of the counter people asks if anyone is just there to pick up mail. I ask about the key, show my closing statement, get the key. Things are going so well!

Head to the house. Spend a nice 30-45 minutes or more chatting with mom about decorating ideas while the yard man trims our landscaping and mows. Notice a big blow-up kid toy thing being installed in the street in front of my neighbor's house. Remember the sellers telling us that there was a block party scheduled for our closing date. Mom tells me tonight is National Night Out or something and folks all over are having block parties.

Decide that the master closet shelves really do need touching up. The rest of the place looks nice, but those shelves look like they have been to hell and back. They'll drive me nuts and once the clothes go in, they will never get painted, so it's today or never. It won't take long. Doesn't have to be a precise paint job, after all, it's a closet. Go to Ace and think, "The closet is white, so okay, "bright white" it is." Pick up a few paint brushes since mine are packed. Head to old house to change into paint clothes and get ladders.

Arrive at new house. Get in garage. Try to go from garage to laundry room. The door knob that worked fine 30 minutes ago is now suddenly a mess. The key part is sinking in, the knob turns a little but won't open. It's jammed somehow. Damn. Walk around to front since I don't have a key to the back doors and let myself in. Get paint in...Go to get ladders in and close the door. Damn. Walk around to front again and let myself in. Get ladders. Realize the door could be an issue tomorrow on moving day.

Go back to Ace. The gal behind the counter recognizes me as I buy new door knobs for all the back doors since upon inspection, they all look tarnished or beat up....And I have a thing about them matching. Go back to new house. Open garage door. Damn. No screwdriver. Close garage door, go to old house. Thank Daddy for having the wisdom to not pack all the tools. Get bits and head back to new house. Spend FAR too long removing old lock with hidden screws, realizing my lack of sleep is catching up with me. Install new door handle. Realize that my hands are covered in grime from the inside of the old handle that has likely been there since 1992 and I have no soap or towels. Get paint and head to master closet. Immediately realize master closet is not "bright white". I just want to touch up the shelves, not paint the whole huge thing, and I can't even reach the top with the ladder I could fit in my car. I'd need the 8 footer for that. Take lid off paint to make sure it won't work. Nope. No deal. Realize I have no drop cloths.

Head back to Ace. Gal behind counter is cracking up as my orange baseball cap arrives yet again. Exchange cheapo "bright white" for more expensive "antique white" after waiting for it to be shaken up. Get drop cloths and paper towels. Use the two $5 coupons the checkout gal gave me thirty minutes before.

Head to new house. Corey calls. It's around 6pm. He's headed over. I'm painting when he arrives and finish up. Go to find him. He's out front chatting with two neighbors. I go out to get him cuz I'm starving, looking stunning in an orange and blue 1989 Alpha Phi Omega regional convention shirt generously fingerpainted by Yours Truly while engaged in many paint jobs, an orange cap on backwards to protect my pulled back hair, since I learned that lesson well, and a face streaked with unpowdered shine and doorknob grime.

Thank the stars above that Corey has apparently already fielded the annoying "Do you have kids?" question. Meet two neighbors from different houses around the corner, possibly the other two homeowner's association officers, not sure about that yet. They invite us to the block party in our front yard. We tell them we'll try to come but have lots of packing to do, still. Learn that our water spigot is closest to the blow-up water slide. Agree to donate water for the water slide, remembering the the sellers told us about that.

Go to KFC and revel in sinful fried chick while trying to stay awake. Head home. Thank Daddy again for not packing the cordless drill and put the drawer pulls on my rejected dresser after soaking myself in OFF! Take shower to remove OFF! and grime and hopefully wake up.

Briefly check HSS (my fav scrapping message board) and take a quick look at the new sock pattern released today by my sock knit-along group.

Spend the evening trying to get odds and ends into boxes and pack that last box of breakables. Direct Corey, who wants to help but is clueless. Try to take legs off antique kitchen table I use for sewing. Thank Daddy for not packing the ratchet wrench set. Realize that I actually need the angle wrench set and it appears to be packed. Hope that the movers will suck it up and take apart my beat up antique or loan me some wrenches.

Explain to Corey that all plastic items MUST go on the top shelf of the dishwasher so as not to melt. Explain to Corey how to turn on the dishwasher.

Tackle misc crap all over the study. Watch as Corey sets up and fills wardrobe boxes, lining them up in the main walkway of the living room. Suggest he find another place for them. Try to remain calm and peaceful when he doesn't.

Kiss Corey good night. He has early meetings tomorrow and no problems sleeping.

Wrap up old drinking glasses for Salvation Army to pick up tomorrow. Realize I should sit down and have some water. Struggle to refrigerator, crack open door, and extract a bottle of water. Go to turn off dining room light and realize that either I will have to take up mountain climbing or move too many boxes. Decide dining room light will remain on tonight. Find cut crystal double cake stand that did not make it into final breakables box.

Gaze mournfully at odds and ends still to be packed and promise myself that I will gather up the yarn all over the living room and figure out how to retwist that hank of silk/cashmere first thing tomorrow before the movers arrive.

Decide maybe I'll just place that open hank under the rear windshield in my car tomorrow for the mile trip to the new house.

Decide packing will commence again tomorrow and since this is a local move, what we don't get tomorrow we can get Thursday.

Climb over to laptop and sofa and type all this into a message to post to my friends on HSS. Shift legs, hitting pillow, dropping rollerball mouse. ENTIRE MESSAGE ERASES.

Bang head against wall.

Yeah, it's been THAT kind of day.

And now I need to go line up three picks for my seventh round draft, due tomorrow by 7pm, and since tomorrow will make this look like an afternoon lounging on the beach, I have to get those in before bed.

Not that I'll sleep much tonight. My wiring prevents me from sleeping properly before any big event, which is why I am not too bothered by the fact that I am up at 1:30. I wouldn't be asleep anyway. :D