Would it be whining if I moaned how exhausted I am ? 'Cause I am, and I'm still gonna do it. &^%$.
Well, here's how the last 48 hours or so have gone. Beloved Hubby came home about 5pm Friday, after a full day of work, and we immediately started unloading his trash trailer. We'd need it to get Uncle and BIL's stuff out of the now-sold house - the new owners offered to let them stay for ten days. If they paid them $2400. via certified check. New owners didn't even pay Uncle with a certified check ! And it'd be Monday before Uncle could access his funds from the sale. So even if Uncle could pay that outrageous sum, he couldn't make the deadline.
Nothing for it. So, it was moving day - with a vengeance. We got our 14-ft. trailer and another one ( on loan from our horse-lady) ready to go, which included making a frame of sorts for the borrowed one. Beloved had the good sense to call a family friend to help, and together, Beloved and Friend loaded dozens of boxes onto the trailers. Uncle, BIL, and I were packing as fast as we could.
I couldn't believe some of the stuff they decided to pack and keep. Seriously, I was packing empty margarine tubs, flyswatters, and paper clips. Rather than do a serious 'trash everything not vitally important or sentimentally necessary' move, they were doing a 'let's keep every-bloody-thing' one - and we had to be out at midnight ! The new owners would be within their rights to lock us out with the assistance of the Sheriff's Department at the stroke of twelve. Uncle and BIL's computers were not only still not packed at 10pm, they were still running and online !
But, as midnight neared, both 14-ft trailers were packed full and tight. The back of Beloved's diesel truck had been loaded and emptied three times, and was stuffed again. And both Uncle and BIL's cars were loaded to capacity. And they were still packing stuff ! Luckily, it was Spring Cleaning weekend for their neighborhood, so they could trash nearly anything they chose not to pack - but they weren't getting rid of much besides what didn't go at the yard sale.
But Friend and I scored some pantry stock - spices and canned foods, cleaning supplies, and canister staples. Since Friend is having financial problems too, I made sure he got the bulk of whatever he could use. But I still ended up with several Mal-Wart sacks of refrigerator goodies, cans, a new Swiffer with cleaning pads, boxes of inkjet printer business card stock, photo paper, transparencies, and résumé stationery. It was very generous of Uncle to let us have so much - although to him, it was otherwise trash - and while BIL isn't moving out of state, he was fine with us taking the leftover groceries. Possibly because he was overwhelmed, and that was one less matter for him to deal with.
Friday finally ended at 3:30am, technically Saturday. I was so wiped out, and poor Beloved had worked all day, then come home and had to work even longer ! DFIL was still not well, but he knew we couldn't do much if Dearest Son was with us, so he ended up going to grand-dad's after all. We'd loaded and unloaded the truck six times, parked the two loaded 14-ft trailers where they could be locked up, and let Uncle and BIL crash wherever they chose. We were simply too tired to futz with anything more.
At 9am this morning, we were awake and ended up going back to the house. I thought we'd be locked out, but the house was wide open, so, believe it or not, Uncle and BIL now thought it was a great idea to get the last of whatever was still in the house - what they'd abandoned - and load it onto our truck ! This included plants, cabinets, shelves, plant pots in the backyard, ten year old garden hoses... even a planter that weighed over 300 pounds ! Beloved and I couldn't believe it. And yes, the one 'little light load' they asked us to get became two loads, one of which was so heavy, it bent a load spring and the massive planter dug a huge dent into Dearest's tailgate. No apology offered. Just a wince and a shrug. Their cars were also loaded up again, and our garage is so full, we're storing some stuff in our living room.
But, amazingly, we got the last of the trash out just as the collection truck showed up, about 2pm. Beloved and I stopped for a late lunch, then dropped the last load off at Granny and Grand-dad's, where BIL is renovating their garage into his apartment. Fairly slowly, because it depends on Beloved having time to do most of the work. Since Beloved rearranged his work schedule for this frantic move mess, he had the rest of today off - which we spent hanging drywall in the garage. Dearest came home with us, and after delivering BIL's bed, it was 10pm. What a day. But there's no reason for us to ever return to the now completely empty house. Alleluia.
So. We still have two loaded trailers and a garage fulla stuff. Just temporarily, though. Uncle has an appointment next week, and when that's over, he's going to load his stuff from the trailers and our garage to his rental truck, and move to the next stage of his life. We'll then return the borrowed trailer, consolidate the rest to our trailer, and take it down to BIL for him to unload however he chooses. And then, this crazy, last-minute mess will be over.
I'm already trying actively to forget the whole thing happened !
