Carpe Delivery

OK...so where to begin?  On Thursday morning my eyes snapped open at 5:00AM and wouldn’t close again much to my chagrin.  Mr. Unmentionable was taking the day off to stay with me and help with the sea shipment (and to fuss about, quite frankly).  I decided to let him sleep a while longer as I knew what to expect based on the outgoing packing/shipping experience.  I must say, he did not disappoint.  We were both on edge as the pre-appointed time drew near.  We were both convinced that it was not to happen but alas...I stuck my head out the window and from the balcony I was met with a sight for sore eyes, indeed.  At 10:20AM the movers were sitting in their truck, parked outside our building and waiting...for 10:30AM on the nose when they rang our buzzer.  Two strapping young men came up with paperwork in hand and serious expressions on their faces.  When I asked the taller one (he was easily 6’ 5”, I swear...) if he spoke any English, he replied “Lee-tol beet.”  It turns out that it was more enough for us to be able to make ourselves mutually understood.  The paperwork was amusing...read the close up below to explain why they were exactly on time.

(NE OPAZDIVAT = don’t be late)  Apparently we are VIPs.  Huh...who knew? 

To the sound of a wooden crate being cracked open, the unloading commenced and my excitement mounted.  They began unloading box upon box of my stuff, much of which I had forgotten was coming and much of which I had been dreaming of for days, weeks, even months!!  They had a finely-tuned system in place whereby one would pack the elevator, hit the #5 button and send the goods up to the one waiting in the flat who would unload the boxes, place the dolly back in and send the empty elevator down for the next load.  While that was going on, Mr. Unmentionable would check the box # against the packing slip and then the box would be shuttled into the flat and placed in the appropriate space.  The tall one would pick up boxes as if they were feather light and deposit them gracefully wherever they needed to go.  He made things look so easy.  I realized this was all smoke and mirrors when I went to pick up a box and move it from one space to another and almost threw my back out.  I ended up sliding it across the floor instead.  The guy was an animal - 0% body fat and all sinewy muscle and strength.  Lesson learned, there is a reason he is the professional!  Before I knew it, the better part of an hour had gone by and that was all, she wrote!

 

With a terse, “Open?” answered with a silent nod, the real work began.  I knew better than to question a guy like him with a knife in his hand.  The two men tore apart the boxes in the kitchen and the livingroom with such gusto as to make a hurricane blush.  By 1:00 PM they had finished unpacking everything save 3 wardrobe boxes and 3 boxes in the office area that we had asked them not to touch.

I’ll let the photos speak for themselves...

With the paperwork filed and the unpacking complete, they disappeared as quickly and quietly as they came, taking all of the empty boxes and packing material with them and leaving behind only mountains of our “stuff” covering every surface imaginable.  My task was to find homes for all of the goods spread throughout the house.

Everything made it in great working order, nothing was broken beyond repair (I managed to squish the springform mold back into shape) and the entire operation went smoothly!  There was only one piece indicated on the inventory list that we couldn’t for the life of us figure out.  What was a mapple box (sic), I wondered?  And why was a single item on a sheet of its own and why did the movers have a copy of a sheet that we didn’t?  When I finally found the item, I had to smile.  The moving company back in Ottawa had included a beautiful maple-themed gift box as a surprise gift at our destination.  We really are VIPs, it seems.


So...here is what I am really excited about:

-1000 thread count sheets, a duvet and feather pillows Need I say more?
-proper knives ... I just want to chop up some vegetables  BECAUSE I CAN!!!
-a KitchenAid -Yes, I made cookies on Saturday evening and have a bit of a learning curve to overcome with the oven but that will happen in no time flat.  It seems the gas stove runs a bit hot.
-mixing bowls of all sizes so we can make a bowl of hot air popped corn
-a rubber spatula!  You try to cook for 2 months without one and tell me how much fun you have.
-my high heeled boots although I will have to throw one pair away and can’t seem to walk long distances in the others -hmmm...I smell a shopping trip in my near future.  I’m just happy to have closed-toed footwear as the weather seems to have taken a turn towards the chillier side of things.

Our COSTCO order (which seemed enormous at the time but turns out to have been really quite small) has been stored on various shelves and in cupboards, surprisingly fitting behind closed doors.  We won’t have need of the two shelving units in the kitchen after all.  I’m going to try to have the sofabed in the office taken away and move the shelves into that room where they are actually needed.  Our pots, pans and kitchen stuff all have homes and have proven to be very useful so far.  I love cooking with gas elements!  The only question I have is why do I have a container of catnip in my sea shipment?

Picture hanging will happen over the course of the next week or two and decorating will be a work in progress over the next few years as we travel and acquire a variety of meaningful pieces to make our house a home.

Chocolate chip cookie, anyone?  Help yourself to the milk in the fridge but, just remember, 1% it isn’t.