Moved-In, Re-Wired, and Grateful for Chivalry

[qos]

The Move is officially complete -- except for emptying the boxes and getting everything arranged. Thank goodness! This has been the most grueling move of my life.

Panic set in yesterday as I realized that we really did need the two bookshelves Wolfling said she didn't want anymore, and that the movers had left behind a file cabinet and two big boxes of books in my office closet. The Ex had volunteered to bring his truck over to move the dining room set to unicorndelamer's house, but I was worried about scheduling complications. And the furniture that was going to charity was far too big for Dad's truck. So I had a lot of bulky, heavy furniture sitting in the old house needing to get to various other places by nightfall.

So I rented a U-Haul, and that saved the day.

Also saving the day were half a dozen unexpected knights. We were contemplating the challenges of moving the very large and heavy tabletop down the six concrete stairs to unicorndelamer's place, when she suddenly announced she was going for help. She approached the two strong twenty-something males that were in the parking lot and asked them if they would assist. They cheerfully came over, picked up the table and took it in -- without breaking a sweat.

I took her example to heart and did the same thing later that afternoon. One of my young male neighbors was happy to lift the file cabinet back into Dad's truck, and later another neighbor and his two Mormon missionary friends ran the bookshelves and the file cabinet up to the third floor. The missionaries were wearing their uniform: black slacks, white dress shirts, and nametags, and were quite sweet. They gave me their contact info -- stapled to a pamphlet about Jesus -- and invited me to call them if I needed assistance in the future. They shrugged off my dad's question about listening to their message with an "if it comes up" and seemed surprisingly low-key about it. Without all of their help, my family would have been in a real lurch, and probably would have had to wait until the Ex came to pick up Wolfling this Friday to be able to get those last pieces up to the apartment.

The two flights of stairs is worth the view, however. I love the view, love the privacy which I haven't had in a very long time. Wolfling is spending a lot of time on the spacious balcony (and is out there right now talking with a friend on the phone).

We still have a lot of boxes to go through -- especially Wolfling, but it's going to be nice here.

Not sure if I'll be able to catch up on four days of only glancing at LJ on my phone. Please let me know if I've missed anything important and/or juicy. ;-)

Comments

Seeing the trees and not the forest

[unicorndelamer.livejournal.com]

I'm glad you found some help for the remainder of your items. Mormon missionaries are great and come in quite handy at times. So often I hear people giving missionaries a hard time and complaining about how they're just out to convert everyone. But the majority of the ones I've encountered (quite a few when it seemed my family was set on converting me) tend to be of the low-key variety. It comes from their teachings that they can share their faith with others simply by living it. (Much easier said than done for many of us - regardless of our faith.)
Over the years, I've come to think of Latter-Day Saints (as they prefer to be called) and their missionaries like the military and its soldiers. I may not agree with some of the military's take on things, but I don't think the soldiers are that bad. So, too, I don't agree with the LDS church on some things, but you can get some great conversation out of some of their missionaries. (Wow, sorry for rambling.)

Re: Seeing the trees and not the forest

[qos.livejournal.com]

I disagree with the LDS church about a lot of things, but a couple of my dearest friends are LDS, and when I was in high school I had an older friend who spent two years on a mission. We fell out of contact after he returned, but he was a good friend for a long time too.

It comes from their teachings that they can share their faith with others simply by living it.
That is definitely what was in my mind during the time they were helping me: that they were living their faith rather than preaching it, which is always the best, in my opinion.

I like your analogy with the military too.

[blessed-harlot.livejournal.com]

I'm so glad you got in and settled, and had so much support.

[mankycat.livejournal.com]

One thing I do have to say about Mormons (especially the missionaries) are that they are typically good looking and very nice. It's one of the things that got me though all those years of attending church.