Almost a month to the day I put our belongings on the truck - we got it today! :) Well most of it. My piano bench seems not to have made it, Jeff's table was nicked, and the blankets they wrapped our dresser in was greasy and made a mark on our carpet that thankfully came off!
Eli is sick at the moment. Poor little guy. It started Tuesday evening, then I noticed sores in his mouth so I took him to an emergency care clinic since we haven't established a pediatrician here. Eli has decided he doesn't like doctors and screamed bloody murder just while the nurse was asking me questions, then he really freaked out when the doctor came. It took two nurses and me to hold him down just so the doctor could look into his throat. So he was diagnosed with Herpangina which unfortunately is a virus and can't be treated. He prescribed some "Magic Mouthwash" which is Benadryl, Maalox and something else, but Eli isn't about to use it. We got him to once. So basically we're just controlling his pain by rotating Tylenol and Motrin. What it does is you get sores (like canker or cold sores) on your tongue, throat, etc. It's very painful and you can't eat. The doctor said kids are susceptible to it. I'm taking him to a pediatrician down the road tomorrow morning at 10, so wish me luck!
My friend Tracey and her husband Michael left today for China to adopt their little girl Sophie Cai. I can't wait to meet her some day! I can't imagine leaving one day a parent of one child and return parents of two!
I think I'm going to register Eli and me for the Mom and Me class where Maia is taking gymnastics. It will be an opportunity for us to get out and clearly a lot cheaper than doing a Mom's Day Out program which runs anywhere from $85 - $240 a month at churches and Montessori schools around here.
Needless to say we are all happy to have our belongings. Maia had fun riding her scooter up and down the road and Eli pepped up enough to ride his tricycle up and down the sidewalk. My friend Beth wrote and said she's been obsessed with the Olympics. I have to admit - I am too! :)
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Thank God for FedEx and Geoff Bennett
Well we will officially be getting our stuff that is in a warehouse in Murrysville on Thursday. Jeff's boss Geoff has "had it" with our moving company and us not having our belongings for almost a month on Saturday, so he arranged for a FedEx truck to pick our stuff up and transport it as a Critical Shipment with pick up at 11 a.m. tomorrow and delivery at 6:20 Thursday evening! It's so exciting, but I'll believe it when I see it. Jeff called his dad to go to the warehouse to make sure everything that is ours is loaded onto the truck.
The weekend was pretty uneventful. Monday Evan started football camp. He'll be playing Strong Safety on the Freshmen White Team. The first day was pretty brutal with it being 97 degrees. It is nice that they give the kids their shorts, shirts, and socks and then wash them after practice! Today I convinced him to wake up early enough to eat a blueberry muffin and some fruit and it was only 87 with some rain at the beginning of practice.
This weekend we're going school supply and clothes shopping because it's - tax free weekend! (imagine that last phrase in an big echo voice). Sales tax here in everything is 8.25% so it's a big deal when you don't have to pay sales tax. The retailers around here are gearing up with ads galore. Evan has football pictures Saturday morning, then we'll head to the Houston Prime Outlets. Woo hoo!
I'll let you know if we get our stuff Thursday for real! :)
The weekend was pretty uneventful. Monday Evan started football camp. He'll be playing Strong Safety on the Freshmen White Team. The first day was pretty brutal with it being 97 degrees. It is nice that they give the kids their shorts, shirts, and socks and then wash them after practice! Today I convinced him to wake up early enough to eat a blueberry muffin and some fruit and it was only 87 with some rain at the beginning of practice.
This weekend we're going school supply and clothes shopping because it's - tax free weekend! (imagine that last phrase in an big echo voice). Sales tax here in everything is 8.25% so it's a big deal when you don't have to pay sales tax. The retailers around here are gearing up with ads galore. Evan has football pictures Saturday morning, then we'll head to the Houston Prime Outlets. Woo hoo!
I'll let you know if we get our stuff Thursday for real! :)
Friday, August 8, 2008
Getting Somewhere
Let's see...we've filed complaints with the BBB, American Moving and Storage Association and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Jeff told me today one of the groups is providing pro bono legal help and that if they hold it 30 days they are in clear violation of any contract. So at least there is help out there and hopefully it means we will get our stuff in the near future!
Today the kids and I visited Jeff's office and met the secretary, sales rep and Jeff's boss Geoff. We're going to dinner with him and his wife at P.F. Chang's tomorrow night.
Tonight I am watching the opening ceremonies of the Olympics in Bejing. How visually stunning was that! It reminds me that my dear friend Tracey Thornblade Belmont and her husband Michael will be leaving Aug. 14 to adopt a little girl they have decided to name Sophia Cai. I'm so excited for Tracey and Michael as their family will be complete with little Nicholas staying home with both sets of grandparents to keep busy!
Probably one of the major things we're getting used to is the bugs. In the house there are usually centipedes and spiders. Outside the mosquitoes can be brutal as Maia, Eli and Jeff can attest.
I called a Christian school about a Mom's Day Out program nearby...for one day a week from 9 - 2:30 is $80 registration and $85 a month! While I think it's a good idea for Eli to socialize with other kids his age, and I like the idea of a Christian school, I think I may look for another alternative.
Evan is reading over my shoulder as I type this and he knows I hate that! :( So I'm signing off for today! :)
Today the kids and I visited Jeff's office and met the secretary, sales rep and Jeff's boss Geoff. We're going to dinner with him and his wife at P.F. Chang's tomorrow night.
Tonight I am watching the opening ceremonies of the Olympics in Bejing. How visually stunning was that! It reminds me that my dear friend Tracey Thornblade Belmont and her husband Michael will be leaving Aug. 14 to adopt a little girl they have decided to name Sophia Cai. I'm so excited for Tracey and Michael as their family will be complete with little Nicholas staying home with both sets of grandparents to keep busy!
Probably one of the major things we're getting used to is the bugs. In the house there are usually centipedes and spiders. Outside the mosquitoes can be brutal as Maia, Eli and Jeff can attest.
I called a Christian school about a Mom's Day Out program nearby...for one day a week from 9 - 2:30 is $80 registration and $85 a month! While I think it's a good idea for Eli to socialize with other kids his age, and I like the idea of a Christian school, I think I may look for another alternative.
Evan is reading over my shoulder as I type this and he knows I hate that! :( So I'm signing off for today! :)
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Nothing we can do
Jeff and I are obviously pretty stressed out about this whole moving company situation. If I ever move again we are packing our own stuff, putting in a U Haul and moving it ourselves! Who would have ever known we would be heading towards the third week in August and no stuff! Jeff has talked to the owner of the company who says he doesn't know when he'll manage to get it here! Jeff spoke to a Pittsburgh attorney this morning and unfortunately he's said there's nothing we can do. There are tons of "scum bag" moving companies out there and he hears tons of complaints like ours. I also found a blog here that lists horror stories about the company that so far are worse than mine.
I registered Maia for school yesterday. She'll be attending a 5th and 6th grade school called Northpointe Intermediate. There were actually quite a few parents registering they're children there. Maia will return on the 15th to get her schedule, textbooks, teacher and locker assignments. We were allowed to walk down the fifth grade wing and see the cafeteria. I'll register Evan on the 19th.
Today is the last day of camp for Evan. After practice today they get a locker and their pads, etc. Monday they start regular football practice. The weather is supposed to be in the upper 90's the rest of the week. It's funny, one day during the Edouard storms it was 87 and it was nice, but humid with the rain in the air.
More tomorrow! :)
I registered Maia for school yesterday. She'll be attending a 5th and 6th grade school called Northpointe Intermediate. There were actually quite a few parents registering they're children there. Maia will return on the 15th to get her schedule, textbooks, teacher and locker assignments. We were allowed to walk down the fifth grade wing and see the cafeteria. I'll register Evan on the 19th.
Today is the last day of camp for Evan. After practice today they get a locker and their pads, etc. Monday they start regular football practice. The weather is supposed to be in the upper 90's the rest of the week. It's funny, one day during the Edouard storms it was 87 and it was nice, but humid with the rain in the air.
More tomorrow! :)
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Not much of a storm
For all of the hoo ha that was made about Tropical Storm/Hurricane Edouard, it didn't bring much more than a morning and part of the afternoon of rain. Some of it was strong, but at least where we live there wasn't a whole lot of wind. They did close down Jeff's work early so he was home by 11:30 as I was on my way home with the kids from Evan's football camp.
Maia went to her first gymnastics class at the Cypress Academy. They initially put people in the beginner class (Sparklers) and determine where they fit in. Clearly Maia was WAY better than the other little girls in the class. They did basic skills on the floor, vault, beam and uneven bars. Her instructor for the day, Billy said she belonged in the Firecracker group, and so she is officially signed up... ($83 later) $30 registration fee and they prorated the rest of August. She's excited though and since we were a little worried about her being lonely and bored until school starts I'm glad we decided to go this direction. She told me as we were waiting for our dinner pizza she wishes it was every day and not just one day a week. The facility is HUGE and it's really interesting because there are gymnasts of all levels boys and girls are practicing. There were some older boys who were doing feats I've only seen on TV!
I called our sofa sales lady to find out where our end tables were that were supposed to be in the end of July. She said they are on order and won't be in until Sept. 12, so I'm going to the store this week to find ones that will be in. I hate not having furniture I paid cash for two weeks ago!
Tomorrow I believe I can register Maia for school and I postponed Evan's physical until tomorrow.
Hasta manana!
Maia went to her first gymnastics class at the Cypress Academy. They initially put people in the beginner class (Sparklers) and determine where they fit in. Clearly Maia was WAY better than the other little girls in the class. They did basic skills on the floor, vault, beam and uneven bars. Her instructor for the day, Billy said she belonged in the Firecracker group, and so she is officially signed up... ($83 later) $30 registration fee and they prorated the rest of August. She's excited though and since we were a little worried about her being lonely and bored until school starts I'm glad we decided to go this direction. She told me as we were waiting for our dinner pizza she wishes it was every day and not just one day a week. The facility is HUGE and it's really interesting because there are gymnasts of all levels boys and girls are practicing. There were some older boys who were doing feats I've only seen on TV!
I called our sofa sales lady to find out where our end tables were that were supposed to be in the end of July. She said they are on order and won't be in until Sept. 12, so I'm going to the store this week to find ones that will be in. I hate not having furniture I paid cash for two weeks ago!
Tomorrow I believe I can register Maia for school and I postponed Evan's physical until tomorrow.
Hasta manana!
Monday, August 4, 2008
Hurricanes and other things
Well it officially feels like the beginning of the school year is nearing with freshmen football camp starting today. Evan said there were about 70 total and 7 running backs including himself. He said it was hot but didn't really complain about it too much. Tomorrow I'll be taking him to get his sports physical so he can "officially" play in the fall.
I also called the Cypress Academy to sign Maia up for gymnastics classes. She needs to start meeting kids her age since we don't have access to the pool here yet and she seemed interested in the flyer we received in the mail for "new people" to the area. It should be noted that two current members on the Olympic gymnastics team are alum of the same academy! They have a competitive team, but Maia's going to start in basic class at this point. Anyway, her "trial" class is tomorrow.
Otherwise all over the news is hurricane Edouard. My sister-in-law Mel wrote me an email today and said she couldn't believe we were here only one month and there have been two hurricanes come through the area. All we've had to this date is rain, but it's some rain when it does! I guess we'll see what this next one brings...
I called a friend of mine's father who unbeknownst to me (until after we hired Frontier) is the Operations Manager of a franchisee of Atlas Van Lines in Tarentum. I called to get his opinion of our situation. For one thing he said he had never heard of them and didn't see them in a listing of movers he had...hmmmm, that's a problem! He said we could file a delay of delivery claim and would get back to me sometime tomorrow. By the way, he said he had three trucks going down to Texas this week. :( We need to get our stuff away from this company or get them to deliver it!
The saga continues...
I also called the Cypress Academy to sign Maia up for gymnastics classes. She needs to start meeting kids her age since we don't have access to the pool here yet and she seemed interested in the flyer we received in the mail for "new people" to the area. It should be noted that two current members on the Olympic gymnastics team are alum of the same academy! They have a competitive team, but Maia's going to start in basic class at this point. Anyway, her "trial" class is tomorrow.
Otherwise all over the news is hurricane Edouard. My sister-in-law Mel wrote me an email today and said she couldn't believe we were here only one month and there have been two hurricanes come through the area. All we've had to this date is rain, but it's some rain when it does! I guess we'll see what this next one brings...
I called a friend of mine's father who unbeknownst to me (until after we hired Frontier) is the Operations Manager of a franchisee of Atlas Van Lines in Tarentum. I called to get his opinion of our situation. For one thing he said he had never heard of them and didn't see them in a listing of movers he had...hmmmm, that's a problem! He said we could file a delay of delivery claim and would get back to me sometime tomorrow. By the way, he said he had three trucks going down to Texas this week. :( We need to get our stuff away from this company or get them to deliver it!
The saga continues...
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Still no truck
It's August 3rd and still no moving truck. If you could see our faces at this point we're totally disgusted with Frontier Van Lines and would never recommend them to anyone moving anywhere. I was reading the quote they sent me and at the bottom it says, "I know you'll be satisfied with our service." Well...I'm not! Who knows when we'll get the rest of our stuff, but Maia and I are tired of living off of a few outfits. I had to buy Evan shorts today for football camp that starts tomorrow. Who knew we wouldn't have his (or any of our stuff) by now! Frustrating does not even describe how we feel. Jeff said although it's frustrating at least we're together...
Today I went to pick up Evan from his week with Mike in San Marcos. I took a different route from last time. This was a little more scenic, but just as fast (still a three hour trip.) I saw a couple of dead armadillos on the road (although in general you don't see a whole lot of road kill here) and as I was driving I thought, "only in Texas can you see cactus growing on the side of the road." The trip was on the whole uneventful. My car thermometer was reading 103 when I picked Evan up, however as we neared Houston the sky got dark and I had to drive through some torrential rain during the last 10 miles of the trip!
Needless to say Evan is very glad to be home. Mike and his now wife Abbey (they got married by a JP this week) live in a small border town. Evan said everyone is bilingual (well Mike isn't really), all the TV stations were in Spanish and he watched a ton of movies and played PS3 with now his stepbrother Julio who is 16.
Tomorrow Evan starts freshmen football camp. We'll see how it goes - we'll be out the door early at 7:40 to get him there by 8!
Hasta la vista!
Today I went to pick up Evan from his week with Mike in San Marcos. I took a different route from last time. This was a little more scenic, but just as fast (still a three hour trip.) I saw a couple of dead armadillos on the road (although in general you don't see a whole lot of road kill here) and as I was driving I thought, "only in Texas can you see cactus growing on the side of the road." The trip was on the whole uneventful. My car thermometer was reading 103 when I picked Evan up, however as we neared Houston the sky got dark and I had to drive through some torrential rain during the last 10 miles of the trip!
Needless to say Evan is very glad to be home. Mike and his now wife Abbey (they got married by a JP this week) live in a small border town. Evan said everyone is bilingual (well Mike isn't really), all the TV stations were in Spanish and he watched a ton of movies and played PS3 with now his stepbrother Julio who is 16.
Tomorrow Evan starts freshmen football camp. We'll see how it goes - we'll be out the door early at 7:40 to get him there by 8!
Hasta la vista!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)