My husband, Jeff, informed me way back in August that he was being transferred to Huntsville, Alabama, and I had to go with him. I thought, Huntsville? Alabama? What the hell? 'cause I swore I'd never, ever return to Alabama. As in never. Oh, life, what a hoot and a holler you are.
So I immediately googled things that are important to me, like organic foods and my beauty suppliers (I'm a licensed esthetician and make up artist, along with being a certified aromatherapist and herbalist. Organic's a must, beauty supplies at wholesale prices, a must). Much to my delight, Huntsvull's got both my supply stores and an organic grocery store and a ton of local farmers. Well, duh. It is the Deep South after all, where agriculture's a way of life for many.
Anyway, I was really excited 'bout my fabulous luck. So then I was like, hmmm, but what about housing? So I googled homes for rent. Oh oh oh, look at all the homes for rent at really affordable prices! Since we've been in the Washington, DC, area for 14 years now, I can assure you that ain't nuthin up here affordable nor often available, so alrighty then, Huntsvull's got another plus.
Moving date: when's the move? Jeff hemmed and hawed and I cussed and insisted we needed a firm date 'cause I had shit to do, like tell the post office and tell the utility companies and tell the IRS so they don't think we'll be leavin' 'em high and dry tax-wise and tellin' the insurance company 'cause they make a lot of money off of us and I didn't want them to worry, either. Jeff announced he'd make a trip to Huntsvull and let me know. So he did, and he found us a beautiful home with a fenced-in yard for the Minions and plenty of space for me to get my creative bent goin and a fabulous untouched backyard where I can plant herbs and veggies and a rose bush or two and the rent will be $1,000 a month less than what we're payin right now for a tiny 2-bedroom apartment, so I quit cussin.
Now it's two weeks before movin day, and we just got a quote each from two moving companies, both of whom work closely with Jeff's company so we know they're reliable and trustworthy and will actually deliver our furniture when they say they will and won't hold it hostage - 'cause I've been readin horror stories 'bout movers holding furniture hostage. The first company quoted us what we thought was an extraordinarily high sum. The second company was $2400 cheaper. So I started thinkin, why the huge disparity between those companies' quotes? and then it hit me: the first company also does a lot of business movin around military families and gets paid by the federal government - they have zero incentive to negotiate a reasonable, fair price. The second company moves all the rest of us who aren't soldiering and thus is far more affordable. So we chose the second company but of course and now I'm starin at all the crap I gotta pack up. And prograstinatin 'cause who wants to pack when there's the internet in which to google and bookmark Huntsvull's local farmers and craft stores and quilt shops and Lowe's and appliance stores and furniture stores 'cause I never know when I'll need 'em. And hey! I already signed us up for electricity and gas and water in Huntsvull and scheduled the cable guys, so honestly my work's kinda/sorta mostly over anyway, right?
So I immediately googled things that are important to me, like organic foods and my beauty suppliers (I'm a licensed esthetician and make up artist, along with being a certified aromatherapist and herbalist. Organic's a must, beauty supplies at wholesale prices, a must). Much to my delight, Huntsvull's got both my supply stores and an organic grocery store and a ton of local farmers. Well, duh. It is the Deep South after all, where agriculture's a way of life for many.
Anyway, I was really excited 'bout my fabulous luck. So then I was like, hmmm, but what about housing? So I googled homes for rent. Oh oh oh, look at all the homes for rent at really affordable prices! Since we've been in the Washington, DC, area for 14 years now, I can assure you that ain't nuthin up here affordable nor often available, so alrighty then, Huntsvull's got another plus.
Moving date: when's the move? Jeff hemmed and hawed and I cussed and insisted we needed a firm date 'cause I had shit to do, like tell the post office and tell the utility companies and tell the IRS so they don't think we'll be leavin' 'em high and dry tax-wise and tellin' the insurance company 'cause they make a lot of money off of us and I didn't want them to worry, either. Jeff announced he'd make a trip to Huntsvull and let me know. So he did, and he found us a beautiful home with a fenced-in yard for the Minions and plenty of space for me to get my creative bent goin and a fabulous untouched backyard where I can plant herbs and veggies and a rose bush or two and the rent will be $1,000 a month less than what we're payin right now for a tiny 2-bedroom apartment, so I quit cussin.
Now it's two weeks before movin day, and we just got a quote each from two moving companies, both of whom work closely with Jeff's company so we know they're reliable and trustworthy and will actually deliver our furniture when they say they will and won't hold it hostage - 'cause I've been readin horror stories 'bout movers holding furniture hostage. The first company quoted us what we thought was an extraordinarily high sum. The second company was $2400 cheaper. So I started thinkin, why the huge disparity between those companies' quotes? and then it hit me: the first company also does a lot of business movin around military families and gets paid by the federal government - they have zero incentive to negotiate a reasonable, fair price. The second company moves all the rest of us who aren't soldiering and thus is far more affordable. So we chose the second company but of course and now I'm starin at all the crap I gotta pack up. And prograstinatin 'cause who wants to pack when there's the internet in which to google and bookmark Huntsvull's local farmers and craft stores and quilt shops and Lowe's and appliance stores and furniture stores 'cause I never know when I'll need 'em. And hey! I already signed us up for electricity and gas and water in Huntsvull and scheduled the cable guys, so honestly my work's kinda/sorta mostly over anyway, right?
I'm worn out already! ~ R.
ReplyDeleteMe, too! And I still haven't started packing. Because...oh hell, who am I kidding? I don't want to live in a sterile environment and/or I can't bear to be without my stuff surrounding me and/or some small part of me thinks this is all an elaborate hoax on the part of either Jeff's company or Jeff himself, although neither is the hoax perpetrator kinda entity/person. Considering we've already spent a small fortune on this move, I'm pretty certain we're going. As soon as I pack. Which I'll do. Soon heh heh...
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