When the rains hit, when the house flooded, when we had to get out that day, and in the week following that, John and I were in deer-in-the-headlight mode. Whatever we were told to do we did. The push was to get our "things" out of the house so it could be torn to shreds and dried out. It seemed-- and probably was-- urgent that we work fast.
But John and I have more "things" than I think the company had expected. They thought we were normal. Never suspecting, until they were committed, that we are borderline Hoarders. Which meant there were many, many more "things" to pack than they had imagined. Cow skulls, sea shells, bird's nests, boxes of geneaology stuff, cameras, gadgets, paintings, dolls from my childhood that I never played with anyway, Stacey's clothes from HS, Christopher's first glass pieces, empty boxes with the Marshall Field's logo, empty Frango Mint boxes (after all, you can't get those any more.) well anyway, the list is endless. They were stunned: we were stunned.
They told me that they would pack everything out, if I wanted, and so in my room I packed up some fragile things ( 6 tubs as I recall marked "fragile" to "Ultra Fragile" I consigned to their care but I packed them.) and then it got to me, the amount of work left and I said you know, just take it.
And they did. Oh, they did. Lock, stock and barrel. Well no--we learned they cannot transport liquids or guns but I drank the liquids. (Just kidding. They meant even hand lotion.) And they put it in a truck and took it to Batavia, Illinois. Which is a long ways from my house.
Thinking it would be several weeks.
And it has been. That was May 26th. And it will still be "several weeks"-- they say 8. They have started work on repairs, so that is a great and wonderful thing but in the meantime, some things we should have kept are gone.
My radio-- John thought to set his aside because it is a gadget.
Wine bottle stopper: I currently cut the corks down to use.
(Actually I looked for it and could not find it. I thought I had it at the motel but couldn't find it there, either.)
The dog's records.
My wire whisks, my good set of knives, the potato masher.
More clothes.
The grooming table.
My stereo/CD player with speakers
More dog towels
Mostly I miss my radio since I do not like TV news and would rather listen to WBBM without the visuals.
And at the risk of offending, I loathe Nancy Grace. She is almost as annoying as the young woman she is currently vilifying.
