Unpacking Kitchen Treasures

On Tuesday after Christmas, Dan and I said our good-byes to the Spring Judds and headed to Temple. We had three full days to spend there, unpacking some of our boxes and putting things away. Since we don't yet have master bedroom or office furniture, we left boxes for those rooms untouched and concentrated on the kitchen. I always find the kitchen to be one of the most challenging rooms to pack and unpack, so thought that getting a head start on it would be good.

We were a good team. Dan hauled boxes into the kitchen, four or five at a time, and after I had unloaded, washed, and put away everything from those boxes, he would take the empties out and bring in another four or five. There were a LOT of boxes! I really didn't expect to finish the kitchen completely, but I did! All of our dishes, china, bowls, baking pans, plastics, glasses, tea towels and small appliances have a home in the cupboards, drawers and pantry! When we make our final move, we'll have a totally functional kitchen from the get-go! That might make it possible for me to participate in the February Daring Bakers' Challenge!



Not everything went as planned, of course - it never does. When I was at the house, back in November, our washer and dryer were delivered. They are front-loaders, made to sit on a pedestal (with drawer). Sadly, one of the pedestals arrived at the store broken, so they delivered the washer and dryer, put the washer on its pedestal, and left the dryer sitting on the floor. They told me, at that time, that they'd have a new one for me in a few days. When our Christmas trip was drawing near, I gave them a call, and they said they'd deliver the new pedestal on the morning of December 30, which was perfect for us. We stayed home that morning, waiting, but no delivery guys showed up. I called and talked to a manager, because there was no one available in Deliveries. She said she'd have to do some research and call me back. About an hour later, she called. "Sorry. I don't know who it was who said we'd have the pedestal to you today, but they obviously didn't do their research. I just checked with our buyer, and he told me that we have to get the pedestal for you from KOREA, and that, if I order it today, it won't be here any earlier than late January." Are you kidding me? With all of the big box stores beginning with the letter "L" in this nation, the closest pedestal for my Samsung dryer is in KOREA?!! She assured me that was the case . . . so we are hoping that we will get the rest of our already-paid-for order about the time we make our final move.

On Friday morning we packed up the car and headed back to Albuquerque, via Lubbock. This time it was really hard to leave. It's beginning to feel like home, and we're ready to settle in for good.