Allrighty, then!  So, last you heard, we were due to close on the new house and begin to move in, right?  Umm....what you might not know is that I had ordered some Pfaltzgraff dishes back in July, in time to get the super duper sale price AND free shipping.  Just getting them ordered was a trial, so I can't imagine why I'd think the receipt would be smooth!  HAHA.  I wasn't sure of the pattern, and since they ARE handpainted, I really wanted to see a sample before I spent a buttload of cash on something I might not like.....

So, I ordered a SAMPLE.  A cheese dish.  Who ever heard of such a thing, anyway?  But, the price was minimal, it showed how the pattern would look and I could get a couple of (relatively) cheap side dishes in addition, for no extra shipping charges.  Well, it arrived, as did the side dishes, BUT.  Darned thing was intact, but daggum if there wasn't a bitty lump of clay (I guess) embedded in it, and the glaze was really poor right around it.  But, all in all, the actual pattern of the dish was ok.  Kinda nice even.  So I called customer service right away, and they were very apologetic and kind, and offered to replace the item at no charge, and didn't even request that I return the flawed piece.  Nice, very nice.  So, given all that, I went ahead and ordered the serving set for 8 plus the 2 free serving dishes (platter & big bowl).  Oh, and I added a cannister set (why, Jose wants to know), a 5 piece (big bowl & 4 little ones) salad serving set, a butter dish & a salt/pepper shaker set.  A whopping $300, including FREE shipping.  Yeah, nothing says I'm cheap!

We close, no problems.  Well, yeah, the former owner's trailer was still in the driveway (we assumed loaded) when we did the final (second) walkthru, and there were a few holes in the walls, and yeah, he removed some of the screwed down stuff, but, in general, no BIG problems.  And start to move in.  Basically, we hustled to clean out the little storage area we'd rented while we started accumulating stuff like linens, towels, the chimney firepit, some yardsale stuff, etc.  And, on day 2 or 3 (who can remember that stuff??) the UPS man comes, rings the bell & takes off!  Hollers out the open door, "it's in the garage."  So, we go out, and yup, there are 3 big boxes by the back door.  Cool beans, our dishes are in!  Open up box 1 - the cannisters.  Look GREAT.  Just like I'd hoped.

Open up box 2.  Place settings for 4.  OMG.  These dishes are the biggest plates I've ever seen in my LIFE.  And boy, are they HEAVY.  (ok, I have to admit, I no longer heft the 50# sacks of feed any more, but still!)  So I load everything into the dishwasher.  Oh, yeah, got me one of those!!  I've been telling Jose for the last 4 years, if we EVER get a house again, it's GONNA have a dishwasher in it.  And he was good to me.  House has one, and it works.  So, all loaded up, we open box 3.  Another set of place settings for 4.  Load up dishwasher with all that fit.  I'm telling ya, these are the BIGGEST daggum dishes I've ever seen.  Including the TEACUPS.  They hold a good 16 ounces EACH.  Run the dishwasher and we leave for the night.

Come back the next day, dishes, as expected are done.  Whoohoo!  Go to put the clean dishes up in the cupboard, and guess what.  They DO NOT FIT.  Cupboards are 10.5 inches wide - how do I know that?  I lined them all with that new non-adhesive, rubber, CLEANABLE shelf "paper."  And had to cut every bit of it down from 12 inches wide to 10.5.  Do a bit more cleaning, there's no end...and Jose paints some more.  Trying to get the laundry room painted prior to washer/dryer delivery.  Long story short, we'd brought dinner over, uncooked & decided it was to be our first dinner in new house.  OK, no probs.  Cook on electric stove - how hard can that be?  I used to do it, 4 yrs on gas shouldn't have ruined me, but I guess it did.  Oh, what a difference.  Slow at first, then, whoop, all done, too quickly!  I guess I can get used to eat, it was all timed wrong, but it was decent & edible.  After dinner, we load the dirty dishes into that nifty dishwasher, and GUESS WHAT.  It's brought to my attention that THEY DO NOT FIT.  Unbelieveable.  WHO MEASURES DISHES???  Do these designers just not talk to the cabinet makers???  GEEZ, Louise!!  What good is having a dishwasher gonna do me now??  Do you think I spent the last 4 years wishing for a dishwasher I cannot use??  Heck NO.

So what's the solution?  Quit eating?  Return dishes?  Wash 'em all by hand?  HA.  NO.  We are going to use the dessert plates (which are only 9 inches!!) for dinner plates.  Problem solved.  Not only will we be eating smaller portions (ha, ya really think so??), but now I can fit them in the dishwasher and have them magically cleaned.  Well, of course, the smaller portions thing is a joke, 'cuz I'm sure we'll just go back for seconds, but hey, the good intention is there.  So, I guess after all, it's a good thing we got a service for 8, huh!!?  And I'll save the big dinner dishes for when y'all come to visit and want to impress you with my Texas-sized dinner plates.

But, all that drama aside, moving is going pretty well.  We were able to back the trailer down the street, to in front of our house (and some of our neighbor's lot) and unload it, all pretty quickly.  We did it on a Sunday, so there was little traffic, and we moved it over to a campground not far off that has a storage area.  It was more expensive than the cow pasture, but we both felt it would be a little safer, plus it was closer.  Of course, soon after we moved it & returned home, we each thought of a few things we'd forgotten to remove.  Yup, no matter what you want/need, it's in the other home.  The laundry room got painted in time and the appliances were delivered when expected.  What was NOT expected was the dryer not fitting thru the garage door.  We measured the laundry room door, but not the garage door.  Dumb, or what?  It made it thru, but it did dent the metal door.  Oh, and SOMEone put their foot on the front of the dryer & left a nice big dent at the bottom.  And either we don't know how to use it (good chance, but no one can tell us otherwise), or the washer has a toggle switch that doesn't work.  So, Lowe's is gonna order us 2 new appliances (they SHOULD, at $800 a piece!!) and deliver no charge.  And the guest room is all painted and furniture & linens in place.  So, when're y'all coming??

Oh, and the tag road trip....yup, we put puppy into the vet's - partly to board her, and partly so she can get spayed...poor thing, no more boyfriends for her!....and have motored back down to the valley.  Saw pain dr yesterday, anticipated a quick shot in the hip & a return home today.  NOT to be.  Am currently waiting for my 1:45 appt for the shot in the SI joint.  yeah, the ucky one, where they put you to sleep.  Same one we got last month, that didn't seem to last very long.  And since there's a lot more "pins & needles" and I'm beginning to drop things (yeah, even more than usual, tyvm) he's gonna work on scheduling another MRI.  Oh, such fun.  Can't wait. 

So, that's how my day's going, how about yours??  Hoping all is well and you are following your dreams!  Hugs & smiles, k