HHE

These three letters are very important to many in the Department of State. These three letters stand for HOUSE HOLD EFFECTS ~ a.k.a. ~ our stuff.

Christmas came a little early this year, on the Friday before Thanksgiving our house hold effects arrived. Dan and I were so excited. Shortly after he arrived home from work, the delivery men arrived with 3 large wooden crates filled with our things. There were 6 Nigerian workers. One that “drove the truck”~ he stayed inside the cab of the truck while the work was being done; one who was the “man in charge”, he held the paperwork and found a shady place to sit; then there were the other 4 men who actually worked and carried all the smaller boxes into the house.

Before the men could begin, the crates needed to be opened. Each crate was built out of ply-wood, sealed along the edges, and then a metal band was fastened around the entire crate to ensure its safe travel. So……. picture this, (an accident waiting to happen) these 6 men were standing around the crates, one had a pair of dull wire cutters trying to cut through the metal band, one had a crowbar prying the metal band away from the crate and the other 4 were standing RIGHT there, waiting for the metal band to be cut. I saw this and backed up several feet ~ I was ready for the metal to give way and the band to snap; hitting someone. LUCKILY everyone survived. (no OSHA here in Lagos)

We were ready for them…Dan had the paperwork in hand (our inventory from DC as well as the inventory from the pack-out in Ann Arbor), he was to check off the boxes as they were carried into the house. My job was to: 1.) look at the contents of each box,
2.) call off the packing number to Dan so he could check the item number off the list,
3.) then decide in which room I wanted the box placed.
I made my job easier by writing the numbers 1-3 on Post-Its and placing them on the bedroom doors upstairs. That way, all I needed to do was call out a number to the worker and he knew where to place the box. (I know, my compulsive side came out!!)

When the first set of boxes was carried in I thought the workers to be very conscientious. They came through the garage and (before entering the house) removed their shoes. “How nice,” I thought. “Very thoughtful!” But it ended there….when they went back out for the next load of boxes; the workers did not put their shoes back on to walk outside. So. only their feet tracked dirt into the house, not their shoes. Oh well!

In an hour and a half the boxes were unloaded and Dan and I were left with the FUN task of: opening the boxes, unwrapping our things and finding the best place to put everything.
We had a great time!!!! We took a break for dinner and said we would resume in the morning. But then, we looked at each other and said: “Just one more box.” Before we knew it, it was 2:30 a.m. I had a hard time falling asleep. Knowing that I left boxes still unpacked was VERY difficult for me.

We continued throughout the weekend unpacking our things. Finally on Sunday we came up with a strategy and worked on completing one room at a time. We focused on the kitchen. We washed all our dishes and glassware along with all our pots and pans. The kitchen was done!!! Dan was ready to make dinner for the two of us. We were so excited to be back to a normal Sunday ritual.

I took the remainder of the week to complete the unpacking, washing, straightening and organizing.

Yeah!!! It feels more like home!