What would you have done?

There are days that if I didn't have Zeb I just wouldn't get out of bed, and today is one of those.  I don't know why, the last few days have been kind of downer days for me.

I don't really have any  motivation to do anything, and if I did I don't know what I would do, it's too hot.  Our pool is a balmy 87 degrees, I might as well go have a bath with those types of temps.  I like a nice 90 degrees outside and the pool to be a nice 78 ish, now that's the life.  I hate this heat, my body is in no condition for this heat, I can feel my hands and feet swell as I type this.  Bah humbug!!

We have done about 80 percent of the unpacking now.  It's been a chore I can tell you, but I am glad to be this far.  The last house we lived in we weren't this far ahead until we had lived there about 6 months, so it's looking up.  I need to paint two rooms, Zeb's bedroom and the office.  But like I said I can't find the motivation.  There are books to put away, but the movers put the book shelf downstairs instead of on the main floor and we can't seem to find the motivation to carry that thing up (it is way too heavy for me, it's made of real wood, and it weighs a ton....I should know I built it).  Anyway, if the shelf was where it is supposed to be I could unpack about 4 totes, and if we had another pantry I could finish unpacking the kitchen....but that doesn't look like it's happening for  awhile.  I can't believe that we have actually got all the bedroom boxes put away, last time we never unpack it all, and as for the garage...well it's amazing how much room you have when you have somewhere to put it.  The last place the landlord left so much of his crap in the garage we had to work around it, so there wasn't much space left.  We still have the playhouse to move, which is still at the last place.  Now that's a story.

When Zeb was 2.5 we went on a vacation to Cape Cod...well Provincetown for a week long Rfamily event.  If you are unfamiliar with Rfamily, well it is a vacation company that was started by Rosie O'Donnell's ex Kelly and her friend Greg.  They started a vacation company for gay families because they were tired of only having companies who catered to single gays, so there you have it.  They usually booked cruises, but this was a land vacation that included a week of special events in one of the gayest of area's in the United States.  I was our first experience with Rfamily and we enjoyed the whole week. 

When we got home I got it in my mind to build Zeb a playhouse that would resemble the houses we saw while on our trip to Cape Cod.  I couldn't wait to get the thing done and then have the enjoyment of watching Zeb enjoy that for years to come.  Well, I finished it, it looked great, I was proud of myself, and Zeb disliked it from almost day one.  He played in it for a little while until his friend (who is a girl and very afraid of bugs of all sorts) told him it was full of spiders and then there was no way we were going to get Zeb to enjoy it. 

Occasionally it would get played with, whenever some child came with their parents to play at our house.  They would love it for a few hours and then it would remain untouched until another child came along.  We had many people comment on it, liking it, asking if we had a daycare, that sort of thing. 

When we moved the last time I was determined to not leave anything I had done that you would consider property improvement behind.  I spend a whole week removing the deck I build in the back yard, and also a few hours removing the walls of the playhouse.  That thing was going with us, and I felt that without the walls attached it would make for easier to move.  So to the new house it came, in pieces and safe and sound.  It mostly lived in the garage there, except the shell which lived outside for the winter.  It survived very well, and then we were going to move again. 

This time we decided maybe it would be best if we sold it.  I was not exactly excited about it, but agreed it might be best.  So, we proceeded to put an ad up online, and also I put a little notice on facebook asking if anyone might be interested.  We hoped that maybe, best case scenario someone we knew would want it and then we would know it had gone to a good home, worst case scenario we had to move it. 

Well that very day we had a number of inquiries online, many people wanted it, but needing more detail and on facebook I got a message from a friend of a friend who said she was interested.  We answered the questions for the inquiries online and I messaged back the lady on facebook the price I was thinking.  She messaged me back the next day saying they couldn't really do that price at this time, but that they loved the playhouse.  I talked to Damie about it, as what she was willing to pay was a big reduction to the price I was selling it at, but I felt like knowing who it went to meant more to me than the money,  and Damie agreed with me, so we agreed to her price with a buy back clause, stating if she ever wanted to get rid of it in the future she gave us first dibs on buying it back.  I thought that was a great idea, as then if we ever wanted it back and she was done with it that possibility would be there. I was happy about it.  She was going to pick it up the following Sat.

We were having a garage sale that Sat so having the playhouse go the same day was a great thing, as far as I was concerned, then all I would have to worry about was getting everything packed and moved.  Well a couple of days before the yard sale I get a message on facebook regarding the playhouse and the fact that she was not going to be able to pick it up that Sat could she make it for the next?

I have to tell you, my gut was telling me, don't do this.  I have always made a rule about working for or doing something that involved money with friend, or people we knew.  I have done it in the past, and no matter what, no matter how good of intentions, something always screws up and you end up resentful of them or they of you.  I knew in my gut, actually all the way to my toes that this wasn't a good idea, but yet I didn't listen and agreed that she could pick it up the next Sat as long as she understood that we had to move that day and everything had to be gone.  She agreed and there we left it.

The next week was crazy, I had so much packing to do, it was Zeb's last week of school so he was bouncing off the walls, it was hotter than the surface of the sun and our house didn't have air conditioning!!  My head was spinning by the time Wed came, things were getting done, but not as quickly as I would have liked and I had so much more to do.  The stress levels were rising and I was running out of steam.  Then bang, another message!!

This time the message was that she was going to be unable to pick it up again this Sat and that she was sorry but her life is crazy and her husband is always having to go out of town for business at the drop of the hat and etc. etc. etc.   Well was I mad!!  Now on top of all the other things I had to get done, and the heat I had to try to figure out how to get the playhouse moved in two days without the additional money that we had budged on (that was going to come with selling the playhouse) and the fact that no one likes to do this without some notice.  If we had a bunch of friends or family around it wouldn't be a big deal..go get a trailer, pick it up, move it, put it down, done....but we have neither so we were stuck.

Now, I have to admit that maybe I didn't handle the whole situation well, but I was at the end of my rope, my patience was shot, and I was burnt to a crisp.  I was angry, I was disappointed but most of all I felt like she wanted me to understand where she was coming from and the stress she was under, but she gave us no consideration regarding the same thing.  She also never gave me any options...no solutions, just I'm not taking it, now you can deal with it.  I don't know, maybe other's wouldn't be angry, but I sure was.

I have gotten over it now, but we still have to get the playhouse.  This weekend we are going to go rent a trailer, hopefully get someone with a pickup truck to pull that trailer, or else we will have to rent a truck too, and move that playhouse to our new place.  I am not exactly happy about it all, but I would rather do this than leave it behind.  When we get it here I plan on doing a whole new paint job on it, get new fancy shingles and then maybe I can sell it.  I hope so, because something that nice should have a couple of kids playing in it daily!


What would you have done?  How would you have reacted?  What are your thought on how I reacted??