Kids in boxes!
Ellen and the gang came over on Saturday. The kids got to playing in our discarded moving boxes, then took out the paper, and so we enlisted their aid (for the promise of a mere scoop of ice cream) in breaking down all the boxes. The landlady told us we should take the paper out, place the paper in plastic bags and recycle the boxes separately. Turns out she was completely wrong, we should have left the paper in the boxes and placed the whole lot on the curb for recycling. Too late now. The packing paper is in plastic bags. I guess we'll just put out one bag at a time and to heck with recycling it.

There have to be 20 large plastic bags of the packing paper. This is insane. The whole packing process ("professionally" done) is insane. I swear if we ever move again, I'll pack the whole house myself. We have three lamps to which a key component of the shade is missing and the lamps are essentially ruined because we can't attach the shade - I can't put a mirror together again because the screws are missing. What do the packers do with these essential items? They pack a ballpoint pen or a plastic glass in 10 layers of wrapping, then don't wrap my china. Apparently, they pack at random, just packing until a box is filled. They forgot (or stole) the ladder, broke an outdoor fireplace. A woman at work said an elderly friend of hers called her in tears when unpacking. I mean, you unroll and unroll something only to discover the item wrapped so thoroughly is toilet paper! It seems they are in cahoots with the paper industry to purchase and use as much paper as possible. Or is it a plot to increase the weight and number of boxes?

I guess I've been a reporter too long - I'm always "following the money" and looking for hidden agendas.

On a positive note:
We got Paul enrolled in the local Intermediate School - 4th, 5th and 6th grade. He begins on Wednesday and will be able to ride a bus. The people have been very nice - once you get pass the accents, people are actually pretty accommodating. In the same way, you can't assume someone with a soft, Southern accent is kind, you can't assume someone with this aggressive-sounding New Jersey accent is angry. That reminds me of what a secretary said about her former boss, a particularly kindly-seeming priest - "just because he's smiling, doesn't mean he's happy." Hold that thought.

There's a particular "church speak" that takes a bit of time to get used to. The Bishop will say, "you ought to consider that" - by which is meant "please do this." In a homily, a priest will say, "Consider giving to the poor," by which is meant, "do the right thing and donate." But, what they don't understand is that laity (that is to say, the folks in the pews) hear "consider doing this" and their response is "I considered it and decided not to do it."

But I digress.

You ought to consider visiting New Jersey. We like it here - it is Cheyenne-ish and at the same time more sophisticated. Awesome.