Nesting, Stage 2-- IKEA adventure

I mentioned before that Dave and I went to IKEA for $35 worth of organization materials and left with a whole living room worth of desperately long needed couches and accessories. What I didn't mention was the consequences of that decision. You see, the problem with buying furniture is that you have to get it home somehow. Yes, IKEA does have delivery options, but why have something delivered when it fits so nicely in the bed of your truck.

When you buy something big from IKEA, you go downstairs, give your receipt to an attendent who pulls the boxes for you. Then someone helps you get them in your vehicle. I, of course, kept my hands out of this whole process. Not going to get to close to gigantic boxes being flung around when I'm so pregnant. Dave and the Ikea guy loaded it all up in the truck. Nice and tight. I thought about mentioning the need to use a tie down, just incase, but it really was in there pretty tight. And IKEA does a good job with those boxes. They are meant to be taken home by "normal people". (Haha, yea right!)

Keep in mind, this whole story is 9 days before we are having this baby. Dave and I both are feeling incredibly protective and not willing to place myself and our little girl in any danger.

So they load it up, nice and tight, and we head out across Houston at 4pm. Just enough time to get across town before rush hour hits in it's fullness. If you don't know anything about the HOV system in Houston, it is the worst in the country. Even people who have lived here for 10-15 years struggle to use the system. It's tough to get in, and practically impossible to get out of. But it was rush hour, so we decided locating the HOV lane was our best bet. We get just past down town (4:30, traffic is pretty heavy) and one of those ginormous boxes in the back starts to shred! Of course, where are we? In the HOV lane... No exits! No way to get out of this thing, so we just keep going... 10 min later, this thing was in shambles an we were still where? Stuck in the HOV lane.

Pieces of our brand new couch start FLYING out of the bed of the truck! Yep, It's now 4:45, traffic is rushing past us on all sides. Fortunately, we were Where? The HOV lane. It only allows one lane of traffic, so Dave commands, "Stay in the truck!" and stops the traffic to retrieve this thing. 9 days before delivery, you pretty much follow any command that insures your safety. So, Dave gets the item, puts it in the back seat and we head onward. This happened THREE times!!! That's right, You know those idiots with crap falling out of their truck in rush hour traffic... THAT was us! Blocking half of the HOV lane, everyone having to slow down to 30 to pass. OH, and did I mention it had been raining??? That's right, so everything that fell out was now covered in mud! (Sighs.)

Eventually the back seat was full. No more room for our mud soaked couch pieces. Dave worked on it for like 25 min, trying desperately to get it all stable. No such luck. I kept waving the tie down ropes at him, but it really was a two person job. I knew he needed assistance, but.... remember... I was due in 9 days and had been firmly commanded not to place myself and the baby in danger. So I sat there... watching my husband struggle alone, with 5:00 traffic zooming by.

Finally, It becomes obvious that this two-person job just wasn't going to get done alone. So... I need you to picture this... Dave and I, both in our nicest professional clothes. (We had gone in for our last ultrasound and a date before the baby, we really looked pretty good.) Blocking half of the HOV lane in full rage 5:00 traffic. Me- I could not POSSIBLY have looked more pregnant! Holding up these huge boxes, so Dave can climb on top to get these tie downs around everything. I couldn't help but laugh. (I was really surprised no one stopped to help... seriously... this is not the Texas I grew up in.)

So, we get it all tied down. On the way home, Dave shakes his head, "I should have just taken the delivery." I had to ask, "Why? How much was it?" "50 bucks!" HAHAHAHAHA!!! So, the moral of the story is... TAKE THE DELIVERY.