Don’t worry…I vacuumed off the fuzz

You know the old-ish adage that when you go on a trip, you’ll always forget at least one thing? Well, compound that by the power of ten when that trip is bumped up a few weeks. As we’ve been prepping for Dev’s arrival this week, I realized a couple of days too late that I still hadn’t ordered a camcorder, among other things.

What? A new baby arriving at an airport and no camcorder?

So I spent some time researching and comparing and came up with my choice. (Yes, mine. My husband lets me choose the photo-related items in the household.) B&H provided three-day delivery through UPS, which seemed plenty quick enough. I pushed the Submit Order button and was done with it.

On Friday I tracked the package and saw that it was almost here. And Saturday at 1:15 AM it was mere miles from my house. Yet there was one variable I didn’t figure: they don’t deliver on Saturday. Or at least they chose not to this Saturday.

No problem, I thought. I’ll get it on Monday with plenty of time to get a handle on the controls and such. Wrong again. I drove up to the house this afternoon to see one of those “First Attempt” stickies and uttered my last, “Damnit!” before there’s a kid in the car. The note kindly said that the delivery required a signature and that they’d try again tomorrow.

Tomorrow? That’s the day my whole freakin’ life changes. That’s the day we (grandma and aunt along for the ride) pile into the car, baby seat firmly strapped in (hopefully) and head our butts to Detroit Metro. Tomorrow is the day I’m going to burst into tears when they place a groggy jet-lagged baby in my arms and hand us our walking papers. Tomorrow, sticky note, is too darn late.

I frantically dialed the 800 number to request a pick-up. The operator assured me someone from my local UPS warehouse would call within the hour. I stuck my tushy to the chair and waited.

Jennifer called 40 minutes later and explained that I could pick up the package at the warehouse after the trucks came in at 7:00. Well, OK. Whatever I have to do. Then she mentioned that the driver has a pick-up at Breton Village between 4 and 4:30. I could catch him there. Yay! That’s just eight blocks from my house. I hopped in my car headed for the mall.

But where he’d be at the mall Jennifer couldn’t tell me. “Just look for the big brown truck.” Duh. No truck in sight so I walked into Pooh’s Corner, a place I’ll be frequenting for its cute books and toys, and asked the woman where the UPS guy hangs out. She directed me to a postal store down the mall. The lady there told me he usually shows up around 4:20. “His name is Tom,” she said. “He’s really nice.” So I staked out a place to stalk Tom and waited.

Darn if he didn’t show up right at 4:20. Big brown truck and all. I hustled outside and waited for him. When he walked back to his truck, I said hello and explained my situation. Tom was indeed really nice. He knew my address and grabbed my package for me. He even mentioned that he was planning to swing by the house one more time. Then I signed for my precious camcorder and was on my way. Whew!