There’s No Place Like Home

By Giggles on August 3, 2010 in Ramblings

Relocating can be exciting and stressful. Depending on the reason for your relocation it can be more exciting or more stressful. For my boss the excitement of moving turned into stress and then back to excitement. Approximately 1 1/2 years ago my boss, who was an Assistant Manager at a sister center, accepted a position as Center Manager here in Great Falls. It was a short move from Missoula to Great Falls. Except she really couldn’t move. Her house was on the market, and well the market sucked and the house didn’t sell for a year. The poor lady lived here during the week and went home every weekend.

Then finally the day came, the day hoped and prayed for, the house sold. A year of traveling and dreaming of the next house was about to take a turn for the positive. She had already had plenty of time to research and decide what she was going to do when her Missoula house sold. She was going to build new on a 2 1/2 acre lot in the Big Bend Ranch subdivision. She and her hubby packed up their home and put it into storage, rented a modest little place and got to work on having their home built. How much fun, how exciting to pick the floor plan, the exterior and choose every iota of detail for the house that was to be theirs. Exciting and stressful….and as always over budget. Finally a 1 1/2 after accepting her new position, she was able to move into what is now her “her home sweet home”.

The management staff at worked discussed a house warming gift, however, me as a very experienced mover (22 years of the military will do that and the 21 years proceeding that living with parent who moved frequently) knew that one of the most appreciated gifts would be having a meal made and brought to you. As excited as my boss was to use her new Electrolux appliances, I knew that it wouldn’t happen until things were unpacked. I signed up for day one, ready to provide a welcome relief to the stressful part of moving.

In addition to finally moving into their home, my boss had her grandchildren visiting during the same time. That meant my menu had to be kid friendly. I wanted to bring them something besides a casseroles or crockpot meal. It was summertime, they had grandkids with them so I thought BBQ, especially since her grand kids are visiting from Kentucky….a place that knows a good BBQ!

I cooked double of everything so I took care of my family too. I made some Cowboy Beans. I put them in a foil pan for transport and easy reheating in an oven.

Corn on the cob, buttered and seasoned and loaded into a reheatable foil pan.

Some Mesquite smoked, BBQ baby back ribs. Again foil packed for easy reheating.

A special treat for the grand kids: Oreo Cookie Brownies.

Also packaged up in a foil pan, are picking up on a theme?

I packed up some paper plates for dinner along with napkins, and plastic-ware. I even added some small plates for dessert.

I had a file storage box on hand, so I packed up the hot food and disposable dishes/flatware/napkins in it.

All ready to go. Box of food, check. Dessert, check. Drinks (lemonade and my bosses favorite Diet coke), check.

Ready for delivery. The idea was to provide them a full meal and make sure they had everything they needed to be able to eat it and not have to worry about dishes or returning anything!

We got a tour of the house.

I loved this niche. My bosses oldest son is an electrician….all of those years of raising him paid off!

Her hubby was trying to set up the TV and X-Box in the living area. The TV will be mounted above the fireplace.

Meanwhile my bosses hubby (who’s retired), says “Great, we just moved into a house with no yard, no TV, no food in the fridge or cupboards, I have the grand kids and you are going to work the next day”

I hoped that I helped a little with that situation.