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It should be idylllic, don't you think? Creating wonderful teddy bears with love and sending them out to eager new owners should be one of the best jobs to have eh? I used to think that too - until last Friday. Everything went horribly pear-shaped on Friday. My day went something like this:
I woke knowing I had a busy day ahead. 'Dill' was destined to travel to his new owner and had been promised to her for a Saturday delivery. I boxed him, completed his paperwork and ... the telephone rang. Still full of the joys of the lovely summer's day, I answered cheerily. "Hello?" It was my estate agent. "Hi Paula, could I bring a viewer to see your house at 1pm please?" My heart sank. After a split second of calculation, I decided it would be impossible, after all I had to go to the post office twice, once with Dill and a little later with a bear I had yet to put the finishing touches to and box. "Sorry, that's just not going to be possible, could they come tomorrow instead?" No they couldn't. They had travelled for three hours ...
I did another swift calculation. "Okay, how about 4pm?" I waited with baited breath ... I'm desperate to get the house sold as our new home will be ready very soon and it's almost time to start my new life! The agent confirmed 4pm would be okay. That's when the chaos started:
I grabbed my boxed Dill bear, quickly wrote the address on his box and walked to the post office to ensure that he reached his new owner the following day. That done, I returned home. I checked the clock, decided I'd do the cleaning and tidying, then try to finish bear no.2, whose new owner was waiting patiently for his arrival on Saturday morning too.
As the afternoon warmed up, so did I. My daughter had flown out the door to work in a tearing rush early that morning and needless to say, had left her bedroom more in need of excavation, than simple tidying. For the next couple of hours I heaved the vacuum cleaner around, changed the beds, dusted, polished, sprayed and scrubbed my house within an inch of its life. Finally, I lugged the lawn mower out from underneath several bags waiting to go the charity shop in the shed and mowed the lawns. I was an unladylike, sweaty breathless wreck by the time 4pm approached. At quarter to four, I glanced out of the window and yikes, there were the viewers! Fortunately, they were considerate and wandered around in the road until the stroke of 4, by which time I had freshened myself up, painted on a smile and with calm grace, opened the door and invited them into my sparkling home.
By the time they left, any opportunity to complete bear no.2 and get him to the post office on time, had evaporated. There was nothing for it but to contact my customer full of apologies and hope and pray that she wouldn't be too disappointed to have to wait another day for her new bear. Luckily she was gracious about the delay and as I sat at my desk reading her email, I happened to glance at the receipt from Dill's trip to the post office that morning ... I stared in disbelief. The receipt had the address of customer no.2, NOT Dill's new owner!! Yikes!! I'd sent Dill to the wrong lady!!
For the first time in twelve years, I'd managed to send a bear to the wrong address and to make matters worse, I'd also had to contact the addressee and explain to her that her own much anticipated new bear wasn't going to get there on time either! The poor woman then had to take Dill to her local post office to return him to me and I had to contact Dill's new owner and explain why he wasn't at her house when he should have been! What a muddle! Fortunately, Dill's new owner is a super lady and was absolutely lovely about it. Customer No.2 will receive her new bear tomorrow morning, so all's well that end's well, but my goodness, when someone told me that selling houses was stressful, I had no idea just HOW stressful!! I will be completing the address label for bear No.2 VERY CAREFULLY that's for sure!!
Has anyone else had things go horribly wrong lately? I'm sure I can't be the only one!! 
BrozZ BearZI've had a terrible day today too. I had a dance assignment due but my parnters and I had only done half a dance! So we failed. I got back my other dance assignment and failed that too. I had to take a sheet to my dance teacher at 2nd break. I couldn't find it. Tomorrow she is going to hunt me down.
Don't worry, Paula, we all have our bad days too. :hug: :hug: :hug:
Oh dear Sam! It's reassurring to know that it's not just me having a chaotic week!
I hope your week gets better for you.
Keep smilin'!! 
On Thursday, I was supposed to be at work at 8:30....made a call at 9:00 when it started pouring rain and I dashed around the house closing all windows, and was asked why I wasn't at work! Dashed off and made it by 9:15, the program I was doing started at 9:30. I have the same time frame tomorrow.....hope I remember it!
My car, which my hubby broke on Mother's Day, was in the shop 2 hours away, no chance we could get there when they were opened.....Called them and paid by charge card over the phone so we could pick it up whenever we could without them being opened....that worked and finally, after 3 weeks, I have my own car to drive again!!!!!
Bad days seem to come and go......hopefully the good days are more than the bad ones......... 
Just hug a teddy bear and life has no choice but to get better! 
pandamac
West Sussex, EnglandOh no Paula, what a nightmare. I always think that mixed up bear boxes will happen to me one day as it usually happens that I am sending more than one parcel at once. I have to check, check and check again the paperwork to make sure bear matches buyer!!!!
I sent a parcel of 3 bears to the USA on 16th May by International signed for and it still hasn't arrived. I'm getting really anxious now. The parcel was fully insured but I still want to know where my little bears are Has anyone else noticed this postal service being slow at the moment from the UK to USA? I sent a bear to Australia and it arrived within a week.
Hope you sell your house soon Paula :hug:
Oh Paula - poor you! What a horribly stressful day 
I always get myself in a bit of a muddle and panic when I'm sending off my bears - it must have been horrendous having to show your house as well!
I no longer use the postal service for my UK deliveries - I got a bit fed up turning up at the post office (usually in a panic) and being told that the overall dimensions of the box were 3mm too large for Special delivery 
and to be honest I felt that it was getting rather expensive - especially for the big boys. Also I would often have an overwhelming urge to rip open the box en route to the post office to check that (a) it was the right bear and (b) nothing had fallen off 
(some kind of obssessive disorder??)! Anyway I've been using Express Worldwide for the last 9 months or so and the nice courier man comes to my house to collect the bears - very stress free !! I can carry on working while I'm waiting for him, have a cup of tea 
and if necessary rip open the box again!
Another benefit is that it is less than half the price of Special delivery and you can send up to 20kgs in weight in one box.
I hope the viewing went well - after all that you should force them to buy your house!!!
I like the sound of your delivery service Vicky! I agree with you about the cost and inconvenience of using the post office ... although to be honest, I do like having the excuse of having to go to the post office, because it ensures I escape my four walls from time to time!
I hope the viewing went well too - thanks for the support everyone! I haven't heard anything back yet, so maybe no news is good news? I can't wait to be able to actually start living in my house again, rather than having to use it as a show home! That really doesn't complement bear-making at all! 
Oh Paula I am so sorry and totally understand!!
We had our home up for sale last November - December. I had one call to request a viewing within 15 minutes of the call Course I had bear making bits ALL over the place because no one had made an appointment for that day so I wasn't worried about making a mess whilst I created
Thank goodness we had packed almost 1/2 our things... so the furniture was empty (cabinets chests and stuff) so I just stuffed ALL my things here and there... willy nilly... but at least out of site!
We did get an offer (from a different person) and it was a couple of days after they had viewed.
We have been in our new home now since Feb.
I am SO glad you were able to get the bear mix sorted out! Thank goodness so many bear people are so understanding... 
VALIUM!! Now why didn't I think of that Renae?!!! 
Sorry, to hear you are having a horrible week - I hope it gets better for you quickly.
Laura, thanks for your kind words ... you were lucky selling so fast, I've been on the market for six weeks and am still hoping! Mind you, I'm told that it can takes months ... groan. It certainly is heaps more stressful than I ever imagined. This is the first house I have ever had to sell - I've lived here for twenty three years!
I have bought and sold 15 times Paula so I know the stresses very well.This time may be even harder than last as I have even more animals.Last time I had rabbits ,rats and mice along with dogs.This time I have double the amount of dogs a cat and 40 fish.The aquarium and pond will be dodgy and I maybe impossible to move.I may buy a temporary holding pond from a fish farm.
Today is not going well as I lost my purse and have taken an allergic reaction to either a plant or insect on my walk.I am bright red itchy and my face is getting more and more like Joan Rivers on a bad day by the minute.
Diane xx
Cleathero CreationsHugs nettie,
Sorry I know you are moving but why and where too?
Matilda Huggington-beareI hope I was suppose to be amused by you lot. Because I am. 
I'm so cheeky!
Well today I received in the post, payment for a bill. I didnt recognise the hand writing. And apparently the address was slightly wrong. I'm number 6 and the address said number 5.
When I opened this evelope I found the bill and cheque for my timelife subscription which I had sent to myself instead of to them. hahahahahahahahahahah Now talk about a dill! :crackup:
Wendy :redface:
I also have to keep checking my critters when they are boxed. Obsessive Compulsive disorder. Its a shocker isnt it?
Wendy, I've done a similar thing with a bear before now! I was cursing the post office delivery service with the little chap was delivered back to me, the day after I'd sent him to a customer ... then it dawned on me what I'd done! :redface:
Fortunately, my customer was none the wiser and he arrived safely at his new home the day after, none the worse for his extra journey!
Delartful Bearsoooh what a mess - sounds like it all got sorted out and no-one was disappointed -which was fantastic!
That's my worste nightmare too - to send a bear to the wrong person!! However, in my worste nightmare, I don't realise what I've done, and the people who receive the bear aren't honest and keep him - ahhhhhh!!!!!!
Danni
Creative Design Studio (RKR4CDS)Another detour from me: speaking of moving. I hope one of you UK members will describe Moving Day.
My sister & BIL (an ex-pat), (currently in CA but moving back again within the year) have dual citizenships and have bought & sold several times in England. There's a word for this chain-of-action, which I cannot remember of course, but that everyone scheduled to move on one day is part of a chain of events, and one person's screw-up in the chain makes everyone else's process fall apart.
Very curious to us YankS!
Newcastle, OntarioPaula, you have my deepest sympathies and I do "know" what you are talking about. We have been trying to sell our house since the end of March. Hubby has already moved to his new job in Toronto (I'm still in Ottawa) and is staying with our daughter. Housing sales have plummeted this summer for some reason, and our area has been hard hit, as we are 30 miles out of Ottawa and the gas prices are so high. We had a conditional offer on our house, but it has fallen through as the lady can't sell her house. We are now back to square one. If I had thought we would have had this much trouble I would have waited until hubby retired in five years, to try and relocate. He is exhausted with driving back and forth on weekends and went into a ditch while travelling on the 4 lane highway, on his way to work early one morning. Something ran across the road and he was tired and his response time was slower than usual. Thank goodness he only had a sore shoulder and there was no damage to the car, but it's really scary with how much time he spends on the road. Add on the cleaning for viewings, and I've just about had it. So, I certainly understand your frustration!!!! Good luck with your house sale.
hugs,
Brenda
It's hard work isn't it Brenda? Your poor husband much be completely exhausted with the travelling. I hope it resolves itself soon for you.
I'm just looking forward to the day when a firm offer is made and I can start living in my house again, rather than just cleaning in it! Mind you, that will move things on to the next phase, which is 'the chain', as Bobbie describes. All the house movers in a 'chain' ultimately have to tie up their legalities, financial arrangements and so forth and organise themselves to move into their new houses on a single prescribed day ... if the chain is a short one, it stands more chance of completing. Apparently, here in the UK, for every two chains, one breaks and if that happens, we all have to start from scratch again! It's a long drawn out painful process.
