Picture This

Silly me. How could I possibly think that because most government agencies (and banks) had the day off yesterday for Vetran's Day, the garbage man would too? Was I correct? No! At 9 AM, I see the garbage man picking up green waste, so I knew that I had to kick my heiny into gear and get the garbage out on the street, not at 1 house, but 2!

Our old house was pretty easy. Grab it, roll it out to the street. I then went in, got E into the sling and headed over to our new house (across the street, I know, really far.) We have been putting in a new floor and for ease, Mike had moved the garbage can inside the house. OK, I just have to get it out. I looked at my options of the front door versus the back door. The heaviness of the garbage can made my decision. It was too heavy for me to get it over the threshold on my own by standing behind it (where it would have been easy to tip it back and slowly roll it down the stairs.) This meant that it needed to go out the back door, where I could manuver myself in front of it, and have a wall to help protect myself from having it knock me over. Trust me, there was a point where I was glad for this decision.

So that E wouldn't get squished between me and a heavy garbage can, I put him in his sling and got in front of the can on the stairs. I then proceeded to lift the can so that I could pull it over the threshold. The only thing that kept me from being splattered on the floor was the fact that I could push my back into the wall at the bottom of the stairs. Trust me, this garbage can was HEAVY! I will admit that I could just possibly be a wuss also...put the two together and it is not a pretty picture.

I get the garbage can to the bottom of the stairs and try to turn it so I can manuever it out the door. It turns, and then promptly stops. It is two stairs up from the bottom, wedged against the wall and refuses to move. I can't get up the stairs (remember, E is in the house) and I can't get the garbage can the rest of the way down the stairs. I should mention that I also don't have a key to the front door, Mike has that. So, I am stuck. I wrestle with this for about 5 minutes, and really roughed up the wall by the back door. Hopefully, a quick touchup will fix it.

I was at a loss. How can I get past this can that is now wedged in place? I can't get in the front door, and I can't just leave it, after all, my little baby is in the house! Shoot, what to do? I ended up running next door and my WONDERFUL neighbor, Gary, came to my rescue. I think he though I was crazy, but remember, it wasn't me who put the garbage can in the house. With a little maneuvering by both Gary and I, we were able to lift the can up so that we could get it all the way down the stairs and from there, it was very easy to get out the door. With Gary's help, it worked just like it had worked in my mind BEFORE the problems. The can got out on the street before the garbage man came, and I was able to get in the house to get my little guy. I am so glad he was patient and didn't cry during this process. That would have been miserable...for both of us.

Note to self, the outdoor garbage can doesn't go back in the house. Make sure that Mike knows, and if he puts it in, it is HIS responsibility to get out.