Screws on the Loose

Tommy Boy dragged the dismantled crib down from the third floor this afternoon.  We figured that the reassembly would be fast since I am a maniac about packing things carefully and ensuring that they marked and stored in a safe place.  Imagine my shock and dismay when the hardware wasn't neatly labeled and attached to the crib like I expected it to be.  I remember my handy neighbor and I taking the crib apart and then...my memory has a big blank spot from the loosening of the last screw until a few days later when I realized that Tom had laid all of the crib pieces haphazardly against the guest bed in the playroom, an accident waiting to decapitate one of my loveys.  Exasperated and ready to scream, I piled everything into the extra closet and there it sat, untouched and apparently screwless since July 2007 when Madam moved to her big girl bed.

When he told me that the stuff was missing (matter-of-factly and not at all smugly, bless his heart) I was frantic -- where were the screws???  How did I drop the ball on this one???  It's so unlike me.  We tore the house apart and Tom finally found the bag, unsealed and unlabeled, behind the router on his desk.  WTF?  It's highly unlikely that I put them there but equally unlikely that he did since he leaves any and all packing and organizational projects to yours truly.  It's a mystery.

Also missing are the directions for putting it back together.  Tom looked for them (sorta) but I won't believe they are gone until I search myself.  They were last seen on our first night in this house when Tom blearily reassembled the crib after a long day of selling our old house, making settlement on the new one and getting our stuff moved here from my beloved Philadelphia.  My gut says that they are on the closet shelf in the baby's room or in my "Baby Gear Manuals" folder in the file cabinet but I haven't checked yet.  I have a feeling Daddy-o didn't really feel like completing the project and there is time enough before the Sheemster needs to sleep in there so I'm not especially concerned.  In the meantime, I emailed the crib company to see whether we can get a replacement set of parts (one of the screws was stripped and we had to bend the metal thingy to get it apart) and another assembly manual.  Cross your fingers that it all works out -- while I love to shop, I hate wasting money and I REALLY don't want to buy a new crib for The Grand Finale!