 |
| via Sabjimata |
When we load up a van this time around, I'm fairly certain it will be something like my thirtieth move since birth. You'd think I'd therefore be one of those old pros with super streamlined belongings who can pack and go at a moment's notice, but alas, no. I married a pack rat, and we like to do such a vast variety of outdoor activities that our gear alone merits it's own little U-Haul. And I'm currently existing in that weird space where I know we are going somewhere, but I am not sure where yet. We looked at a tiny and charming place this last weekend where we would have had to jettison many of our belongings to fit inside. It was so charming that we actually spent the afternoon considering it, and as we sat eating quesadillas and pondering, I was mentally setting up a massive yard sale, sorting through our basement in my mind and tagging and pricing things as I went. Mental yard sales take a lot of energy, you know, and I was fairly exhausted by the end of the day. After sleeping on it, we realized that shoehorning our family into the place, no matter how adorable, was not a good plan; so what a phenomenal amount of wasted energy and concern on my part the day prior! I learned a good lesson about jumping ahead of myself in our planning, and am trying desperately to just live in the moment and plan things only as they actually happen in reality.
No matter the circumstances, there are few things more stressful than moving. Stepping into the unknown, finances, logistics, decisions, timing... is anyone good at taking these things in stride? I take comfort in a few things: faith that things will work out the way they should, the husband's unparalleled energy and superhuman ability to captain our moves and come out relatively unscathed (with the help of Advil, Gatorade, and Heineken), and the support of our family and friends around us which is certainly easing the way. Still, it is sometimes hard to keep the middle-of-the-night stress demons at bay. Thank you for your patience with me as I try to keep my inner logistics monster under control and get this move planned out. And if you are one of those rare people who knows how to pull off a move stress-free, please share your secrets... you have my utmost respect.
Wish me luck today. Mama's gonna need it.
I hate moving! Good luck!
ReplyDeleteJane. I too hate packing and moving and all the nu-known, but you know I take most things in stride and try not to stress too much. So that is my advice to you. It may not all be boxed up and organized perfectly and that is OK. Just box it up, get in the the truck and enjoy the adventure of unpacking it in a new exciting place. It does not all have to be perfectly packed, by category and room - it helps, but is not required. Just do what you can with minimal stress. Love ya and am here if you need some reinforcement on this issue.
ReplyDeleteI am by no means a moving expert but some things have worked for me. And when the hubs & I moved in our current home, we did so over a single weekend & even had time to paint the bathrooms to boot. In the weeks leading up to the move, I am hard at it - sifting through the various things accumulated and purging all of the stuff that can be donated/thrown away/etc. I then begin packing all the things that can be packed way in advance; things not used on a daily basis. (i.e. books, spare linens, photo albums, etc) When packing (especially when in full swing) pack and label boxes by room or possibly by person. I also pack things in the Uhaul that way as well. That way, all the people helping will know just by looking at the box they hold, where it needs to go without asking you in the middle of the moving firestorm. Not sure if that was particularly helpful, but those are my tips.
ReplyDeleteMy other suggestion for looking at homes is to make sure you take pictures with your camera/phone....especially when looking at multiple houses, features tend to blend together. If you document with photos, it helps to keep features/problems with the right home.
Good Luck! Excited for you guys! xoxoxo And as always, Sara's words of wisdom absolutely apply! :-)
Every time we have moved... I think I really did just throw stuff into boxes and get it there. This idea of packing by room and labeling intrigues me...
ReplyDeleteI would say, don't forget to pack at least one bag to live out of --as if for vacation. So that you can take a deep breath, open a bottle of wine and live without all the stuff in the boxes for a while, once you get there. But maybe I only had to do that because I didn't pack well?
The best piece of advice I can offer is to hire a sitter or arrange for extended playdates for the little man leading up to and on the date of the move. Give yourself the space to pack - you will get much more accomplished (and avoid the 1 step forward, 3 steps backwards as he gets into the fun new boxes around the house!). The other thing that kept my sanity was a master list. I am a list freak - I had a monthly list and a weekly list and a daily list. This helped me figure out when we should aim to sell the barstools on Craigslist so that we could still eat breakfast at the bar as long as possible, but not too long that we had to bring them along.
ReplyDeleteBrilliant, all of you! Thanks so much for perspective and advice. You are all rather cool and collected people, and I can only hope I can get some of that to rub off on me!
ReplyDelete