Moving Recap

In between heat & humidity, rain showers & traffic jams the big move monopolized this past weekend.  No one got injured; nothing else broke.  Thanks to incredible helpers the U-Haul was loaded in about 45 minutes.  Then everyone rested for about a 1/2 hour in a traffic jam due to highway resurfacing shutting down 2 of 3 travel lanes. 

Sherbet finally tires of the moving process.

The truck unloaded in record time, too, because I barely had time to stick color-coded labels on walls, comfort Sherbet who meow-bellowed from her exile in the new bathroom, and set out lunch—an assortment of sandwich/wrap fixings, fresh fruit and veggies, and a homemade almond cake.  (My rationale: since I couldn’t really carry boxes myself this move, I sought to heartily replenish any calories expended by the friends and family helping us.)

As the move progressed, I thought of a few more moving tips:

1. Set aside a Last/First Box for frequently used rooms.  A designated place for items you need up until the last minute and want to be able to locate immediately upon unpacking.  For instance, the bathroom box had toilet paper, soap, hand towels, etc.  In addition to the bathroom box, we set aside Last/First Boxes for the kitchen and bedroom.
2. Disassemble all furniture the day before loading the truck.  We left the bed frame until the morning, which didn’t hold the move up, but did cause congestion as helpers emptied the bedroom of other items.
3. For a local move with helpers journeying from the old location to the new, print basic driving directions.  Not everyone has a GPS.
4. For a local move with a little time flexibility, move awkward-to-pack items ahead.  Husband, my father, and I ran a few loads up to the new apartment the day before to avoid fitting lamps, bikes, larger pieces of art, plants, etc. in boxes or on the moving truck.  Since we were able, we also transported dresser and desk drawers—no packing required, just slid them back into the furniture once it arrived later.

Now, all that remains to be done is to hang pictures and rearrange as needed.  All boxes are unpacked and tucked into storage for next time.

Thank you, thank you, thank you to our friends and family!

Moving Casualty

Glass jar holding Q-tips meets tiled floor.  Explosion!  Shards of glass glitter across the entire uneven bathroom floor.

Estimated clean-up time = packing three boxes.  At least it wasn't the decorative vase.

What's been broken (or lost) when you've changed addresses?

To Fix, But How?

 

As Husband & I pack boxes, the recycling container fills and the donate pile grows.  One item resists those fates:

The Cafe: Our Bedroom Breakfast Nook.

A few years ago, when Husband & I moved into our first apartment with an outdoor area, family members gave us a beautiful patio set.  The box called the table and two chairs something like "Bistro;" I loving christened the metal and ceramic mosaic set "The Cafe."  It's served us as a lazy afternoon hang out spot on one porch, as my outdoor desk on a different apartment's porch, and most recently as our breakfast nook in our bedroom.

Unfortunately, The Cafe is beginning to show some wear from years of love.

The cardboard fix.

First, one chair's ceramic mosaic tile abruptly popped out and shattered.  Armed with glue and determination, I tried to piece it back together.  After a half hour of creating two more shards every time I reconnected one, I opted for another approach.  I took a careful up-close picture of other chair's unbroken mosaic.  Guestimating the size, I printed a non-glossy color copy and glued it onto cardboard circle.  Presto.  An indoor fix that lasted well for about 10 months before it began to fade a little.

Then the other chair dropped its mosaic.  Luckily it only broke into a few pieces and was easily repaired.  Unfortunately it fell out again last week.  While the piece remained whole, I doubt another glueing will last long, especially if exposed to humidity and temperature fluctuations.  The cardboard solution, too, is about to expire.  Our new apartment boasts a porch so The Cafe will take up residence once again in the great outdoors (read: elements).  I need a new solution.  

With moving preparations eating up my mental energy, I'm not sure what to try next.  Your thoughts? 

How to Move Without Forgetting to Pack Your Brain

Moving week is upon the Ramsey household.  Flattened boxes emerge from hiding places in the back of closets, tucked behind dressers, and in other boxes.  Husband & I transform 2D cardboard into 3D containers; we add packing tape to the grocery list.

Sherbet takes a break from jumping into every single box we assemble.

This is our sixth move as a couple--fifth without professional help.  To handle the vast amount of labor and details required, I rely on organization.  Here are some of my key survival tips to make sure you don't lose your mind while boxing up everything else.

1. Designate an information/planning spot for important papers and lists.  We use a clipboard and leave it on the dining room table.  Lease information, rental truck contracts, calendars, floor plans, etc. find a temporary home here.
2. Create a daily plan of attack.  Break your home into zones and begin boxing the non-everyday-use stuff first.  For us this means the storage closet and the bookshelves.  Counterintuitively, I leave decorations on the wall until the very end.  This way my messy, box-infested home is a little less warehouse-like during the moving process. Besides, decorations tend to be fragile, and fragile boxes should be on the top of the piles, right?
3. Write a "Change of Address" chart.  Include bills, subscriptions, doctors, etc.  Call a few each day, noting "Date Contacted" and leaving a space to record "Date Verified" when you receive updated information from them at your new address.  When 90% of the address switches are made before your move date, you feel accomplished about something and have more energy to deal with the frustrating ones later (driver's licenses, anyone?).  Also, it's a nice excuse to take a break from filling boxes and prop your feet up while you make some phone calls or send some emails.
4. Get rid of everything you don't use, don't like, and can easily live without.  Lighten your moving load, declutter your new home, and often get a tax-deductible receipt.
5. Implement a strict labeling policy for boxes.  I prefer color coding.  Each room in the new location receives a color (ie: kitchen = green, living room = yellow).  Boxes are tagged with the color of which room they will move into.  On the colored label I list the specific contents.  Since I hang colored labels on walls during move-in anyone helping can easily determine where a box should be placed.  Bonus hint: I usually make one wall in the living room for the living room color and one for the kitchen color--this way I can maneuver in the kitchen when unpacking.
6. Unless this move is permanent (like buying a house) or you're guaranteed professional assistance for your next relocation, save all reusable packing materials.  Standard size boxes expedite packing a truck; packing paper not only protects items, but fills in those odd "what-else-should-we-cram-in-here" spaces that lead to extreme disorganization on the unpacking end.

For even more moving tips.

What moving tips to have you discovered?

A Dish Served Warm ... & Fluffy

At a moment's notice Sherbet, the cat, is ready to communicate her strong opinions with creativity and wit.  When so prompted, she demonstrates her spite in poignant ways.  Contain her in the bathroom too long, and she'll express her dislike:

aka "Toilet Paper Art"

While Sherbet despises forced containment, be it in a bathroom or in her pet carrier, she voluntarily folds herself into any other small space available.  With the impending move, the apartment is brimming with even more boxes than usual.  I've even held onto the new vacuum cleaner box just in case we need it.  While some say that revenge is a dish best served cold, Sherbet proves here that warm and fluffy can also do the trick.

"De-fluff this, new vacuum cleaner."

Today I wish I could express my dislike as vehemently as Sherbet.  I'd take that stack of paperwork-to-fill/figure-out on my desk and preemptively feed it through the shedder.

Anyone else wish they could unabashedly show a little revenge on something inanimate?

The Art of Saying No

I'm not a fan of clutter.

Moving from one home to another simply gives me an excuse to continue cleaning things out.  I've already run by the thrift store with a drop-off of random items.  Also, while contemplating the power of the shredder, I annihilated the no-longer-important papers I thinned out of our files.

Eliminating "baggage" for moving day.

However, when I visited my parents' house the other weekend I complicated my life.  I noticed an entire paper grocery bag full of to-be-discarded cookbooks.  Now, husband and I have more than one shelf of cookbooks.  And, he's always bringing home ideas from his favorite food blogs.  Yet I couldn't help myself.  I needed to peruse those books.  I ended up taking home a few.

The suspects.  Which one hides the best-ever recipe?

Cookbooks allure me with the promise of the perfect recipe hidden just another page away.  I spent too many hours scouring the pages for tasty, unique recipes.  I settled on copying a few easy recipes and keeping only two books.  The "Wine and Wine Cooking" could be a new way to explore food preparation, one bottle at a time.  The "New Baking Book" made my tummy rumble with its mouth-watering pictures.  While I'm proud of myself for not keeping all of them, a part of me wonders why I needed to add even two more cookbooks to our collection.  More stuff is more stuff to pack up, and it doesn't necessarily translate into more living.

What do you have more than enough of, yet can't decline?

Something Achievable

The last 24 hours have been too busy.  I survived Figure Drawing Class.  I set the cat up for her annual visit with a new vet.  Husband and I wrapped up the apartment hunt by securing "The Next Apartment."  We even remembered to belatedly write Mother's Day cards.

This afternoon I was pleasantly surprised to find a very achievable item on my daily list:

NAP

Sometimes taking a break is the best way to accomplish something.  What activites bring balance to your busy life?

Apartment Hunt: Our Worksheet

Having lived at 6 addresses in 4 different states in less than 9 years you would think that apartment hunting would be second nature by now.  It's not.  I'd love to put down deep roots, maybe even buy a house, but the timing isn't right again.  At least I know better than to procrastinate (most days).  Through the long hours searching on craigslist and roaming through potential neighborhoods, I remind myself only one apartment needs to fit.  Maybe this weekend my husband and I will find it....