Thursday, July 10, 2008

s l o w l y

First of all, we are moved in & 95% unpacked as of tonight - yay!

Secondly, something got messed up with our change-over for our DSL, so it will not be hooked up until Monday (arg!!!) I am using Chad's cell phone to connect to the internet with the laptop, so my connection speed is much like dial-up... slow! Please don't be offended if I can't respond to comments or emails with my usual speed - I get to use his phone to do this once a day, usually at night, so please be patient... thank you!

Finally, I thought I'd share a bit about our moving experience. I have moved a lot in my lifetime (this move is #16 if my memory is right), yet I learn new things with each move. Here are a few things I've learned this sixteenth time around, some of which you'd think I would have known by now...

1. Your refridgerator is a lot dirtier than you think it is. You might use it every day, but you don't really realize how icky it has gotten until you take everything out and look at those white walls & glass shelves and realize that once a year is just not often enough for a good cleaning.

2. If you wait to clean the aforementioned fridge until an hour before your estimated move out is complete, it will inevitably take longer than an hour to get it clean, and you'll be sitting on the kitchen floor at 10 o'clock at night with water dripping down your elbows as you try desperately to get little bits to come off on the paper towel (they've moved all around the shelf when you rub them, why won't they come OFF???) Make your life easier - clean it days beforehand, and just eat out after that. That takes care of packing dishes & silverware a few days ahead of time, too.

3. You can never have enough boxes. Especially smaller ones. Otherwise you end up packing your entire pantry in low, wide boxes that end up being so heavy that it takes two people to lift each one.

4. Plastic grocery store bags may not be environmentally friendly, but they are an invaluable moving tool. When you run out of the too-large boxes while packing your kitchen food, grocery bags are the perfect size to reload those groceries into your car to take to the new place. And you know all of your neighbors have some hanging around, so it's easy to get more in your time of need!

5. Pack the garbage bags in one of the first boxes you plan to open - otherwise you will end up using the aformentioned plastic grocery bags for trash, and those fill up fast when you're using paper plates & plastic cups (because you still can't find the box with your dishes, along with the one with the garbage bags!)

6. Make a rough map on a printed floorplan of where you would like the big pieces of furniture to go, and give copies of it to the the people moving your furniture. Especially if those "people" are your husband and his brother, who are being fueled by pizza and beer. And especially if you are still going to still be at the old house the whole time with all the kids while those "people" are at the new place, dumping all of the furniture, boxes, and plastic grocery bags wherever they think seems fine.

7. And finally - wear sneakers. It doesn't matter if it's 125° plus humidity, bare feet for packing and cleaning in the house and flipflops for when you're driving back and forth & unloading stuff (from 7am to 10pm) are just not a good combination. You will end up with sore, blistery feet, not to mention they will be very, very, very dirty. And it will take everything you have to put your feet in the bathtub at the end of the day to wash them off, so you won't dirty your freshly made bed.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm so sorry Rebekah! I can wholeheartedly relate to basically everything in your post. Hang in there, the reward of all the struggle is always worth it! ;)

angela said...

Wow, I think you have moved more times than I have...and I've moved a lot! Thanks for sharing all of your helpful tips. Now, you get to start enjoying your new home:o)

Beki - TheRustedChain said...

You're a brave lady. I despise moving!!

Jenn said...

We just moved last year so I feel for you! It is still fresh in my mind!

Sounds like you are settling in though! Hope the rest of the unpacking goes smoothly :)

take a bow Jenn

Anonymous said...

My husband & I get nauseated thinking of moving, so we decided to "age in place". Your story about cleaning the fridge is true for me all year long. I have discovered (a little too late for you) that one of those white sponges is great! Just rinse & go. I know the mfg suggests using baking soda & water, but I found nothing wrong with those sponges.

Debbie said...

The pay off will be soooo worth it. Thanks for all the tips. I'm going to need them!

nic said...

i'm glad you're mostly settled in. i've found that moving short distances is SO much easier than those long-distance moves. i even kind of welcome the short moves, as they motivate me to clean out my life. :)

never crazy about the fridge cleaning, though. ;)

Anonymous said...

Oh great--now you give me advice. ;) I'm very impressed--we moved a week before you and are only 93% unpacked.