Get ready to move

I’ve cleaned out the storage shed. I am amazed.

Just getting this far is encouraging. There are a few closets packed with chaos to tackle next.

I called a guy who did some work for me in the past. He will bring himself and a buddy on Sunday to do the heavy lifting part of the move.

I need to reserve a rental truck for both Saturday & Sunday. Hopefully, my friends & family can help me pack & move the smaller stuff on Friday & Saturday, so that Sunday is focused on moving the big items.

Serious progress = very pleased!

I packed 3 boxes of seasoning/spices and 2 of kitchen tools this morning. Chipping away at the volume a piece at a time is better than fretting over the sheer enormity of it all!

I’ve called / emailed a couple of places to come give me a quote. It may be simpler, faster, safer & better to accept friend & family help with packing & unpacking, and have professionals do the heavy lifting instead of me looking for day laborers and a rental truck.

The nice thing is that I’ve managed to get next week off – so this is a little less time boxed than it was before.

I’m much better at offering help than asking for it, but the daunting nature of this move has me re-thinking that position.

So, I’ve begun reaching out to friends and close acquaintances who’ve said, “Moving? Oh, let me know if you need help!” and saying to them, ” Well, Actually, I DO need help – can you come next weekend, even if only for part of it? “

I am also considering posting a “Downsizing – Moving / Free Stuff in Exchange for Labor” entry on a social networking site. I wouldn’t put the address – they’d have to PM me to get it – but I’d be more than happy to trade out books, clothes, shoes, art, fabric, etc. that I don’t need in exchange for an hour or two of packing or loading the boxes onto the truck.

I’m hoping to finalize the lease today or tomorrow, and do the major part of the move next weekend.

Major tasks:
1) finalize destination (where exactly am I moving TO?) and execute the paperwork
2) find contact info for turn up on all utilities and schedule activations in advance
3) reserve a truck
4) graciously accept friends’ offers to help (it’s hard for me to accept help, but the fact is that I do need “all hands on deck” – and I have to trust that they would not offer if they did not want to do it)
5) purge items I don’t need to move (this will be its own sub-task)
6) actually pack
7) actually move
8) unpack

so that when I decide that it’s time, it will be easy to either move things to a different place, or to put my things in storage.

The most frustrating thing is that I finally have some nice furniture and things. I wish I didn’t. I wish I had a table that my friends’ toddlers could beat on, chew, scribble on, etc without triggering my inner “ACK!” voice, instead of this 200 year old mahogany slab that is worth more than my car. Also, I’m not excited about paying for storage for all of the stuff I’ve accumulated. And the dressers…. again, antiques, not really to my taste, much more of a bother and an inconvenience for someone like me. It’s stuff I inherited, so it’s distressing to get rid of it even if I don’t happen to like it.

These are pieces that belong in family homes – long-term, stable family homes. I’d like to feel free to move, or to sublet without worries.

... this was one of the easiest moves I’ve ever had.

It was quite a busy day moving all my stuff – a blanket, a chewie bone, my favorite blue turtle tug-of-war toy, and my food & water dishes. Whew!