They try and make moving sound easy. They try to make it sound like the move takes place in the span of one day. Like the actual moving of your items is the hardest thing you’re going to do. This is not true.
Packing. Packing will drive you nuts.
I packed, in my spare time, for just over three weeks. Can you even believe that. Packing is tricky. It will fool you up front. I stocked up on boxes, then I started to sort things into them. Things seemed to be going smoothly. Items were fitting nicely in the boxes and I felt like I was getting things done pretty quickly. But before I knew it – all that changed.
Soon, I ran out of the right boxes. I had to be strategic and figure out interesting ways to get my pots in a box that’s not too small (so it actually fits the whole pot) but not too big either (because someone has pick up that box, so it can’t be heavy). If I could even find a box like that left.
Then before I knew it, the boxes I thought would be more than enough, were all used up and I still had half a home left to pack. I became a scavenger for boxes. I asked friends and family. I started going to grocery stores that offer boxes to put your food in. I eyed up the printer paper boxes from work. I would take whatever box I could get.
I’m getting a little stressed just thinking about it, so let’s skip the part about how much tape, bubble wrap and news paper you’ll need.
Then, there came a time, on moving day, when I thought I had got the best of packing and not the other way around. The movers had the van full. The house was empty. I just needed to do a quick walk-thru and make sure the house was in good shape.
Upstairs was clear, the basement was clear, outside was clear, the main floor was….O-M-G!…there was two full drawers of pots and pans that had been left in the house. I turned around. Everything else was gone. There were no boxes left for these pots and pans. My only option was to carry them out to my car and put in them in the back of my Mini.
As I drove away from my old house, I could hear the pots and pans bumping and scraping in the back of car. Packing had beat me.
I’m now in my new house, which happens to be very old and I have a lot of boxes to unpack. I have a feeling I’m going to like unpacking, as much as I liked packing. That is to say, not very much at all.
