Moving Out
This moving week was intense. It wasn't bad at all (except for 4 hours on Wed) but even though I was extremely prepared, it was still a big deal.
Annelise & I had cleaned that house from top to bottom. It was absolutely immaculate, which is quite a feat, if you know how much I hate cleaning. This pretty much sums up my philosophy, in general:
The only reason we got it so clean was that JB, Will, & Bonnie Blue were ALLL GONE! :-D
Last Sunday night, I packed us to live out of our airplane-carry-on-sized suitcases from the next day through NC to Texas (just over 3 weeks) so the movers could walk in & pack EVERYTHING w/o me saying, "Oops! Wait on this!" I even had some paper plates & plastic forks pulled aside with our suitcases. #genius ;-) I usually freak a little bit about packing for trips, triple checking that I have everything we need and going back & forth on how I can minimize the number of clothes while also maximizing fashion. :-D Sunday was maybe the most stress-free little pack job I've ever had! I felt good about the clothing choices, they all fit in our carry ons, and I was ready to go! [Note: thank goodness it's summer! Winter clothes are obnoxiously bulky! The same number of winter outfits would take up 5 times the space.]
Monday was a shockingly calm day: the movers showed up before 9 AM - so nice & very quiet! There were only two guys (ummm, we've always had a crew of 4 or 5...) but those two - Chris & Jeff - worked nonstop & got the entire upstairs packed, along with every single bedroom! Since we'd be a legal liability to help, we lounged on the couch, watched tons of Food Network, & ate kitchen scraps using only disposable dinnerware. I had my FB time while the kids each read another Magic Treehouse book in total silence. #goldstarforme
Tuesday's Joyce Meyer quote: "You need to be moving if you want God to show you which way to go." [How apropos! :-D]
My parents arrived (after visiting my stepdad's fam in FL) on Tuesday afternoon, which thrilled the cabin-fever-stricken kids. When the movers finished for the day, I went to teach my very last Zumba class in south Georgia, while they took the kids for a last blast at the Fun Park.
Wednesday was...the challenge. It started OK. Chris & Jeff had hired three extra local guys to help load, and they were sure they'd be done by 3 PM = awesome, as we were driving from south GA to Charlotte, NC (7 hours) that same afternoon, as soon as they finished. 3 PM came and went. We were all so restless & stir crazy, we thought we'd go mad. *Sigh* Everything was so fast & great until then - still sweet guys, but the extra men they hired to load were in nooo hurry... I adore south GA, but since there was no turning back, I was ready to GET THIS SHOW ON THE ROAD!!!
Finally, at almost 7 PM...
BYE, GEORGIA:
We got home to NC at 3 AM... (We *did* stop for an hour for dinner.) Thanks to GA for one last gift of gas for $3.02.
Everything was unloaded at our new house in Texas on Friday, and JB gave me a FaceTime tour! ♥ :-) It is...smaller. Smaller than any house we've had in the last decade :-/ but the slightly bigger option was $400 more a month, so we decided to bank that & forcibly downsize. It sounded good at the time... [Slightly less so now, looking at the delivery aftermath... :-P but JB assures me this was absolutely the right thing to do, so I am trusting him :-) ...and hoping he throws out & donates a ton more stuff before we get there! :-D]
Speaking of getting there: our plane tickets to Houston are secured - we fly from Charlotte here to our latest home on Monday afternoon, July 2nd!
Annelise & I had cleaned that house from top to bottom. It was absolutely immaculate, which is quite a feat, if you know how much I hate cleaning. This pretty much sums up my philosophy, in general:
The only reason we got it so clean was that JB, Will, & Bonnie Blue were ALLL GONE! :-D
Last Sunday night, I packed us to live out of our airplane-carry-on-sized suitcases from the next day through NC to Texas (just over 3 weeks) so the movers could walk in & pack EVERYTHING w/o me saying, "Oops! Wait on this!" I even had some paper plates & plastic forks pulled aside with our suitcases. #genius ;-) I usually freak a little bit about packing for trips, triple checking that I have everything we need and going back & forth on how I can minimize the number of clothes while also maximizing fashion. :-D Sunday was maybe the most stress-free little pack job I've ever had! I felt good about the clothing choices, they all fit in our carry ons, and I was ready to go! [Note: thank goodness it's summer! Winter clothes are obnoxiously bulky! The same number of winter outfits would take up 5 times the space.]
Monday was a shockingly calm day: the movers showed up before 9 AM - so nice & very quiet! There were only two guys (ummm, we've always had a crew of 4 or 5...) but those two - Chris & Jeff - worked nonstop & got the entire upstairs packed, along with every single bedroom! Since we'd be a legal liability to help, we lounged on the couch, watched tons of Food Network, & ate kitchen scraps using only disposable dinnerware. I had my FB time while the kids each read another Magic Treehouse book in total silence. #goldstarforme
Tuesday's Joyce Meyer quote: "You need to be moving if you want God to show you which way to go." [How apropos! :-D]
My parents arrived (after visiting my stepdad's fam in FL) on Tuesday afternoon, which thrilled the cabin-fever-stricken kids. When the movers finished for the day, I went to teach my very last Zumba class in south Georgia, while they took the kids for a last blast at the Fun Park.
Wednesday was...the challenge. It started OK. Chris & Jeff had hired three extra local guys to help load, and they were sure they'd be done by 3 PM = awesome, as we were driving from south GA to Charlotte, NC (7 hours) that same afternoon, as soon as they finished. 3 PM came and went. We were all so restless & stir crazy, we thought we'd go mad. *Sigh* Everything was so fast & great until then - still sweet guys, but the extra men they hired to load were in nooo hurry... I adore south GA, but since there was no turning back, I was ready to GET THIS SHOW ON THE ROAD!!!
Finally, at almost 7 PM...
BYE, GEORGIA:
We got home to NC at 3 AM... (We *did* stop for an hour for dinner.) Thanks to GA for one last gift of gas for $3.02.
Everything was unloaded at our new house in Texas on Friday, and JB gave me a FaceTime tour! ♥ :-) It is...smaller. Smaller than any house we've had in the last decade :-/ but the slightly bigger option was $400 more a month, so we decided to bank that & forcibly downsize. It sounded good at the time... [Slightly less so now, looking at the delivery aftermath... :-P but JB assures me this was absolutely the right thing to do, so I am trusting him :-) ...and hoping he throws out & donates a ton more stuff before we get there! :-D]
Speaking of getting there: our plane tickets to Houston are secured - we fly from Charlotte here to our latest home on Monday afternoon, July 2nd!
actually, be prepared- the gas should be significantly cheaper in Houston, FYI! It is oil company central, ya know! :)
ReplyDeleteIt *is* cheaper than Charlotte for sure, but it's about the same as south GA. It's $3.14 right now south GA, $3.29 in Charlotte, & $3.15 in TX. SO EXCITED to live in a big metro area but w/o the metro gas prices!!! :-)
ReplyDeleteThat’s a really nice quote from Joyce Meyer. We should not remain stagnant, and should always look forward to change, which would bring us to different places with different lessons to learn. I hope you did have a checklist with you to guide with your double-checking. It pays to have one so that we don’t forget, and get lost in the confusion. ;)
ReplyDeleteEricka Muldowney