Things You Discover When Packing Up Your House To Move…
Well, I am getting ready to make the big move from Florida to Maryland this week. And on the way, I’ll be dropping off my 18 year old to college. :whimper:
Anyway, to stop myself from crying, I decided to sit and think of all the interesting observations I’ve made about moving over the past several days. Here’s what I discovered…
1. A small box of VHS tapes weighs as much as an empty refrigerator. Or a full dishwasher.
2. All rental trucks should come with a “Warning: P.O.S.” (piece of s**t) sign.
3. Newspaper should not be substituted for wrapping paper…unless you are a stupid criminal, and then you can feel free to use it so you can leave three-thousand smudgy black fingerprints all over every surface of your house.
4. Mom can pack up 15 moving cartons in the time it takes an eleven year old to pack one marked, “stuffed animals.”
5. Sticky packing tape never sticks to anything as well as it sticks to itself.
6. The minute you finish packing up the 8th box marked “Kitchen” you realize you’ve packed your only measuring cup, which you need in order to make the Hamburger Helper your poor family is going to have to eat for dinner since you’ve also packed up all your pots, pans and baking supplies. And not one of the 8 boxes mention containing a measuring cup.
7. No toys are as desirable to a child as the ones in the box marked, “Goodwill.”
8. “There’s the rebate check I lost four years ago!”
9. Painting “around” the huge entertainment center DID make a lot of sense three years ago. Unfortunately, it’s impossible to remember which particular shade of “cream” paint is the one you used in the family room.
10. Cardboard box + leaky Windex bottle = Very Bad News.
11. A family of 5 x 6 years in a house + 1 dog - 1 college student x the square root of the hypotenuse makes for a whole shitload of stuff to move.
12. The directions for the ice cream maker, which you’ve saved in a kitchen drawer since July 4th 1999 (the one time you’d actually used the thing) thinking you would someday put them back in the ice cream maker box in case you ever actually made ice cream again, disappear out of the drawer where they’ve been sitting for the past seven years the very moment you get the ice cream maker down from the attic to stick it on the moving truck.
13. Chip clips multiply.
14. So do magnets.
15. And coupons.
16. Books do it exponentially.
17. Those bags that save space by having all the air sucked out? They leak. Big time. So you have not only the size of the object you were trying to suck all the air out of, but also the velocity of the bag, which is absolutely useless.
18. All those kindergarten papers…and 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc.etc. papers, that were so cute when your kid brought them home, meaning you just had to save them all…
They’re worth it.
Awwww. You always make me smile. You’re so good at it (which is why TROUBLE is having me rollingn on the floor laughing!). GOOD LUCK with the move. HUGS on dropping your oldest off at college! And enjoy having your family under one roof again. In between, please find time to keep writing. You’re awesome even if it’s a just a blog.
Comment by Carly — August 21, 2006 @ 6:09 am
I laughed…and then got teary at the end. Leslie, you rock! Move safely and kiss that 18-year old for me. I’ve been thinking about her all weekend. (Thinking about all of you!)
Comment by Julie Leto — August 21, 2006 @ 6:56 am
Well, you seem to be taking the move well LOL. Good luck with everything Leslie. I hope it goes as smoothly as it possibly can.
Comment by Stacy ~ — August 21, 2006 @ 6:58 am
Wow Leslie,
I’m exhausted
just reading about you moving! Good luck with the move and getting your daughter settled.
And have i told you lately how much I love Trouble!!!!!!!
Comment by TRICIA — August 21, 2006 @ 8:41 am
Hang in there Leslie,
I’ve experienced similar things this past year. We moved from a 2600 sq. ft. house to a 1,000 sq. ft house (supposed to be temporary) but there has been a ton of compromising on what goes to storage, Goodwill or the new house. And it never fails, we need what’s packed in the farthest back corner of storage - you know the thing we hadn’t used for 10 years but now suddenly need!
And…in the process…my 18 year old moved out into his own place. For me, I think it was easier that way. I didn’t walk past his empty room a 100 times a day and think how much I missed him. We just all kind of started over together (seperately).
Good luck with your move, safe travels and good luck to your college freshman
Comment by Jodie — August 21, 2006 @ 8:52 am
Bless your heart Leslie. WE moved nearly eight years ago and I never ever want to do that again. It took me 4 years to finally unload the last packed box and I wondered to myself why I ever kept the junk.
:doggie::doggie
Comment by Gigi — August 21, 2006 @ 9:23 am
Gigi: I am so glad I am not the only one who still has stuff in boxes. We moved two years ago and our house is still ‘decorated’ like we just moved in (tons of boxes that don’t fit into the garage…and we increased our garage size), nothing on the walls….maybe the fact that I was pregnant when we moved and didn’t feel like unloading anything was part of the reason, but what’s my excuse now that he’s 19 months?
Good luck, Leslie…it gets better, it truly does.
Comment by katie — August 21, 2006 @ 9:39 am
Good luck. May all your items arrive safely. (YOU too!)
P.S. I just started Trouble and am having trouble putting it down!
Comment by Barbara-Jo — August 21, 2006 @ 9:50 am
Leslie, you made me smile, because it’s all true! I moved three years ago after being in the same place for 17 years and it’s an amazing adventure I don’t want to repeat again for at least another 17 years. :o
Good luck on the move!
Comment by PattiF — August 21, 2006 @ 10:03 am
Oh, Leslie! Good luck. We moved into our house in December and are still unpacking. Yesterday I started on the garage with stuff that had been in storage. We moved a box and a bunch of bugs flew off. Bugs? In our rush to pack, we’d stuck a bag of potatoes in a box. They’d probably been in there since April 2005. Needless to say, it wasn’t pretty! Thank goodness for hubbies!
LOL on the Goodwill marked box of toys. So very true! My 3 yo was having a hard time letting go of her too small shoes and clothes. She even tried to put on the snowsuit she wore when she was one!
Comment by Melissa Mc — August 21, 2006 @ 10:42 am
Oh boy, been there. Hope the move goes as smoothly as it can!!!
Comment by Jill — August 21, 2006 @ 11:45 am
i know how you feel. we moved just downstairs too this weekend and it is hard. all the stuff we don’t need and too many things we already have. woof almost finish. good luck leslie
Comment by kim H — August 21, 2006 @ 11:56 am
Do you mean after 8 years, I am supposed to have unpacked all those boxes still hanging around in unused bedrooms, basement and attic???
when our youngest went to college, even though she stayed home, we threatened to change the color of the house and the number. You are the first one that I know that actually has done that. Don’t worry, they still find their way home.:thumbsup2:
Comment by ev — August 21, 2006 @ 12:18 pm
Big hugs, Les! I’ve lived in the same house for over 15 years now, and I can’t imagine having to pack everything up and move. Though, I do know I have a ton of crap I probably need to get rid of, and that would do the trick, LOL!
I can’t wait until you’re settled in your NEW place and back to writing. :P
Comment by Janelle — August 21, 2006 @ 12:57 pm
Good Luck Leslie
Comment by cherylann — August 21, 2006 @ 1:03 pm
My 18 year old is start college in Sept too but he will still be living with my parents. The college is only about 10 minutes away.
In the same envelope that all his report cards are, there are also the class pictures from kindergarten up.
I always found that with packing, the things you don’t think you need, you pack and then you need them.
Comment by Christa — August 21, 2006 @ 1:29 pm
Leslie I feel your pain. Isn’t it amazing how much stuff a family can collect. We recently moved from a house that we lived in for 18 years and I couldn’t believe all the treasures, ha,ha. But even though it is a bi**h to move, I know that you are going to love your new place.
Comment by Ardie — August 21, 2006 @ 1:30 pm
Leslie - I don’t have kids but I know the pains of packing
Tip: Load the bathroom supplies last so it’s upfront in the truck when you arrive. Good Luck with the move, enjoy the new digs and make sure to kick back with one or two (or as needed) :cocktail: once you unpack the what you need to get through the first night. (the rest will figure itself out). Good Luck to your college student. It’ll be quiet for sometime but school break will be there before you know it!
Comment by Yolanda — August 21, 2006 @ 1:45 pm
Best of luck with the move - enjoy that family - and maybe you’ll get a book or two out of your recent (and upcoming) experiences.
Major hugs - thanks for making me smile through tears.
Comment by Sunny Lyn — August 21, 2006 @ 2:14 pm
Leslie, MOVE is a 4 letter word–I think that says it all!!
I hate moving & I won’t tell you how long the boxes that are in my spare room have been sitting there with who knows what in them!! I really need this stuff, really! Why is it when you move & you know you packed those cookbook (or whatever) they somehow did not arrive at your new house!! Those mysterious “they’s” must have taken them!
Good luck with your move. Enjoy your daughter’s growing up & becoming all you hoped she would be. I never had that “oh they are leaving” home syndrome. Must be some gene I am missing!
Comment by Donna M — August 21, 2006 @ 3:57 pm
May you arrive at your new home safely.
I movd after 30 years in the same house. Can you imagine the s**t I found tucked away in various hidey holes?
Comment by Estella Kissell — August 21, 2006 @ 5:17 pm
Wow! I thought it was jsut me with all the unpacked boxes. After 6 years, I’ll have to make my husban d read this post where he’ll stop bitchin’.
Also, after 40+ years in the same house, my parents just moved 1400 miles away. They took so much junk. I am so glad I will NOT be there when they finally can move into their house.
Also, Leslie–it is just as hard on the kids to move away or have you move away. I am 32 and never lived over 7miles from my parents. This has been a very rough 3 months. I shed tears almost daily. :cry: Rest assured your dayghter will miss you.
Good Luck.:love2:
Comment by Debbie — August 21, 2006 @ 6:17 pm
Leslie, You always make me laugh, & touch me. My 40 yo son is moving to Dublin, Ireland on a 2-yr. contract, departing Sun., because his company’s business is moving its headquarters there, & I am already getting teary-eyed, even though he’s had his own apartment/house for years. Rest assured, unless your freshman is very different from all my friends’ kids (& my son), she’ll be back & forth to/from your house MANY times. Seriously, I hope she loves college, & you will be so busy actually getting to spend time with your hubby, you’ll not be TOO sad about it.
HUGS to you during this upsetting time. Just know that your sense of humor will get you through it.
Patricia A.
Comment by Patricia — August 21, 2006 @ 6:47 pm
Leslie……..I was laughing at some of the points you made on your move. Just know that you are not alone. When I moved the last time I was truly amazed at all the stuff I had accumulated in the 2 years we had been in the house, and that did not include the boxes we had not unpacked because we knew that this was just a stop over move…………..:P
Comment by Cryna — August 21, 2006 @ 7:26 pm
Awwwww. My eldest daughter just graduated from college - now trying to find a job. My youngest is in her second year staying at home and leaves me emptied nested next year boohoo.
Comment by jeanne — August 21, 2006 @ 8:36 pm
You’ve given me a sneek preview of what will happen if we ever move…can you say Be Afraid..Be Very Afraid?
Comment by Jeanette Jackson — August 21, 2006 @ 9:14 pm
Elisa
Comment by Elisa Varey — August 21, 2006 @ 11:41 pm
We moved last year and aside from special toys and books that I kept and jokingly called my “Grandma Stash” (little did I know my son and his wife would get pregnant on their honeymoon six months later and present me with the most precious granddaughter two months ago), the one thing I could not make myself throw away was a McDonald’s McPumpkin filled with crayons.
Rocki’s gonna be SOOOOOOO sad when you’re gone. Have a safe move and remember to relax. Try spending the first night in a motel instead of the house. I just read that it makes the move less stressful.
Comment by Marilyn — August 22, 2006 @ 5:15 pm
Comment by Olga Rubio — August 25, 2006 @ 2:45 pm