Friday, June 23, 2017

Rawhide: Packing, Loading, Cleaning, Moving

Horror stories. Stress. Carelessness.

Not only do those words describe this past week, but it also describes every move we have ever had. If you have ever watched movers come into your house and put their hands on ever thing you own, then you might have been like us and taken the harder route by doing it all yourself.




Packing began in May with items we did not use frequently or were not going to use before we moved. Then I realized we still had 6 weeks to live in our house and we needed quite a lot to get by. So packing took a break. I started cleaning the more difficult areas of our house so that when we moved out we had to do a quick wipe down and call it a day. (Tips: Vinegar and a scrub brush gets up dirt between tile. Dish detergent and steel wool is excellent on the oven interior. Basically, steel wool on everything.)


The week after Evan's graduation was crunch time. Our containers were being delivered and picked up with or without our stuff in them. We had to be out of our house by Friday, June 23rd. Packing was in full swing as we transitioned to temporary living. Gabriel was so eager to help move that he packed up random objects even if they were not his or were still in use daily. Alistair was great at moving things from one place to another.


We had two "pods" delivered on Monday and had 2 full days to load up all of our stuff. When they rolled around to behind our garage, I had doubts if our stuff could actually fit into those 2 containers. Evan continually reassured me that our stuff would fit. I doubted it. I even doubted if he believed himself. It felt like whenever I walked into a room there was more chaos than when I left. It may or may not be the best method of moving, but in my mind the best way to get stuff from here to there was pack it up and take it to the containers.

Now, I realize that in order to make sure it all fits, all voids must be filled. And to do that logic must be applied to filling the space. But that didn't mean that I was not frusterated seeing boxes and furniture lying around while more boxes were being packed.

That's when I realized this (buying a house, packing our stuff, loading the containers, cleaning the residence) will not work ever again. Outsourcing to professionals is the way to go. Or, rather, I want nothing to do with the entire process but I do want to reap the benefits of an empty and clean house. I get why professional movers have the attitude of "not my shit; don't care" because the sooner they get done, the sooner they can get home. Evan remarked a few times that he has more stuff than he realized. I am hoping this packing and unpacking will encourage him to downsize his belongings. Just another difference in our personalities that is hard for me to process.

With some finagling, managed by Evan, our household goods did fit into those 2 containers!

Late nights and mornings getting up with the kids has left us exhausted, sore, bruised, and with dried out & rough hands and a larger muscle mass. No regrets. Our stuff made it on the containers, our house was cleaned to expectations, our cars were packed and loaded up. But, logistically this will not happen again.

The good news is that we made it to Fresno! Evan bought some fancy walkie- talkies for us to use, but he had a couple more errands to run in Monterey causing him to be delayed at least 2 hours so we have not tested them out on the road.


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