We had intended to rent a 10-foot truck for the move yesterday, but the local Budget Truck rental place was all out and gave us a 15-footer for the same price. Two full loads later, and we’re MOVED!
Much thanks to my brother, Chad’s brother, his girlfriend, Joe, and Nathen. Including Chad, they made up one mean moving team. Bella and I were there too of course, but I was the designated baby carrier and couldn’t carry very heavy loads, and Bella – well, I guess Bella helped too, but she spent most of her energy working on her own stuff – her room at the new house is already unpacked (!!!)
Because we rarely see Joe and Nathen (once a year?) and Songbae had flown down from San Fran, the day also felt like a reunion – good times.
This is will Chad and my first place alone with the kids: our first home. It hasn’t really sunk in yet that we are a family of FOUR now. Why does four sound like so much more than three?
All of our helpers had such different reactions to the amount of stuff we had. Songbae was all, WHAT!? You didn’t hire movers? Where do the day laborers hang out – let’s get one. and You have too much stuff and it’ll never fit in this new place! (And it’s true, it won’t – we’re getting rid of more stuff.) and [groan] I’m an old man!
Whereas Joe, who has helped us move a couple times said, Hey that was a pretty painless move (he arrived later in the day.)
And Nathen, who arrived with Joe and helped us move to Orange County last summer, commented that we had quite a bit less than we did then – and this time we had Chad’s stuff too (which admittedly is not very much).
In retrospect:
- Making oatmeal cookies, hummus, and iced tea in advance was good thing.
- I had packed a lot in advance, but not nearly enough.
- We should have things labeled more clearly GARAGE or HOUSE (we’ve gone from a 2-car attached to a 1-car detached and I’m a little worried I’ll never get around to using the things in my garage).
- Freecycle.org and craigslist.com were great ways to get rid of stuff (gave away two 27″ TVs and sold our fridge this weekend).
- You always need more boxes and packing tape (although Corrina: thank you for the packing material! It made packing my dishes and glasses a breeze.) I plan to get rid of the moving boxes with freecycle.org too.
- I’m trying to follow the advice of my sister-in-law who always says GET YOUR KITCHEN UNPACKED FIRST.
Now for the daunting task of unpacking a new house, hopefully before my sister and her family arrive on Thursday, but definitely before we leave for the east coast August 9. Unluckily, we also have to give the old house a through scrub down by Wednesday’s inspection – our unhappy landlord is now trying to blame the condition of the already pretty gross carpet on us. Happily, Chad’s childhood friend Nathen is here for the week and will be good company. (I asked if he was regretting coming now that he could see how much needed to be unpacked, and he said, No, it looks like fun!)