Aubrey Posted July 11, 2010 Share Posted July 11, 2010 What do you do if you know you might be moving in a month? Or maybe two? Or maybe a yr? Everything's up in the air, so of course I'm culling. Yesterday, I got the play room clean/organized enough that if I had to pack it today, I think it could be done in under 2hrs. We've got the toys on a rotation system anyway, so 11/12 of their toys stay packed all yr. :thumbup: for packing them. :lol: I kind-of want to get boxes now & pack anything I know I won't need for the next six mos. (sewing) The laundry rm is a wreck w/ dh's tools & stuff, but other than asking him to sort & organize, I don't think there's much we can do, since he'll need them out whether we move or not. Now the real issue. The garden. We've got squash that's producing faster than we can keep up, watermelon, canteloupe, zucchini, bell peppers, & tomatoes w/ flowers but little to no fruit so far. And we've got corn that seems to be getting corny. If we have the option of waiting for the produce, how much longer do you think that'll be? Poor ds, he says he was looking forward to seeing the garden change "next yr & the yr after that & then the yr after that." I nearly fell on the floor. I said, "Really? You want to be here another THREE years?" And we both laughed. His best friend's moving to another state, so he's kind-of in a funk anyway. That kid loses more friends than anybody I ever met. :( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmrich Posted July 11, 2010 Share Posted July 11, 2010 are you going somewhere that you want to go? We have almost twice. I packed and unpacked and then did it again, but each time I purged. I still haven't found my bundt pan, but somehow I have survived! I say when the mood strikes you to clean, organize, pack - go with it! That mood never lasts very long. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mynyel Posted July 11, 2010 Share Posted July 11, 2010 We are in kinda the same position. We are looking to move but haven't found anything. However I haven't budged with packing. We have moved 8 (2 local, 6 state to state) times since 1998 and to say I am tired of packing is an understatement. When I know we are moving then I will, with a wary eye, start packing things up. Until then....all things are go :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MSNative Posted July 11, 2010 Share Posted July 11, 2010 Will you be selling your house? Best thing I did was have a realtor come look and give me a to do list. I hit the most imp. ones first, but since we ended up having a few extra months, I was able to get most of the list knocked out. Made a huge diff. selling the house. Other than that, you're on the right course - lose the junk. We tried to donate three garbage bags of stuff a week. Managed to do it for a few months. Amazing how much crap hides (or doesn't hide) in a house. Be ruthless with your books and clothes - if y'all are like my fam. you have way too many of them. I thought I'd done a good job but I still have 10 book boxes we haven't even opened and all of our ridiculously many bookcases are stuffed. For your kiddos - do some research on the new place. Find some cool things to do, see, etc about the new place to get your kids (and you) excited about moving. Oh and find some cool plants that you could grow in the new location, too. You could also keep some of the seeds from your current garden to plant in the new one. Garden - hmmm, our zones are diff, but my watermelon and cantaloupe are ripening - so probably another 3 weeks til harvest. Our peppers and tomatoes are bearing fruit but also need to ripen, again prob. a couple weeks. Corn - I don't grow it after living surrounded by corn. So, I'd say in a month you should be able to have a fair bit o' produce. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aubrey Posted July 11, 2010 Author Share Posted July 11, 2010 Will you be selling your house? Best thing I did was have a realtor come look and give me a to do list. I hit the most imp. ones first, but since we ended up having a few extra months, I was able to get most of the list knocked out. Made a huge diff. selling the house. Nope, we're renting. Other than that, you're on the right course - lose the junk. We tried to donate three garbage bags of stuff a week. Managed to do it for a few months. Amazing how much crap hides (or doesn't hide) in a house. Be ruthless with your books and clothes - if y'all are like my fam. you have way too many of them. I thought I'd done a good job but I still have 10 book boxes we haven't even opened and all of our ridiculously many bookcases are stuffed. I'll purge anything but books. Those, I've catalogued into Library Thing & labeled, to make moving them more organized. Between dh & I, both liberal arts majors, & the fact that we're a hs'ing family, I know where the open nerves are. Books stay. ;) unless I can talk dh out of *his* books. For your kiddos - do some research on the new place. Find some cool things to do, see, etc about the new place to get your kids (and you) excited about moving. Oh and find some cool plants that you could grow in the new location, too. You could also keep some of the seeds from your current garden to plant in the new one. Not moving that far, actually. We're not incredibly gardeny people. The seminary built us a raised bed, though, filled it w/ dirt, & even brought plants. I mainly want the dc to get to see this one through; whether or not we have another one is a separate issue. Garden - hmmm, our zones are diff, but my watermelon and cantaloupe are ripening - so probably another 3 weeks til harvest. Our peppers and tomatoes are bearing fruit but also need to ripen, again prob. a couple weeks. Corn - I don't grow it after living surrounded by corn. So, I'd say in a month you should be able to have a fair bit o' produce. So that sounds like if we move in August, we won't be abandoning the garden? Sept might be ideal? My kids are nutty. They treat the plants like they treat their stuffed animals, reporting the events of their lives, giving personality, etc. Ds gets near tears when he can't talk to the "unintelligent" zucchini or if he's unable to tell the squash plant how we used its fruit (which apparently makes the veggies really happy). :lol: If the garden's done producing, I don't think they'll mind leaving. If we get to stay, maybe we'll do fall plants, I don't know. This is the first time I haven't killed everything I planted. I'm *shocked* to see green stuff shoot up out of the ground. :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SailorMom Posted July 11, 2010 Share Posted July 11, 2010 If everything is clean and de-cluttered, the actual packing should only take a week. The hardest part is always going through all the closets, junk drawers, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Samiam Posted July 11, 2010 Share Posted July 11, 2010 About a month before the move, I start to pack anything that we don't use on a regular basis, is kitchen things on the top cupboards that are never touched. CD's that DH collected but never uses. Most all of decor items that are just to "look at", ie pics/vases/knickknacks stuff. About two weeks before the move, I start to pack things that we have used recently, but could survive a few weeks without....certain books, some toys, extra linens, more kitchen things, children's room (the knick-knack stuff), DVD collection. DH also started to dissemble certain furniture, since his time was more limited. So he took beds apart, and we just slept on mattresss on the floor. A week before the move, I kick into high gear...all books, basically everything except the kitchen. The day before the moving truck arrives, I pack the kitchen.. yes, all of this could be done in just one week, but LIFE also has to be lived during that week. I found that the move was alot less stressful when I felt like I was ahead of the game on packing, instead of racing to get it all done. Because there was also cleaning that needed to be done, utility arrangements, good-bye to friends (we were moving to a diff state), finish up activities, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tess in the Burbs Posted July 11, 2010 Share Posted July 11, 2010 well we are moving and had only a month to get this done. We have spent the past week packing and looking for a place to live. Still don't have a place to live and the house is now listed. Hope to secure a new living space this week and then will book the truck/friends to load truck..... no advice really. It's possible but it's hectic! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aubrey Posted July 11, 2010 Author Share Posted July 11, 2010 Dh & I are the worst. movers. ever. So bad, I hate having people come to help, where they can see how bad we are at it. The only solution I can think of--because I'm not completely sure what we're doing wrong--is to just stop moving. :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Girls' Mom Posted July 11, 2010 Share Posted July 11, 2010 Lol. Yeah, come fall, you may actually be glad to tell the garden good bye, because it can quickly look like some sort of horror movie aftermath. :) At least mine did when everything started dying off in the fall. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom in High Heels Posted July 11, 2010 Share Posted July 11, 2010 Well, dh is military, so we move all the time. All. the. time. In the 14 years he's been in, we've moved 10 times. I could move in my sleep. :) Organization is the key. We did a trans-Atlantic move with 4 weeks notice, including shipping cars and pets. Of course the military sends people to pack us out, but it is still soooooo much work. For me. Dh is hopeless at moving. Probably on purpose so he can get out of it. :sneaky2: Why might you be moving? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lisa in Jax Posted July 11, 2010 Share Posted July 11, 2010 Just sayin'. ;-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LarlaB Posted July 11, 2010 Share Posted July 11, 2010 I'm easing towards your position except that we aren't sure if we are selling our house or finding renters... and we are moving to Colorado. I will have to have my house show-ready so I'm already starting to de-clutter, purge/edit and deep clean. The further I get, the more manageable it seems, ya know? I've started w/ closets (linen, bedrooms, coat, storage etc) this week and will move on to another are next week. Agreed that if you've done the groundwork and your house has been editted & decluttered in preparation, AND you have sufficient boxes/packing materials...it can go pretty quickly. :) Good luck! Laura Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosie_0801 Posted July 11, 2010 Share Posted July 11, 2010 Oh, my sympathies. We've just come through this ourselves, having moved after "going to be moving" for, uh, about three years I think it was. Pack up the books you've read recently and won't be wanting to read for the next six months. Once you've recovered from the panic attack that induces, pack up all the rest of the books that aren't the best favourite bedtime stories and rely on the library to carry you through until the move. DEFINITELY start collecting boxes if you have anywhere at all to stash them. Actually, you should probably collect them even if you don't have anywhere to stash them. Rosie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aubrey Posted July 11, 2010 Author Share Posted July 11, 2010 Oh, my sympathies. We've just come through this ourselves, having moved after "going to be moving" for, uh, about three years I think it was. Pack up the books you've read recently and won't be wanting to read for the next six months. Once you've recovered from the panic attack that induces, pack up all the rest of the books that aren't the best favourite bedtime stories and rely on the library to carry you through until the move. DEFINITELY start collecting boxes if you have anywhere at all to stash them. Actually, you should probably collect them even if you don't have anywhere to stash them. Rosie I have to *know* we're moving to do w/out books. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosie_0801 Posted July 12, 2010 Share Posted July 12, 2010 I have to *know* we're moving to do w/out books. :D I know. It's traumatic. I found that emptying shelves made me feel I was doing something productive :D It's not like I could pack up my kitchen until the last minute. Hey, maybe you need to do it the opposite way to how I did it. Leave the books out, and pack up your pots and pans. That'd work, huh? :tongue_smilie: Rosie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HollyDay Posted July 12, 2010 Share Posted July 12, 2010 We are in the same boat. Might move. Might not move. Might move with only 2 weeks notice. Might not move. Might move anytime to anywhere. Ugh!! It is frustrating! I went through the house and packed up "clutter" : figurines, sea shells, other decorations I don't want to get rid of, but could live without for a while. We have been going through closets and pitching or donating old clothes, shoes, etc. I've gone through bookshelves and pruned that. We are "eating down the freezer" in an attempt to get it more manageable. Now, I will only store a couple weeks worth of food at a time. I'm burning candles I don't want to pitch, but can't move. We have put off buying anything we don't absolutely need. (I'd like a new sofa, but not buying one until we know if we are moving or not). Our winter clothes are boxed instead of being pushed in the back of the closet. All I would need to do is to tape them up and mark the boxes. Christmas will be my next challenge. I start shopping in Aug so I can get a couple things each pay period. I'm going to use a storage container and just put everything in it. If I were smart, I'd wrap each thing, then make a master list so I don't forget what I've bought :) before I put it in the storage container. If we move prior to Christmas, I'll just seal that box and go. No garden. No compost pile going. Just maintaining the yard. I've started collecting boxes and I bought packing paper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantlion Posted July 12, 2010 Share Posted July 12, 2010 We're in the we will be moving, but don't know when or where camp. It could be two months, it could be six, it could be a year. Hopefully closer to two-six. :grouphug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aubrey Posted July 12, 2010 Author Share Posted July 12, 2010 I know. It's traumatic. I found that emptying shelves made me feel I was doing something productive :D It's not like I could pack up my kitchen until the last minute. Hey, maybe you need to do it the opposite way to how I did it. Leave the books out, and pack up your pots and pans. That'd work, huh? :tongue_smilie: Rosie Oh! It's like you read my mind! No, the thing is, I don't want to have to *unpack* if we don't move. I'm trying to think, "Deep clean for the new school year." Stuff that's helpful whether or not we move. But the shelf I want dh to hang? Not until we know we're staying. And the closet-organizing junk I'd like to buy? Have to know which closets we'll have. That would really only make a little difference, but enough to hold off until we know for sure. Urgh. And worse, dh is fantasizing about a bigger house. He rarely fantasizes, so I'm getting a little swept up. I've been fantasizing about not moving. :lol: He seems to think that's unlikely, though. :glare: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MariannNOVA Posted July 12, 2010 Share Posted July 12, 2010 If everything is clean and de-cluttered, the actual packing should only take a week. The hardest part is always going through all the closets, junk drawers, etc. I keep everything at this point, and some is at the point that you write about in your original post -- room could be packed in two hours. I know we will be going in 6-12 months -- I'm ready. Clean and de-cluttered is the key. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThatCyndiGirl Posted July 12, 2010 Share Posted July 12, 2010 Take butcher paper or poster board or something and put on a door. List EVERY SINGLE TASK that must be completed between now and moving day. EVERYTHING from returning library books to forwarding mail to shutting off utilities. It has made our moves so much easier!! Also, I list NET and NLT dates both there and on a calendar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blessedwithboys Posted July 12, 2010 Share Posted July 12, 2010 As of last week, we *are* moving. DH leaves tomorrow. The kids and I will follow when the house sells. Of course to sell the house, I have to have it on the market. To get the house ready for market, I need to clean, declutter, paint, etc. I'm hoping to have the house clean and on the market in two weeks. But, I have no idea how long it will take to sell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harriet Vane Posted July 12, 2010 Share Posted July 12, 2010 We're in the we will be moving, but don't know when or where camp. It could be two months, it could be six, it could be a year. Hopefully closer to two-six. :grouphug: Me too. The uncertainty is absolutely killing me. I will function waaaaaay better when we finally know what's going to happen. :grouphug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aubrey Posted July 12, 2010 Author Share Posted July 12, 2010 Take butcher paper or poster board or something and put on a door. List EVERY SINGLE TASK that must be completed between now and moving day. EVERYTHING from returning library books to forwarding mail to shutting off utilities. It has made our moves so much easier!! Also, I list NET and NLT dates both there and on a calendar. What's NET & NLT? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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