Friday, August 15, 2008

Movement

We're moving! I'm excited! We're only moving about 70 miles away but it's enough to start afresh. Hubby's been making the commute every day. It's not a bad drive but the worst part has certainly been the gas prices and, sometimes, the weather.

The house is about 65% packed. We dug through our house and got rid of extra stuff. I had no idea how much we had accumulated. So I got rid of the dead weight. I'm still convinced that 15% of what we're moving will be deemed "excess" when we I unpack but it's really hard to tell until I've been living in the house (and accesorizing it). I used to think I traveled light through life but now I've been hit with the revelation that this is patently untrue.

Something I wish I would have started when I began packing:
Making a database or at least a list of our possessions, categorized with serial numbers. I've heard that this can be advantageous for those who find themselves filing an insurance claim or police report in the event of a loss or catastrophe. Now that I've got more than half of our things packed, I realized that this was the perfect opportunity to do it. I've considered making such a list as I unpack but I have a feeling it will go too quickly for that. I don't like to live out of boxes and with the kids starting school right away, I think its best for them to at least have their lives in order as soon as possible.

Things I've learned from packing this time:

*The liquor store has THE best free boxes. They are sturdy because they have held liquid and glass, they often have dividers, and they tend to be similarly sized. The boxes stack great because they are both sturdy and around the same size across the different brands. The dividers are great for many things. You'll end up with extra dividers but these are good to cut down and stacked between plates and other fragile items.

*You CAN use newspaper for packing material, even around objects that you don't want the printing to touch. Just get some plain packing paper, tissue paper, or paper towels and wrap the objects in a layer of it first. Then crumpled newspaper can be used to properly pad them. The objects won't have pesky newsprint stains. I suppose I'll have to be careful to unpack the newspaper and wash my hands before removing the unprinted inner layer of packing paper.

*Small boxes are BETTER than big ones. When they are packed, they are much lighter. I packed our huge collection of books (minus a micro-collection I've assembled for the time period between when I pack and unpack) into smaller boxes. This way they can be carried easily. I suspect that the truck will have less air pockets because we'll have smaller boxes going in.

*Don't fold over your boxes to close them. They are better when TAPED CLOSED. This way the flaps lay flat and the boxes are more solid when stacked. But I do offer this tip: fold over the very end of the packing tape before taping the box shut. This way you'll have a tab for pulling off the tape. I'd rather not loose track of the razor knife as I unpack.

*Write labels on all four sides and the top. Put the location of the room on four sides and the top. No matter how it is loaded into the truck, you'll know just where each box goes and how it should be treated. On top give a little info about what's inside. On the sides words like "heavy" and "fragile" help determine how the box is loaded into the truck and who can carry it.