Lessons in Moving

Today the movers arrive to lift and carry our heavy stuff 13 miles across town to our new, forever, I'm-not-moving-out-of-it-alive house.  We didn't mean to buy a house this year, or even next. However... yeah. The bank told us we could afford one, and the search began, mainly in a quest for more garage space for the man. Okay, so I wanted a change too, but that's almost beside the point. 


Since we're through the purchase phase and into the moving phase, I have some random thoughts. In no particular order, these are things I've learned -- again. I'll happily forget them once the last box is broken down and toted off.


1. It's almost impossible to have too much packing tape.
2. Boxes packed by males will have almost no detail written on the outside.
3. It's fun to unpack pictures that have been in storage since the last move, especially when it's been a few years.
4. Silver needs polishing after being packed away for several years. Buy silver polish and prepare to spend a day doing it. Or shove it in a cabinet until the next holiday dinner.
5. Unless you start packing weeks in advance, do not expect the males to adhere to your box labeling/numbering system. Once they start carrying things out to the trucks and hauling, they won't bother. If you want them numbered, do it yourself. EARLY.
6. Plants appreciate getting into the new digs as early as possible. Probably because mine were starving for water. Now they're spread out, easy to reach, and living in a lighter, airier space. They also add a touch of life to an empty building or a spot of color in a sea of brown boxes.
7. Tunes on the stereo help keep tired workers moving.
8. Packing and unpacking are more fun when you have help. I've had a chance to spend a little more time with a niece and nephew who came to help. 
9. Whenever possible, recruit tall people. I call them my walking ladders. My niece is ten inches taller than me and could easily reach the top of cabinets when I'd need a ladder to do it. I love tall people!
10. Avoid other appointments moving week. They take far more time than you have. Schedule the massage for after the move.
11. Avoid embarrassment, pack your private things yourself. Otherwise you have family/friends holding up the odd DVD with a raised brow. Fortunately the friend who found the "O" DVD has also read my books... ahem. (It fell down behind a shelving unit - oops)
12. Make sure you get your sleep!
13. If that new house has a big tub, be sure to test it at the first opportunity. Mine works great! I had to test it twice to be sure.
14. Keep cell phones charged and easy to find. No joke, the first day of moving mine was dead and I couldn't find it. My husband's fell down in his truck and he couldn't find it. And a couple of times when I tried to reach the kid and hubby, they had their ringers turned off!!!  Makes it hard to communicate. 
15. Keep a notebook, write down as much as you can, and hold on to receipts!
16. If the title company offers you a copy of your papers on disc, take it! I was able to email the file to my accountant, saving time and paper. And she'll be better prepared next tax season when I can't find the papers...
17. If your move is scheduled during fishing season, your pool of available volunteers will be greatly diminished. Same if you move the same week as RWA National.  -_-
18. Feed your workers! And hydrate them. Also, a beer at the end of the day will help ease tired muscles, theirs and yours.
19. The more little stuff you move, the less you have to pay someone else to do it, but save your back and hire out the heavy stuff to the pros. I'm not moving that industrial sized air compressor, and neither is my husband. 
20. If someone offers you space to store packed boxes early on, jump on it. Mom gave up her garage to store boxes so we'd have room to move around. Bless the woman.
21. Keep a good book, or three, handy!!!  I have my Sony ereader nearby at all times. When I need a break, out it comes and for 15 minutes I can escape it all...
22. Remember to breathe. It will all be over soon! Just keep moving. Each item wrapped, each box packed puts you that much closer to your dream house!

Oh, and one last thing, Weathering the Storm, Book Three of the Open Window Series is coming very soon! Early September it goes on sale, so be ready by reading Books 1 and 2. Both can be found at Amazon and other places ebooks are sold.


Blurb: On the road to recovery, sometimes it helps to circle back to where it all began. She wants a new life, he wants a low maintenance wife. When the storm clears, they both see exactly what they want.

Excerpt

My accident had interrupted the contract I was deeply involved in. Progress had been stalled once I was out of the game. No one else had been quite able to follow my thinking, a fact the Director of Research and Development had griped about one of the times he came to see me. He’d kindly waited until after I could identify myself and count my fingers and toes again. The rants were not because he wanted to make me feel bad, but rather, I think he wanted me to know I was missed. And he wanted to me to heal fast and get back to work before he had to find someone to take my place.

I missed being there and it was my supreme goal to get back. However, that required a doctor’s approval, and until I passed a few more brain tests, they weren’t signing on the dotted line. Which was why I’d flown to Alaska in the first place. To build new paths around damaged memory cells. Part of which included new experiences, such as, maybe, wooing the opposite sex.

And Mr. Paul Bunyan looked like a viable candidate to practice on.




Morgan Q. O'Reilly
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