Okay… so… apparently I am addicted to moving. I am sitting here thinking about it and I have moved almost every year since 2005. It actually averages out to every year because I moved twice the first year and one year I didn’t move at all.
I say all that to giggle because I actually hate moving. I despise packing and unpacking. The stress of searching for a new place that will not make my situation worse than the place I am leaving.
However… I think I have gotten this down to a science and wanted to share with you guys (who are most likely not gypsies) what I have learned.
YOU CAN NEVER BE TOO ANAL!
Of course my helpers look at me like I am crazy walking around with tape and ziploc bags. I pull all the pegs out of the bookcases and put them in a ziploc bag. All the screws, nuts, and bolts from the beds gets put in a ziploc bag and taped to an actual piece of the bed. Cords should be packed with the electronics they belong to. (Currently searching for the cord to connect my blu-ray player to my television.)
Trust me. This is when being anal is good and will save you some sanity.
DON’T BE SO DAMN ANAL!
Ha! Yeah. I just read what I wrote before that. But here is where being anal is going to cause you to lose sanity. At some point the box with stuff from the bathroom or hall closet is going to not be full and you are going to have to put the extra stuff from the living room in it. Do not have two half-empty boxes. Save some trees.
PREPARE THE EVER SO IMPORTANT BOX OF THINGS YOU WILL NEED IN THE NEXT 24 TO 48 HOURS!
Yeah… you know… the toilet paper, your tooth brush, soap, paper plates, cups, trash bags, the cleaning supplies, your cell phone charger, allergy medicine, pain medicine (the most important item), and a towel.
FUNNY TURTLE MOVING MOMENT:
That time I felt stupid for allowing my OCD to force me to unpack and repack a box to be more efficient and fit more stuff in it only to find that my car keys were in the box…
WHEN SHOPPING FOR A NEW PLACE… KNOW WHAT LANDMARKS ARE IMPORTANT AND MAKE SURE YOU HAVE COMFORTABLE ACCESS TO THEM!
Okay… so for some people this means the bus stop or the nearest gas station. I have friends who want to be within a certain distance from a grocery store.
Me… I’m looking for the Target. How far am I from Chipotle? Where is the nearest 7 Eleven or Royal Farms? Does that Royal Farms sell chicken or nah? Who delivers to my new spot? (Because living in the cut is just as bad as living in The Wire.)
We all have our values and what matters to us. I need to know where the nearest GOOD Chinese food spot is and if they deliver.
IT REALLY DOES MATTER HOW YOU LOAD AND UNLOAD THE TRUCK!
It was once said that Tetris is a life skill. That was probably one of the single greatest things that particular person ever said.
If you are going long distances you want to pack that truck tight so that stuff doesn’t fall all over the place. Hell… in the DMV… you want to pack it tight even for short distances. These potholes are vicious.
You really want to load all the boxes on the truck first. Then the big furniture.
Why?
Because then you can unload the furniture first and then the boxes.
While unloading furniture you can actually attempt to put it as close to where you want it as possible. That makes unpacking so much easier.
FUNNY TURTLE MOVING MOMENT:
That time they unloaded all the boxes and put them against the walls and put all the bookcases in the middle of the floor…
NEED TO GET SOME KIDS OUT OF YOUR HAIR WHILE PACKING OR UNPACKING??? PUT THEM ON TOY DUTY!
No, seriously. Tell your kid to pack the toys… or unpack the toys. They will be out of your hair for hours. If packing… you are probably going to have to still pack the toys… but the moments of solitude are worth it.
THE GREATEST LABELING KIT FOR BOXES AND TOTES: SHARPIE AND MASKING TAPE!
I think that is self explanatory. Kits the truck companies and hardware stores are wastes of money. If you don’t want to write something permanent on your totes… use masking tape and write on that.
GOD BLESS THE REUSABLE BAGS FROM THE SUPERMARKETS!
Yeah… all that stuff… that miscellaneous stuff left over fits perfectly in those bags you buy trying to be earth conscious and tend to leave in the house or car when you are actually shopping in the store.
There are a ton more tips that I could share… but I will save them for another blog post and go back to unpacking my new place!
Inside the Shell 
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