The weekend saw some major productivity in packing. Friday night Bill took Ben camping so I took advantage of a quiet(er) house and packed the kitchen. Wait, aren't you still living in the house until you officially move? What kind of family weigh loss plan are you enforcing? Yes, so don't plan on a dinner party given I kept out just enough to keep our family afloat. At this point we are eating down on the pantry/freezer. Mighty creative meals, you bet.
When we started packing unlike previous moves, where ultimately furniture and lots of stuff eventually would be hauled away to charity AFTER the move, I planned a different system. The end game being I want the entire house moved in one day and if possible unpacked in 48 hours. Coordination of carpet, paint, cleaning, then moving is a challenge given we have a beach trip planned just before we move and are leaving a couple of days after closing.
Had I know in early March when I booked (without the thought of needing insurance,) that we would be in the middle of a move then I wouldn't have planned to back to back major events. Instead we are using leaving for the trip our catalyst to get the entire house packed before we leave.
This is a mighty task may I add. The kids are, let's just say do not share this plan of productivity, thus almost all packing happens after bedtimes.
From one of the moving companies I had gotten an estimate was the suggestion of color coding rooms using post it notes. This may around CRAZY not to write on the boxes the location or even the contents but instead just box it, tape it, mark it by room, and move on.
The idea is that the movers we have hired work on an hourly basis. Time is money. If at all possible I want to have the house loaded and moved under the 8 hour time estimate. I'm shooting for 6, 5 if we can dissemble furniture before they arrive.
Instead of parking someone near the door to tell the movers which room is which, make a color coded sign highly visible on the front door, sticky note each box, then put the same color sticky note on the door frame.
I added a strip of packing tape across the sticky note to make sure it didn't come off in transit and have also tried to wall up common boxes together in the garage. I also suggested to Bill that we pull all our shelving out of the attic and use to build a stronger base for the boxes instead of just thrown on top of one another.
We will see if this elementary school cut and paste approach works and helps us get moved from one place to another faster. You better believe that my motto of keeping something only because I use it 1. Once a day/week/month 2. Seasonal 3. Everything else goes, is in full force.
Ask me how much grief I gave Bill when he innocently asked if Ben would want his purple air brushed Blue Angles t-shirt. Take a wild guess where it went.
Did you guess the 4th car load of stuff to charity?
Good, you win (not that shirt my I add.)
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