We just completed a move to a new state: new to my husband, but home to me since I grew up not far from our new house.
What did I learn during the move?
1. You can throw a LOT more than you think. I thought I had weeded out greatly before the move. Nope. We still took 3 carloads to the Goodwill AFTER we moved.
2. Something will be lost. I can't find my egg timer or my favorite measuring cup. They should have been in the Box of Miscellaneous Kitchen Stuff. I suspect they'll turn up in the Christmas decorations or something. They aren't truly Lost. They just haven't been found yet.
3. Hire it done. We had great movers (thanks, Allied Van Lines) who went the extra mile to make sure our move was done right. They did it all in disgustingly hot weather and they did it with a smile. Great company!
4. Once you move in: hire it done. How many "it'll just take 10 minutes" projects has my husband undertaken, only to find, 5 hours later, that he didn't have the right part or the right tool. We've decided: anything that has to get done NOW will be done by a pro, even though DH might be able to do it. That way, his precious free time isn't sucked up by cursing because the lighting kit didn't come with all parts needed.
5. Take time to have some fun. We took a break the week after our move and went to a play at the local theater. It was so nice to get away from boxes and disarray. It gave us some energy to tackle the rest of the unpacking.
6. Don't forget why you moved. We've had dinner with family and friends since we moved. That's why we did it -- to be closer to them and to have a more relaxed style of life. No commuting (I'm telecommuting now), a different, slower-paced place.
7. Hope for the best, but ... The buyer of our old house is now angry that she had a superficial home inspection and problems have cropped up --- problems we knew nothing about when we sold the house. We've had to hire a lawyer to make sure her buyer's remorse doesn't affect us badly. Sigh. We were so happy to have found a buyer who seemed to appreciate an older home (70 year old house). Turns out she had different expectations. So I guess the moral is: expect a bit of rain on your parade. Just hope it won't drown out the fun!
Now it's time for me to get a new schedule for my writing and get going on finishing that latest book. I'm looking forward to using my new office, my new home, and getting acquainted with my new town.
Onward!
3 comments:
I hope you have many many wonderful years in your new home - and that you find your egg timer ;-)
JL,
Moving is so much work, but sounds like you've found the right new home for you and your DH.
Enjoy!
Isn't it amazing what you find you can live without?
We're living in our RV now because we're traveling so much for his work but it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be to downsize what I needed to live in the RV.
I think the hardest things to pack away were the sentimental things from when the kids were young.
Did you get the warranty on your old house? My daughter got one when she bought her first house. If anything goes wrong, you pay a $50 deductible and the warranty covers it.
Since we haven't totally emptied out our house and it's been sitting empty since 2006, she's been encouraging me to get the warranty when I put it on the market. After reading about your buyer, it's just one more check mark in the warranty column.
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