We are knee deep in cardboard boxes here. It’s not pretty! But, we’re making lots of progress! We started the pre-move activities about a month ago. I decided to make it easy – start on one side of the house (the master bathroom), and work my way across the house. That’s a trick I learned from a housekeeper years ago. Start in one corner, and just start moving around the room. Don’t bounce from one place to another. Just. Move. Forward.
With each new cabinet, closet, or room, I was armed with a garbage bag, a box for Goodwill, and a box for the new place. The bathroom cabinets are now empty. My craft closet (which was labeled an avalanche risk) is also empty. I skipped the master bedroom closet…because, well, let’s just say I needed an entire day for that job. The bar cabinets are empty. The linen closet is empty. The kids’ bathroom – also empty. The boys had already gone through all their stuff and their closet. We were making excellent headway and we are the local Goodwill location’s favorite people right now!
But, then there was….THE GARAGE. Oh my gosh. It was awful. Stuff stacked up everywhere…most of it things belonging to the kids – even the kids who didn’t live here anymore! On “garage packing weekend,” I used the same technique. I started on one corner, by the hot water heater, and worked my way around the room. Richard spent hours packing up all the drawers and cabinets in the tool area. Since we are downsizing considerably, our son in law, Justin, asked for all the power tools, lawn equipment, etc. Of course, we can borrow whatever we want when we want. He’s setting up a huge “shop” in his new, large garage.
By the next day, there was a noticeable echo in our garage and we were pretty darned proud of ourselves! Tonight, we attacked the storage shed. It’s looking really good, too! And, I’m proud to say that the master bedroom closet is now almost empty as well.
Last week, Frank (almost 24) moved his stuff out. He’s renting a room from Ali and Justin until he leaves for medical school next year. We miss him so much but he LOVES his new, bigger room with two large windows! (I’m quite sure he misses Mommy coming in to kiss him goodnight each night. Ha ha. Seriously. I did that. And, the more he scowled each night, the more I made a big deal out of it. Oh, I DO so love giving my children a hard time!)
I have learned one lesson over the past month and I’m happy to share it with you.
STOP BUYING CRAP!
😉
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Angela Hoy lives on a mountain in North Georgia. She is the publisher of WritersWeekly.com, the President and CEO of BookLocker.com and AbuzzPress, and the author of 24 books.
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Harry Husted, no. That’s a stock photo in our inventory here. We live in a one-story home in Bradenton, Florida, about 5 minutes from the beach. 🙂
Yes living light is absolutem. One cold Canadian February day I was bored. Oh oh. I went through all the stuff accumulated from two grandmas, my mother, and a step mother. Three boxes: The Kid first and then friends, secondhand store, and dumpster. Dumpster stuff has to be smashed so the drug dealers won’t climb in, take, and pawn in order to pay their bad guys. The next February I culled what I hadn’t done before. Then came papers and documents saved since I started to collect them in the late 1700s.
Guess what! I have tons of space. I still shop secondhand stores but now I bring home only stuff that I will actually use. At least for a year. Well maybe a season. You should see the solid wood table I carried home. Etc.
Yes living light means never having to invent new expletives or try to pawn stuff off on your buddies who say no my husband will kill me if I bring home more stuff.
House ownership was the tour de jour in the olden days (mine). It meant something. It does now too: pay til you die.
Happy moving!
When the Goodwill bags take up more space than the moving boxes, that’s when we realize the difference between what we think we “have” to have and what we actually “need” to have. Going forward, keep those stacks of Goodwill bags in mind while you’re out shopping. When tempted with a potential purchase, ask yourself: “Where will I keep it? How often will I use it? In 10 years, will it end up in the next moving box, or in the next Goodwill bag?” Best wishes on your move!
Is the house in the picture, the house you are moving out of? It’s big.