Moving Pains

So on Saturday we got these babies…

I spent most of the day scraping paint off windows and feeding hardworking men.  Micah spent most of Saturday in the woods with teenagers.  I’m not sure which one of us was better off.  Probably me.

Now that we had keys, we decided it was high time we moved the 30+ boxes occupying every square inch of our apartment.  It took 6 trips in our Honda Civic, but we cleared the boxes in  few hours and even managed to pick up a desk somewhere in the middle of all the boxed madness. 

The good thing is besides the actual furniture, we moved all the heavy stuff yesterday.  My parents were worried that maybe someone would break in and steal our stuff.  We’re not really worried.  I’m not sure too many people would want to steal books about music history, the Russian language or leftover wedding fabric.  We’re keeping the good stuff at my parents house until we can move in and get the security system installed.

We learned a few lessons about moving we’re noting down just incase someone asks us for moving advise later.

1. Don’t pack up things you need.  Remember, we packed up our winter coats?  In our defense, we packed them up in August when we thought we were moving in October.  Silly, naive us.

2. Plan your final meals in your current place out carefully.  I sort of did this.  I put out everything from the pantry we’d need for dinner through Tuesday night.  The thing I forgot to not pack?  The spices.  I planned on making Chili one night but packed up the cumin and chili powder.  Luckily I knew where to look again.  I guess this is a repeat of #1.

3. Invest in gardening gloves with a rubber coating.  Sounds weird, but they are really helpful for carrying boxes.  I have short arms, so carrying large boxes can be awkward.  I find that the box starts to slip and I have to stop and re-adjust because it’s hard for me to get a good grip.  The rubber on the gloves helped with the grip problem and I don’t have to re-adjust anymore.

4. Don’t pack the picnic set.  We got one of those fancy picnic sets at my bridal shower.  It’s got plates, cups, cutlery and even a bottle opener.  We shouldn’t have packed that either.  We could have used that and packed up all our dishes.  I have no idea which box that is in, so we’ve had to make due with a few Tupperware containers plastic forks.  They do the job, but not as well.  If you don’t have one, a cheap set is a good investment for the move.  Stuff for camping will work also.

5. Boxes from a 12 pack of bottled beer are AWESOME for packing and transporting your good glasses.  They already have the built in dividers and are pretty sturdy. 

6.  We like the books on the bottom, clothes on the top method of packing.  Yes, it makes unpacking a slight pain, but it makes moving so much easier.

7.  Keep your shoe boxes.  We like them for CDs.  I know 15 shoe boxes seem like a lot of extra trips, but you can easily put one on top of a lighter box as you head the car.  Also, they fit in the weird nooks and crannies of the back seat, like on the floor.  Just make sure to number the boxes so you know if one goes missing.

8. Make a list of what you have as you pack stuff into boxes.  It helps when you try to get home owners insurance.  You have to provide a general list of everything you have.  Trying to remember everything you have once you’re unpacked will be hard.  You’ll probably forget the 300 cds you have or your favorite Afghan rug.  You could also make the list as you unpack each box,

Lastly, if you can get actual moving boxes (not the stuff from the liquor store) off Craigslist or from a friend, they are so worth it.  We got some from a friend and they are the best.  They have handles and because they are a uniform size, you always know how many you can get in your car and you know they will stack well.  They are also thicker, so they hold up well when wet.