Minimalist
The one thing I have been dreading most about our move has been the timing. We were supposed to close on our house today, and I have spent way too much time trying to predict how this day would go.
It’s the second to last day of school. The kids would go off to school in tears, saying good-bye to their home one last time. I would pick them up from school with backpacks stuffed full of school work and supplies, but we wouldn’t have a home to return to.
Now, thankfully, our closing has been pushed back a few more days. That means we get one more weekend to live in our house! I can’t tell you how thankful I am for this extension! Not only do we need more time to finish packing and cleaning, but it will shorten the amount of time we need to impose upon the kindness of our friends who are letting us invade their homes.
Thinking we would be out of our house today, we enlisted some wonderful friends to help us pack all of our furniture into a POD on Saturday. These guys were amazing and crammed all of our large items into that 16-foot box in just 2.5 hours.
We breathed a huge sigh of relief, thinking this moving thing was going to be a breeze! We began our minimalist lifestyle of living in a home furnished only with mattresses, a kitchen table and five chairs. It turns out the hard part was just beginning. Even though we had already packed a ton of boxes, sorting through and boxing up all of the random stuff that remained has become my focus for about 10 hours of every day.
I’ve been working on it all week, the garage is loaded with garbage bags, and still there’s more to do!
We scheduled our second POD to leave today because it was supposed to be our last day here. Off it went this afternoon with all of our mattresses, the table and chairs. We got to enjoy eating breakfast this morning sitting on the floor!
And so begins the adventure of the next two weeks. We’ll be living here for a few more days, sleeping on air mattresses and cooking with the one pot and pan that I didn’t pack. Then, we’ll go to live with friends. We’re all actually kind of enjoying the craziness of it!
I keep trying to put things away, but then realize I can’t put those clothes in the drawer because the dresser is gone. Or I can’t put away the school supplies because we don’t have that desk any more.
We are definitely making some memories. And we will definitely be glad to see those PODS pull into our new driveway!
Wow! Such huge tasks… And definitely memory makers! Glad you get a few more days!
We are super thankful for these extra days. It will be your turn soon!! 🙂
Wow! Extra days are HUGE! Especially ones that are over a weekend! Glad everything is working out so well for you guys! It sounds like you have the best possible attitude and have been making the most out of the situation. That is the way to do it! I have to admit, though, seeing all that you guys are going through gives me a panic attack. I am to the point where I don’t ever want to go through it again.
We will be thinking about you all. The last days and moments are so intense. No matter how much you think you are prepared, the emotions come flowing. Saying goodbye is hard.
Kelly, I hope you guys get to stay put for a long time! I can’t believe how many times you’ve done this! Leaving is going to be so emotional for us. I’m glad we are having some extra days to prepare ourselves!!
We’ve never had a fairly local move. All 8(!!!) of ours have been out-of-state, mostly 10-15 hours away, and all super fast corporate deals. This is kind of fascinating to follow, b/c we’ll move ONE MORE TIME hopefully next year when we buy here, so it’ll be our first fairly local, non-corporate move like yours!
It will be interesting to see the difference, Sues! Those corporate moves do sound pretty awesome compared to trying to do it yourself. But it’s hard work either way! I can’t imagine moving eight times. Crazy!