Confessions of an Organizer: Part 8 - "A New Beginning..."
Websters dictionary defines beginning as "At a first stage of development; just becoming familiar with the
rudiments or skills or routines." My new beginning started last Friday when we accepted an offer on our house. Without putting the cart before the horse, we are on our way to Hood River.If you have read my blog in the last year, you may or may not know we have had our house on the market since January. It's been a grueling nine months for my husband especially (commuting over 120 miles a day), not to mention the money we spend in gas. So we are happy to see this new beginning moving forward for us.
At this point, we have already packed up most of the house (the things we don't need) and are working on the rest. The inspection is scheduled for Wednesday and should know by this Friday what our time table will be. I haven't slept well since last week and I can't stop running the scenarios in my head to anticipate what could happen if...
I have to admit, I am thrilled at the idea of finally being able to get settled into a new house and finally be done with this chapter and ready to start a new one.
So, I need your help... with a the move coming near, give me your best moving tip, piece of advice or method to stay sane (other than massive amounts of alcohol) through it all!
Congratulations Megan!! I'm so very excited for you. Do you have a house to move into already?
My best moving tip would have to be clearly mark your boxes with the room they should go into and then clearly mark the rooms so that anyone helping knows exactly which room is which. You can even mark off the floor with masking tape where you want furniture to go just in case you aren't around to tell them. Saves you from having to move it again.
Good luck!!
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Thanks Laura! We are really excited and yes, we do have a house (well, almost...) on the other end. I honestly don't know how people do this more than once a lifetime!
This is great advice. If there is one thing I have learned over the years is that you can NEVER over label your boxes. I hadn't really thought about room too much (other than the basic kitchen, bath etc). Believe me, I will keep you posted on how things are going.
Good Times!
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Yay!! Congrats Megan! that's so great. I agree with Laura - marking your boxes with what's in them, and exactly what room they should go to, is a HUGE help for the movers (and you - who remembers?). We even used that color-coded tape from Shurgard with the room names on it. Also, when we moved from a house with wall-to-wall carpet into a house with all hardwood floors, I stood at the front door with those felt thingies and put them on the bottoms of all the furniture before it went inside. Then I didn't have to worry about the floors being scratched during the move.
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Congratulations Megan!!! What an exciting and also chaotic time for you! Moving is one of the most traumatic things in life for me. I've done it many times and I agree with the above! To add to those I would say start changing your address as soon as you know what it is. With every bill you pay, and every piece of mail you get that you don't want to miss, send them your new address. It's never to early to do as they take a while to process. And start sending out emails to your friends with your new address. For some reason I've found that people tend to forget to make the update so I recommend sending the same email both before AND after you move. We have been in our new house 7 years and still get mail intended for the previous owners, so make sure you tape a message up for the new owners to forward mail to you! : )
Good Luck!!!
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Arianne - Thanks so much! Boy, isn't that the truth (about changing the address)!!! Now, I would consider myself to be fairly organized and believe me, this is the mother load of "paper management." It's amazing people who struggle to stay organized can get through this.
Thanks for your tips and ideas... these are so helpful!
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1) Lists, Lists and more lists
This is going to sound nerdy but I keep a spreadsheet with box number, room and contents. Then I sort by room and hand those forms to the movers. And of course you have your own copies too.
So kitchen - boxes 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, etc.
2) Also, once you move, go around the kitchen and put post-its on the doors - glasses, mugs, plates, etc. Then you delegate the kitchen totally (people will ask if they can help - say YES!!!). You sort out beds and curtains and get takeaways the day of the move.
Shoot me an email if you think of more questions - I hate moving - sooooo stressful - so I try to be as organised as possible. I agree with Ariane - start those change of addresses asap. I use a spreadsheet (no!) for that too.
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ha!
I actually am doing something similar... it's for tracking all the phone calls and change overs. It's a speadsheet for the actual move. Rental truck, school paperwork and tracking when and who I talk to when I call for change of addresses. I don't like paper for stuff like that (scared I might loose it).
Great advice, thanks!
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Megan, CONGRATULATIONS!!!! It's great to know that Mark won't have that extra long commute for long! It looks to me that it is a good time now that your kids just started school so it shouldn't be hard for them to adapt to a new school!
Good luck!!!!
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