support thread for serious decluttering/moving? - Page 17

[zebra15]

WTG Worthy and everyone else who is moving or got moved this summer

As an update on us. We moved from AZ to Ohio.  Living with my mother is a nightmare so I'm planning to head back West later this week. The news isn't going over well but I have found my adult backbone in all this mess.

Any of you ladies who want to send me positive wishes - I'm taking all I can get!

I will update more later

[worthy]

You got it, zebra.  Positive thoughts by the trillions...be well and keep us posted.
 

[AfricanQueen99]

Go, Zebra, Go!    How is your son taking the news of moving "home"?

[zebra15]

Originally Posted by AfricanQueen99 

Go, Zebra, Go!    How is your son taking the news of moving "home"?

My son would go wait in the car if he could.!

[motray36]

Joining in! Lurking already has me motivated...and terrified. Must. Keep. Perspective.

So, we move Sept 25th, from a smaller "starter house" to a bigger "family house." The intention in up-sizing is to accommodate the children we now have, that we didn't have when we bought the first time, and to make room for out-of-town visitors (which we get a fair amount of since we moved away from family). BUT I am a minimalist and DH is a packrat, so I do not want more space to become an excuse to keep things in order to fill the space!  We have accumulated a lot of stuff over the years, so decluttering is going to be HUGE and important. And DH, at least right now, is on board with simplifying. He doesnt want to be the packrat that he is.  

We are also viewing this very much as a new beginning for our family, and so the purging process will be vital.

Let the countdown begin!

[worthy]

We slept for the first time in our new house last night.  Two strong, tall friends helped us move "just the beds" (which was like a 3-hour project).  Five beds and bedding and one pickup truck.  Whew.

This house definitely feels smaller than the old one.  I am not sure how we're going to fit our furniture.  I am seriously thinking of NOT bringing over some pieces I assumed we'd keep, just to preserve the nice, decluttery feel to the new house.  But I also don't want to act rashly.  Part of me fears that whatever I bring into this house will grow roots and be hard to part with later! 

Wonder if I can convince my girls to bunk their beds again.  They would have more space in their room if they did -- with the beds unbunked, there is only room for their desks, not their dressup...I will be looking for underbed storage boxes soon for sure.

I think my dresser is going to feel too big in my small bedroom.  Thinking underbed for clothes in my room as well.  Hmm.

I wish new houses came with a free Target shopping spree.  LOL.

I had my good carpenter friend build shelves in the new kitchen before we even moved in.  Suddenly the storage crunch has eased.  I had him make one set of shelves to fit quart jars and the other to fit two-deep half-gallon (or one-deep gallon) jars, with a lip on the shelves so the jars won't get jostled off.

When we are all moved in, I'll post pics, but it's such a process...the boxes and other furniture will descend on us on Saturday, oh my.  I hate the chaos moving brings.  But I love that I can embrace this house as my forever house...I'm assuming it will be...that helps me be more clear about what to keep and what not to keep.  There is no "I might need this someday" -- because "someday" is NOW, and either I need it, or I don't.
 

[zebra15]

Worthy, congrats on the 'actual' process of moving.  You will find peace!

[zebra15]

Ok- I've managed to pack 80% of our stuff in about 2 hrs.  What's left is the little stuff, things that are going in the car.  

Clothes that I'm still washing.  I have one box that I need NEED to send fed ex tonight because it's got more clothes that I will need as soon as we get there.  The rest of the boxes can stay here and be shipped in the next month or so.   I dumped more clothes.  We don't need winter stuff in Arizona plus I've lost more weight so things what are truly winter and truly too big are not coming back with us.  

I took some toys/games DS didn't want to move back to a homeschool friend today

We are set to leave tomorrow around 8am.  I hope to arrive in Phoenix by Sunday night.  We are stopping in St. Louis to see the Arch for a couple hours and in the Ozarks to see some caves and thats the extent of our 'tourist' events on this trip.  I need to get back 'home' and start working again.

My kiddo is so happy!

[worthy]

Zebra, you are amazing and awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  It's like you are hitting the "reset" button -- on your old life -- and now you get to go back and make the most of a fresh start in a familiar place. I am rooting for you -- you will rock this!

As for me, I'm going back to the old house after work this afternoon to pack up odds and ends, and I plan on putting a movie on for my girls while I do.  Not something we do often, but if I get a lot done today, then my mom is coming tomorrow afternoon and I can get another few hours of packing in before the Big Move happens on Saturday.  I'm at that point where there are just odds and ends that need to get tossed in boxes and sorted out later, boxes that still need labeling and moving to the staging area, etc.

I will be so glad when I can close the door on the old house and never look back.

[zebra15]

Worthy-  I'm so excited for you.  I can't wait until you  are all settled in.!!

[kt~mommy]

i've put an offer on a short sale, and have still been completely unable to get excited about it (never know if it's really gonna happen or not; this is the 2nd offeer i've made, the first fell through) which zapped my motivation for packing, organizing, and the major decluttering needed for a move. the place i am in now i can stay until end of december, which adds to my non motivation. moving seriously freaks me out. the amount of work and stress and the fact that my son and i are doing it alone. when i do get the energy worked up to pack some boxes of stuff we aren't using, i get near panick attack at times. i am embarassed to admit i'm the original poster of this thread and i've been lurking and then hiding my head in the sand trying to avoid the stress and chaos of moving. i *think* i am in the final negotiation stages of the house purchase now and my realtor seems to think i may be able to close by sept 15. ummmm let the mass hysteria begin. i'm still not convinced. not to mention emotionally this is just so rough. i'm living in the house my husband and i bought 10 years ago. we have been separated 18 months and are in the process of divorce. on top of that, prior to our separation i was dealing with 18 months + of infertility and treatments.  so not only do i have boxes and rooms full of stuff from just living here, but it's boxes of hard memories, and boxes of baby stuff i always thought i would use again.  this whole thing is like mental torture to me.  i'm trying to plug along, if we do get this house it will be a very good move, more space, in a much nicer neighborhood, in the school district of choice for Oliver's kindergarten next fall...... but in the meantime, i'm grieving and trying to do an enormous insurmountable amount of work on my own. ugh i could just cry.

venting and hoping actually finally posting here again helps make/keep me motivated to keep going.

[journeymom]

Katie, hang in there.   You are doing a huge job.  Take care of yourself along the way, give yourself breaks, eat right, sit and stare into space now and again.  Here's hoping you get the house!

[IsaFrench]

keep going, good luck with the house, am reading and thinking of you ... (whilst trying to get the motivation to tackle my load ...)

[kt~mommy]

i feel like i have to drag myself out of bed to pack and organize thats how bad it is... but my goal is one box per day, and with working full time that's about all i feel i can do most of the time.

however, trying to stay positive today and not panic... i have a box of items to bring to a children's resale shop today, so one less thing to have to move that we aren't using. I think i will use this thread to keep a running tally of my accomplishments...

Packed:

box of children's games

box of my winter apparel

linens

scarves

wall decor

2 boxes of books

bag of craft batting

box of crafting wool

box of stuffed animals

Edited by kt~mommy - 8/27/12 at 6:13pm

[JamieCatheryn]

We have done all the painting and gotten the new carpet in, packed up most everything prior to that. I took down the play structure in the backyard today. A friend and DH mulched all the garden beds nicely and the dog dug one up, now she's not allowed in the grass anymore, only the big patio and the indoor crate poor thing. At least we got her a large crate and she doesn't mind it at all. There's a mess of wood that needs to go now, patio full of plastic sheeting from the old flooring, stuff like that outside to clean up. I need to buy dishes and cookware for DH because he is moving Friday, which is lovely because our current ones are chipped and cracked and need replacing. He wants to fix up a bit of door trim in one room still too. Siding people come out Friday to fix a couple ripped down spots. I need to clean a few things up and put tools away, thoroughly clean bathrooms, then it's just put away the toys we kept out and keep up with dishes and laundry and vacuuming all September, and pack up the kitchen when it's time to go. Realtor comes out to take pics for listing and give us paperwork Wednesday.

[kt~mommy]

Packed:

box of children's games

box of my winter apparel

linens

scarves

wall decor

2 boxes of books

bag of craft batting

box of crafting wool

box of stuffed animals

+ box of for-sale stuff

[journeymom]

Oh heavens.  We filed chapter 7 bankruptcy and we finally told the real estate agent we're ready to start the short sale process.  Not only is that idea nerve-wracking by itself, even worse, he needs to measure rooms and take pictures.     This place is just so embarrassing inside and out. Things are broken, there are piles and piles of stuff everywhere,  Dear Daughter's room is impassable with stuff on the floor.   I know, of course he needs to measure the rooms and take pictures. 

There is no doubt, this is going to be tough.

[worthy]

Originally Posted by journeymom 

Oh heavens.  We filed chapter 7 bankruptcy and we finally told the real estate agent we're ready to start the short sale process.  Not only is that idea nerve-wracking by itself, even worse, he needs to measure rooms and take pictures.     This place is just so embarrassing inside and out. Things are broken, there are piles and piles of stuff everywhere,  Dear Daughter's room is impassable with stuff on the floor.   I know, of course he needs to measure the rooms and take pictures. 

There is no doubt, this is going to be tough.

{{{{{{hugs}}}}}} Just breathe and do the best you can.  Can you get help with clearing some things out?  Dumpster, or trash bags for the broken stuff?  Hang in there!

[JamieCatheryn]

Oh man journeymom that seems like a lot of work to clear out. Our kids' playroom was the same as your DD's room when we started, toys scattered everywhere so you couldn't wade through it safely. Most of our other rooms had things put away, but lots of closets to clear out, cabinets, etc. I still haven't done my kitchen much. Had to clean out mouse dropping today from the back of unused cabinets (ick!)...I think I managed to kill the last mouse this morning. What time frame do you have before pictures and listing? Short sales can take a while for banks to approve I hear once you get offers, but it will be good to get out from under it right? The last 3 weeks were exhausting for us, we cleared out stuff and painted and everything. We just did the paperwork and pics today, the MLS listing just went up, that's exciting. The realtor has some people interested already, we'll likely start clearing out for showings very soon.. won't that be fun doing the dishes, picking up, getting the dog and kids ready and clearing out all the time for strangers to go through the place. Hope it sells very soon!

[rebecca_n]

Haven't been online a whole lot lately but here's our update :) We've completed our move from our 4 bedroom house ( that it sells soon!) to a 2 bedroom apartment with less than half the square footage! we donated a lot but still have a storage unit of things that we'll figure out when we find out where we'll be next year (military, moving in 9 months bleck). I wanted to show off our new playroom. It is still a lot in one room but we consolidated almost all the toys into one room and have made a massive bed in the other room. (king and twin together:) ) 

we still have an art desk in the living room but while we're renting art time needs to be supervised anyway lol. already have crayon on the blinds :sigh:

and I so miss my kitchen and back yard!!!! but we're on our way to making this our happy temporary home. if it wasn't so far away I'd be tempted to go back for my stove! Good luck with everyone's decluttering!