To make this blog more interactive, we are now starting a NEW GAME. You are invited to guess the number of boxes our entire move will ultimately require. This won't include any unboxed furniture or large objects that cannot be boxed, such as floor lamps. You can change your guess up until some future date to be determined (maybe the week before we move?) but any new guesses will replace your previous guess. There will be a prize for the winner, also to be determined. Maybe a photo BOX decoupaged by me (Emilie)?
Hints:
*Remember, we are moving in town, so some things may not have to be boxed but will be carried in our car. For example, the full-length mirror in the bedroom might be moved this way.
*Our current apartment is about 750 square feet. We also have an outdoor closet and a storage closet that is about 6 feet by 8 feet. Like all closets, they are both crammed.
*We do plan to get rid of some stuff, including outgrown clothes. (Gee, I thought I'd stop outgrowing stuff when I stopped getting taller. Why doesn't that work?) Any boxes taken to Goodwill do not count, only boxes moved to our new house.
*Helping us pack and trying to make the number of boxes match your guess IS allowed. Go ahead, stuff those boxes! Or bring us really big or really small boxes. Go ahead, make my day!
*You may post your guess by clicking on the "Comments," but then other people will be able to see what you guessed. You may also submit your guess in any of the ways you usually communicate with us: phone, face to face, e-mail, letters, whatever.
*If you guessed a number is already taken, too bad. Only one guesser per number. For example, if my mom guesses 300 boxes, no one else may guess 300 (unless my mom decides to change her guess to something else.)
*As you might imagine, Emilie is the final arbiter of all entries and disputes. If there is a tie, and only in the case of a tie, we will follow the Price is Right Rule: the closest guess without going OVER wins.
Good luck!
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Not much going on...
Since NOTHING is HAPPENING with our house, I can’t really talk about the progress of our new home. But I HAVE been reading books and online advice about moving. Maybe some of the tips will be helpful to some of you (Elizabeth?) Here are a few that are not idiotically obvious:
* Start packing now, there is no such thing as too soon. There is plenty of stuff you don’t use every day: holiday decorations, formal wear, out of season clothing, fancy dishes, photo albums, curios, pictures off the walls. These things often need special care to protect them, so pack them now when you are not in a rush.
* Try to contain the packing mess in one room or one area of the house, especially if you are starting early. Limiting the chaos will be easier on you. Packing on a table may be easier on your back and knees. And you shouldn’t be filling any boxes so full that they are too heavy to lift.
* One often overlooked source of packing material: those plastic bags that stores insist on giving you when you buy so much as a pencil. You know, the ones that say “Thanks for your business” that often blow down the street on a windy day. We started saving these about two weeks before Tammy Jo’s garage sale, so customers could have something to carry their purchases in. It was totally disgusting how many we accumulated, from newspapers to groceries, to—yes—pencils. Everything seemed to come in a nice, clean, fluffy plastic bag. Reduce, reuse, recycle! Some of the bags were so sturdy, they could be blown up to hold air to provide even more padding. And, unlike newspaper, they won’t get newsprint on your stuff!
* When packing books, alternate the spines so the stack will stay flat. Consider adding a desiccant if they won’t be unpacked for a while. Use the smallest possible boxes for books, even a shoe box for small ones. Experts disagree about whether to pack them horizontally or vertically, maybe I should ask a librarian or archivist…
* Sending books Parcel Post may be cheaper than moving them, especially if the movers charge by weight.
* Pack electronics in the original box and Styrofoam, if you still have it.
* Consider purchasing wardrobe boxes from a moving or packing company. They are about $15 or $20. These are tall, sturdy boxes with a little clothes rack inside. Yes, that’s right, you don’t even have to take your clothes off the hangers—just hang them inside this box! How easy is that? Less wrinkling, too. You can fill the bottom with pillows, shoes, purses, and all that junk you know is sitting on the floor of your closet. Each one holds about 24 inches of clothing.
* Use lots of tape, especially on the bottom of the boxes. Masking tape is not strong enough. Duct tape is so strong it is hard to cut or tear off of the boxes when unpacking. Oddly, I have found clear packing tape to be cheaper than the brown kind. Does the brown coloring cost extra?
* Don’t leave empty space in any box, fill it in with paper (or those handy plastic bags!) so nothing will shift.
* If you are amazingly organized, you can not only label the boxes themselves but also number them and keep a list of what is in each box. This will help you with unpacking and knowing what is packed where. When you are all done, you will also have an inventory of your belongings for insurance purposes. (Not to mention how interesting such a document would be to future historians!) If you pack the least-used items early, you will know that the highest numbered boxes should be unpacked first. Be sure to label the boxes on all sides, not just one.
* Check out your moving company: call the BBB and check the internet. Moving companies are among the industries that generate the most complaints to the Better Business Bureau and small claims court.
* You will need lots more boxes and packing material than you think. And you will need a bigger truck than you think.
* Seen on the side of a moving truck: “Dolly good, hernia bad.” Rent a dolly! Team lift heavy objects! Bend your knees when lifting.
* Moving mid-week, mid-month, and anytime but summer will be less busy. The movers will be less rushed and prices may be lower.
* When choosing a moving company, ask how much it will cost if you have to keep the truck an extra day. This is a popular way to gouge customers, who are totally desperate at that point, when it is midnight (or closing time) and the truck isn’t unpacked.
* The more things you put in boxes, the easier it will be to carry things in and out. Trash bags cannot be stacked, and they may be mistaken for…trash. You wouldn’t want a bag of clothes to be thrown out accidentally. Okay, maybe some people would.
* Don’t polish your furniture right before you move. It makes it slippery and can make the finish softer and more prone to scratching. Somehow, I don’t think this will be a problem for me! Gee, I think I might have a can of furniture polish in the back of a cabinet somewhere…
Today, Tuesday June 26, I packed the first box of stuff for our move. Yes, really. Even though the house hasn’t even been started yet. I was trying to clean out my craft supplies. If you have been to my house, you know how much this needed to be done. There is a mountain (with high avalanche risk) of paint, beads, scrapbook paper, and junk in the corner of the dining room. When I started going through it I came across several framed pictures that we don’t have room to hang in our apartment. (I planned to decorate some of the frames, that’s why they were in the pile of craft stuff.) I hope to put some of them in the guest bedroom of our new house. So, I packed them up and they are the first box of things for our new house. I feel sort of silly, but I am taking my own advice: start right now, it’s never too early! I also unearthed a bunch of holiday decorations, including some I will use for Independence Day. I won’t try to guess how long they have been buried…Is geological layering a form of organization? I listened to a book on tape called The Perfect Mess that said it is—you know just how deep to dig, and the most frequently needed items naturally end up on top. If something is buried deeply, you never use it, so you don’t need it anyway. Hmmm…this form of organizing appeals to both the slob and the historian in me.
(By the way, this was actually written by Emilie, even if the computer thinks it was posted by Derek. But you already figured that out, didn't you?)
* Start packing now, there is no such thing as too soon. There is plenty of stuff you don’t use every day: holiday decorations, formal wear, out of season clothing, fancy dishes, photo albums, curios, pictures off the walls. These things often need special care to protect them, so pack them now when you are not in a rush.
* Try to contain the packing mess in one room or one area of the house, especially if you are starting early. Limiting the chaos will be easier on you. Packing on a table may be easier on your back and knees. And you shouldn’t be filling any boxes so full that they are too heavy to lift.
* One often overlooked source of packing material: those plastic bags that stores insist on giving you when you buy so much as a pencil. You know, the ones that say “Thanks for your business” that often blow down the street on a windy day. We started saving these about two weeks before Tammy Jo’s garage sale, so customers could have something to carry their purchases in. It was totally disgusting how many we accumulated, from newspapers to groceries, to—yes—pencils. Everything seemed to come in a nice, clean, fluffy plastic bag. Reduce, reuse, recycle! Some of the bags were so sturdy, they could be blown up to hold air to provide even more padding. And, unlike newspaper, they won’t get newsprint on your stuff!
* When packing books, alternate the spines so the stack will stay flat. Consider adding a desiccant if they won’t be unpacked for a while. Use the smallest possible boxes for books, even a shoe box for small ones. Experts disagree about whether to pack them horizontally or vertically, maybe I should ask a librarian or archivist…
* Sending books Parcel Post may be cheaper than moving them, especially if the movers charge by weight.
* Pack electronics in the original box and Styrofoam, if you still have it.
* Consider purchasing wardrobe boxes from a moving or packing company. They are about $15 or $20. These are tall, sturdy boxes with a little clothes rack inside. Yes, that’s right, you don’t even have to take your clothes off the hangers—just hang them inside this box! How easy is that? Less wrinkling, too. You can fill the bottom with pillows, shoes, purses, and all that junk you know is sitting on the floor of your closet. Each one holds about 24 inches of clothing.
* Use lots of tape, especially on the bottom of the boxes. Masking tape is not strong enough. Duct tape is so strong it is hard to cut or tear off of the boxes when unpacking. Oddly, I have found clear packing tape to be cheaper than the brown kind. Does the brown coloring cost extra?
* Don’t leave empty space in any box, fill it in with paper (or those handy plastic bags!) so nothing will shift.
* If you are amazingly organized, you can not only label the boxes themselves but also number them and keep a list of what is in each box. This will help you with unpacking and knowing what is packed where. When you are all done, you will also have an inventory of your belongings for insurance purposes. (Not to mention how interesting such a document would be to future historians!) If you pack the least-used items early, you will know that the highest numbered boxes should be unpacked first. Be sure to label the boxes on all sides, not just one.
* Check out your moving company: call the BBB and check the internet. Moving companies are among the industries that generate the most complaints to the Better Business Bureau and small claims court.
* You will need lots more boxes and packing material than you think. And you will need a bigger truck than you think.
* Seen on the side of a moving truck: “Dolly good, hernia bad.” Rent a dolly! Team lift heavy objects! Bend your knees when lifting.
* Moving mid-week, mid-month, and anytime but summer will be less busy. The movers will be less rushed and prices may be lower.
* When choosing a moving company, ask how much it will cost if you have to keep the truck an extra day. This is a popular way to gouge customers, who are totally desperate at that point, when it is midnight (or closing time) and the truck isn’t unpacked.
* The more things you put in boxes, the easier it will be to carry things in and out. Trash bags cannot be stacked, and they may be mistaken for…trash. You wouldn’t want a bag of clothes to be thrown out accidentally. Okay, maybe some people would.
* Don’t polish your furniture right before you move. It makes it slippery and can make the finish softer and more prone to scratching. Somehow, I don’t think this will be a problem for me! Gee, I think I might have a can of furniture polish in the back of a cabinet somewhere…
Today, Tuesday June 26, I packed the first box of stuff for our move. Yes, really. Even though the house hasn’t even been started yet. I was trying to clean out my craft supplies. If you have been to my house, you know how much this needed to be done. There is a mountain (with high avalanche risk) of paint, beads, scrapbook paper, and junk in the corner of the dining room. When I started going through it I came across several framed pictures that we don’t have room to hang in our apartment. (I planned to decorate some of the frames, that’s why they were in the pile of craft stuff.) I hope to put some of them in the guest bedroom of our new house. So, I packed them up and they are the first box of things for our new house. I feel sort of silly, but I am taking my own advice: start right now, it’s never too early! I also unearthed a bunch of holiday decorations, including some I will use for Independence Day. I won’t try to guess how long they have been buried…Is geological layering a form of organization? I listened to a book on tape called The Perfect Mess that said it is—you know just how deep to dig, and the most frequently needed items naturally end up on top. If something is buried deeply, you never use it, so you don’t need it anyway. Hmmm…this form of organizing appeals to both the slob and the historian in me.
(By the way, this was actually written by Emilie, even if the computer thinks it was posted by Derek. But you already figured that out, didn't you?)
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Already packing!!!
I'm not sure, but Emilie may be just a weeeee bit excited about our new house. She was doing some cleaning yesterday and decided to pack up a box of pictures that we don't have room for in our apartment, but for which she has grand plans in our new home. One box down, many more to go!
Thursday, June 7, 2007
The Exterior
When we were at the design center we found out that we were able to have our first pick of exterior colors. The siding and shingles will be gray. The trim, gutters, front porch rails, and garage door will be white. The front door will be maroon. Because of the porch, the front door is not all that visible from the street. I think a red (or maroon) door is very cheerful. In many cultures it is considered good luck, attracting fortune and love to your house. And it will look very cute with a Christmas wreath on the door. I hope that we are in our new house by Christmas. It is supposed to be finished by then, but only if all goes well…
Of course, even if we do get moved in by Christmas we may not be able to do much decorating. Somehow, I think our little three and a half foot Christmas tree will look less than dramatic in the 27 by 15 foot great room with a cathedral ceiling. I told Derek I thought we needed a tree that was at least eight and a half feet tall, assuming we put it in a corner where the ceiling starts at nine feet. He made a funny face, but I don’t think we will be buying a huge tree any time soon!
I think a gray house will be nice. It looks a little different, since most of the other houses seem to be shades of beige. The white trim will look nice and clean (I already checked, you can clean it by hosing it off.) And it will be a nice backdrop for flowers. The soil is thick clay with solid limestone just a few inches below the surface. So some of our most successful flowers may be in pots, boxes, and hanging baskets. If Derek understood the Homeowners’ Association Agreement correctly (he’s a lawyer and even he had trouble understanding it), we aren’t allowed to have a vegetable garden. Too bad, I don’t think there is anything more beautiful than a ripe tomato, still warm from the sun. I guess that’s why we have the Farmers’ Market.
I did read a nice article in the local paper about what kind of plants do well in our native soil (clay with limestone.) That did give me some hope. Among the suggestions were hostas, day lilies, lilacs, peonies, pansies, and irises. Wouldn’t lavender irises in front of a gray and white house look beautiful in the spring? I like romantic, traditional flowers best. My seven pots of petunias, pansies, violas, and coleus are doing quite well on the porch. But I am a lazy gardener. Luckily, I also like a softer, slightly overgrown look. I have very fond memories of a backyard garden belonging to my grandfather’s sister, Vera, when I was little. The plants were over my head, there were little concrete paths among them, and they were lush and somewhat overgrown.
We are supposed to get six bushes and one tree with our house, but I don’t have high hopes for their survival. We don’t get to choose the variety, either. And we won’t get them until spring, anyway. The same for grass sod for the yard. When I see the rolls of sod, I always think of the sod houses that Kansas settlers had to live in because there were no trees on the prairie. They make our house look luxurious by comparison! I will try to find a picture to post of a sod house. See, I just knew this blog would end up talking about history sooner or later! You aren’t really surprised, are you?
Nebraska sod house, 1901
Derek and Emilie's House, date TBA
Of course, even if we do get moved in by Christmas we may not be able to do much decorating. Somehow, I think our little three and a half foot Christmas tree will look less than dramatic in the 27 by 15 foot great room with a cathedral ceiling. I told Derek I thought we needed a tree that was at least eight and a half feet tall, assuming we put it in a corner where the ceiling starts at nine feet. He made a funny face, but I don’t think we will be buying a huge tree any time soon!
I think a gray house will be nice. It looks a little different, since most of the other houses seem to be shades of beige. The white trim will look nice and clean (I already checked, you can clean it by hosing it off.) And it will be a nice backdrop for flowers. The soil is thick clay with solid limestone just a few inches below the surface. So some of our most successful flowers may be in pots, boxes, and hanging baskets. If Derek understood the Homeowners’ Association Agreement correctly (he’s a lawyer and even he had trouble understanding it), we aren’t allowed to have a vegetable garden. Too bad, I don’t think there is anything more beautiful than a ripe tomato, still warm from the sun. I guess that’s why we have the Farmers’ Market.
I did read a nice article in the local paper about what kind of plants do well in our native soil (clay with limestone.) That did give me some hope. Among the suggestions were hostas, day lilies, lilacs, peonies, pansies, and irises. Wouldn’t lavender irises in front of a gray and white house look beautiful in the spring? I like romantic, traditional flowers best. My seven pots of petunias, pansies, violas, and coleus are doing quite well on the porch. But I am a lazy gardener. Luckily, I also like a softer, slightly overgrown look. I have very fond memories of a backyard garden belonging to my grandfather’s sister, Vera, when I was little. The plants were over my head, there were little concrete paths among them, and they were lush and somewhat overgrown.
We are supposed to get six bushes and one tree with our house, but I don’t have high hopes for their survival. We don’t get to choose the variety, either. And we won’t get them until spring, anyway. The same for grass sod for the yard. When I see the rolls of sod, I always think of the sod houses that Kansas settlers had to live in because there were no trees on the prairie. They make our house look luxurious by comparison! I will try to find a picture to post of a sod house. See, I just knew this blog would end up talking about history sooner or later! You aren’t really surprised, are you?
Nebraska sod house, 1901
Derek and Emilie's House, date TBAMonday, June 4, 2007
Design Studio, Take Three
Emilie by the sign announcing our appointment at the Design StudioToday we went to the Beazer Design studio in Indianapolis to officially select the “design options,” things like siding, carpet, countertops, light fixtures. We met with our Design Counselor, Erin, who did a great job walking us through the process. We had actually made most of these decisions before, but today we told Beazer what we wanted. After tomorrow morning it will cost us $200 each for any changes. Yes, that is a scary thought. We did let ourselves get talked into a wired-in security system, which will monitor for break-ins, fires, and carbon monoxide. We also signed up for the monitoring service, which the alarm will call for help. I don’t know if we really need these things, and we will certainly add our own battery operated smoke and carbon monoxide detectors. I do think it might be a good idea to have a carbon monoxide detector connected to a system that will automatically call for help, since carbon monoxide can quickly make you UNABLE to get help. (Our house will have a wood-burning fireplace and an attached garage, both possible sources of carbon monoxide.) I hope our alarm system works better than the one at my parents’ house. That one doesn’t like me! Even when I put in the right numbers the stupid alarm still went off! I suppose, if we have a lot of false alarms, we don’t have to turn on the system. We also thought if all the neighbors have alarm systems we don’t want our house to be the most inviting one to burglars. We managed to resist the pitch to get a home theater with surround-sound.
One thing we learned wasn’t included is a garage door opener and remote control. Does anyone actually hop out of the car to manually lift the garage door anymore? Well, we decided that a garage door opener was not optional. We were able to order lever style doorknobs for the inside of the house, but not for the front door. Oh, well, people don’t use their own front doors very much. We will probably go in and out of the house through the garage most of the time.
We plan to get two ceiling fans with lights, one for the living room and one for the master bedroom. Otherwise the bedroom won’t have any overhead lights. I hope the fans will help to keep our heating and cooling costs down. Actually, I think the apartment we live in now is pretty bad in that regard. Our current electric bill rivals that of some people with entire HOUSES to heat and cool. At least with our own house we will be allowed to caulk some of the most obvious problem areas. (Have I lost my mind? Am I actually looking forward to CAULKING?)
The next step is waiting for the building permits from Monroe County. Then we can have our pre-construction appointment. I’m not sure what that includes, other than a chance to meet the head contractor for our house. I think they will review what we ordered and make sure that we agree to pay for all of it and that nothing was left out. Maybe they will explain the building process so we can understand why it takes so darn long to build. And then, hopefully, they will start building our house! They have extended the road out past our lot, so now it is easier for us to drive by and see if any progress has occurred. If anything actually happens, we will post a picture.
We keep trying to control our excitement. I know our new house won’t be perfect and I don’t want to get too excited just to be disappointed later. If we get too upset about anything, you can feel free to remind us of the following:
1. The house will be much nicer than the place we live now.
2. The house will be twice as big as our current apartment.
3. We will be able to fix things later.
4. A house is a much better investment than continuing to rent (even if we spend more than we meant to.)
You can also smack us if we carry on too much about the new house. (Of course, if you are sick of hearing about it, then why are you here reading our blog?)
Our final choices...(top row: siding and door)
(middle row: vinyl flooring, tile, carpet, cabinets, etc.)
(bottom row: utility room cabinets, fireplace mantel, wall paint)
(middle row: vinyl flooring, tile, carpet, cabinets, etc.)
(bottom row: utility room cabinets, fireplace mantel, wall paint)
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