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?)