We're making the leap and moving from our tiny hamlet in Florida to the quiet corner of Connecticut. We aren't buying Renee Zellweger's amazing, colonial house currently for sale in the neighborhood. Sigh....I would love to buy her farm but you know how it is? Colonial house with a converted barn on 39 acres along the river. Pool and Helipad too. Did I mention 1.5 mil? Alright, back to reality. I am utterly and completely happy to be moving. We all are. The kids can't wait. In the midst of packing countless boxes we find ourselves in varying degrees of disbelief with outbursts of happiness and a bit of goofiness. I always remind myself, be careful what you ask for. However, this has been a thought out process taking many years.
I look for the red carpet in life. If you're swimming upstream, something is wrong. If you lay the ground work and doors open, it's your red carpet. That is pretty much how our past 2 months have been. We visited again to check out the area and Mike had interviews that went very well. He received his first job offer this past week and put in his notice here. So...now he has a much needed break between jobs (not that moving is a break) and we are packing and sorting out what to keep and what sell.
Moving Cube vs. Moving Truck
I checked reviews on moving cubes. People either loved them or hated them. There was no middle ground. Either customer service made promises they couldn't keep or it took much longer than the estimated time. Who knew a move across country could take more than 10 days? Hmm... Yesterday I made the call to the best of 2 and it wasn't too bad for folks with plenty of excess cash but we couldn't justify the extra $700 to $800 dollars. The total, out the door price, no hidden fees would be $2186.20 to move 4 rooms 1200 miles.
The classic moving truck rental is a nightmare for me. Thank heavens my husband will drive the truck with car attached and I'll drive the other car. It'll be a modern day wagon train with us hauling the contents of 13 years plus 2 kids, 2 dogs and 3 cats. Imagine if I had the chickens I wanted last year? Ha! It's more stress driving a rental truck but it justifies the savings. Approximately 825.00 for the rental plus gas. We're going to bypass DC, Baltimore, the NJ turnpike and NYC and go around through PA. I don't want to handle the stress of rush hours and merging toll roads full of unobliging commuters that have zero tolerance for anyone in their space. Been there and done that in a car.
What To Sell?
We're selling some of our big, heavy furniture that I am happy to replace from New England antique stores. Some things I will miss, but like I told my oldest son the other day, "Memories are in our hearts". He wanted to keep 'things' with sentimental value that was tantamount to hoarding. I've seen the show one too many times and every time I'm compelled to clean the nooks and crannies of my little house. I look around at how we fit a 4 bedroom 2 bath home into a small 3 bedroom 1 bath. Thus the storage facility. Too much stuff and now we're letting some of it go. It's another chapter in our lives. Did I mention how I excited I am? I love an adventure.
I have a collection of my favorite Country Living magazines from the 80's that I refuse to part with and numerous and Mike has a comic book and Rolling Stone archive that has to come also. Not to mention Brian's super hero collection and Alex's survival gear that any self respecting 12 year old would part with. Each of us have our treasures that will move with us.
Junk Drawers
I'm not sure how it happens but extra drawer space has become a haven for leashes, tea lite candles, extra power cords to broken laptops and old cell phones. Old toys, guitar pics, batteries that are dead, screw drivers that my husband can never find in one of his 5 tool boxes...the list goes on and on. How does this happen? One of life's mysteries I suppose. Kind of like, why can't the person that uses the last of the toilet paper put on a new roll?
So we're on a journey and starting life in a new place with countless hopes and many firsts. My kids have never seen snow and Baxter, my Shih Tzu doesn't like getting his paws wet when it rains, I can't wait to see him tap dance in the snow to do his business! Many pics to come down the road. Thanks for stopping by.
Peace!
3 comments:
Good luck on your adventure. We moved to Alabama from PA. We packed up in three days believe it or not. Wouldn't recommend that to anyone ;). We didn't know anyone which surprised a lot of people when we told them that but we love it down in this area. We just bought a little piece of property in TN for our dream homestead. Hope your moving goes smoothly. Make sure you bring litter boxes for your cats. Ours wouldn't go in the rest stops and didn't like all the noise from the passing cars and trucks. Can't wait to see pics from your new place!
Hi Denise,
3 days? We rented our house today and have 11 days to finish packing, load the truck, clean and paint the house and head out. How did you do it?
Congrats on TN! When are you moving? You must be so excited. I'm still figuring out the animals. I plan on bringing one box for litter and a separate one for them to huddle in.
I'll post pics as soon as I can. Take Care!
We had help a lot of help. My parents came over and about ten guys came over from where my hubby worked one night and loaded everything. We tried to sleep but couldn't so left in the early morning hours. My parents also helped us out by cleaning up after we left and selling the trailer we had lived in. We can't move to TN until we get somewhere to live. We are saving money for a small cabin (288 sq feet). I don't know where I will put everything but we will add another cabin at a later date. Not that another 288 sq ft cabin is going to add so much room but we have way too much stuff. I think everyone does, don't you?
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