October 20, 2013

Here's a novel idea - why not pack the garage first?

As it looks like the deal is solid and that we will actually be moving, we decided to pack up the garage yesterday.  And my suspicions were confirmed - Hubby IS a hoarder.

We spent two hours out there and I would estimate that about 70% of what was in there was garbage; thankfully he agreed.  So now we just need to move all the stuff that is destined for the trash out of the garage and get rid of it.

Remember those two boxes of baby things I mentioned last time we "cleaned" the garage?  Well, as Hubby picked one up it fell apart in his hands.  Looking at all those baby things took me back.  Was Man-Child ever really that tiny?  Obviously, he must have been.

Two days old

And it was also obvious that I had saved far more than was sane.  It also became QUITE clear to me that storing baby clothes in a box is not a smart thing to do - because those clothes were filthy.  So I did what any sane person would do - I scooped them all up and threw them in the wash.  And after they dried then proceeded to spend the next hour folding those teeny-tiny garments and deciding what I absolutely could not bear to part with and placing them in one of those Space Bags.  To the rest, I said goodbye and took them to Goodwill where they can find a new home with someone who needs them.

It feels good to be getting rid of stuff.  That is the good thing about this move; it is making both of us evaluate what we have and getting rid of things we don't need.  And the motivation behind it, is that we don't want to move it.  So the less we have, the less boxes that we will have to pack and unpack.  It still won't make the whole moving process any less sucky; but hopefully this will mean that the suckiness won't be as drawn out.

In the past, the garage has usually been the last thing we packed - which resulted in a total nightmare and might be partly to blame for why the garage is always the hellhole that it has been.  This time, this is the first packing we've done - and we assigned boxes such as "Car Stuff," "Plumbing Stuff," "Yard Stuff," etc. so theoretically when we land wherever it is we are going to land (yes, I still don't know where we are going to live) we can unpack the garage in an orderly manner and get it organized from the get go (oh hush, a girl can dream).

My plan is to attack one room every weekend going through, discarding and packing all the things that aren't needed on a day to day basis.  We'll see how that works out.

That is the good thing about this move; since we don't have to be out until December 8th - it is giving us plenty of time to evaluate what we are packing.

Now, if I just knew where we were going to live...

6 comments:

  1. My mother and stepfather moved cross-country last winter and for them the hardest area to pack was the basement-- it was full of my stepdad's tools (heavy duty tools because he worked as a contractor).

    I still have baby clothes, too. I go through them whenever someone I know has a baby and give some away. For me, it's easier than taking the whole lot to the thrift store

    p.s. I came from Swistle's coffee shop.

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  2. I'm so glad it's you doing this and not me. I wouldn't know where to start and couldn't bear to part with my stuff!

    Good luck!

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  3. Oh, congratulations, Gigi. For the moving, for the cleaning, for getting to see those tiny clothes again!

    :-)

    Pearl

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  4. Sounds like a great plan! It's kind of how I tackled my 15 page research paper. One page a day. :)

    I'm excited for you!

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  5. Oh so teeny! MC and his little pacifier....I can't. Stand. It.
    You have the right attitude, sweets. Don't keep what you don't want to pack and move.
    The rest'll figure itself out. Don't focus on the how...just focus on the what. (Mantra, "I'm going to find a lovely place...I'm going to find a lovely place....")

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  6. I'm right there with you Gigi, just feeling the pain, same over here xxx

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