It's Official - We've Downsized. The Aftermath...

I was going to attempt to write a nice coherent post - possibly even break it up into a series like Part One: Packing 101.  Part Two: Moving Tips, etc.

But I'm exhausted.  So instead you get this ramble-y, jumbled mess.  Sorry about that.  Contrary to popular belief I am NOT Wonder Woman (but I really, really wish I was!).

So here's the deal regarding packing when downsizing.  No matter how ruthless you think you are being by getting rid of stuff prior to the move; you're not.  Believe me, you will soon discover this when you actually move into that new place that is roughly half the size of the home you just left.  And that's when the ruthless cutting out of things begins - and you make approximately ten trips in four days (and will still be nowhere NEAR done) to the local Goodwill drop-off.  Where the worker, who now knows your car by sight, will be flabbergasted when you start handing him dozens of pairs of shoes, along with those specialty cake pans that you only used once and other items that were squirreled away that you had completely forgotten about.

The next most important thing regarding packing?  Do not cheap out on the packing tape.  This is crucial.  My husband did just that and we nearly lost the bottoms out of a couple of boxes.  After that, I ditched the cheap tape and went for the name brand.  It was worth every penny.

The actual move wasn't too terribly miserable - mainly because of our friends and the friendly movers.  We hired professionals to move the heavy stuff - and that was also worth every penny spent.  These guys were fast, efficient, friendly and helpful.  As were our friends that we had enlisted to move the other stuff (night stands, plants, etc.).  But they went above and beyond.  Instead of just stopping at what we had asked for they proceeded to pack what was left and while I am beyond grateful (as it meant EVERYTHING got moved in ONE day) it has been a challenge to find some things.  Had it been left to me; I'd still be over there packing things into neatly labelled boxes...and eventually succumbing to panic and just throwing things into boxes willy-nilly.

As I was off this week, I was able to get the house set up enough that we can use the kitchen, the bathrooms and find our clothes - much to my husband's delight.  I've also been unpacking other boxes and, as mentioned earlier, making multiple runs to Goodwill with donations aplenty.  I'm trying to determine what we will need and what can go into the attic and what just needs to go.

We moved in on Saturday and were without internet until Wednesday.  I'd say it was a miserable existence - but it was actually a good thing because I was able to get so much done without the temptation.  I was able to keep up with most of your blogs via my phone during breaks - but neglected to comment because it's such a pain to reply on that thing.

Despite keeping us waiting for so long AT&T surprised me.  When I had called to move the service I specifically asked the woman if it would work when they hooked it up.  She said it would.  I told her that during both of our last moves it was a nightmare and wanted to be sure that wouldn't be the case this time.  She assured me it would be easy-peasy.  And for once, AT&T is not on my naughty list.

Today I decided to go through our filing cabinet - and let me also give you this bit of advice; it would be wise to do this once a year and not once every decade; which is apparently the last time I went through ours.  I now have a MOUNTAIN of paper to shred and have discovered that I really don't need that bulky filing cabinet.  The majority of what is left can either be scanned and stored on a cd or a usb drive (with the paper copies being shredded); while the few remaining paper copies that must be kept can be housed in a compact file box.  And?  Did you know that the IRS suggests that you keep copies of your returns for only two-three years?  Somehow I was under the impression that you had to keep that stuff FOREVER because I have found returns that date back to 2000!

I will admit that moving into a smaller space is a challenge but I'm already beginning to get creative with the little storage I do have.  Hopefully, I'll be able to share some of that in later post.

But I can honestly say that getting rid of so much stuff that is useless to me (but most likely needed by someone else; hence the donating) is freeing; more so than you would think.

In the end, I did have to part with some of my furniture (I know, I know, I swore I wouldn't) - but I've kept the things I really love and need (although it is a bit cramped in here) and my furniture now has a nice, new home where I can visit as often as I want.  I gave it to the friends that hosted us at Thanksgiving.

I finally realized that keeping everything would be impossible and that once we move to our "forever" (knock wood - because dear God in heaven I never want to move again once we land in our next place) home I would probably want to start fresh anyway.

So we are pretty much done with the old house.  The cleaners came today (again, worth every penny not to have to clean AND unpack!) and Hubby is over there now disposing of the last few vestiges that remained behind.

And now, we are looking toward tomorrow and what it will bring.  Hopefully something with bigger closets.