Moving - save yourself the trouble

Oh my god. I am not moving again without professional help. This story is not over - our stuff must still arrive safely at our door. But in the meantime, here is what has happened so far.

Moving across the country is not cheap. We decided to let someone else drive a truck containing our stuff for us after we packed it carefully on the truck ourselves, as a way to save time and money. Plus, who wants to drive a moving van for 5 days? They are not easy to handle! So, we had a 28 foot trailer delivered to our apartment complex last Friday morning, and were initially excited to find that it only took up 2 parking spots. Our enthusiasm quickly faded when the apartment manager called, said trailers were not allowed according to our lease (which is true), and asked us to remove it. Well, it was staying until Monday. Even if we could have packed it up that afternoon, the company wasn't coming back that day or on the weekend. So let's hope we get our security deposit back.

Jason and I spent about 12 hours over the course of Friday afternoon and Saturday morning carefully packing everything in sealed and labeled boxes. The boxes and furniture all had to be inventoried for an international move. This process is excruciating, especially when sick with the flu. We ended up throwing a ton of stuff away. I feel so wasteful now. This process really, finally, taught me not to buy what I do not need and to let go of things we do not use.

The actual packing of the van went wonderfully, thanks to the help of really great friends. We couldn't have done it without you and will forever be in your debt. We also used 3 less feet of space than we asked for, so it should be cheaper than expected!

But, with everything packed, we were reduced to sleeping on the floor, eating TV dinners cooked in the stove, and listening to the radio over the laptops. Not a lot of fun, especially when we realized we did not have a way to donate the TV and kitchen table and chairs - no one was returning our calls for a charity pick-up, and the truck was already sold. So we put them on Craig's List for super cheap and poof! they were gone. It was totally like magic. Jason sold the TV in 15 minutes, and it was picked up an hour later, after months of worrying about it. And I think both items went to loving families. That table and chairs had been in my kitchen(s) for at least 25 years.

Monday morning saw us throwing the last of the stuff in the van and trying to rig the half-broken bulk-head in place and then waiting, waiting, waiting for the truck to be picked up. The apartment complex called again. We called the company again. They finally came, but didn't get the paperwork from us! I feel bad that the driver had to come back and get it, but the inventory has to go with it...

The truck should arrive next week at the company's base near here. We then arrange to meet the customs agent at the truck, check everything out, and then, at long last, the truck will come to our home. We are hoping for a "live" drop-off where the driver waits while we unload to avoid any parking issues here. The truck can be dropped in the lane by our house, but this makes Hedgehog Guy ultra-nervous, so hooray for hired help! Keep your fingers crossed. I can not wait for life with a real bed, a microwave, an iron, and more than 4 plates again.