Moving
As someone who has moved umpteen million times in her life, you’d think I would be really good at it. Circumstances play a huge part in how successful any project is, but when you move an entire household across states, anything goes. Why? Good question.
Why do humans feel the need to haul a bunch of crap to another space? It’s really insane. As I unpacked the boxes, the horror of what I just paid thousands of dollars to keep, set in. I have always perceived myself with exemplary organizational skills (obviously a tad overestimated), which has included purging more and more, with each move. If that’s true, how then did I still have 70 boxes of “stuff”.
During a fleeting moment of rationalization, I “excused” some boxes because there were unique or hard to tote items in them. For example, lamp shades. That’s a box that doesn’t hold anything else because of their fragile nature. Therefore, in this stilted logic, that’s why I had so many more boxes than I imagined. They were for all those weird items…anything to appease the guilt.
On a good note, I did manage to sell most of my furniture and took no appliances or big-ticket items. That downsizing only accentuated the ridiculous amount of smaller items that I toted to yet, another location. Seriously, I had a box called junk. Wouldn’t you think that would be a clue? Uh-huh…
This morning I wanted a simple bowl of cereal. Tired of just toast and coffee for breakfast. Could I find a spoon? No. I made coffee for the movers. Could I find any cups? Did I have any sugar? Nope. Could I find the box labelled with anything resembling the possibility of the silverware’s existence inside? No. Sheesh.
Well, here’s why. After opening every single box, the silverware and my drinking glasses seem to have vanished. I was pretty sure I checked every drawer and cabinet before leaving my prior residence, but the items are simply not here.
The moving company and I went over every box before I signed and there was nothing left on the truck, so where did these items go? It’s the one-sock in the dryer phenomenon…a universal mystery. I am having the one-box missing phenomenon that’s always attached to moving across country. Great fun.
So here’s what happens now, a trip to a department store or Walmart or somewhere to buy a cheap set of silverware and a couple of glasses, from which to drink liquid. If I buy more than the basic set of 4 in silverware, I will come home and open a mystery box to find the silverware buried at the bottom. Thus, accumulating another freaking set of utensils.
I have less hope for the glassware since that’s usually packed with the rest of the kitchen and all of those boxes are unpacked. Springing for new glassware might be fun…depends on my perspective at the time of purchase. Moving costs a lot!
You tend to forget the peripheral expenses that are small in quantity or need but add up in the blink of an eye. The bug guy, the painter guy, the lawn service guy, the furnace / AC guy, the items you need from the hardware store, the replacing broken items. The list goes on and on.
I wonder if I had spent the move money on Lottery tickets, would I have won enough to just start over? Food for thought. I never waste money on gambling, but moving without damage or loss is proving to be just as elusive as a winning ticket!
