Down by the Bays: Packing Up

Tuesday, July 1, 2014

Packing Up

Packing up? Not my favorite thing.

This being the fourth time we've moved, I would expect myself to be a little better at it, and while I'm not terrible, I don't hate it any less. Carson is a machine when it comes to putting things in boxes, and while I don't love the way he crams anything in sight into a box (socks and dishes, for example), he does fill up the space and things do get packed really quickly. Needless to say, he did most of it, and mainly while I was at work. Labeling isn't his strong suit, so that was a fun game when we arrived, but hey, things were packed.

Anyway, this is the packing up process, a day before we left.

Poor basement. PS - 40 of those boxes are books. Yes you read that number correctly.

I stupidly said I would work the day before we moved, and got off work at 12, thanks to a kind person who took the last three hours of my shift. Carson wisely did not work that day, and spent it organizing and packing up things. At 4pm, he picked the largest Penske truck ever up from Home Depot, the 26 foot one. It was cheapest.

He backed it into the driveway with amazing ease - Evan and I watched in awe - and stopped where he wanted it, which was, by a miracle, less than an inch from the gutter. He couldn't see it, and we weren't really aware of it being there either, but it surely would have ripped right off if he hadn't decided that he'd backed it up enough. So that was newsworthy.

We inspected the truck, which was new and smelled new and shiny.

And at one point I took a picture of my plants, which turned out to be good for remembering them, because on accident, I forgot to put them in the truck. Enjoy, Heather and Evan!

Approximately fifteen minutes after the loading began, rain began to POUR. I was at the store, getting water and Gatorade for the poor souls who'd offered to help us move, and was sort of stuck there, because it was just sheets and sheets of water. Thankfully, it didn't last long.

Around twelve of our friends showed up to help us move. There was more than enough help, and by the time Carrie, Heather and I returned with the pizza (notice that during this whole story I've basically just gotten out of helping at all - thank you Carson!), it was finished. Less than three hours to load everything. The pizza we got, by the way, was amazing. We got it from Pizza BOGO, which I'd had before, once, but it had been sitting out for a few minutes and wasn't good. If only I'd given it a second try sooner than the day before we left! It was GOOD and they had a deal where any pizza is $6.95 on a Tuesday or Wednesday if you pay in cash so... done.

The evening ended with a friendly round of Settlers of Catan.

The next day, MOVING DAY, neither of us worked, because I may not have the most sense when it comes to times I work, but I have that much. Carson did laundry and it was a whole thing, because I didn't realize that he had, so our sheets almost stayed in Cleveland, but were thankfully rescued and quick-dried in our last half hour there. We had lunch, cleaned the house, and I was sappy, and the cat whose owners we still aren't sure of (but she has a collar so we know her name and that she has owners) stopped by presumably to say goodbye. I made Carson scoop her up for a picture.
(by the way, look how awesome the asphalt is on our street. Snow=potholes, and this is representative of most of our road there)

As we got ready to leave, Evan was beginning to set up the house the way they wanted it, which made me sad because it didn't look like ours anymore.

Then we hooked the car up to the van (and by we I mean Evan and Carson while I watched from the porch)

And the Storeys rejoiced that we were leaving and they got the house to themselves.

And I made them take a roommate picture.

And then we took the picture we've thus far always taken when we leave a place, and that's the picture in front of our house. I want them all on a wall someday.