Day 30:(July 5) All this planning and organizing, and anticipating….moving day is finally here! Two trucks, six men, and my family, all ready to start the marathon. I was directing traffic at first, but within minutes, the men were dispersed all around the house, and all you could hear was the cacophony of shrink wrapping, boxes being assembled, and shouting commands from the head supervisor. Things were happening so fast, I was amazed how fast the men were preparing the furniture, dismantling my piano, building boxes in record speed, and loading the truck. It was quite impressive. Watching my huge armoire and dressers come down the steps required all six men, and frankly, I needed to look away. It seemed that everything that I had boxed and labeled were being randomly loaded onto the truck, based upon the moving men’s organization of the interior of the truck . Apparently, they had an agenda and it clearly wasn’t in sync with my plan. I was getting increasingly anxious about the potential disorder of locating and unpacking my boxes.
When the trucks were finally loaded, off we went, and although I was feeling stressed, I was excited about getting to the other side to begin organizing.
When the trucks were unloading, and as expected, I was losing the control I thought I could maintain. The wardrobe boxes were taking over the garage and the smaller boxes were getting lost in the mix. The moving men’s goal was to deliver, unpack only things they wrapped, re-assemble the furniture and be done. My dot system was only working if I happen to be at the truck when they were unloading it. I thought about posting signs over the doors of the rooms with the name and colored dots, but was beginning to realize the men just wanted to get the boxes off the truck and out of the way, and move in the big pieces of furniture. Unfortunately, I was so busy surveying the rooms and trying to track my boxes, and as soon as I turned my back, boxes were being dropped off in the wrong rooms. The boxes were coming off the truck so fast, it was difficult to make quick decisions, so I ended up using the lowest level for most of the smaller boxes to be dealt with later. Fortunately, my new space is a three story townhouse with an elevator, so I can sort at my convenience. At the end of the day, the move went into overtime and the men were getting cranky. It was the hottest day of the summer, and obviously with all doors open, it was hot as hell. It didn’t help that I changed locations of furniture after they had already placed them, but hey…I’m allowed to change my mind! Don’t get me wrong, the moving company did a stellar job, but all moves are hectic and challenging.
When we eventually shut the doors in our new house, we were beyond exhausted. Our legs felt like lead, and it was an effort to talk. The only thing I needed to do was make my bed. I had moved my toiletries and personal items earlier, so it was amazing to easily access what I needed for bed, and more importantly, the bed is what I needed. Slept like a baby.