Buying a house is one thing; buying everything you need to move in and packing it all is another. Since we started the process, we bought things here and there so we didn’t have this huge expense at once. Before we even picked a house, we had most of the basics we would actually need. This weekend we spent putting more of a dent in that list. That was the fun part. Looking at all the stuff you now have to pack? Groan city.
My neighbors sold their house and moved shortly before we heard whether we got the house. She had to drive back to the city to pick up her kids from school and was kind enough to supply us with boxes, bubble wrap and other packing supplies. At first, I thought she had given us too much for what little stuff I thought we had. I was so very wrong. After using about 6 or 7 of those boxes and all of the packing stuff, I reconsidered the state of this situation. I’ve learn my lesson: if you think you have enough boxes, get triple the amount more.
I was impressed with myself with my accomplishment of packing one whole room in 2 hrs. Then I realized how much more I had left to do. I say “I” instead of “we” not because my husband is a useless waste of space, but because I have decided to take this on myself. My husband calls me the “Tetris Queen” because somehow I always get everything to fit. Mostly I’ve decided to do this myself because I am an OCD anal control freak that needs to do this myself or I will make whomever doesn’t do it my way very miserable. (Remember, admitting your flaws is healthy for you and your relationship.) I tell my husband it’s because he does so much at work that I couldn’t possibly make him come home and help with it. No, he doesn’t believe me. Yes, he does know this means “I love you too much to want to hurt you”. He stays out of my way, and tries (mostly unsuccessfully) to keep our toddler out of the way.
I tried to do it while he’s at work, but I found I spent 100% of my time trying to retrieve the box that the toddler declared as his toy, and 0% trying to pack. And “box” was not a typo. One box and 1 hour of effort was all the evidence I needed to prove that this was not going to work out. I considered enlisting the troupe of grandparents that would love to watch him but like usual, my sense of family duty won. If I can manage a child while vomiting and completely exhausted with fever, certainly I can handle packing with my overly active toddler. Millions of parents do this all the time, so dammit I can to. I was raised that way, and I’m made of steel. Stainless steel.
Friday is the big day. I have set myself up to fail by listening to my husband and waiting until now to do this. But I am nothing if not amazing at meeting deadlines. I live for this sort of pressure. I will have everything packed at ready to go for Friday, especially considering I’m probably going to be too excited to sleep Thursday night. I’m ready for this.