Moving Day

Monday, August 9, 2010

Our moving day finally arrived.  The van came around noon on Monday.  The three movers were here until 9:30 PM.  No matter how prepared you are and how long you have packed and cleaned, moving is endless and the actual moving day is hard. 

Rich said that the actual moving part takes about four days, which is true.  One to do all the last minute pack ups that you can't do before hand (clothes, food, etc.), one to load the truck, one to unload the truck, and one to unpack and clean. 

It is kind of like having a baby.  You have to go into labor, give birth, stay in the hospital and then it still takes a while to recover.  Just like with a baby, moving leaves lasting memories.  You will always remember the effort it took to pack up your house, clean and then do it again on the other side.  It's something you need time to forget before you ever want to do it again. 

Nice to know I'll be doing it again in ten months time.  And this time it's cross country.  Happy thought, right?!  That's why we are NOT opening any boxes unless they are absolutely necessary.   Hopefully this move will make the next one much easier.  Here's to hoping.

There were some dramatic moments moving the killer heavy dresser from the upstairs.  I waited in the kitchen not wanting to look and hoped I didn't hear any screams or loud crashes.  The main moving guy said in the fifteen years he has moved things, he had never moved any piece of furniture that heavy.  He said it weighed at least 500 lbs.  The only thing heavier he had moved was a safe, with six men.  The piano moved easily as well as the upstairs washer and dryer and other two dressers. 

We filled the entire truck up and the load weighed 10,000 lbs.  How do we have so much stuff?!  Did I mention we left a few beds and most of the main floor furniture.  It was crazy. 

They couldn't fit Rich's weight set and bench in the truck, so early the next morning we rented a U-Haul and got the weights loaded, the basketball standard and a few other odds and ends.  Rich drove the big van and I followed behind with the kids and a SUV bulging with lamps, glass items and plants.

We met the truck up in Cincinnati on Tuesday around 1 PM and they wrapped up around 9 PM.  It was a LONG couple of days. 

At least I had everything well marked so we were able to put items that can stay packed up in the storage room, put the food and food storage in a corner and the toys by the washer and dryer.  I got the kitchen unpacked that night and by Wednesday afternoon the main floor was put away, the bedrooms were decent and the basement was organized. 

It helped that we were leaving for Lexington Wednesday night and we needed to pack for our little trip.  I didn't think about trying to find items to pack when everything was scattered and buried in boxes.  It was unpacking in fast forward.

The house in Cincinnati will be great and we fit all of our things in with lots of room to spare.  (Rich was convinced we'd fill up the basement and not be able to fit all of our "junk".)

We drove back to Lexington on Wednesday night and deep cleaned the house on Thursday.  We painted base boards, cleaned the carpets, scrubbed base boards, vacuumed, cleaned bathrooms and killed the millions of flies that came in the house on moving day.  It was a lot of work and the kids really pitched in, but they were rewarded.  We left that night around 5 PM for our little weekend getaway.  Our first in five years!

We dropped the house another $5,000 and are having an open house next Sunday.  We are now asking what we paid for the house 4 years ago.  The market is just so slow and we are worried it might get worse before it gets better.  We are still hopeful that someone will come through and see what a great place it is and we'll be able to sell it sooner than later. At least we won't have to deep clean it for showings.  We will just leave it clean and come back on the weekends to work in the yard and do any last minute touch ups.

It really was hard to see the truck drive away with our belongings.  We have loved Lexington.  It has truly been our home.  The girls were 3 1/2 months old when we moved in.  This is where Zach was born.  The boys were baptized here.  They were involved in soccer, basketball, baseball and swim team.  We can't say enough about the school.  It's the best we could ever find.  We loved our ward and the many good friends we have made.  We leave with only fond memories of happy times and have no regrets from the past four years.  Kentucky has been so good to us over the last decade and we will always be grateful for the Bluegrass state and our time spent in horse country.  We will always and forever Bleed Blue.