Cute, but not helpful. LOL.

Packing up is the hardest part about moving. Kitty cats help in the only way they know how by not letting you pack. Did we pack up a kitty cat? Naw.  If we could pack up our part-time pet, we would, but he belongs to at least five other families in the neighborhood.

Contrary to what most think step two is after deciding to sell a house, it’s packing everything up. All of it. A neutral house with fresh carpet and paint makes it easier for prospective buyers to see themselves in a house. Since we were on an aggressive time schedule, we allowed ourselves about ten days to pack up twenty-six years of stuff. Daunting is an understatement. This is to date, the worst part of moving.

We hired a moving company right away and when the estimator learned we were packing ourselves in a short amount of time, he gasped. He recommended allowing time for breaks to avoid burnout. I took him up on the breaks frequently at the beginning because, with that kind of a gigantic task in front of me, I preferred to hide under a blanket and forget about it

Where to begin? The moving guy said to order boxes on Amazon to get started. There’s no way to know how many, so I took a guestimate; I could order more later, so I thought. Moving boxes are not on the fast track for delivery like toothpaste, so I only placed one big order and ran to UHaul about five times after that. The boxes are better quality and it’s easier to see the exact size for better planning.

Our youngest son was home from Nashville to say goodbye to the house during the packing. He zipped out to grab our first load of boxes from U-Haul. He wasn’t as afraid to take action as us. He built a bunch of boxes and placed them in strategic areas like closets, bookshelves, and dish cabinets.

“Do a little bit every day. If you’re passing by, throw some books into the box.” He suggested. It was a great idea and he followed through on it. I couldn’t. I didn’t like the wine glasses getting packed up first, for a lot of reasons. But the box had slots like an egg carton so it was easy for him, no sorting.

The garage I had avoided for the last five years seemed like a good place to start. I made piles to sell, donate, or dump. After an hour a few tiny piles formed.  I was getting kind of hot and antsy. Hey, I’ll set up the outdoor furniture while we can still sit in our beautiful backyard. The pillows and cushions were taking up garage space and this would be one way to look like I accomplished something. It’s justified time spent, at least in my mind.

It’s a good idea to spray off the furniture before putting down the cushions. No need to take California dirt with us, I reasoned. I grabbed the hose and sprayed off the winter grime and cobwebs; I was thorough, flipping each piece over to make sure the undersides were squeaky clean too. I’m good.

Hey, maybe we could have a few people over to sit around the fire pit and break the news. That’s another great use of time. It has to be done anyway. We hadn’t told anyone yet because we weren’t sure how and Hubby hadn’t officially quit work, and what if we changed our minds?  A few friends wouldn’t hurt. It’s only noon and I can pack all day until cocktail hour.

I texted a couple of buddies; no luck, they were busy that evening. So, I broke the hot news via text.

“We’re moving to North Carolina in June.”

“What?!? I’m coming over in an hour; I just need to shower.”

“I’ll be there too,” chimed in my other friend.

“Ok. Be positive. You’re the first to know and I’m getting a little misty-eyed.”

During that hour, I finished setting up the furniture in a grassy area of the lawn and in the shade. My two girlfriends came with a bottle of chilled bubbles and warm chocolate chip cookies. No hubbies.

“This is a time to celebrate!” said the gal pal with bubbles. “Oh, my hubby wants to know what we’re supposed to do on Halloween if you’re really moving.” We host a spooky Halloween dinner going on eighteen years, sans kids now.

After scrounging up a few stray mismatched champagne flutes from a top cabinet shelf my son hadn’t discovered, we sipped and I spilled the story at 1:30 on a Saturday afternoon. They coached me into talking about logistics, so I wouldn’t get all weepy.

I didn’t get a lot of sorting or packing done that day, but I felt better sharing the news. There’s always tomorrow.

Tomorrow came quickly. I emailed a bunch of people about our impending move. “Hey, I’ll be captive at the house so if you want to stop by and say hey or pack a box, come on over!”  Lots of offers to help and what-the-heck replies filled my inbox and text messages. It was just what I needed to kickstart the drudgery of packing, company.

To be continued…. because packing takes a long, long time and there’s a ton to learn.