Unorganized chaos.

So.  We’re moved in.  All of our stuff has been moved from one house and stuffed into the other.  And until my parents arrived on Saturday night, I would have been hard-pressed to say that anything was organized at all.  But we’re getting there – slowly but surely.  The kitchen is completely unpacked and looks fabulous (thanks, Mom) and we can actually see the floor in most rooms by now.

We realized a few things during this move – the major one being how much I detest moving.  I know it’s been said before, by me many, many times, but we plan to dig our heels in and stay here for awhile.   This house suits us.  And we like living in the east end so far.

Our house, it turns out needs a bit more work than we originally thought.  Thankfully, we are ok with that, as it was part of the reason we went with an older home rather than brand new.  Our first project will be a bathroom remodel.  The inspector told us we’d need to re-grout.  Why not re-tile if you have re-grout?  And why not re-model if you have to re-tile?  Yay!  We have big plans and are excited to start.  We need to get some inspiration photos, but think ‘spa’ and that’s the feel we’re going for.  Very excited.

And now, after my umpteenth move, a list of moving dos and don’ts – for those of you thinking of taking the plunge:

1. Hire movers.  It might seem expensive, but trying to round up enough friends with pick-up trucks and big muscles gets old – especially when they’ve helped you move 300 times already.  Movers do all the hard work.  You get to stand there and direct traffic and point to where the fridge goes rather than try to jam it through the front door when it’s obvious too big to fit.  Let someone else worry about that part.
2. Take your friends up on offers to babysit (kids or dogs).  As much as you think you won’t have to, trying to get organized AND entertain an 18-month old at the same time isn’t easy.  And the dog will hate being locked in the backyard while strangers roam about the house.  There will be barking.  And whining.
3. Bridge finance, if you can.  We took possession on Friday and had to be out on the following Thursday.  That gave us plenty of time to get organized and we never once felt really rushed.
4. Plan to move on the day of or the day before garbage day.  It wasn’t factored into our original plans, but that’s how it turned out and it worked out fabulously. 
5. Try to avoid the last minute, throw-it-in-a-box-with-other-crap-type packing without proper labelling.  We tend to do that with the stuff we leave out the longest (a.k.a. the most important stuff – telephones, pens, remotes, toiletries) and then when we get to the new house, we wrack our brains to remember where it ended up.  Detailed labelling pays off in spades in the first few days.  You won’t regret it.
6. Try to unpack one room at a time.  Go in there, get it all done and move on.  You’ll feel a greater sense of accomplishment having a few completely finished rooms rather than a little bit done in each one.

 The end (of the unpacking) is in sight for us now.  I’m thrilled to see our new home finally taking shape.  Our focus will soon change from buying, selling, worrying about selling, panicking about not selling fast enough, actually selling, packing, moving, unpacking to…life.  Just plain old life, where you don’t think twice about where you live, you just live.  I can’t wait.