Wednesday, November 16, 2011

The New Normal

Months ago I predicted there were crazy times ahead and now I find myself in the throes of said times. Can you tell by my lack of blogging? The Big Move is this weekend. We have friends coming out to help us move all our furniture and a few appliances (washer, dryer and refrigerator). In the meantime, we are doing our best to empty the house of stuff.

Of course this process began quite a while ago when I packed up the absolutely non-essential stuff. I’m proud to say that I’ve packed up most everything already. In the kitchen, I’m getting down to the nitty gritty: pots, pans, bake ware and food. I’m terrified of packing up something I’ll suddenly need. To combat that, I’ve simply stopped cooking. It’s not like we’ve got time to enjoy a meal anyway. The dining room is empty but for furniture… as is the family room. The master bedroom is looking bare and two downstairs closets are empty.

Every night this week I load up the back of my car with stuff so I’m fully loaded for the next day. After work I pick Sugar up from Skinny Bitch’s, we stop at the new house and drop off the stuff in my car. We get Spice, we go home and eat a nutritious dinner of ravioli or peanut butter sandwiches (tonight we might get fancy and stop at the market for a rotisserie chicken). Then we run through the house and gather up stuff to move that doesn’t really need to be packed up to go across town: contents of closets, large toys, etc.

We’ve become masters at packing up the car. We gather everything up first and then load the trunk. We’ve figured out that there’s room between the two girls, why not fill that space too? And the empty passenger seat? Bring on more stuff. It’s almost become a challenge to see how much we can stuff into that car.

Then we drive back to the new house and unload the car again. Thus far, we’ve been able to do this in an organized and mannerly fashion. We unload stuff and put it in the proper closet or room. Each room has a neat pile of boxes in it. And all these boxes are carefully labeled (some with crayon) so I should be able to tell exactly what is in each box. Remind me of this later when we’re looking for stuff. I’ll never be able to send EN on a “seeking” mission in the near future. The box labeled “Top Shelf-Kitchen” will leave him confused and he’ll try to move the “Spice Cabinet-Kitchen” box to the bedroom.  

I’ve got to say, the girls have been amazing this week. They’ve run up and down stairs, packed boxes, gathered up their prized possessions and done what I’ve asked of them. We don’t have time to goof off, dinner is on the run and snack is eaten with one hand while teeth are being brushed with the other.  They have been wonderful about helping and not complaining. I’m guessing they’re really excited about this move. I can’t even remember the last time they took time out to fight.

All the while I still attempt to keep up with homework and spelling quizzes… For the record, I don’t think Spice will ever need to spell desperadoes or armadillos, but I’m not the one who decides these things. I managed last night to wash the new bedding and the stuff for the futon as Tiny Mike will be sleeping over on Saturday.

I know you’re all dying to ask, “Where’s EN in all this?” My helpful little man has been so busy moving the contents of the basement and garage from one house to another that before today, he didn’t have a spare moment to pack a single item in the house. My hairy eyeballs got his ass out of bed this morning and he claims that the office is entirely packed.

And now you’re dying to find out, “What does EN have in the basement and garage that would take three weekends with a U-Haul or trailers to move?” Tools, y’all. And motorcycles. And Important Things That He Cannot Live Without. He said he went through stuff, at least he spent oodles of time in the basement and I did see him once throw away a department-store bag full of empty envelopes. Progress.

Someone, call that hoarders show. Stat. 

xoxo
Ice Princess

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