Packing

I had approximately one month to pack an entire house. Even clearing out my house to show it did not put a dent into my accumulations. And I did not think I had much! Ha!!

My niece gave me a $100 gift card for Christmas from Lowe's -- I bought boxes and tape and started in. One room at a time, and one room was entirely empty to start so I figured I could put the boxes in that room as I packed.

In between time, I had to find a mover. People offered to move me with uhaul, but I had no idea how big of a truck, and by the time I paid their way to Florida and back, I was not really ahead. And I looked into Pods, but found out that the signature company did not deliver where I was moving to. I called different moving companies, and they were too expensive. I was beside myself. I continued to sell or give away the large pieces of furniture so I would not have to move them. I figured I would go with the basic necessities to get started. And I packed. And another niece helped me pack.

In between time, I had to tell doctors, banks, utilities, anyone I could think of that I needed to tell that I was moving. There would be no one on this side to handle anything after I was gone. I had to think of everyone and every thing that was involved with my daily living. I made lists on lists.

And I packed, and my niece helped when she could. Where was I going to stay until I knew how I was going to get my "stuff" to Florida? Lifelong friends offered that I could stay with them until I knew. But I am not one to impose, then again I did not have a choice. I took them up on the offer.

In between time, inspectors came to make the house ready for closing.

In between time, a lifetime of friends wanted to say good-bye with lunches and dinners.

And I packed and numbered the boxes and figured there were too many boxes for the room. And what was I going to do with the boxes if I couldn't find a mover. I rented a storage unit. And we packed.

Finally, someone knew someone who was also moving to Florida and they gave me the number of a reasonable mover. I called and made the arrangements. They would pick the "stuff" up at the storage unit in September, three weeks after I closed on my house in Florida. I told my friends, and they said no problem, whatever you need. Thank God for those friends. I had no idea what to do.

And I packed.

In between time, my broker in Florida needed to have the signed necessary paper work for the Florida house. There were many trips to Staples to copy and fax pages, and many phone calls.

Time slipped away, and I packed, and now I was giving away anything I remotely thought I would not need. I gave to charity, I gave to people, I gave to anyone and everyone who wanted and needed anything. And I continued to pack.

A few days before closing, the new owners wanted to move their "stuff" that was in a Pod to my driveway. No problem.

I had not even touched the garage. By now I had over 150 boxes and two storage units.George, my lawn man came with his truck and moved my small pieces of furniture to the storage unit, and he filled his truck with more boxes. Thank you, George, once again you were such a big help.

Most everything was getting finished, barely, and it was down to the last day. There was no way I could finish, I was running out of boxes, and I had to clean the house before the closing. I was panicking. I called the friends I was going to stay with. I still had clothes in the closets, and I was still packing. They came over and starting filling up my car with what I needed to take with me. Once my car was filled to capacity, they started filling up their car. The rest, we simply pitched. I have no idea what really was pitched. No idea whatsoever. Which showed me that most of the "stuff" in my life was never going to be missed. I had already put my treasures in my car a long time ago so I would not lose what I held close to my heart. After my car was filled, they started filling up their SUV. I thought I was going to hyperventilate. Breathe, Mary, breathe.

I had approximately one hour to clean the house, shower, change clothes, and drive across town to the closing. My friends left with their full car, and an hour after the closing, I was to meet them at the storage unit where we would simply put the stuff in, not boxed.

I cleaned the house and went to take a shower. I had not even thought of cleaning out the master bathroom. I looked at the necessities, took a shower, and simply threw everything into a bag and pitched it. There were some nice things, but, too bad. I had no time. And I did not keep any clean clothes nor a decent pair of shoes. And I didn't keep my hair dryer to dry my hair. I had to get out of the house. I had to drive across town. I was going to be late, and I called them. 10 minutes, at most.

So there I was, flying into the closing, hair wet, clean body, dirty clothes, and awful, smelly shoes. I do have a sense of  humor, and we laughed, and I signed the papers, and we exchanged keys, And I left to meet my friends at the storage units.

We simply put everything in the storage unit and tomorrow I would come and decide what was to go with me when I closed on my house in a few days. The day was done, I was hungry and tired, and frazzled. We went to get something to eat, and I went to their house; my room was ready. I slept.

Tomorrow, my transition continues. Have a great day!