Moving Woes

I am living in a storage locker. We are in the middle of a move, and almost everyone can relate to the chaos this creates. There are basically two kinds of moves: the no notice, no packing, throwing your junk in the trunk of your car kind and the plenty of notice, super organized, hired movers kind. I've done both, and each has pros and cons.

The husband's favorite move happened two years ago when we (finally) sold our house with the stipulation that we would be out in 48 hours. We literally filled laundry baskets with stuff, drove them to the apartment across town, dumped, and returned for more crap. This "bucket brigade" move was very easy for him because he only had to fetch and carry. This same move nearly drove me to the padded room. My grandmother's teacups were sharing a box with boardgames, scented candles and cough syrup. (This box ended up in the master bedroom, even though it was labeled "livingroom", neither of which made much sense.) Luckily my mother stepped in with some much needed female assistance and some red wine therapy.

For this move we have plenty of notice, which may be why it's so frustrating. Moving day isn't for another two weeks, so right now the house is filled with boxes. Some are full and some are not, and I have no idea where anything is. (Including the corkscrew!) Out here in the sticks there are no moving companies so we are pretty much on our own. We'll rent a U-haul truck and the "movers" will the husband's brothers and buddies, none of whom understand what the word "fragile" means. (Fra-gee-lay. Must be Italian.) But they are the only guys we know who will work for beer. But this time, I'm not "paying" them until after the truck is unloaded!