Musings on Moving

To start this post I need to brag on our fabulous moving helpers. We are TRULY blessed. We had three great friends, and two dads who moved our entire house in 5 hours. (Loading, driving 20 min each way, unloading and lunch/break). I was amazed how smoothly everything went. I'm so completely thankful for my sweet friends Heidi and Annie who loaned us their husbands for the day. I know that sometimes I'm sooo in need of that weekend break, and to take these Daddies from their families, even for just 5 hours, is a huge sacrifice for these sweet Mommies. Our amazing next door neighbors (ndns) from our now-old-house helped a ton, loaning us their truck and trailer and once again, their man power:)

My MIL and I got the whole downstairs put together by this afternoon so it feels like a home now (with the exception of hanging pictures...I just can't make up my mind yet). Chloe has already told me she wants to live here forever! I told her "we'll see...".

So, onto the musings:

1. If you haven't opened a box for 2 years, you don't need whatever junk is inside. Unless you sneak a peek and find all the photo albums from your summer in Hong Kong. Then you choke back tears at the memories and wonder if you're ready to reminisce fully yet...you sigh and decide no, the wounds and tender thoughts are still too fresh, even though it's been 7 years.
2. It's humiliating to see your friend's husband carrying a bag of unmentionables up to your bedroom. Enough said.
3. It's a blessing to have grandma's volunteer to take your girls to the Wild Animal Park for the day to keep them out of the moving chaos. It breaks your heart to hear that you little one had 4 melt downs and the grandmas let her cry it out instead of bribing her to comfort. It makes the tenderest part in this Mommy ache to know her little one was inconsolable.
4. Cupboard space is like gold in a kitchen. I wish I could re-do my wedding registry and get less crystal champagne flutes and more tupperware and dishtowels.
5. I need new dishtowels. Desperately. It annoys me to spend money on things this trivial.
6. As type-A as I am, certain organizational things I really don't care about. Like where stuff in my kitchen is. As long as I can find it, let someone else organize it. But don't touch my closet or my girls' closet. Things must be color coded and divided by seasons.
7. I found several cans of sloppy joe mix and ravioli in the pantry at our old house. We've had these cans since we got married. That is disgusting. 5 year old ravioli! And the fact that we've moved it with us to 5 different places blows my mind. Note to self: reorganize pantry so canned goods aren't hidden on the bottom shelves.
8. I love baby gates. I would lie awake at night before we moved in, wondering how to keep my girls off the stairs. If you know my Ava, you know this is a big deal since pretty much everyone we know agrees that she's crazy. I'm thankful for my father in law and husband for putting these gates up today. It will spare me the graying of many hairs.
9. I would love to acquire a few more comfy chairs. The layout of this house is weird and we need more small chairs. I know Hubs is not a fan of garage sales but I'm thinking I may have to find a few secretly and place them in the house, hoping he doesn't ask questions.
10. I hate moving. But that being said, everything went smoothly and it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Heck, I even helped with the heavy work! This was the first time in four years I had to help, since I wasn't with child! That's been my excuse the other few times :)

Happy Sunday friends,