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Feb. 20th, 2008 02:25 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rivkaI can't believe it, but it's my day at home and Alex is actually napping. She never naps. I hope she isn't getting sick.
I'd love to say that I was celebrating her unexpected nap with some peaceful relaxation - but given that we're moving in two and a half weeks, there's not a chance. We're a little bit behind with the packing - and we're going into church budget season now, which consumes all of Michael's time. So I'm using her naptime to solicit estimates from moving companies, clean out and pack up the linen closet, run some statistics for Lydia, and cycle through a few loads of laundry.
Oh, and post to LJ. What would naptime be without LJ posts? I've almost forgotten, it's been so long.
We did, incidentally, get the lovely house next door to our current house. I'm very excited. All three of us are. They're doing some renovation work over there right now, so we haven't been able to get in, but I am gloating over all the lovely details in my mind's eye. The ones I remember, anyway. I'm finding that my memory is hazy on things like closet space.
Decluttering for the move is going well. We've taken two full carloads of stuff to Goodwill and thrown much more away, and I'm feeling resolute about not moving things we don't need. On the recommendation of![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
fairoriana and juno I read It's All Too Much by Peter Walsh, and had a lightbulb moment: We shouldn't try to figure out where to put all of our things in the new house, we should try to figure out how we want to use each room of the new house, and then only move in the things that actually serve those purposes. Totally different emphasis.
I'm also realizing how much the clutter gets in the way of actual cleaning. I've always made a distinction between a messy house and a dirty house, but really it's the case that one leads to the other. You can't keep surfaces clean when they have piles of stuff on them.
To-do list, exclusive of packing:
Get at least three quotes from movers.
Make follow-up calls to discuss quotes with movers, given that computerized estimates aren't going to take into account the fact that we're moving next door.
Hire movers.
Getphone & DSL, cable, power, and renter's insurance switched over to the new house.
Change our address with the post office.
Change our subscriptions: New Yorker, UU World, Oxford American, Your Big Backyard, Netflix.
Notify people about our address change: friends and family, health care providers, insurance companies, workplaces, nursery school, church, bank, DMV, voter's registration.
Get permission to take moving day off work.
Get into the new house to measure rooms, scout out closets and other storage space, and check for other miscellaneous needs.
Plan out how we intend to use each room, and what things therefore need to be in each room.
Order new cover for the futon that will be a couch, rather than a bed, in the new house.
Buy any absolute necessities for new house, e.g., full wraparound shower curtain, shades for any uncovered windows.
Hit Ikea for new furniture/gear: foyer shoe rack, small filing cabinet, big-girl bed.
Pay March rent.
Dissassemble wardrobe in our room, wardrobe in guest room, our bed, guest bed, crib.
I'd love to say that I was celebrating her unexpected nap with some peaceful relaxation - but given that we're moving in two and a half weeks, there's not a chance. We're a little bit behind with the packing - and we're going into church budget season now, which consumes all of Michael's time. So I'm using her naptime to solicit estimates from moving companies, clean out and pack up the linen closet, run some statistics for Lydia, and cycle through a few loads of laundry.
Oh, and post to LJ. What would naptime be without LJ posts? I've almost forgotten, it's been so long.
We did, incidentally, get the lovely house next door to our current house. I'm very excited. All three of us are. They're doing some renovation work over there right now, so we haven't been able to get in, but I am gloating over all the lovely details in my mind's eye. The ones I remember, anyway. I'm finding that my memory is hazy on things like closet space.
Decluttering for the move is going well. We've taken two full carloads of stuff to Goodwill and thrown much more away, and I'm feeling resolute about not moving things we don't need. On the recommendation of
fairoriana and juno I read It's All Too Much by Peter Walsh, and had a lightbulb moment: We shouldn't try to figure out where to put all of our things in the new house, we should try to figure out how we want to use each room of the new house, and then only move in the things that actually serve those purposes. Totally different emphasis.I'm also realizing how much the clutter gets in the way of actual cleaning. I've always made a distinction between a messy house and a dirty house, but really it's the case that one leads to the other. You can't keep surfaces clean when they have piles of stuff on them.
To-do list, exclusive of packing:
Make follow-up calls to discuss quotes with movers, given that computerized estimates aren't going to take into account the fact that we're moving next door.
Hire movers.
Get
Change our address with the post office.
Change our subscriptions: New Yorker, UU World, Oxford American, Your Big Backyard, Netflix.
Notify people about our address change: friends and family, health care providers, insurance companies, workplaces, nursery school, church, bank, DMV, voter's registration.
Get into the new house to measure rooms, scout out closets and other storage space, and check for other miscellaneous needs.
Plan out how we intend to use each room, and what things therefore need to be in each room.
Buy any absolute necessities for new house, e.g., full wraparound shower curtain, shades for any uncovered windows.
Hit Ikea for new furniture/gear: foyer shoe rack, small filing cabinet, big-girl bed.
Pay March rent.
Dissassemble wardrobe in our room, wardrobe in guest room, our bed, guest bed, crib.
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Date: 2008-02-21 03:07 am (UTC)Because of this revelation, we have now changed our rarely-used living room (which is full of lovely natural light from a large bay window) into an office/craft room. We just put it together this past weekend, and we're thrilled. I have a scrapbooking craft space, Jon has his computer desk set up, we have a family organization space for shoes and diaper bags, and shortly Boo will have an easel and gallery space to hang his finished works. All on the first floor of our home where we spend 99% of our time.
The decluttering information in the book was nothing new, but the idea that you need to make your house work for you and examine how you use the space was fantastic.
Congrats on the new place, I can't wait to hear how you decide to use your new space.