CHARLIE: are you lifting with your back!?
MAC: Of course I'm lifting with my back Charlie, okay? but I think your end is just lighter cause the balls have rolled down to this end
CHARLIE: nah you gotta snap your back up & lift...that's your problem
MAC: I'm jerking my back up! what do you want from me?!?
Ahhhh moving...I used to enjoy it...I used to enjoy being in new places...I used to enjoy organizing my things...but today? Not so much.
I'm in the process of moving to Ann Arbor. According to my calculations, this will be my third move of 2010. Excessive? Lil' bit. Am I going to move again this year you ask? As a matter of fact, I'm scheduled for another move in August. Should I be used to the packing, the moving and the unpacking by now? Why yes, yes I should. Am I though? Nnnnnope!
You would think that, after my latest lifetime count of...17 moves, working on 18, I would be an EXPERT in all-things-moving. You would be wrong in thinking so. Despite my multiple residences, storage rentals, and borrowed basement space, I have yet to figure out how to live lightly. I still feel the need to hang on to the boombox that I haven't used since 2004, the heels that I bought for Easter Mass back in '03, and the box of Bic Pens I bought for Junior year of High School. I guess I could be considered a borderline Hoarder...I can get rid of things, I just prefer not to if it has some use in it. To get rid of a useful item would be down right wasteful. I know what you're saying, "you should just sell it on CraigsList." To this I answer, that's too much work. And believe you, me, I have tried to sell two things on Craigslist and I did not enjoy the experience - it was hardly worth it. All the emailing back and forth, the coordinating, the bargaining - I'd rather give it away to the Salvation Army.
Moving should be an enjoyable process. Once you get over the hump of beginning to pack, you have a chance to purge the old and bring in the new. Well, it's a good theory but how many times have you found a box of "stuff" and said to yourself, "I'll sort through it while I'm unpacking." Yeah - who are you kidding, that box of "stuff" is going to follow you until you retire. Your grandson will stumble on it many years later only to find a vintage Tamagotchi, a Mariah Carey Cassette tape, a 1998 recording of the Grammy's on VHS, and several started, but never finished knitting projects: scarves, purses, hats, you name it. Jack. Pot.
When all is said and done; you have your boxes labeled, furniture broken down and everything readily accessible, you must now assemble a team of movers. A group of moving veterans, if I may (and preferably someone with a truck). You set the date, order a pizza and you're good to go. I mean, who wouldn't accept a slice of pizza for hours of hard labor?!?
So now you're nearly complete. The boxes are in, the furniture is in, you're in the homestretch. You begin to set up and realize you have...nothing. You won't be able to eat on the first night because you realize you have no microwave and no pots and pans...[I'm speaking from very recent experience here]. So what now? You have to go out and purchase a butt-load of essentials and you end up spending a small fortune. Fantastic! You have everything you need to live off of. Oh wait...now you need food!
It's a never ending cycle. I've been through it time and again (and again and again) and I cannot get the hang of it. Each and every time I move, I learn something new:
Lesson the First: I am the QUEEN of frivolous spending. Bow before me.
#B.) Ikea Furniture - One time assembly. Trying to disassemble it? Goooood Luck.
VIII.) If I haven't used or worn something in the past 12 - 14 months, I should probably give it away (doesn't mean I have, I just think I should.)
9g.) Just because it all fits in the box, it doesn't mean it SHOULD.Good luck to those of you moving this year - I would offer to help but, like my student loans, I'm nearing my maximum annual allotment.
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