And They're Off...

... the boxes that is.

The movers showed up early this morning. How early you ask? Thirty-five minutes early! At 7:25 am the doorbell rang, and instead of answering it and letting them in, I told them through our intercom that they were way too early and I wasn't quite ready. I needed the last few minutes to get the girls dressed for school, and to throw another load of laundry in the wash.

While Matt drove the girls to preschool, I finally opened up the gate to let the movers in. There were five big, burly guys with more silver "Jewry" than all of The San Fernando Valley combined. I showed the head packer around the house, pointing out what stayed and what went. Everything in every room was clearly labeled: To Storage, To India, Do Not Pack, Nothing to Pack in Here, and UAB (Unaccompanied Air Baggage - our air freight that's supposed to arrive in India 2-3 weeks after we do... supposed to).

They each took a room, hunkered down, and began packing. They really didn't take many breaks, though they did yell for me on occasion when Libby got in their way. She really annoyed the kitchen guy as she was constantly laying on his packing materials, on the paper, and under his feet. The time flew by and around noon I ordered in 4 large Kosher pizzas and a few bottles of soda.

The pack-out moved along smoothly and quickly. By 2 pm they were completely finished packing, though they left out one minor detail. They did not label ANY single box. They had me do it. I had to walk around numbering every box, filling out the inventory list, writing which room it came from, and what they can remember putting in there. Most boxes in the living room and dining room were labeled "ornaments" and "glass". Boxes in the bedrooms were labeled "clothing" or "misc." Boxes in the garage were only labeled "garage". And boxes in the kitchen were only labeled "K" for kitchen. I guess it will be a nice surprise when I open them. Yeah, that's it, a nice surprise.

By 4:30 pm every box was on the van and nailed shut in its appropriate crate. In all we had 1 crate going to storage, and 7 crates going to India, with a total of 182 boxes. Tomorrow I'll know the exact weight of everything sent. I'm hoping to be under our weight allowance so I can send a supplemental shipment from California. I want to send over a large safe. Go figure.

After the movers left I sat with Matt and told him that as relieved as I am for the actual pack-out to be over, that it felt a little weird watching my "life" being packed up and sent on. Matt sweetly replied, "No, it's not your life that was packed, it's your stuff. It shouldn't matter if it falls into the ocean, or never even makes it to our next destination. Your stuff can forever be replaced."

I so wanted to make the moment into something beautiful and say something witty and prophetic back to him, but all that came to mind was, "Well a**, that "STUFF" took me 4 weeks to organize, sort through, clean, donate, sell, and label. It darn well better NOT fall into the ocean."

I think I need to lay off the cleaning for awhile, it makes me cranky.



The "Stuff" going to Storage ... Packing the Kitchen ... "Stuff" in the Garage