Although we have been cleaning every day of the pack and load days, we reserved today to thoroughly clean the house now that it is empty. We dropped the kids at a daycare and got to work. Thankfully it was only a couple of hours before it was all done. The rest of the day was spent at our hotel. Tomorrow we meet the carpet cleaners at the house and later that evening we do a walk through with our landlord. Easy stuff!
Now we are going to enjoy our mini vacation at the hotel. Once we are on the road for our actual PCS I'll post some more. Until then!
Thursday, August 2, 2012
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Moving Day!
Today is officially moving day. This is the day the truck comes and loads all of our things and drives away. The kids were home with us today, which I don't recommend. But that is the way it worked out. I convinced them to play on the back porch for the first hour or so after the truck arrived. When they couldn't stand it anymore I bribed them with chips. :) A little later I let them come in but they had to hang out with me and my husband in the kitchen where the fewest boxes were. That lasted a little bit because they thought it was cool to hang out sitting on the counter. Then my husband took them outside to look at the truck slowly filling up. Once the living room got cleared out we put a laptop on an empty box and let them watch a movie. That kept them busy and out of the way for another hour and a half. By that time the movers were nearly done so the kids were able to roam the house a little more freely.
The dog didn't do so well today. We gated him off in the back part of the guest bathroom, out of the way of the movers. He yiped and scrambled until I felt so bad for him that I carried him around the house with me most of the day. He has never been through a move and didn't really like it.
It was very busy today with all the activity of four movers, the kids and the dog, that we didn't do much cleaning. The one thing we did do was the vacuuming. After each room was cleared out I took a vacuum to it, finishing it all up and loading the vacuum on the truck last.
But once the movers were gone a little after lunch time we dug in and got a lot of cleaning done. We wiped base boards and doors, cleaned the pantry shelves and the shelves in the laundry room. We finished the last sliding glass door track (we have three sliding glass doors, so they were a big job), and wiped the vertical blinds. We cleaned the closet shelves and dusted all of the plates on the light sockets. Then we cleaned the front door and called it a night. It took another hour just to get the cars loaded with all of the kitchen supplies, dog crate, and other miscellaneous stuff we needed with us. We had a quick dinner, checked into a hotel, took our much needed showers, and watched the Olympics.
What a day! My husband is now officially on "leave in route." Since he is graduating soon we have family coming into town to celebrate before getting on the road for our new home. So he has taken leave that will be added on to his allowable travel days.
The dog didn't do so well today. We gated him off in the back part of the guest bathroom, out of the way of the movers. He yiped and scrambled until I felt so bad for him that I carried him around the house with me most of the day. He has never been through a move and didn't really like it.
It was very busy today with all the activity of four movers, the kids and the dog, that we didn't do much cleaning. The one thing we did do was the vacuuming. After each room was cleared out I took a vacuum to it, finishing it all up and loading the vacuum on the truck last.
But once the movers were gone a little after lunch time we dug in and got a lot of cleaning done. We wiped base boards and doors, cleaned the pantry shelves and the shelves in the laundry room. We finished the last sliding glass door track (we have three sliding glass doors, so they were a big job), and wiped the vertical blinds. We cleaned the closet shelves and dusted all of the plates on the light sockets. Then we cleaned the front door and called it a night. It took another hour just to get the cars loaded with all of the kitchen supplies, dog crate, and other miscellaneous stuff we needed with us. We had a quick dinner, checked into a hotel, took our much needed showers, and watched the Olympics.
What a day! My husband is now officially on "leave in route." Since he is graduating soon we have family coming into town to celebrate before getting on the road for our new home. So he has taken leave that will be added on to his allowable travel days.
Two Days of Packing
I was up before 7 the first morning of packing getting the house and the kids ready for the packers. I packed my toiletries and loaded the car with the rest of the stuff we are bringing. Then I went room to room and got it ready. I zip tied alarm clock cords, took bedding off the beds, unloaded the dish washer, and emptied the trash.
Unfortunately we had to take the dog to get his shots. I missed that he was overdue, and since he is going to be spending time with other dogs during our move I wanted to be sure he was all up do date. So my husband took him to the groomer/vet and brought home breakfast while I finished getting the house ready.
Once the kids had eaten I took them to their friends for the morning. The movers usually come in like a whirlwind on that first day so having the girls out of the house makes it easier to watch the movers, and it's more entertaining to them to go play anyway. As it turned out the movers were a bit slower than I am used to. They didn't even arrive until 10:30 am, there were only two of them instead of the typical three or four, and one was in training. So they moved a little slow. On the up side, it looked as though they took special care when packing our things.
So what is our job if the movers are packing us? It sounds crazy, but we have to sit and watch them pack all of our belongings. It's an odd thing to do, just sitting there and following them around from room to room. But that is what we are required to do. I have never had a problem with packers stealing or being careless. They are usually very good at their jobs. Even so, we sit and watch them pack for 8 hours a day, sometimes for two straight days.
After lunch I picked up the kids and brought them home for lunch, and then took them to another friends house to play for a couple more hours. They would rather play and it keeps them out of the packers way.
So the packers worked until quitting time at 5 o'clock. Our beds were still up so we stayed at our house that night. I would like to say we got a ton of cleaning done, but we were actually really tired so we just plugged the TV back in since they hadn't packed that yet either, and watched the Olympics.
On day two I took the girls to a friends and only one of the guys came to finish the packing and inventory every box. This time we did a lot more cleaning than watching. We were able to get the kitchen cupboards clean including the outside fingerprints. And we cleaned the oven, one entire bathroom, all the windows, sills, blinds and sliding glass door tracks. We cleaned all the fans and light fixtures, and wiped fingerprints off of doors, jams, walls, and wall switch plates.
The packer left mid-afternoon and we quite cleaning at bedtime. It was a long, productive day!
Unfortunately we had to take the dog to get his shots. I missed that he was overdue, and since he is going to be spending time with other dogs during our move I wanted to be sure he was all up do date. So my husband took him to the groomer/vet and brought home breakfast while I finished getting the house ready.
Once the kids had eaten I took them to their friends for the morning. The movers usually come in like a whirlwind on that first day so having the girls out of the house makes it easier to watch the movers, and it's more entertaining to them to go play anyway. As it turned out the movers were a bit slower than I am used to. They didn't even arrive until 10:30 am, there were only two of them instead of the typical three or four, and one was in training. So they moved a little slow. On the up side, it looked as though they took special care when packing our things.
So what is our job if the movers are packing us? It sounds crazy, but we have to sit and watch them pack all of our belongings. It's an odd thing to do, just sitting there and following them around from room to room. But that is what we are required to do. I have never had a problem with packers stealing or being careless. They are usually very good at their jobs. Even so, we sit and watch them pack for 8 hours a day, sometimes for two straight days.
After lunch I picked up the kids and brought them home for lunch, and then took them to another friends house to play for a couple more hours. They would rather play and it keeps them out of the packers way.
So the packers worked until quitting time at 5 o'clock. Our beds were still up so we stayed at our house that night. I would like to say we got a ton of cleaning done, but we were actually really tired so we just plugged the TV back in since they hadn't packed that yet either, and watched the Olympics.
On day two I took the girls to a friends and only one of the guys came to finish the packing and inventory every box. This time we did a lot more cleaning than watching. We were able to get the kitchen cupboards clean including the outside fingerprints. And we cleaned the oven, one entire bathroom, all the windows, sills, blinds and sliding glass door tracks. We cleaned all the fans and light fixtures, and wiped fingerprints off of doors, jams, walls, and wall switch plates.
The packer left mid-afternoon and we quite cleaning at bedtime. It was a long, productive day!
Sunday, July 29, 2012
The Final Hours of Preparation
The movers come tomorrow and it has been an interesting mixture of busy and lazy. First we mowed, weed wacked and edged. Then we finished laundry and packed our cloths, including my husband's uniforms. My husband drained the gas and oil out of all the lawn equipment while I loaded the cars with everything we are bringing with us on the drive. We are bringing things like bedding, an air mattress, irreplaceable heirlooms, our liquids box, our cloths, the cleaning supply box, etc.
After that I hid things that need to stay with the house in the third bathroom. Things like the instructions for the stove and the racks for the microwave. Then we picked up the house and helped the kids finish cleaning their rooms. And at the end of the night we disconnected our electronics and zip tied all the cords. And then we headed to our neighbors for dinner.
They were so nice to invite us over. Little did we know that she was actually throwing us a surprise farewell party. I was all choked up! It was so sweet. These neighbors are going to be sorely missed.
So now we are headed to bed to get lots of rest before our big packing day!
After that I hid things that need to stay with the house in the third bathroom. Things like the instructions for the stove and the racks for the microwave. Then we picked up the house and helped the kids finish cleaning their rooms. And at the end of the night we disconnected our electronics and zip tied all the cords. And then we headed to our neighbors for dinner.
They were so nice to invite us over. Little did we know that she was actually throwing us a surprise farewell party. I was all choked up! It was so sweet. These neighbors are going to be sorely missed.
So now we are headed to bed to get lots of rest before our big packing day!
Saturday, July 28, 2012
The Nitty Gritty
Another busy day here. First thing in the morning we took it easy and watched the Olympics. After a couple of hours we decided it was time to get to work. My husband went from room to room with the ladder and put puddy in the nail holes in the wall while I finished the laundry (if you can every really finish that) and packed the kids cloths for the time we will be without our household goods.
While we were watching more of the Olympics my husband fixed a shelf in the fridge and cleaned all of the shelves, while I dumped out perishables we won't be taking with us and put the containers in the recycle bin.
Next he fixed a light fixture while I took down the kids shower curtain, putting it over a chair to dry out and changed the massage shower head back to the original one. And while we were doing that I had the kids pack the toys they want to take with them in the car, and had them clean up their rooms a little bit.
At the end of the day my kids had the most special farewell play date of all. My oldest child's best friend came over for a pajama party! They had a wonderful time together with board games and nail polish. It was so sweet to listen to them play. While they were screeching and howling with laughter my husband cleaned the grill.
And finally, after a very long and productive day, I plan to sleep exceptionally well!
While we were watching more of the Olympics my husband fixed a shelf in the fridge and cleaned all of the shelves, while I dumped out perishables we won't be taking with us and put the containers in the recycle bin.
Next he fixed a light fixture while I took down the kids shower curtain, putting it over a chair to dry out and changed the massage shower head back to the original one. And while we were doing that I had the kids pack the toys they want to take with them in the car, and had them clean up their rooms a little bit.
At the end of the day my kids had the most special farewell play date of all. My oldest child's best friend came over for a pajama party! They had a wonderful time together with board games and nail polish. It was so sweet to listen to them play. While they were screeching and howling with laughter my husband cleaned the grill.
And finally, after a very long and productive day, I plan to sleep exceptionally well!
Friday, July 27, 2012
11 Days Left
Today I cleaned out the safe and added all of its contents to our pile of things going with us in our cars. I also added a few kitchen items we will need while we are transitioning between houses. Things like a pot and pan, a cookie sheet, tin foil, saran wrap, a spatula, bowls and utensils. We are staying in our house for a couple of days after the movers pack our things, so these items will help keep us from eating out too often. I also added bedding to the pile as well as school supplies, my husband's gun and bullets, and special heirlooms that we just don't trust the movers with. The pile is getting bigger by the day!
Then I put together the personal file folder. These are a folder of documents like birth and marriage certificates, deeds to any home you may own, power of attorneys and wills, my husband's orders and his last Leave and Earning Statement. It also has school records for my kids and medical records we have collected, including their immunization records.
Throughout the day I did laundry and tomorrow I will be packing all the cloths we will need with us. For the kids that means at least a weeks worth of school cloths. For my husband it will mostly be his uniforms, which he recently had laundered so he is all set for work when we arrive. I will pack minimally since all I plan on doing while I am there is unpack!
I also pulled down the curtains and rods. Tomorrow we will patch the holes in the walls. I didn't bother washing the curtains because I always feel like they are dirty after being packed away in a box with other household goods. I will wash them when I unpack.
Once it cooled off in the evening my husband cleaned out the cars. Our cars tend to be cluttery all the time. I don't want to move with mess of a car, so I took care of that tonight too. Normally we would have our cars serviced before a move because of the distance we are driving. But we recently had them serviced when we drove up there for our house hunting trip. So we are going to skip that.
While he was doing that I sprayed the sidewalk cracks with weed killer one last time before our walk through. Then I weeded the garden areas of the house, shaped the bushes and trimmed the palm trees. And I scrubbed a spot under the eaves of the house where my kids drew with chalk and it never washed away with the rain. I want the house looking spiffy when our landlord arrives for our walk through!
I donated some open kitchen ingredients to a neighbor and my husband cleared out the attic crawl space so it can all be packed on Monday. This move is almost here, can't wait to just be done with the preparations and on to the excitement of a new home!
Then I put together the personal file folder. These are a folder of documents like birth and marriage certificates, deeds to any home you may own, power of attorneys and wills, my husband's orders and his last Leave and Earning Statement. It also has school records for my kids and medical records we have collected, including their immunization records.
Throughout the day I did laundry and tomorrow I will be packing all the cloths we will need with us. For the kids that means at least a weeks worth of school cloths. For my husband it will mostly be his uniforms, which he recently had laundered so he is all set for work when we arrive. I will pack minimally since all I plan on doing while I am there is unpack!
I also pulled down the curtains and rods. Tomorrow we will patch the holes in the walls. I didn't bother washing the curtains because I always feel like they are dirty after being packed away in a box with other household goods. I will wash them when I unpack.
Once it cooled off in the evening my husband cleaned out the cars. Our cars tend to be cluttery all the time. I don't want to move with mess of a car, so I took care of that tonight too. Normally we would have our cars serviced before a move because of the distance we are driving. But we recently had them serviced when we drove up there for our house hunting trip. So we are going to skip that.
While he was doing that I sprayed the sidewalk cracks with weed killer one last time before our walk through. Then I weeded the garden areas of the house, shaped the bushes and trimmed the palm trees. And I scrubbed a spot under the eaves of the house where my kids drew with chalk and it never washed away with the rain. I want the house looking spiffy when our landlord arrives for our walk through!
I donated some open kitchen ingredients to a neighbor and my husband cleared out the attic crawl space so it can all be packed on Monday. This move is almost here, can't wait to just be done with the preparations and on to the excitement of a new home!
Thursday, July 26, 2012
12 Days Left
Today was a busy day. We spent a few hours having two more farewell play dates before coming home to get things ready for the movers on Monday. First I pulled out what I call my liquids box. It is a glass dish box I got from u-haul with dividers. I go through every room in the house and find all of the liquids, and anything else the movers will not move. Then I fill up the box, and whatever is left I give away or throw out. This box will go with us in our car.
While I was doing this I also put together a box of cleaning supplies that we will need to clean our house before we do our walk through. I also taped up all of our open dry goods, otherwise the movers won't move them because it can attract rodents and bugs if our things go into storage. If you look closely you can see packaging tape on the tops of all of the containers.
Next I did some more home purchasing paperwork and took all of the pictures off the walls. We have one picture that has a special made box with packaging that we keep, so we took that down and packed it all up. Other wall decorations have their own screws or special hangers, so when I take them down I tape the fasteners to the back of it. That way they are all together and I am less likely to loose things. I also took down the decorations on top of the kitchen cupboards so the movers can pack it all up and placed all the delicate art the kids have up for decorations in a folder and put it in our filing cabinet for a safer move.
Then we replaced all of the light bulbs in our house. This sounds crazy, I know. But the energy efficient bulbs are very expensive, so we decided to replace them with the cheap bulbs and we packed our bulbs in a box with peanut packaging. We will take them with us in the car.
My husband verified our moving dates with the moving company yesterday. There was some confusion about whether or not our movers were coming on Monday as planned, or if they were coming tomorrow (Friday). That change is a huge deal because if there were coming on Friday then we loose a whole weekend to get prepared, and we would have had to reschedule our last farewell play date. Thankfully it was a mistake which my husband was able to clear up. The movers are coming on Monday as planned.
Today was a very productive day and the rest of the weekend is going to have to be that way as well. Fingers crossed that we stay in good health and good spirits to get through this busy time.
I was actually able to get more in this box after I took the picture
While I was doing this I also put together a box of cleaning supplies that we will need to clean our house before we do our walk through. I also taped up all of our open dry goods, otherwise the movers won't move them because it can attract rodents and bugs if our things go into storage. If you look closely you can see packaging tape on the tops of all of the containers.
Next I did some more home purchasing paperwork and took all of the pictures off the walls. We have one picture that has a special made box with packaging that we keep, so we took that down and packed it all up. Other wall decorations have their own screws or special hangers, so when I take them down I tape the fasteners to the back of it. That way they are all together and I am less likely to loose things. I also took down the decorations on top of the kitchen cupboards so the movers can pack it all up and placed all the delicate art the kids have up for decorations in a folder and put it in our filing cabinet for a safer move.
Then we replaced all of the light bulbs in our house. This sounds crazy, I know. But the energy efficient bulbs are very expensive, so we decided to replace them with the cheap bulbs and we packed our bulbs in a box with peanut packaging. We will take them with us in the car.
My husband verified our moving dates with the moving company yesterday. There was some confusion about whether or not our movers were coming on Monday as planned, or if they were coming tomorrow (Friday). That change is a huge deal because if there were coming on Friday then we loose a whole weekend to get prepared, and we would have had to reschedule our last farewell play date. Thankfully it was a mistake which my husband was able to clear up. The movers are coming on Monday as planned.
Today was a very productive day and the rest of the weekend is going to have to be that way as well. Fingers crossed that we stay in good health and good spirits to get through this busy time.
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