8 Days to Go

Things that happened today:

• We slept in late because of the switch to Daylight Saving Time. I ate 4 chocolate covered coffee beans to wake up but it didn’t help much.
• We went to visit family  – to wish my Mom a happy birthday and give my niece some hand-me-down toys and books. That stuff is out of our house now and won’t get lost in the shuffle of the move. We also gave my parents a half bottle of rye whiskey that neither my husband nor I enjoy and the movers won’t take anyway.
• We made dinner by using up more food from the freezer. The freezer must be empty and dry before it goes on the truck.
• We made a list of jobs that each person can do tomorrow.

You may have noticed that I haven’t started putting things in boxes yet. That’s because this move (typical military) is a “full service” move. That means they pack everything. You might think that is a good thing but there are disadvantages.

Disadvantages of a full service move:

Things are packed wherever they are. If you have a dirty cereal bowl in the living room when the packers arrive, expect that cereal bowl to be unpacked in the living room of your new house, complete with old cereal petrified to the bowl.

Everything is packed in one day. If you’ve got a lot of stuff it is a VERY long day. If you’ve got lots and lots of stuff, then you may be entitled to a “pre-pack” day. During a “pre-pack” the movers pack up all the stuff you aren’t using on a regular basis. You may think this is a good thing but the packers have their own idea about what “regular basis” actually means. You must watch them at all times (and sometimes that means being in 2 places at once). The last time we had a “pre-pack” they packed ALL extra rolls of toilet paper!

You have people in your house, not treating your stuff as if it was theirs. Enough said!

Do you have any disadvantages to add?