Mother Laura writes:

We are right in the middle of a move–only twenty minutes away, but we’re still a mix of busy, excited, nervous and surprisingly full of grief about what we’re leaving, for me at least. So this week’s Friday Five asks about your experience of the marvels and madness of moving…

1. How many times have you moved? When was the last time?
As a child, we moved… (counts on fingers)… 7 times. As an adult, I’ve lived in (finds toes)… 16 different places or apartments. The last time we moved was when we bought our present home in 1996.

2. What do you love and hate about moving?
I am trying to figure out what, if anything, I could love about moving. The smell of cardboard? Not being able to find anything? The noise of packing tape? Uhhhhh… no. I think what I love about moving is when it is OVER!!

3. Do you do it yourself or hire movers?
The last time we hired movers. Wise move. Would not attempt it myself evah, EVAH agin.

4. Advice for surviving and thriving during a move?

ONE WORD: FLYLADY!

My personal experience suggests the following ideas…

• Clothing – pack a week’s worth in suitcases.
• Linens – pack a suitcase of towels. Use sleeping bags for a few days.
• Computer – label what all those miscellaneous wires go to. You won’t remember.
• Books – use small boxes. Paper boxes work great.
• Boxes – you will become really good at spotting “good” box sizes. For some things, bite the bullet and buy some. Esp. for your dishes (dishpaks are WONDERFUL!)
• Cats – (quick. turn their little heads from the screen) – lock them in a bathroom with food and litter. Put a BIG sign on the door “DO NOT OPEN PSYCHO CAT” and when the house is empty, you will then be able to snag them, stuff them in whatever portable torture device you are using, and take them with you. And buy Greenies.
• Kids – farm them out if you can. If not, plan on having only one of you seriously involved in the move, the other running crowd control.

5. Are you in the middle of any inner moves, if not outer ones?
Yup. I’m in God’s waiting room right now… Dunno what’s up. And I just moved my blog to a new template which I am still tweaking… sigh…

Bonus: Share a piece of music/poetry/film/book that expresses something about what moving means to you.
OH, I think a sense of humor helps… There’s always more stuff than you can fit. You get creative… sometimes it’s not so good. The picture I have in my mind is overstuffed cars and vans, and the music playing is Sanford and Son…

Deb