Four in Fourteen

Within the short duration of fourteen months, I’ve moved house FOUR times:

The first of which, was the most painful simply because we were clearing out of our 1400 sq foot home not including the extra large 2–car garage.

The second move was equally painful simply because we were moving to another continent to an place we were completely unfamiliar with.

The third, was actually not too bad because were pretty lean on the ‘stuff’ but J was in the thick of things during his 1–year business program which rendered me pretty much alone at the homefront.

This last move (today) was painful in many aspects. Physically taxing because I have full-time job and have little or no down time to scour the city for free boxes no find the time to pack during the weekday. It was emotionally draining because we were not planning to move nor did we want to move. I was quite happy in our former flat and despite all the stairs we had to climb and despite all the noise of trains, cars, and students at the local residence hall, it was my “escape from the dreary London gray skies” pad. All the sunlight and privacy we had living on the top floor of a flat lined with windows—is probably the best survival strategy for those dark months. Secondly, J had a trip planned to Brazil weeks before our landlord notified us he was selling the flat and we had to move. So, the weekend before he left, after packing all the books from the bookcase and all of his clothes/shoes, he was in holiday mode didn’t want to worry about it anymore. So, having to work full-time, care for the kids, AND coordinate the move was…so intensely stressful, I broke down in tears probably about 3 times in the last week. The physical/emotional drain drove me to senseless anxieties about living in a less-well-lit flat, moving to a flat with little/no storage space, how to find affordable boxes, what to do with the unfurnished nature of the flat, etc.

Needless to say, I’ve gotten packing/moving/unpacking down to a science. On the other hand, I find the whole process quite unsatisfying. Last night (this morning), I was up at 5:30am still ripping ‘cellotape’ to assemble boxes and carefully labelling each box with and idea of its contents and the room it need to end up in. This afternoon, just 7 hours after all of that effort, I’m looking for a knife to slice through all the tape to release all of the contents in the box once again. The satisfying part, if there is any, is moving to a new place and creating a new space and finding a new place for everything.

As soon as all our material possessions had arrived at the new flat, I quickly distributed all of the boxes to the proper room and set out to assemble my bed so I could have a much needed nap  before collecting the children from school.

And, my take-away from this whole ordeal—okay, maybe not ‘ordeal-worthy’—but it’s the love and support from my community of friends here. Wow. I’d like to thank:

JG who transported a good number of boxes from work for me

SF who offered to watch L all of Saturday, including serving him lunch and supper and packing me a ‘takeaway’ version of that supperTHEN offering to hang out with me the morning of the move to help with whatever (she ended up having to nurse her ill son, but hey, it was a beautiful gesture)

The P’s who offered to have O over late afternoon through to the evening after supper on Saturday while L was at J’s house.

S offering to bring me more boxes. S texting me yesterday afternoon with kind supportive words as well.

J and C who so kindly offered to watch L and O late Sunday afternoon and early evening. The both of them sending lovely encouraging messages of cheer during the ours of the move.

IH who after a crazy morning with a bunch of kids invested a good 3 hours to meticulously wrap each of my mugs, glasses, plates, and cups with the unwanted BT Vision yellow pages books. I alwasy fear the kitchen-packing department. The care which one needs to take with each of the cookery sets, the time it takes to clear/sort food products. The odd/large sizes of cooking pots, pans, microwaves, food processors, etc. I sending me a text of encouragement and support during this morning’s move.

KH who came for at least 1 hr to help with more packing and working with I to help me disassemble my sofa bed (now main bed)

J who left me a bottle of Chilean wine to enjoy on Monday night after the move. J who offered to go collect the kids from school today—we ended up celebrating her 10th birthday at a nearby cafe with a little cupcake/candle and juice. J brought the candle, the happy birthday banner, cocktail umbrellas and all! O felt really special—and it made up for my lack of ‘hoopla’ on her birthday since i was so incredibly busy.

C who offered to take my children to school this morning so I could finish off last-minute things and wait for the the moving crew to come.

And last but not least, D and his mates who did the actual moving of boxes, suitcases, and things up and down our 4 steep, flights of stairs. Since D was suffering from a bad cough/cold, I even stepped into to help with the lighter things. Two van loads later, I was seeing them off and heading to my room to assemble my napping bed.

Kids were thrilled about sleeping in the new flat tonight, despite the fact that they are living in box-land at the moment. And, I’m going to begin my ‘settling in’ project now that we’re here—but that’ll have to wait until AFTER O’s birthday celebration next weekend…

 

Comments

[Tina]

You're amazing SiNing!! That is a lot of move in such a short time. I think I did that in college but my possession back then was two suitcases :)

Lots of kisses and hugs to you from a far... And when you get a chance, could you send me your new address?

love
Tina

[christine]

Hugs and kisses to you too!