The real packers will pack everything but some things I want to pack myself. Mostly I pack up my sewing room. I want all the reds together and all the blues together and I want my books to stay in alphabetical order by author. The dishes — I could care less how they pack that kind of stuff but don’t touch my fabric. I’m such a bad packer that it’s pretty entertaining when I unpack. Yesterday I had to laugh at myself after I looked at one of the boxes:
Each box is labeled as to which room it will go into at the new house and then the contents of the box are listed. File folders, Books and Beans! What a combination. About half a drawer of file folders fit and left enough room for a few books along the side, and then to top it off, I added a few pounds of dried beans. If I can cram one more thing in those boxes, I do it! Unpacking is going to be so fun! 🙂
Jane says
I pack just like you. Spent the whole day packing up the garage and my box labeling leaves much to be desired. Unpacking will be interesting. How I wish this were a corporate move.
Sandi P. says
When we moved in January we had professional packers. We knew we had a new in the package shower liner in the hall bathroom. Got here and could not find it. Opened every box that said bathroom (hall or otherwise) that first night so we could take a shower – no curtain. Went out the next day and bought one. Where did we finally find it? In a box full of dining room china. Huh? Un-packing is always fun, no matter who packs.
Beth in AZ says
Dont’ feel too bad…at least you wrote down JUST what was in there! Our friends had a military move and arrived in there new house to find a box labeled “records and weights” . Yep, you guessed it…records on the bottom with hand weights on the top! My parents had a military move and found a full ashtray…UGH! Oh..and garbage still in the can (luckly all paper stuff…)
shirley bruner says
LOL….yep….we are packing twins. by the end of the packing routine…there is no telling what is in the box…whatever fits. i do list things in the boxes, though. i first use all the sheets and towels and rags and unused clothing to cushion breakables. so my box might read….china, bathroom towels. LOL
BillieSews says
In one of our last military moves, we didn’t realize it but the packers labeled 90% of the boxes as wedding gifts! Go figure. By that time we had only been married 15 years and had two kids. Can you imagine how many boxes we had to open to find the coffee maker?
Kay Sorensen says
Glad you’ll be doing the unpacking yourself – otherwise someone might think you lost it!
LadyBaltimore says
Good for you, Judy.
A year ago, I packed up all my quilts and put all my on-going projects into numbered plastic boxes so I wouldn’t be too disorganized at the new destination. The packers packed up that and the fabric and everything else in the sewing room. It was a pretty smooth move altogether although, a year later, I still can’t find three completed Marie Webster applique blocks. I was devastated at first after all that applique work but I figure if that’s the only thing that got screwed up and lost, I’m pretty lucky. And all the boxes have been unpacked months ago so I’m guessing I won’t find them. Who knows what happened to them.
Here’s hoping your move goes perfectly.
Rebecca Troxel says
I found sewing machine feet in my vacuum cleaner attachment case. Needless to say, I wasn’t the one who packed that up!
Susan C says
Ah, when we move and pack ourselves we start out being very careful with labeling and when we get to the end and have all sorts of oddities left over they go into a box (or boxes) labeled miscellaneous junk and goodies. You would be amazed what you find in one of those boxes. Have a good and safe move.
Jocelyn says
When we moved last summer the one thing no one touched was my fabric. Mostly because I knew there would be fabric not only in my cabinet, but hiding in rubbermaid containers, in closets, in bookcases. I was shocked myself at how much fabric I actually had. It was like Christmas finding all the beautiful fabric that was put up for special projects. My daughter helped me to organize them into the extra large Zippy bags. Fabric and pattern or magazine. I feel so much more organized since getting a designated walk in closet to store my stash 🙂
A Left-Handed Quilter says
When I worked – we often had to put files in storage. We would pack the box and list the contents on a sheet of paper – then we numbered the box and the sheet of paper. The sheets of paper went in a file folder in numerical order. If we wanted to find something – we simply flipped through the file folder – found the item – checked the number of the box – and then retrieved that box from storage. A similar system might work for you – you with your lists and spreadsheets and all. ;)) You could number your sewing room boxes 100 – your kitchen 200 – your bathroom 300 – etc. (We also had cross-reference alphabetical index cards – but that’s pretty much overkill for a move.) That way the box would say 100 – and only your list would show the beans!!
Cindy in NC says
My daughter and son-in-law just moved back to NC (military move) last week. My daughter, who is over-the-top organized, made sure each box was labeled as to content and room. She even hung signs over doorways indicating which room was which (master, guest, office, etc.). Despite her best planning, lots of boxes got put into the wrong rooms. She had been very happy with the crew that packed and loaded her and was surprised that the crew on this end wasn’t nearly as good. To make matters worse, the electricity (and, consequently, the AC) did not get turned on until 3 pm and it was over 90 that day. I was there helping her unpack, and it was a miserable experience. I hope you have better luck on your arrival in Texas, Judy.
Doe in Mi says
This is such a fun post – I can almost see you opening the box and see your eyes get big and then you saying ” O yeah there’s my beans!” To funny. Its also been fun reading all the comments. Sure would hate to do a military move. Dang!
Carolyn Thomas says
Military moves!!!! Mostly good experiences, but once they put my brand new fancy straw western hat in the same box as DH’s bowling ball. The ball survived… the hat was doa! 🙁
I packed my sewing machine on or last move. Still had the original carton. Unbeknownst to me, they repacked it and broke the case. I was very MAD. 23 years later and I still haven’t been able to get it repaired.
Fitzy says
So…can any one of you smart cookies tell me where in samscratch is my OTT Light? It’s in one of the remaining boxes from our move 4 years ago, but I’ll be darned if I can find it. It’s not something I really want to go out and replace!
Judy, I think you’ll have just as much fun re-organizing the moved stuff as you are packing. “Oh! Look what I found!”