Neither of us has ever moved with the military before, well, I guess we've never really moved before either. This was a new experience for us both. The first thing we did was use black to tape to put X's over things that did not get packed up or that we did not want the movers to touch. The X on the cabinet has some food items in it that we were going to eat for the next week before we turned the keys over for our home. There was also a giant X on the extra bathroom upstairs because that is where we put everything that we needed like our suitcases and everything else we would be needing while our stuff is floating around on the ocean. The one thing they tell you is, leave everything where it is, don't pack it, because they will have to undo it. Everything gets documented and written down so its better to just leave it alone. I guess I had a REALLY hard time doing this which is why I pulled out all of the pots and pans and items from above the cabinets and had them stacked along the breakfast bar as well as spread out on our table. I also tried to organize things upstairs so I emptied the linen closets and tried to stack all the blankets in one pile, stack on the towels in another pile, and stack all of our sheets and pillows in another pile.....I was just trying to help!
The movers were at our house from 11am to about 5pm but they got all of our things packed up. I left Tony in charge with them because I had to go to work. Poor guy, there were some small mishaps but it all worked out and Tony sent me photos as things were progressing. It was amazing to watch them pack everything, they are really fast and they packed all of our items really well. If they take things apart to ship it they have to put it back together once it arrives at the destination. We literally didn't have to do anything!
As things were packed, boxed, and wrapped they stacked stuff inside of our garage. We actually had quite a bit of stuff but I thought it was a reasonable amount for two people that had lived in the same place for three years. I did my best to get rid of things and downsize. Some things they can't pack so Kim and Joe got a lot of extra things from us which ranged from cleaning supplies, to kitchen items, to light bulbs etc etc.
Tony made sure that our motorcycles were safely loaded up into the back of the truck. They were loaded onto this pickup and would go to the shipping area where a crate would be made specifically for our motorcycles. We could have went down and watched them build crates for our motorcycles but we had so many things going on that we didn't have time.
Eventually everything was packed up and loaded into the truck. Tony went over the list with the movers and signed all the paperwork he needed to before they left. Tony was a little overwhelmed and glad to see me when I got home. Of course I wanted to look around and investigate things once I got home. Everything looked really good and I was happy things had gone smoothly. They itemize all the expensive items you own on a separate sheet of paper and was looking to see what made the list! Our motorcycles were on it, as well as our couches and tables, our computer and Xbox, and a microwave oven. Thats right, a microwave oven. Weird, I dont remember owning one of those.....We turned around and our microwave was gone!!!! We had specifically stated that no appliances were ours, nothing in the kitchen OR garage were our appliances. Somehow the microwave snuck into our stuff. This meant we needed to make a trip to the store and buy a white microwave for the kitchen or else we would be charged for it. Oh well, just a small mistake, I think we can live with it. The mattress is what we lived on for a week and a half after our stuff was packed up!
The next day the carpet cleaners came and shampooed our carpets and made everything look new again. Its amazing how different things look once the carpets are clean! I continued to work and Tony was in charge of being home while all the people came through to get our house ready for its final inspection. After the carpet cleaners came we needed to pack up everything that was going in our suitcases because people would be coming to professionally clean our home. This was all we had left to our name.
While the people were cleaning everything they found something unexpected....... A cabinet in our kitchen had been forgotten and they stumbled upon pots, pans, and lids. GREAT! These things now needed to find a home inside of our luggage, luckily I was able to make it all work and Tony was off the hook! He felt horrible that they had forgot to get those things but there were so many people packing everything that he was having a hard time watching everyone. Once the house was cleaned we would be handing over the keys on September 10th. Kim and Joe were kind enough to let us crash at their house until our flight on the 11th. This whole moving thing has definitely taken a toll on us! Well, thats it, we are flying off this island. Here's to new adventures!!
No comments:
Post a Comment