Anxiety!

[peggyfromwastate]

Hi- I am starting to stress out big time for the upcoming move to DC and my husband leaving me with 3 kids this summer to go to OBC in San Antonio for 6 weeks! How did you all get through this moving business? The farthest I've ever moved is "in town" (about 20 blocks actually). I'm sort of excited, but there are so many details...

Peggy

[mommax3]

Peggy,

The best advice I have is to make lists of stuff to keep from worrying about all of it, and take things one day at a time. Is the military moving you? If any of your family members offers to come along and help you with the kids, take them up on it. With our last move, my in-laws took the kids off our hands before the movers came, and we went and got them after the movers dropped off our stuff at our new house, but it was logistically feasible since we were only moving six hours north, and closer to my in-laws, not clear across the country.

Have you found a place to live? When does your husband go to OBC?

It will all work out.

Sally

[Rapunzel]

Hi Peggy! I am currently about to start the eighth move of my (7+ year) marriage. By far the longest move I've ever made was last summer when we moved from Dallas to Boston (approx. 1800 miles). We were lucky in that the military paid for the move - it was my first time to move with professional movers and it was SUCH a dream! This time we are moving only a couple of miles away but not having the movers is so much more difficult. I start my moving process by doing a crazy throwing-it-all-out thing. I basically get rid of a bunch of my stuff so there is less to move. This time around (and in times past) I'm only getting rid of the clutter (magazines, old things I haven't used, etc). Before we moved cross-country I got rid of approx. 2/3 of our stuff! I took a week going through the house and taking everything that was not absolutely necessary out to the garage and labeling it with a price. Then, I had one heck of a yard sale! At the end there were some things left and since I had to get rid of them I just started giving them away (things like old baby onesies, a broken rocking chair, some picture frames, old toys the kids didn't play with).

After the getting rid of everything useless phase I start focusing on packing. I try to be as organized as possible, although at the end it does become a "We're out of time! Just throw it all in!" thing. I would make a list of all of the things you are going to need on hand while physically traveling to your new home (ie snacks and toys/entertainment items for the kids, maps, necessary sanitary supplies, cash for emergencies, etc). If you have any questions for me I'd be happy to answer!

I am following these posts closely since we will be moving to Portland in a year. We have been in our house for about 7 yrs and have done a great job of collecting stuff. Our neighbor just gave us an armoire and dresser (she thought it was broken, hubby fixed it with 2 hours and $4!). That just means more stuff to move!
All the advice so far is appreciated!

[DCJenn]

Peggy-

Back in the archives we have a whole series of articles on moving and the stress on kids, moving across the country, etc.

The military will be moving you guys and you will have packers come so you won't need to stress quite as much. Just make sure you're there while the packers are there as they will literally pack dirty dishes. I heard of a Fry Daddy being packed, full of grease and dirty ashtrays as well. So- forewarned is forearmed and all that.

Our movers underestimated the length of time it would take to pack up a 515 square foot condo and only sent one guy and it took him ALL DAY, to the point that we ended up staying in DC one more night. (at my moms with both of my cats screeching in her garage because she was afraid to let them in her house because her cat was on his last legs)

We made sure to have water and doughnuts for the movers that day, and we supplied sandwiches and water for the unpacking as well. Summer in DC is no picnic and they'll appreciate it on both ends of the move.

You'll be fine-

Jenn

[peggyfromwastate]

Thanks everyone-
As far as the military moving us, we have decided to do a DITY. Call us stupid! I really don't know why at this point. I think we thought we'd come out ahead with the reimbursements, but I doubt it when I consider the cost of the moving truck, the cost of hotels along the way, the outrageous gas... Oh well. I doubt we'll do a DITY again. My husband's sponsor from USUHS moved his family from Idaho to DC, and he did a DITY and they came out $2500 ahead. So that's why we decided to do it this way. But I still think we'll come out behind!

Rapunzel- I plan on having a big yard sale, as well. We have stuff to get rid of, let me tell ya.

Sally- my mother is coming with us to help with the kids. We are driving to Chicago, where we will go to my cousin's wedding (this is part of why we decided to do a DITY- so that we could go to that wedding/reunion). At that point, my Dad will drive on with my husband to the house (hopefully we'll have a place to live in by then. STRESS). My mom and I and the kids will drive to my grandparent's house for a visit (in Albany!) and then hopefully our house in the DC area (wherever it may be) will be ready to go! DH and my dad have some work to do. But, I do have family help at this point, which is helpful.

I guess that I am as organized as I can be at this point. But don't you all just sometimes feel stressed? And tired? And overwhelmed with details???

[mommax3]

Peggy,

You guys probably will come out ahead with a DITY move. We did a partial DITY move when we moved from San Antonio to Wichita Falls -- we loaded both of our cars pretty full with as many heavy books as they would hold, leaving room for our three cats and the luggage we would need. Our kids were already gone, so between our large passenger car and our Suburban, we packed a LOT of books and made a decent amount of money!

It sounds to me like you have an EXCELLENT plan in place so far. Yes, it is stressful and exhausting -- give yourself breathing room and like I said, take it a day at a time.

Sally

[Rapunzel]

Oh yes, Peggy! I do feel tired, stressed, and very overwhelmed. There just isn't much easy about packing up everything you own and moving it to another location (whether it's in-town or cross-country). Good luck! I hope you guys do come out ahead (btw if you do come out ahead financially with the DITY move please tell me exactly how you did it - we are moving in three years when the residency is up and we will have the DITY vs pro movers option once again).

[DCJenn]

Peggy-

You may come out ahead but I can tell you that I personally will never pack another box as long as we are working for Uncle Sam! Having moved 12 times in the last 15 years, I'm DONE! (and frighteningly enough, 10 of those times were pre-military spouse!)

You'll be fine.

Jenn

[Meenah]

I wish you luck!! I'm not a planner or a control freak, so everytime I have moved I haven't worried too much about the actual move (the closing process was a little hairy the last time). I figure if it gets into a box it will make it to the other end and I will eventually find it. I know this is a little too relaxed for most , but it works for me!!!!
Luanne

[PrincessFiona]

moving

You and me, Luanne!!! Really, I've moved so many times, Peggy that I've reached a point of just accepting the process. Don't stress out..truly..see it as an adventure. It could be a lot of fun. You know, when we moved from Fl to MN I was so far behind that we actually shipped some of our dirty clothes in a playpen??? 8O It's an embarassing confession, but it's true.

For the kids, I did a couple of things to make it easier...I took pictures of where we were going and hung them on the fridge...we talked about the new move and the exciting new changes. I let everyone pick a job for themselves for the days that we were moving so that they felt that they were a part of it....

In the car...magnadoodle, books on tape (works great for grown-ups too), coloring books (preferably with the crayola pens that only write on special paper)...and lots and lots of stops at McDonalds and Burger King play areas...You don't have to eat there...but letting the kids run off some energy is good for their nerves and yours! We always plan in at least one extra day of driving because with all of the pit and play stops it inevitably takes us longer to get where we are going.

You're going to be great...Don't worry

Kris

[peggyfromwastate]

Thanks everyone! I appreciate all the encouragement. I know you all have been there done that.

I will try to keep tabs on how the DITY goes. I know there is paperwork to be filled out and what not. First, my husband has to get his orders... He was accepted in October. 8O I know that the military moves slowly, but about 8 weeks ago he was told that the orders would arrive probably within 1 month.

Better get used to it now!

Peg

[DCJenn]

Peggy-

We don't have our orders yet either! (and he's supposed to start 7/7/03!) When we moved here, he had them in mid-April for a end of May move.

Jenn

So I am a little stressed at the thought of how much $$$$$ it is going to cost to move all our stuff to Portland (even post-purge).
There is no way we can do a U-Haul and move it ourselves. But I had an idea. We could hire professional movers here to pack up a rental truck and hire professional movers in Portland to unpack the truck. Has anyone ever heard of that or done that? I'll call a local mover but thought I'd ask here too.
I really need to chill out about this since we won't be moving for a while!

Oh, btw, I got a moving tip from a friend that I wanted to share with you all. (Maybe someone already mentioned it??) She said that sometimes it is cheaper to ship some of your stuff by UPS. Books for example, will add a lot of weight to your professional mover bill and may cost less at the lowest UPS rate. We have A LOT of books so I think this would be a good option for us. She said that, depending on how your mover charges, if you are in the middle of a weight range it doesn't matter. But if you are close to a cut-off on a weight range, you can save a lot by shipping some items. Maybe that would be a way for you military folks to come out ahead on your DITY money? (What does DITY stand for??)

That's exactly what we did. When we moved to SLC we hired a couple of guys to help us load the truck (a 21 ft. Ryder) and it cost about $100. (The truck itself was more about $300, I think.) Sometimes you can advertise for some college students to help out and they'll do it much cheaper than professional movers and your furniture isn't Ethan Allen (ours definitely wasn't) so you don't mind a few bumps here or there. I had arranged ahead of time for some movers to help us unload once we got there and that cost about another $150 or so but it is worth it. Our entire move was about $500-$600 since we did all the packing and driving ourselves.