PCS--the moving list

We are coming to the end of our race--or to the sound of the starting gun depending on how you look at it. Today I'm up early to begin a list of household goods to keep out (or clearly mark) when the movers come. These are the things that we will need immediately when we move into the new house. As you go about your day, if you see something that you use repeatedly and it's not on my list, please tell me!

Hold Baggage
*Hold baggage is the Army's term for the things you send ahead by air when you move overseas. The weight is severely limited compared to the overall weight of your house. Our hold baggage has to fit in our van and car for this move.

Bedrooms
Pillows
Sheets
Blankets
alarm clock

Bathrooms
Shower curtain
bathmats
towels
pool towels?
washcloths

Livingroom/office
school books--pre-packed and marked clearly
laptop
a few kids' dvds
Sharpie markers--for marking moving boxes
book to read
games--Banangrams
audio books for the car

Kitchen
Dish towels
Electric tea kettle
coffee pot
grinder
can opener
measuring cups
measuring spoons
plates
cups
bowls
coffee mugs (2)
cookie sheet
Bose radio
phone
toaster
utensils
oven mitts
trivets
pitcher
plastic ware
trash bags
aluminum foil
plastic bags
wax paper
3 trash cans
big trash can
sharp knife
cutting board
rice pot with lid
Everyday pan with lid
sieve
rubber spatula
cooking spoon
pancake spatula
pasta stirrer
grater
DW soap
dish soap
cooler
cookbooks
apron

Tool kit
duct tape
painter tape
hammer
screwdrivers
Engineer's tool
razor blades
scissors
box cutter

Personal Baggage (1 person)
4 shirts
4 pants
4 shorts
4 undies
1 undershirt
PJs
1-4 socks
Sunday shirt
Sunday pants
Sunday dress
Sunday socks
Sunday shoes
bathing suit
pool towel
goggles
snowsuit
boots
coat
hat
mittens
scarf
sweater/sweatshirt
toiletries
uniforms
pack'n'play
cell phone/charger
ipod/adapter/charger
camera/battery charger
address book
calendar
medical records/birth certificates
budgety stuff
atlas

To do:
cancel library cards
buy blinds for house
paint and fill holes
mow
shampoo carpets

Cleaning supplies
vacuums with bags
broom/dustpan
carpet steamer
rags
paint
paint brushes
laundry baskets
drop cloths
putty

This is a list which I'll use to pack anytime we go out of town or move so I tried to think of a variety of scenarios like trip to sisters' in winter with an indoor pool, door-to-door move, or moving to Hawaii. I'll just cross off what I don't need.

Declutter--March (?!)

I'm behind but not discouraged. The flylady says housework poorly done still blesses your house--or something to that effect. I bit off more than I could chew in my March decluttering plan, and that was before adding in Girl Scout cookies and sick kids. Here's where I am:

Hand-me-down closet--absolute nightmare. I have a new plan though. Once the GS cookie stuff is out of the office, I will move all the hand-me-downs in there so I have room to work.

Master bedroom--pretty much done. I have several hundred dollars in dimes which I need to take to the bank, but otherwise, it looks good.

Kitchen--Oh my. It's discouraging to go through the kitchen and see that everything there is useful. It's so much stuff! To do: have KitchenAid mixer fixed. I overworked it, apparently.

Charles helped me make this custom spice rack for my spice cupboard:

(OK, I'm not sure where this picture is. I'm looking for it)

Kids' & downstairs bath--later today I'll take 15 minutes and do these. There is nothing in the kids' bath really, and downstairs has a changing table.

Repair chest--To do: Need to get the phone number for the guy.

Looking ahead to April:

Living room
M, J, JD's room
Ch and Cec's room
A&T's room

One Saturday morning and a big garbage bag should get me through the kids' rooms. The living room needs some culling of books/videos from shelves.

My friend Maryan just pointed out to me that our move is only about 13 weeks away. YIKES!

**********

This was 5 weeks ago. The move is now only 8 weeks away, and I'm working down my final list.

Done:
Main Living Room
2 Bathrooms
Cecilia and Charles' room
Laundry Room
Maria and the little boys' room
Front entry

Left (some of these are getting a second pass):
Dining room
Kitchen
Art closet
master bedroom and bath
twins' room
blue room
office (the hand me downs are there now, but I'd like to do a quick reorganize)
My closet which has become a staging area for anything without a home
Fix mixer and cedar chest
I'm putting in the hours this week and weekend. It has been such a blessing to see bag after bag of things we don't need get donated to the thrift shop. Also, I've decided that summer is a generally cleaner season with all the bulky clothes put away. One more reason to live in Hawaii!

Declutter--Jan

My guiding influences on what to keep and how much to spend as I declutter and organize are Happy Are You Poor and the story of a friend of mine about an old, ugly, but still serviceable key rack that her mom refuses to get rid of. Thinking about her story always starts a waterfall of memories about lovely, elegantly simple, frugal people I've known and the ideas they've shown me. The message of Happy Are You Poor--the Gospel message--is what reminds me that we don't need much to live, and we don't need a bunch of shiny new Made in China to organize into. I'm not saying I won't buy some new things as I organize, but I am trying hard not to buy new things just because I want something new.

Office--I put up an old magazine rack bookshelf with some labeled file folders for "Bills/Receipts", "To Do", and "School Plans" as a landing zone, and it has been great. I added some organization to the closet and office supplies mostly using things we already have, like Mason jars. One thing I realized that the office is also a craft room, projects-to-be-kept-out-of-the-way-until-they-can-be-worked-on (e.g.broken magazine racks) room, and exercise room. Too many jobs for such a small space.

My Closet--This walk-in doesn't actually hold any of my clothes. It is arranged for next season's wardrobes, guest linens, giveaway, and baby supplies. The big job was the clutter from Maria's room that we had moved here to be gone through little by little.

Dining room/Entry/Porch--Not much to do in these areas which is why I lumped them with the big jobs. Today I re-potted the bulb box (optimist me gardens in winter) and prepared the rose bush for its new home.

Ruthless Simplicity

With a little over 6 months before our move, this is the phrase that is on continuous loop in my head: "Ruthless Simplicity." I have a plan to declutter all the dark corners of the house for 15 minutes a day until the guys with the big truck come. For the record, we moved into this house with about 7500 lbs.

I put my cleaning list in a side bar, but this is for me to refer back to when move next year:

Jan: Office My closet Dining room/entry way/porch

Feb: Landing Master bath Linen closet Repair chest

March: Hand-me-down closet Master bedroom Kitchen Kids' & downstairs bath

April: Living room M, J, JD's room Ch and Cec's room A&T's room

May: Freezer & pantry Entry closet Laundry area Lego closet

June: Art closet Garage Blue room Backyard

July: Harddrive and Dig up roots

When you live somewhere for a short time, your roots are shallow, but we've been here about 4 years and the soil was rich. I already feel that being transplanted is going to be painful. Hopefully, Virginia will give me 6 months of the weather I hate so much to make it a little easier.