Take Me Away....

The house is slowly starting to look empty. I am slowly going crazy.

Scratch that, the craziness is not coming on slowly in the slightest!

Today, I decided I'm done stepping on every toy Benny has ever accumulated and started packing them away. I'm not suicidal, obviously, so those boxes are not sealed! He is obviously pulling out most of what I pack but it takes him longer to make his huge mess as he has to go treasure hunting first!

Last night, I went to Doba Greene's wedding in Rochester, MN. It happens to be that I LOVE weddings! I've always had 'Wedding Planner' tucked away as my dream career. Never really lived in the right city to do something like that, though. Back to last night's wedding...Her parents are the Shluchim - they run the Chabad community there and help people visiting the Mayo Clinic. They are really amazing and selfless people. Our families are friends so when I got my invitation (verbally, the week before the wedding, lol) there was no question about it. I planned my packing around the trip!

It's a 90 mile drive, usually takes about an hour and 45 minutes. It was like a mini vacation for me, Shuky stayed home with Benny, attempting to pack. Needless to say, Benny had other plans. But, I'm getting side tracked again! The wedding was lovely, done at the Kahler Grand Hotel. This bride was honestly the most beautiful one I had ever seen. Everything about her spoke elegance and pureness. Her dress was simple and at the same time extravagant. She radiated happiness!

I got home a little after midnight. Passed out. Woke up too early this morning. Had to take Benny for his two year old checkup. He is finally moving up in the percentile charts! He weighs 28 pounds, he's 33 inches tall (although I think the PA may have measured wrong, pretty sure I saw 32.5"). His head circumference is still in the 90th percentile. Yes. 90th. He got one shot today and as soon as it happened, he turned to me, crying intensely, "Mommy, I got a booboo!!!" I love him!

Made some good progress today, packing-wise. Biggest accomplishment of the day, I finally got someone to take my dining room table. I was offering it for free but no one I knew really needed one! I gave it to the guy who's been doing the work on our house! Shuky pulled it apart on the spot and we helped him load it into the car! THANK YOU JEFF!!!

I am exhausted but excited about tomorrow. Benny and I are going to the Lands End Inlet Sale in Dodgeville, WI. Hoping to snag some great steals. We will be continuing on to Madison, going to hang out at the zoo and then picking up my father from the airport. A day away from the craziness of our house! Yay!

PS Now that Benny is two, I am getting ready to plan his Upsherin - the neurotic woman in me wants to have everything planned soon and just let the year sail by! :)

Chani Meyer's Fabulous Top 10 Packing Tips

Tip #1: Don't move. 

Tip #2: If that's not an option, start preparing and planning early.

Tip #3: Save all different sizes of boxes, recruit friends to start collections for you. Check local free sites (such as Craigslist, or FreeCycle), if you need more, before buying any!

Tip #4: Work room by room, don't overwhelm yourself. It's not worth the headaches or panic attacks! (Ask my husband, he had to deal with said attacks. Usually at crazy hours too!) I prefer to have a Dry-Erase board handy, keeping track of all the important notes I need to know about each room I'm in!

Tip #5: Another thing to collect are old magazines. I prefer that to newspaper, the thicker paper usually does a better job cushioning things. We like to ball each page up and use as filler, too. Who wants to deal with those packing peanuts! Only thing is, be careful when unpacking that you check everything, make sure you're not throwing out some small, delicate chochke!

Tip #6: Label your boxes well. It will make unpacking SO much easier!

Tip #7: Use Space Bag 12 Storage Combo Packs. But these things are really great! They have so many uses. Baby clothing stores better when the air is sucked out, otherwise oxidization causes all the stains that we worked so hard to remove just come right back up! Linens pack into much less containers when they're squeezed tight into these bags! Seasonal clothing being packed away until needed will survive much better in these as well!

Tip #8: TVs and radios should be the last thing on the truck. Bopping along to music makes packing so much more enjoyable. The TV is for those few minutes you steal between boxes to keep up with your shows. Priorities!

Tip #9: Wear a roll of packing tape as a bracelet and keep a Sharpie Permanent Marker in your pocket at all times. If you can figure out a way to safely hang a razor off your belt, do that too!

Tip #10: Don't forget how stressful packing and moving can be. On everyone. Keep that in mind when you're about to snap at your two year old for emptying out your just-packed boxes. Or your spouse for putting something in the wrong place. It's not worth it. Take a deep breath and think hard about how your reaction compares to the situation. Chances are, it's not that bad!

All in all, moving can be a great thing. You will find everything you've been looking for since moving into your house, and then some! You will be able to organize all of your things, get rid of unneeded clothing and toys. If you're lucky, you might be able to score some nice, new swag too!

Don't sweat it!