In the throes of moving

Our approach has been to pack up a little at a time, when we find time.  It was easy to feel overwhelmed at first, but I've been pleasantly surprised with the number of boxes we can fill up in a few hours set aside for the purpose. We've made several trips South to drop off the latest boxes, and slowly but surely one house fills up as the other one empties. Next Saturday is our official move-out day, and we're hiring help for all the big and heavy stuff--mainly furniture, and boxes and boxes of books.

Motivated by the thrill of a more streamlined abode on the other side, we've been throwing out and giving away clothes and decor that we've outgrown, a hoard of stacked and filed papers from past jobs and college projects, old textbooks (why did we think we would need those?!), and an embarrassing number of magazine back issues. It feels good to lighten up and our smaller digs will be brighter for not bringing with us unnecessary clutter.

Roscoe is an enthusiastic packer and throws whatever is nearby into the designated cardboard boxes. We've had to keep a close eye on him though, because we've found trash in the packing boxes and toys, books, and other miscellaneous items in the trash.

We dismantled Merritt's nursery a couple days ago. The move has me feeling sentimental about very few things, but the babies' spaces are an exception. I hate that we can't deconstruct Roscoe's tree from it's sunny little place on his wall but, sadly, we can't take it with us. Roscoe has become very protective of the contents of his room and so we have decided to leave it intact until the last moment, when the guys will be packing up whatever is left here and the kids and I will be entertaining ourselves with unpacking at the new house.

The boys and I have taken many weekday trips to our new city to check things out and to interview a range of potential nannies. I can't seem to stay away for very long because my excitement for our future there feels so big, I wish we lived there now. The kids inevitably fall asleep on the ride down and then we have the whole afternoon for marveling at nature in the backyard, or traipsing around town in search for a treat, or waiting around for nanny's who stand us up.  That has become an unfortunate trend.

In less than two weeks I imagine we'll be unpacked, and settling in for Thanksgiving feast!