Saturday, August 1, 2009

Ah, Moving

It's not like we are strangers to the process. When we were younger, we moved a lot due to employment. So over the years, the process has been refined.

We were (still are??) collectors. In the younger days, everything was packed and moved. Of course, in the younger days, "everything" didn't consist of much. But it was moved!

Now, we are "downsizing." I'm not sure I have wrapped my head around it's exact meaning. Are we doing the Lean Manufacturing equivalent of the 5 S process? Sort, Straighten, Sweep, Standardize, Sustain. Are we just getting rid of large furniture we can no longer physically move from place to place? Are we contributing to other people's up sizing, i.e. yard sale and Free Cycle? I don't know the answer, but I do know there won't be as much "stuff" this time.

Some things we have given away. A garden flag to a little girl, a stuffed bear to another little girl. Those things we won't see again. The patio set will be visited when we visit Jonesborough as will the fire screen. We look forward to that. It will mean we are seeing dear friends who now have our "stuff." And the friends are the important thing. A friend bought a Christmas item to remember us by at our sale last weekend. It was one of those things that got moved every time. It was first bought at a Christmas bazaar. Where? Charlotte? Richmond? Idaho Falls? Reading, PA? Middlefield, OH? Who knows now, but it's new home will be Jonesborough until maybe she has a yard sale and it goes to Limestone or Key West or Rhode Island.

In the younger days, we had at most a week to pack. Now this time the physical process has been going on for about 2 months and the mental process has been going on for about 4 months. And there is still 2 months left before we actually are in Greenville. I'm not sure which was better.

Is this the last move? Probably not, but we go into it with more experience, more time and a whole lot less stuff. It's the easiest one by far.

1 comment:

Rishi said...

Moving..High Ho, High Ho, it's off to work we go...UGH!

But you make it sound almost romantic. I hope the sorting goes well.