marcicat | Entries tagged with moving

*I think it's time to find my slip-on shoes and put them by the back door. I've had some flip-flops there since we moved in, because I just think it's nice to have some outdoor shoes hanging around each door I might wish to use to go outside? And I wear them when I go out to fill up the bird feeder. But it's raining today, and much colder than when it was raining in the summer and I wore the flip-flops anyway.

*In a surprising turn of events, it's entirely possible I know where my slip-on shoes are right now! (Very frustrating trying to find things in general after the move. I know *exactly* where they used to be! Which is not helpful! At all!)

*The next House DIY Quests are: replace screen door panel with storm door panel, and swap out the old water filter cartridge for a new one. The good news: we have both the storm door panel AND the replacement water filter cartridge!

*Right, also I need to go back to work today. (Do we still say 'go back' when it's remote? Log back in, maybe?)

*In an effort to do a bunch of the 'month change' things ahead of the actual month change (see: nanowrimo), today might be new kitchen sink sponge day! Always a highlight.

Ahahaha, look at that -- October 2nd! Just one short month away from nanowrimo...

In other news, our neighbors are still in the process of moving out, which they have been working on since before we moved in. It's surprisingly reassuring, actually. I feel like I had this image in my mind that the 'moving' part of moving houses was supposed to be quick-ish, and it definitely wasn't, and watching other people have a Very Extended moving process has given me more perspective.

In other other news, I was casting around for something else to do to procrastinate on my duolingo lessons this morning, and I thought, 'ooh, an email just came in! well, I better check that first.' Joke's on me; it was a reminder from duolingo to learn something.

We've reached that Most Humorous post-moving phase, where I remember FOR SURE that I had a thing at one point, and I'm mostly sure I moved it. (99%? I mean, I wouldn't have gotten rid of it, right? That's why I had the 'no throwing things out prior to moving' window!) And yet. Where is it?

There's not that many places it could be, but it is 100% true that locations that made 'perfect sense' in the chaos of moving are not always logical (or even guessable) several months later. It'll turn up, I'm sure. Or I'll forget about it again! Either way, problem solved.

Right, let's do this day! It's sort of hot and VERY humid, but I have NEW THINGS being delivered this weekend, which is VERY EXCITING, and also an excellent excuse to sort through some of my CURRENT THINGS and see what I might be able to pass along to others (or perhaps let go of entirely) in hopes of not building up a THINGS OVERLOAD.

(Moving was alarming in multiple ways, one of which was that there were some things that I moved INTO my apartment in 2014, and then OUT of my apartment in 2021, and had never made it out of the boxes they arrived in. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing, just not necessarily a great one either. Worth more consideration.)

(Also some parents do a toy swap thing with their kids, so when the kids get a new toy they donate an old toy? Which I am not qualified to speak on as a parenting technique, but I've been trying it as a general strategy in my life at the moment -- totally optional, just something to be considered when bringing an additional thing into my life, and at this time I'm pretty happy with it, conceptually speaking.)

Went downstairs this morning as usual, chores as usual, pretended not to notice the spider (also as usual), and as I was headed back to the computer, thought 'hm, it smells like someone has their heat on this morning!'

Then I thought, 'no, it smells like OUR heat is on.' To which my brain responded AHHHHHHHH WHAT DO!?!?!

(Obviously we do not want the heat on. I mean, someday we do, just not today.)

Anyway, I confirmed that the heat was indeed on (heaters felt warm), then quickly tried to pull furniture away from in front of them. Then I looked at the thermostat, which required getting a flashlight and finagling the tv screen which awkwardly blocks said thermostat.

Hahaha I have never used a digital thermostat before! The good news: I am very confident that I managed to correctly identify the TINY toggle lever on the FARTHEST side and turn it from 'heat' to 'off.' Also, I think I set the time?

The less ideal news: confirmed that I have no idea how to use a digital thermostat, and that apparently there's a learning curve.

Oh, mail. I did my change of address form with the USPS (so easy! way to go, USPS!) and contacted a list of important places that needed my new address right away, and I sort of called it a day?

But (based on the amount of mail we're STILL getting for the previous residents) I am sure that whoever is now in my apartment is getting a non-zero amount of mail addressed to me. I wonder what they are doing with it. (And I hope they are enjoying the apartment!)

Okay, so when we FIRST saw the new house (on open house day), I thought to myself, 'hm, they put a huge mirror in the living room, that sure is... a choice.'

[NOTE: Having now seen the wall o' mirrors in the condo next to ours, I will admit that 'huge' was not the correct way to describe this mirror. It's large -- about five feet wide, which I really feel is more mirror than necessary, and it's split into three panels.]

When we actually moved in, the mirror was still there. None of us could figure out how exactly it was attached to the wall. Since we're on good terms with the previous owners, we (tactfully!) asked them about it.

'Oh,' they said. 'Yes, it was there when we moved in.'

(!!!)

Apparently they made some effort at removing it, but couldn't wrangle it down, and decided to just leave it. So the mirror has been on the wall for AT LEAST 17 years, and all methods to remove it seem likely to cause anywhere from mild to severe damage to the wall behind it. (Also, we'd probably need to break the mirror. Which would be a pain to clean up.)

Still, I don't love the mirror. BUT! Today I hung a curtain over it, which was a huge improvement (I think), and this made me realize -- what's something that's wide, tall, and comes in an enormous variety of patterns for not a huge amount of money? SHOWER CURTAINS.

I feel this idea has some potential.

Here's a thought -- any time you're thinking of moving, or just in general, really -- maybe check behind your washer and dryer. Maybe consider whether anything might have fallen down between them and the wall.

As someone who tried very hard not to pay attention to the single sock and two pairs of underwear that I fished out from those spaces this weekend, along with a LOT of dust and debris, I can say from the depths of my soul that whoever moves into your place after you will thank you for your efforts.

Oh, work. On the plus side, I did not have ANY COFFEE yesterday, and now I am VERY EXCITED to have some today, which is a brain trick that has served me well many times. (Work=coffee; coffee=good. I can't quite get the transitive property to kick in, but I haven't thrown my computer out the window yet either, so something must be working.)

Also, it's supposed to be Very Hot again today, so it will not be a bad thing to have an excuse to sit quietly in front of the fan all day.

Three weeks into our new house, and I've rearranged my furniture (again) and put some things up on the walls. Figuring out final bills for the apartment and initial bills for here has been ::cries:: but I have some small hope that progress is being made. Sending a prayer to the apartment gods that I will get my security deposit back.

*Finally (finally!) getting the hummingbird feeder up. It's been on my wishlist ever since we moved, and today's the day! (I am relatively confident of this, since I've already made the food and it is currently cooling on the kitchen counter. The feeder is clean and just awaiting filling. So the barriers to success in this endeavor are very low.)

*Attempting to put together the new over-sink dish-drying rack. Comments and reviews ranged from 'super easy to assemble' to 'wtf is this there are no instructions and I have pieces left over,' so it's going to be an adventure, I'm sure.

*Walking some? Work is doing a six week 'virtual marathon' thing, so I'd like to log something for that before it starts raining. Hopefully. Or not; we'll see.

I think it is fair to say that June was A Challenging Month. But now it is JULY! (Also the heat wave is diminished today, so my optimism has increased.)

Things I am looking forward to in July:

*decorating in the new house!

*work is doing a virtual walking challenge (well, it's a walk/run/bike challenge, so for me: walking)

*really, really hoping the cat can become more comfortable with the new place and her new housemates

*Short walk at local park went well yesterday. Parking was easy (often the most challenging aspect), the trail was well-maintained, and I was there early enough that it was not crowded or too hot. Overall, a win!

*Today's challenge adventure: cooking some food! Also with the goal of doing it before it gets 'too hot,' although that's a moving target for sure.

THE DAILY DISTRACTION
Got completely sidetracked researching 'can I turn off the ice maker in the freezer and leave it off,' with a side of 'if yes, can the ice bin be repurposed for other freezer storage.' The answers appear to be yes and yes? I did manage to find the legit instruction manual online, which was -- surprise, surprise -- not very helpful. Various other sites online indicated that these questions were common, and in general the advice seemed to come down on the side of 'if you're not using the ice, you SHOULD turn off the ice maker.' (Both for energy-saving purposes, and because having the ice sit around for long periods of time as the freezer cycles can make it turn into a solid block (not ideal).'

So far, I have not cooked anything, but I HAVE emptied the ice bin and manually turned off the ice maker. I think. We'll see! (The ice bin is SO BIG! WHO NEEDS THAT MUCH ICE!?!?) Very excited to potentially increase our freezer space by 20% or so.

When I'm very lucky, I notice the magic moment during a walk -- that moment where all of a sudden my shoulders are relaxed, and I feel like I can breathe. It doesn't always happen -- sometimes I just can't find a rhythm, and the whole time I'm just vaguely uncomfortable, but that's fine too. There's still the compensation prizes -- I was outside, I was exercising, I took a picture, I had an experience -- I appreciate those things too! (Okay, I try to appreciate those things too.)

Moving is... very stressful. I knew this! And yet my understanding of the stress did not make it less.

Which is to say, moving is a thing that's happening, and this morning I'm going out for a walk to check out a short local trail, and we'll see how it goes!

ACHIEVEMENT #1:
When we moved in, three of the windows that didn't have screens. The screens were in the utility room (helpfully labeled and everything!). Since screens make it easier to welcome in cool morning air without feeling like you're also asking the brazen neighborhood squirrels to just come on in and help themselves, it seemed like a good idea to put them in. (The screens, not the squirrels.)

So I did! One went great -- it was on the ground floor, so I could go outside and bang on the corners to get them to pop into place. The other two were upstairs, and they... went. They haven't fallen out yet, so I feel that the minimum level of screen adequacy has been achieved.

ACHIEVEMENT #2:
There is a balcony that has a sliding glass door and (in theory) a sliding screen door. In reality it was more like a 'pry it open and then use a combination of luck and pleading to move it' screen door. The internet suggested cleaning the track (the person in the video used lysol, which made me laugh and yet was also reassuring, in the sense that I was *also* planning to just grab whatever was handy), and then applying a magical product called WD 40 Spray & Stay Gel. (Note: it is NOT a gel. More like a foaming spray? I may not know much, but I do know what gel looks like, and that was not gel.) I did both of those steps, and voila! The door opens in a (somewhat) more graceful way now! Very exciting!

ACHIEVEMENT #3:
Not a DIY project, but I really felt like the list should have three things on it. So here's my third achievement for this week: I made it to Thursday! Not only is it the day before Friday, it's also PAYDAY!

*I got invited to a meeting on Monday that my boss assured me I did not need to be at, and indeed, I did not. (Neither of us were willing to kick up a fuss about my unnecessary status, so I attended.) It was somewhat interesting, and an excellent excuse to not getting anything *else* done during that hour, so we'll call it a success.

*So far I have been much more engaged this week in setting up my new work area than in actually doing work in said area. But needs must, so some work has also been accomplished.

*Today I have a different meeting, one that is literally called the "Pre-[other meeting name] Meeting." Every time I see it on the calendar I am reminded of the classic Dilbert comic strip: "Whoa! Do you think it's safe to jump right into the permeating without planning it?"

I’m at a weird point in moving where:

*Nothing is where I remember it being last.

*Everything I’m looking for MIGHT be in a box. Or not.

Yesterday I took a bunch of things out of boxes, and I absolutely remember taking several empty boxes out of the room. And yet the total number of boxes present still appears the same!

In short: TOO MANY BOXES. SEND HELP.

*It's hot! It's humid! Let's go move furniture!

*Due to a variety of reasons, we'll be moving the last of the furniture out of the apartment today. So I'll be headed over there for the first time since *last* Sunday, to do a final look around and make my official goodbyes.

*(I asked about scheduling a move-out walkthrough. Because of the major renovations that will be done as soon as I leave, they said they're not doing one. "Just leave your keys on the counter and the door unlocked, and text us when you're fully moved out.")

*The cat in No Uncertain Terms let me know she would not be staying in the upstairs this morning, so we are sitting in the living room downstairs instead. Tempting fate, with Star and the pup just one level below, but I'm hoping she'll get bored of being down here and go back upstairs on her own. Eventually. (She hates to be picked up! It's usually better to let her do her own thing if possible!)

*I used the wall AC for the first time yesterday / last night, and it was nice! Kinda loud, but effective, and definitely made sleeping more comfortable.

*The train did not wake me up last night! An excellent sign.

*I should... get groceries? IDK, this whole 'don't live right next to a grocery store' thing means it will be harder to go before work. (Not impossible during most of the year, but in summer we do a whole summer hours thing, so I'm starting at 8 am.)

*I keep reminding myself that I don't have to do ALL the fun things immediately. We're not on vacation here, trying to fit lots and lots of fun things into a short window. We live here!

*There are still So Many Boxes. (PS: If anyone remembers the 'where are the large plates' mystery from packing up early this year; I have now put the large plates in the banishment cupboard above the fridge, possibly never to be recovered.)

*Putting a daybed in the living room was an A+ 100% fantastic choice. UNDER-BED STORAGE. I love it.

*We are moving more furniture this weekend. The downside: moving more furniture. The upside: *having* more furniture!

*I've been ignoring all my usual cleaning chores during the chaos of unpacking. (No magnet board with chores on it = no chores!) But now my brain keeps pinging me like 'I think you forgot to clean the toilet,' and I'm like 'I KNOW,' and my brain is like 'but when will you?' and this is the whole reason for the magnets in the first place, to keep me from having to constantly THINK about it. SOON, BRAIN. SOON.

*Going back to work was fine, I guess. It took about 30 minutes for me to get bored with my work projects and feel like unpacking again. (But I stayed somewhat focused on work! Sort of! Off and on!)

*Met the condo property manager yesterday; got our paperwork to fill out about our pet and vehicle registration. The form wants to know what breed of cat I have. She's... cat shaped? (Note: the internet tells me I'm probably safe going with 'domestic long hair,' which is not an actual breed, but appears to be a fancier way of saying 'mixed breed.')

*Today's goal is to continue working through the closet stuff in my room. Basically tetris-ing as much stuff in there as possible, in a way that is hopefully not completely incomprehensible in the future, in advance of more furniture arriving this weekend.

*Must remember to start my car today and run it for a bit. The garage said the battery is fine, but I think our definitions of fine are not always completely in alignment? They meant 'fine' as in 'drive like a normal person and it will be fine,' and I meant 'what if I let it sit for six days in a row and then want it to start on day seven?' ("Fine has variable definitions," as the Spock quote goes.)

*The cat is currently basking in the sunshine on the bed while I sit on the floor. Seems about right.

I took Friday through Tuesday off to work on moving, but now it is Back To Work time. I feel like I could easily spend several more weeks just on getting moved in, but I also feel sort of relieved to take a break from it today and do other things (even if those other things are work!).

Yesterday's big win: I walked somewhere! (To drop off the old router in the UPS drop box so it could be returned.) It was great! There were sidewalks! (I considered the area surrounding the apartment to be 'moderately walkable,' but there were certainly no sidewalks. It was really more of a 'how lucky do you feel today' sort of walkability.)

Also from yesterday: I texted the apartment managers to let them know I'm not fully moved out yet (technically I have till the end of the month, but I said earlier I hoped to have everything out by the 15th). Heard back that they'd like to show it to someone on Thursday so they could 'get a sense of the space' (totally reasonable!) if I was okay with that. I said I am, which is true, although now I am lol'ing a little about what is still there.

The current contents of my apartment:

*treadmill
*cat tree
*broom
*water faucet filter (still attached)
*one (partial) roll of toilet paper
*instruction manual for the ceiling fan (it's staying with the apartment)
*the light that the fan replaced

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The Marci Rating System

Entries tagged with moving

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