On Pods and Dumpster Fires

I did it.  (WE) did it.  ... mostly me. .. and my bestie. We got packed up and moved out of my house and got it spanking clean in time for closing.  It was hard.  I worked hard... My body is angry... and I am a bit disgruntled and happy all at the same time.

Who am I disgruntled at?

My family kinda got on my nerves as I did all the packing (yes I did) and all of the planning, only to get criticized when we did not have enough storage or a big enough dumpster.  More help would have meant another set of eyes to help measure stuff and more things packed in advance to help make decisions better.  It would have meant that the movers would have done more work on moving day(s) and there would have been left work for the grumbling family members.  I will say that when the time came they got down to it though.

PODS.  The jury is out on this company. But, I was given a 3 hour delivery time, and it turned into a six hour delivery time because they failed to mention that each pod would have a 3 hour deliver time...  I hate it when people impose on my time like that.  I would have not used them if I had known.  Folks need to deliver when they say!

Pick up of pods and delivery of an additional pod was also troublesome, for the same reasons, and then one of the pod pick up people was dismissive and hostile, and purposely tipped my POD to the side a good 15-18 degrees... to my horror.  My piano and other case furniture was in that pod, and my piano was on the side it was tipped toward. I said to him, why did you tip it?  He replied, "apparently, it raided and there was water on top.  I tipped it so I don't get wet."  When we he going to get wet?  Was water going to come off it while he was in the cab of his truck?  That was ridiculous.  He also said "well, I didn't load it", and when he realized how hostile that sounded, he softened to "your piano will be fine" and got in his truck and left.  ....so help me God.

And then there was the insurance issue.  After my first two PODS had arrived but before they were loaded I remembered that my home-owner insurance was ending since my house was being sold and since there was 5-6 weeks before closing on the new house, that my items would not be insured.  I called PODS who had sold me container only insurance to ask about it, and they said, yes, we have item insurance, but you have to ask for it before your containers are delivered because you could break items and then request insurance.  HOLD THE PHONE!!  You mean to tell me you could sell me insurance to protect your container, and then not tell me about the upgrade to full insurance and then turn me down once I think about it because my container is delivered... grrrr...  I called my personal insurance company and got insured under renters insurance since I am staying somewhere temporarily.

Crossed fingers that everything is in good shape and is delivered relatively on time.

And on the 4th day (of moving) there was JUNK.  Once the important stuff was all moved out, I literally wanted to set fire to the rest, but since the house was sold, that would be bad cuz it would burn the house down.  I had hired someone to haul off junk, but my son's friend (son from another mutha) insisted on a dumpster... thankfully, I listened. Here is my review for Bin There Dump That:

 I was moving out of my house I'd lived in for 16 years.  Needless to say, I had a lot more junk than I ever imagined.  I hadn't called a dumpster company because of my tight deadline in getting my storage units loaded and getting out of the house for the new owners, but it was unavoidable.  Bin There Dump that was able to deliver Saturday Morning and pick up before 7 am on Monday.  (They came exactly when they said, which is more than I can say for the storage container company) Packing the dumpster full was easy because of the walk-in doors, and all of their employees were incredibly friendly and light-hearted.  This speaks to a great company culture!  I don't know when I will have to clean out a house again but I will be calling Bin There Dump That... It doesn't hurt that the name is so catchy!
This one is fuzzy, but my favorite room in the house.

Yup... they were so good I Yelped it.  The only thing I regret was not getting a bigger dumpster.  We had to get creative with getting all the "garbage" disposed of.  My kids really enjoyed destroying dressers and small furniture items.  My daughter does have a bit of batter's elbow right now.  Yes, she destroyed things with a bat. Fun. ...Ps.  Always get one size bigger than you think you need the price difference is negligible.

So here I am, staying with my in-laws and thankful that my anxiety over it was unfounded. It is going great and I am making myself useful because they have several projects that need doing.  I am glad to help, and my room is so comfy by the way... My only complaint (if I was going to complain) is 24-7 news channel... I am getting a little shell-shocked by it.  But I have 13 books to read in these next few weeks, so I am good.

Still packing.

I hate packing, but I actually love it.

I like the challenge of getting as much stuff into a single box, which is important if you are about to store your items in a limited space. Basically, I mix soft goods with hard goods and breakables.
So for example, a box with 4 vases is packed with a sheet set and pillowcases.  My 4 pencil lamps are packed with throw pillows. Dishes are packed with washcloths and towels... Stuff like that.  As I got to the fine crystal last night, I had to choose between t-shirts and the mail drawer.  I ended up packing my mail up with my crystal.. everything is nice and cushy!.
Because we are using limited storage, I am also keeping the box size as uniform as possible to make sure the items are packed tightly. You can see the boxes piling up above.

I have a few more days of hard work to move out of this house and into my in-laws (pray for me) until our house is ready.

My life really does change fast and often, doesn't it?

Time to get packing

Looks like we will be staying with in-laws until our new home is ready. In the meanwhile, we need to get all packed up and into storage.  We will be using PODs systems.

Of course, I have several large projects at the same exact time, so it seems to me like I am getting nothing at all done.

I actually have a middle school opening a show on the same day my moving containers show up (I am costuming 30 kids in Charlotte's Webb.)

Selling a house to a sibling

Gonna be leaving this beauty for a new home soon. 
Did I mention that my sibling is purchasing my existing house? For me, that's really weird for several reasons.

1. You don't get to sell and walk away... you will be visiting this house for the foreseeable future, so we put a lot more money into the home prep with that in mind... .that we actually cared to make sure nothing broke or there were no existing problems in the home that my sibling would have to deal with. (Even though we weren't positive they would actually buy.)

2. I will continually be visiting this house, that I owned for 15 years for the foreseeable future, and I will have to knock and not just march into a bedroom because it is not mine.

3. The awkwardness of selling something valuable to a relative. We're already super awkward people, so this did not help. We pretty much just got realtors and let them handle it... rarely even mentioning the house to each other (really awkward, right). And of course, we accepted a lower price than we would have from anyone else.

It's almost over.  The only thing left is the report from their banker's appraiser. After the inspection report, we were asked to fix 3 minor things, meaning the stuff we did beforehand probably was the right thing to do!

Our next stop is to move 1 months worth of clothes into the in-law's house and move out of here in the next 3 weeks.  Then 3-5 more weeks and our new home will be ready.  Siding, brick, and stone are going on this week!

ps.  I am still irritated by life in general. The house(s) issue is just a great distractor.

12 grade year of homeschooling, Finishing Strong

We are almost done with my college prep series. There will still be a video on completing the transcript.    Stay tuned... meanwhile, ...