Change is good

Mike and I are in the midst of packing up our lives to move to a new place, just north of the city and about 2 miles from our current apartment. We had an opportunity to rent a larger, nicer place from a good friend, and the deal was too good to pass up. In the last two weeks we managed to find someone to sublet our place through the rest of our lease, get paperwork hammered out and signed, and accumulate dozens of boxes. Now we have one week to pack up, and I'm completely amazed by how much stuff two people can accumulate in such a short amount of time. Not to mention how it's crammed into a relatively small living space. (I'd post photos of the initial pile - which consists of only the partial contents of one room! - but my camera is momentarily out of order.)

There is an interesting calculus in trying to get as much done as early as possible... some things obviously can sit in boxes for a week (or longer) and not be missed, but others are less easy. I'm considering laying out a bag, packing as if for a week's vacation, and living out of a suitcase as the boxes pile up around us. Should we eat out on the last day so I can crate up the pots and pans?

I've never enjoyed the disarray of moving, the unsettled feeling of being in between stages in life. The work of actually heaving stuff around isn't too bad, especially when there are plenty of helpers. I'm pretty decent at playing "furniture tetris" in a moving van, so that part verges on fun. Still, I'd rather set up shop somewhere and have to do this again as infrequently as possible. I'm excited enough about the new place, though, to feel that this whole rigamarole is ultimately worthwhile, even in the midst of it.

Hopefully I'll still feel that way by the end of the week!