Moving Angst and Clutter

We got home yesterday afternoon after spending a couple of tough days moving my mother-in-law into her new (rental) home. Here are the highlights:

1. I'm great at cleaning out before a move and usually have great yard sales as a result. I'm a great packer - efficient and organized. This is the result of having moved too many times. However, I hate the actual moving part - loading the truck (and we always do it ourselves), the drive, and unloading. I hoped this move would be easier because it eliminated the truck and drive.


2. My mother-in-law has been dreading having to move since we first told her we needed to sell our house that she lived in. Our original plan was to find a place for all of us but she doesn't want to live in Tucson where we've decided to stay. Although the new owners let her stay in our old house, she cannot afford the rent they want and we cannot afford to continue paying half of it for her indefinitely.


3. It took her a long time to find an affordable place she could live in and then she's had to wait for months for the owner to do needed repairs and remodeling. The new place is across the street - literally, directly across the street. The rent is half as much, mostly because the house is smaller, not as nice, and there is scarcely a yard.


4. Getting rid of anything is hard for my mother-in-law. However, with my help and encouragement over the years, she's gotten much better about cleaning out. She let go of an amazing amount of clothes, knickknacks, and other household goods in the past few months so that she could fit into the smaller house.


5. Due to a painful bruise from tripping on the steps at the new house, she could not help much with the actual move and wasn't able to complete the packing before our arrival. Our plan had been for her to dog-sit while we did the moving anyway, so it initially didn't appear to pose a problem.


6. Unfortunately, Polie made it a problem. For some reason, he suffered extreme separation anxiety when we were both out of his sight. This meant we had to alternate hauling stuff across the street. To move the major appliances and furniture, we had to put the dogs in the vehicle with my mother-in-law and get everything moved early in the day before it got too hot in there for them.


7. Polie also will not 'go potty' while on leash and the fence in the new yard is too low to contain the dogs. We had to walk the dogs over to the old house - even in the middle of the night - and let them loose in the yard there to do their business. We have no idea what we will we do on future visits. Maybe Polie can just run free down the street again like he did on this trip when the gate was accidentally left open...

As a result of the above events, we got home exhausted and stressed yesterday. We also were extremely motivated to reduce the amount of stuff we will have to move when our turn comes, although finding a new home for us is proving far more difficult than it was for my mother-in-law. In any case, we need to make space to fit in an old armchair we brought home with us.

We spent yesterday afternoon going through the living room. We examined everything that was in the room: art on the walls, knickknacks, furniture, multi-media and books, sewing supplies, and other miscellaneous items. As we worked through it all, I dusted and cleaned in places that had been neglected for a very long time. When we were done, the room sparkled with that crispness that only comes after removing the light-absorbing dust.


We have a pile of items to donate, sell, and give away, including this custom piece of furniture my sweetie built using a bent drill rod (from mining) and some imported wood he bought more than three decades ago before he knew better.


Last night (and last week), I went through clothes I'd set aside when I regained some weight a while back. Decluttering wisdom dictates that one should not keep anything that has not been used in the past year and diet advice often stipulates that keeping smaller clothes may hinder weight loss efforts, and besides, fashions will change by the time one can fit into the clothes again.

These are rules that I decided to break. When I gained the weight, I was reasonably sure that I would (eventually) be ready and able to lose it again. As the months passed and the numbers on the scale didn't move downwards, I made myself a promise. If I had not lost any weight by the time we were ready to move, I would get rid of all the clothes that did not fit. Well, maybe I'd save the next size down, but I'd get rid of all the rest.

Thankfully, I started slowly losing weight in August. I went clothes shopping in my own storage closet twice this month, which is far cheaper even than going to the thrift store (where most of these clothes came from in the first place). It is encouraging to try on these clothes and find that many of them now fit. My wardrobe increased considerably and a few items have even been removed because they are now too large.

Have the fashions changed since they fit before? Probably. I don't have a clue because I don't follow fashion. I wear what is comfortable and functional, not what is fashionable. It's a good thing, because I've got several more boxes of clothes in several smaller sizes to work my weight down to.

My sweetie heads back to work tomorrow, leaving me on my own in clearing more clutter. I suppose it would be a good time to tackle the toiletries and personal supplies. I'll also be on my own in the kitchen as I do most of the food preparation and cooking. He gets to tackle the garage and garden supplies. I just hope we can keep our clutter-clearing momentum and motivation going.