JENN McKINLAY: For the fourth time in five years, the Hooligans are moving. The first couple of moves, Hub and I were all in, helping schlep their worldly possessions up three flights of stairs (why?!) to their new abode. This time, I am conveniently back east and Hub is booked with gigs.
Huh. Weird how that worked out.
Even though we look forward to retiring and moving "someday" that day is a ways off for me and Hub. We've been in our home for 26 years--Amazing! Before that, I moved eight times. Since we are out of the moving loop, I had to look up stats because that's who I am (librarian!). So here are some interesting things I learned from CT Moving and Storage:
For laughs, here's the classic "pivot" scene from Friends:
How about you, Reds and Readers? How many times have you moved and how did it go?
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ReplyDeleteWe've moved four times [and never forgot the shower curtain!] . . . we had no particular difficulties although moving is, in and of itself, an exceptionally frustrating experience. I have absolutely no desire to do it again . . . .
ReplyDeleteI think I've moved nineteen times, including the five times I lived in another country for four months or more.
ReplyDeleteIt gets more stressful the more "stuff" one accumulates. I was smugly proud as a young person to own no more than could be moved in a VW bug. Those days are long gone.
From birth to now, I've lived in five countries and moved 20 times. The hardest part is downsizing before packing.
ReplyDeleteWell, if I don’t count moving back and forth to college, I have moved 7 times in my life. I did live in four different places during the college years including 2 summer sessions. I hate moving, and every time I say I’m not doing it again. It is stressful. Packing and unpacking the kitchen are the most time consuming.
ReplyDeletePS moving in the winter in Minnesota is the absolute worst. Did that two times.
ReplyDeleteAgreed! My last move to Ottawa took place from Dec 20-Jan 2. Coldest December in years, with highs of -30C. I had to give away all my houseplants since they could not survive in the unheated moving trucks.
DeleteOther than when I moved when I was 2 1/2 years old, I have been in the same house for the past 50 plus years.
ReplyDeleteI once helped someone move. The move was fine but the next week he called and was moving BACK to the place he moved out of when he broke up with his girlfriend. They had gotten back together. He was told he was on his own.
And now I don't have to worry about helping move people because of my back.
I forgot to mention that while it isn't moving to another place, I have been busy emptying out my job since it is closing after 40 years and 26 1/2 years of employing me. So, not so fun times.
DeleteSorry to hear that, Jay.
DeleteI’m very sorry, Jay. — Pat S
DeleteUgh, that sucks. So sorry, JAY.
DeleteHugs, Jay.
DeleteJay, so sorry to hear that.
DeleteThree big moves with the worst still to come: New Jersey to Cleveland (one baby and one puppy); Cleveland to Atlanta (3 kids, one dog); Atlanta to Cincinnati (one resident kid, 2 standard poodles). Our downsizing move is still to come, destination unknown.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely get out of Ohio, given the weather, and the politics! I moved to California, which is a different and much better place to live!
DeleteGood move! I love California!
DeleteMy most memorable move was from the second-floor apartment across the back lane to my new partner's 3-storey house. No car required. No movers required. Just her wheelbarrow to ferry things across; those items too big for the wheelbarrow were disassembled (futon bed) and carried across between us. That was 31 years ago now; we have moved once since then. With burly-men movers to help.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely remember that moving scene from the Friends episode. I wonder if the actors were injured filming that scene. Wow, I did not know that the average household had 300,000 items.
ReplyDeleteMoving is a lot of work! In my lifetime, I recall moving maybe 9 times in my life. The last time I moved, I HAD to downsize because we were moving to a smaller place. I had to get rid of so many books. My loss was the new public library's gain - they got hundreds of new books, still in good condition, from us. And the books are still used at the public library. I am grateful that I kept some books, which are Now out of print.
I've only moved once. When I got married. I moved from my parents home to our newly built cabin, a distance of maybe 100 yards. And stuff STILL got lost between here and there. Don't ask me how.
ReplyDeleteWe've been here now for 42 years. While we can't possibly downsize any more (our house is only 600 square feet), we do have 10 acres of land, which is daunting to care for as we get older, but not as daunting as the thought of moving.
I can’t believe I still laugh out loud at friends. That’s great! Moving, so many stories. Two things
ReplyDeleteone, my fabulous editor uses moving as a great way to reveal characters’ personalities and backstory. She says to imagine how your character moved in to their new apartment – – with fancy movers and bonbons, or with friends and beer? What did she bring and why and what happened and how was it —did she want to move, was she happy?
The other thing is my other favorite moving scene from Friends. When Monica. (or maybe Rachel) says: “ oh, I really wish I could help you move. But I can’t.”
I say that all the time about things to my husband. Oh. I wish I could help you do the dishes, but I can’t.
Hank, I love that idea. Now I need to have one of my characters move!
DeleteAnd oh, when I moved from Atlanta to Boston, my Boston employer was very generous about my move, since they really wanted me to work for them. So they hired movers and told me: just tell them to pack, and you get to Boston and meet them, and they will arrive and unpack for you.
ReplyDeleteI did nothing. Absolutely nothing except come to Boston and wait for them to arrive and watch them put things away. It was pretty fabulous.
They also packed everything. I mean everything! It was amazing, and so much fun :-0 to unwrap half used ketchup bottles and random glasses. But still, that’s the way to do it.
My first two moves (1970, 1972) were with “in the military husband” so I know that luxury of sitting and waiting. Fortunately, I had advice from a wonderful book “How to be a military wife”…first rule: NEVER turn your back on the movers, lest they pack the full garbage can! Elisabeth
DeleteOh, so true! Because obviously, it’s easier just to ask no questions, just pack everything. Xx
DeleteElisabeth, my youngest daughter has been moved by the State Department three times now, and I was in Nairobi when they moved her from one house to another. The efficiency is almost terrifying! We were told to pack our suitcases and leave them after a quick breakfast, then DD sent us out for the day with a driver. The crew was pulling in as we were leaving. They packed up the entire (five-bedroom) house, and took everything to the new place on the other side of town, closer to the Embassy. We arrived at dinnertime to find all the furniture in place, and my daughter just organizing the kitchen with their housekeeper, who had been with them all day, directing the movers.
DeleteThat's the way to go, as you said, Hank!
I agree that professional movers are so efficient. But the men did gasp when they saw how many books/bookcases i had in my apartment, lol.
DeleteI have moved 9 times in my life. Most of those moves were in my 20s/30s going from Toronto to university, and then early jobs with the federal government in different cities.
ReplyDeleteI moved back & stayed in Toronto for 13 years in my late 30s-40s, and then moved to Ottawa 11 years ago. Most of those moves were organized & paid for by my employer, the federal government.
If I move again, I will have to downsize & do all the packing & unpacking on my own ...shudder.
Those collected books on my 22 bookcases will have to be whittled down ....sob.
Books are so hard. During our last move we packed 42 boxes for The Last Bookstore in LA. We still had 7 bookcases full that made the move with us. I told myself that I could give them up since we now live about one block from the main library in Long Beach.
DeleteI think I have moved 13 times, and during my last move, I had very little stuff. In the 22 years I've lived here, I've accumulated a lot more stuff, so not really looking forward to the next one The worst moves were moving my son in and out of the dorms. One would think it would be easy, because it basically didn't involve furniture. No, when your young person isn't able to pack stuff up in an organized manner and lives on the 5th floor of a dorm without an elevator--that's the worst.
ReplyDeleteI'd rather not count how many times I have moved. The last time was almost 16 years ago, so here I plan to stay. Unless I sell my house and move to an apartment, which doesn't excite me in the least. There are at least 2 things I cannot find since my last move - both kitchen items - but I've given up looking for them. Yes, I still have a box that hasn't been fully unpacked yet.
ReplyDeleteI have moved way too many times – every 5 years for a while. There was a time (university) when it was just a steamer trunk, which was always the spare table in the dorm room. Then across Canada and back (suitcase) and then started the apartments. Got married, moved to Quebec and it was a small U-haul, and a cat and a colour tv (my dowry!) in the back of a van. Then it started – kids, pets, stuff, farm animals, and the worst of all the alternative #8 on your list – the stuff in the garage, shed and barn – surpassed the 300,000 items all by itself.
ReplyDeleteIn the last move to Cape Breton, we had a smaller U-haul truck, a full-sized movie truck with a trailer carrying a car, a motorcycle and anything else that could get stuffed in the corners, a van with a trailer holding more stuff such as live chickens and ducks and a frozen turkey on the roof rack, and inside a cranky kid, two old English sheep dogs, 17 cats, a rabbit and a turtle. We will not talk about the ‘good’ pieces of lumber and really good (rusty and unsorted screws – “we might need them”) as well as pieces of glass rescued from a Monastery and glass bricks from a school. I suppose you thought ‘but she forgot the kitchen sink”. Nope a perfectly good cast iron one with two side drip panels – a classic weighing a gazillion pounds and bought for $5 from the dump. It is in the sunroom.
Never again. Next time is in a box. Let the kids deal with it.
I moved 7 times as a kid (it should have been 8 but that's another story.) Then 10 moves from young adult to my 40's. That was all in Idaho. Then to St. Louis where we moved 3 times. And now to Tennessee to our 'forever' home. So 21 moves so far. I still have dreams where I've left the most important things behind.
ReplyDeleteMoving, thinking that the most recent (from CT to FL) is last. Don’t know how many but three cross country in 1970s: CT to AK, AK to MA, CT to WA and in 1992 WA to CT. In between, short (less than 1 hour drive)in-area moves. Then this last in 2021. Had a professional organizer help. A friend called the organizer “Ruthless Randi” . Ruthless was what I needed to get rid of all that stuff (never did a major shedding with other moves)! Fortunate to have had professional movers for at least part of the long moves. Happy Spring! Elisabeth
ReplyDeleteGrew up in a Navy family and we moved six times in 8 years (0-8 yrs). I am probably one of the few who love moving around - it's like a new adventure each time. Then in my late teens early twenties I moved 6 times (19-26 yrs), then met my husband and we've been in the same house for over 47 years. I do miss moving to new places sometimes.
ReplyDeleteAnon, your experience sounds like mine! I also loved moving around - my mother used to say there's something wonderful no matter where you are. Of course, back then I was responsible for my personal backpack or maybe a box of books, which makes it a lot simpler...
DeleteDying to know. If moving is "the 3rd most stressful event in a person’s life" ... what are #1 and #2?? (We've been in our house for 40+ years and moved 4 times. I dread my next move...
ReplyDeleteAccording to Gemini --so take with grain of salt-- #1 = death of a loved one #2 = Divorce
DeleteDeath of a spouse is one of the top two, Hallie. Divorce is right up there next to that, too.
DeleteAdd birth of a baby and job loss to the top five list
DeleteGrowing up 10 times, then to college, a semester in Grenoble, 4 apartments as a single adult, one apartment and one house as a married couple. My next move is either downsizing to smaller, one story living, or out of the house in a box. 😆
ReplyDeleteUntil we moved into our last house in 1985 I had never lived anywhere more than five years, and I swore the only way I'd leave there was feet first. Well, 34 years, anyway! The house we live in now is the 16th place I've lived, if you count the farm. We don't "live" there, but we did have to move in. One load was piled into an old pickup truck, with the rocking chair strapped to the top, a la Beverly Hillbillies. Appropriate, for moving to the country!
ReplyDeleteWhen we were building this house, it felt as if we moved three times. First, we had to clear out the house that was on this property so it could be torn down. Steve's dad started using it as a studio/office in 1962, so the place was filled to the rafters--basement, attic, five rooms on the first floor, huge family room-type enclosed porch, and screened porch. We filled three dumpsters, I took two carloads of papers to the shredders, donated gobs of stuff, moved three trailers full to the farm, and filled the two-car separate garage (which still needs to get cleared out). And then we had to move enough stuff at our house that Steve could move his office in to one of the bedrooms for more than a year while the house was being built. Once we put the old property up for sale, we had to move all that, plus all the extra stuff we didn't want there while it was being staged. And we moved almost all of it by ourselves, with only a little help with the really big pieces. (We only moved 3/4 of a mile.) I hope to never again live through a process that complicated, like Tetris for belongings.
Oh, Karen, that sounds like a ... challenge. I'm also in the "never move again" camp, although I'm starting to clear some of the 30 years accumulation out so my kids aren't stuck with everything.
DeletePerhaps, Julia, as an only child I had no problem emptying my parents’s home…including the 20 plus moving barrels of my grandmothers things — moved in after her death in 1970 and never opened when Mother died in 2013. Just saying, your kids might have the same sell or toss ..but not keeping view I did. Elisabeth
DeleteJulia and Elisabeth, I also have helped three relatives clear out their homes, both before and after their deaths. Steve's aunt asked us to help her when she went into a nursing home, but she lived in a one-bedroom apartment. Mostly, she wanted her antiques to go to family, and some small knickknacks. That wasn't so bad. My mother had a three-bedroom home with a gigantic basement, just filled with stuff. She had some 200 Longaberger baskets, for instance. I put a lot of her best collectibles on Everything but the House.
DeleteThe biggest job, though, was emptying my in-laws' home, where they had lived for 65 years. Lawsy, was that a challenge. And it made me realize *we* had to get rid of a half century of accumulated possessions, too, because now we also had acquired stuff from the above three sources! The goal is to keep only what we love. Unfortunately, I'm a fickle girlfriend for too many beauties.
Oh Karen, I thought my parents’ house (lived in for 48 years, probably hadn’t gotten rid of anything for the last 45 of those) was bad! — Pat S
DeleteIt probably was, Pat! Possessions can be a horrible weight. I'm starting to eye my books. Yikes.
DeleteYeah, I have been thinking about my poor executor who will have to deal with disposing/donating my extensive book collection.
DeleteI have only moved 10.5 times in my life. The .5 was when I was couch crashing during the marriage breakdown. My Dad had moved up to 30 times before he married my mom, and said this is it. He got his wish. So, it turns out for me, 10 moves but 2 of them have allowed me to stay in place for about 40 years. I am more boggled with 300000 items in the average home. Are they counting individual pieces of cutlery? of linens? of dust bunnies? And then I look around my House of Hoarders and see 45819 (plus or minus) what the cat is playing with on my desk. I can see stuff, dead stuff.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure I can even count the moves before I got married - as you know, my family was military, with all the changing posts that entails. In fact, I had never lived in the same city/town/municipality for longer than four years before Ross and I bought what we thought of as The Big House 31 years ago.
ReplyDeleteTalk about stressful! We had a 16 month old and a newborn who wanted to nurse ten times a day. Ross was in a new job, heading up a bank's litigation department, and couldn't take much time away. We at least had the sense to hire professional movers, and the night before we were up until 3AM packing.
I remember sitting in our car, crying from exhaustion and nursing, while they loaded boxes and boxes of STUFF - mostly baby things and kitchenware at that point. It was such an awful experience I vowed to never move again - and so far, I haven't!
I have, however, helped two friends pack up to move - one to Hawai'i and one to Colorado (Hi, Roxanne!) and, of course, emptied my dad's house out when he moved into assisted living and them when he put it up for sale. Somehow, though, it's never that hard when it's someone else's things. Or maybe it was easier because I wasn't sleep-deprived and leaking milk?
Oh, I want to recommend a great book about moving for you dog-lovers: David Rosenfelt's (yes, the mystery writer) DOGTRIPPING: 25 Rescues, 11 Volunteers, and 3 RVs on Or Canine Cross-Country Adventure. It's a hilarious account of him and his wife moving from California to Maine with, yes, 25 dogs.
ReplyDeleteLoved this book! Love David.
DeleteOh wow! Must read that!
DeleteThat is a great book. The planning and execution of moving those animals across country with volunteers, some of whom if I recall correctly had never met David, just knew him from online sites. Definitely worth your time if you are a dog lover or just enjoy David's approach to life. -- Victoria
DeleteI've moved 3 times in my life. The last time was in 1994. If all goes well I'll not move again. I hate the idea of moving.
ReplyDeleteJENN: Are the hooligans moving far away from you or still living relatively close enough? I wonder how they feel about moving again for the 5th time in 4 years. Hope their moving goes smoothly.
ReplyDeleteI’ve never added up my moves! I moved a lot as a kid… one time in a green school bus with Snoopy climbing a mountain under “Oregon or Bust” - it was the 70s. I think I lived in 28 places by the time I was 29 years old. Then I bought my first house and stayed 12 years. My husband and I bought a different house and have been here 13 years. I have too much stuff now! I’ve been itching to move lately…
ReplyDeleteWow, I am way below the average. Not counting college, I've moved three times: when I got married, when we bought our first house, and to the Cottage. We lived in the house for... I can't do the math. More than 20 years. I don't see me moving out of this place any time soon unless something tragic happens to The Hubby. We did leave a lot of stuff at the old house, but The Boy is there now and if all goes according to (my) plan, the house will become his with all the stuff left behind. Or most of it.
ReplyDeleteLeave the shower curtain? Eww!
Ugh. Not counting and trying to erase those moves from my brain!
ReplyDeleteMy husband was in the military when we first married and moving became a way of life during his twenty year career. Afterwards, my job with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service also involved moving - move to improve! If you want a promotion, it was the only way. If we stayed anywhere for more than three years we found ourselves getting anxious! Now that I'm retired, it's difficult to think I won't move again - I enjoyed the change - and the opportunity to clear out the junk! LOL
ReplyDeleteWe’ve been in our California house for 45 years. Not going anywhere! When we were moved by movers to Texas they left half our stuff behind, broke things, assembled things wrongly. Nightmare! So I’m not even going to think about it
ReplyDeleteI never had to move as a child. My parents sold the house I grew up in when I was in my twenties and already living elsewhere. But as an adult--I had to count--I've only moved nine times, and it seems every one was in August! But we've now been in our house thirty years and even the thought of moving makes me break out in hives!
ReplyDeleteIf I don’t count moving home every summer while in college, I think I’m at 11 moves, the most recent last August. (We’d been talking for years about where we’d live after we both retired, but now that we’ve remodeled/upgraded our single story house, we might be happy staying here until we NEED to move.) Plus emptying out my parents’ house, then my mom’s apartment after she died, then my in-laws’ house, then her room in the Board & Care after she died. The last four moves involving parents’ places were completely done by my husband and me . Yes, there are siblings, but no, they didn’t help… — Pat S
ReplyDeleteUgh, so much work for you. My husband and I were so happy when my sister said she wanted to move into our parents’ home after my dad died.
DeleteMoves - once as a child that I remember - the first was before I turned a year - I'm not counting that, although I can remember the rug in that first apartment. Soft blue. Bet that was fun to keep clean with two kids! I'm not sure I can count the number of moves after that. I have to say, they all went relatively well.
ReplyDeleteGreat clip from “ Friends”…Laughed out loud remembering this one.
ReplyDeleteThe moving statistics were interesting. All but two of my moves were between end of June and mid-September. One move was early January and another mid- March.
Had several moves as a child with my parents and I remember four of those. As a young, single woman I had eight moves. The first two moving into and out of nursing residence with just suitcases and textbooks. From there a move to my first apartment with my car trunk and back seat filled with personal and household items. Thankfully, the apartment was furnished. I also had eight moves with my husband, first as a newlywed and then later with children. Except for one move, I packed up the households for the movers to ship . Nope, did not forget the shower curtain or a single other item. Mind you, there were a few times things went missing in transit and never made it from one house to another!
For me, the most challenging move was our last one. We moved from four bedroom home to a 1,000 square ft. two bedroom apartment. I am quite settled and don’t anticipate or look forward to any further moves.
Dianne Mahoney
DeleteMoved several times as a child and 5 or six as an adult. Twice it was a company move with professional packers and movers. Definitely the way to go if you can afford it. Each time I moved I got rid of things that I hadn't used in some time or wondered what in the world I was thinking when I purchased them. I think the most cathartic and enlightening move has been the one that put me into my car for this past year. Good way to learn just how much you really don't need. A couple of weeks ago I did a "spring cleaning" of the car and got rid of items I hadn't used in a year that weren't irreplaceable. Trashed things and donated a number of items to Salvation Army. Gave me more breathing room in the car. -- Victoria
ReplyDeleteMy parents built their house in 1957 - for $14,000! - and lived in it for the next 63 years. I was too sentimental and hung on to too much of their stuff. I mean, how do you give away a solid maple bedroom and dining room set? Do they even make those anymore? I hired professional movers and they were amazing. Because of my back, I would pack one box at a time, it would have to stay where I packed it, an empty box would go on top, get packed, and so on. Three young guys marched into the house, picked up the boxes three (!) at a time, padded all of the furniture, and were done in less than an hour and a half. The downside is that I already had way too much of my own stuff and houses in Texas don't have basements. We're still stumbling over boxes three years later while I attempt to ruthlessly cull - and fail. Friends and family joke that the slab will rise three feet when we finally leave the house!
ReplyDeleteI've moved more times than I care to count. Oh ok, I can't resist: 8 times as a child, I think, and 11 as an adult. And that's with 29 years between #10 and #11.
ReplyDeleteTalk about how stressful moving is...In 2024 alone we moved my son out of his apartment and off to Japan; hubby and I out of our home of 29 years and into a condo; and my sister from one senior independent living complex to another, closer to us. It was an exhausting time!
Since March is Women’s History Month, any chance JRW will interview Jacqueline Winspear who created Maisie Dobbs?
ReplyDeleteOr will there be other women authors interviewed in March?
Counting to and from college, 15 moves. The last one was a downsizing from a three story house + guest house to a 2 bedroom condo. Very painful at the time but glad that’s over.
ReplyDeleteI have counted 18 times so far. The best, no-stress moves happened with Bell Labs footing the bill for a professional move. The first move was from Holmdel, New Jersey, to Wheaton, Illinois. I had a new baby, so they shipped our car and all of our household. The next AT&T move was back to the West Coast to Mill Valley, California. I vote for a professional move every time.
ReplyDelete