Finally beginning the process of packing

A some of you may know, we are buying the house nexto door to the duplex my husband and I live in. The house belongs to his mom and dad, who have been separated for almost three years now. The house has been on the market for two and a half years and they finally dropped the price down enough to where we could buy it. Our mortgage will be about $568 a month, while our rent is going up to $375 a month.

I have finally begun the arduous process of packing up some of our belongings to move next door into our house. I have packed three boxes since Saturday afternoon. (I brought the boxes home Friday evening, and then ended up having to babysit Saturday!) Yesterday I needed to do our laundry so I just went through a few cabinets and decided what to keep and what to get rid of.

I have been saving some newspapers and a bunch of junk mail to use as packing materials, so it has come in handy. Since we are only moving next door, I am not going to worry about wraping up everything. I am afraid of breaking thinks like our dragon collection and my coral so we can just walk them next door!

Most of our dishes, pots and pans, etc., I can just put into a laundry basket and put them straight into the cabinets. The same thing with the food, so none of that will have to be packed up.

We will have a tiny kitchen. But since my father-in-law decided to give the refrigerator, dishwasher and deep freeze (I have a deep freeze so I didn't need it) away to one of his daughters, I will have a nice open space between the fridge and the cabinets to put another storage unit, so I will use the tiny baker's rack in the basement that I am currently using for laundry detergent and other supplies. (I will be using a cabinet near the washer for those things as the washer and dryer will be in the kitchen!) I can then put my larger Tupperware canisters on it. I have all my dry goods, flour (of all kinds - self-rising, bread, all-purpose), sugar, coffee, tea, etc. in my Tupperware.

There is a cabinet in the kitchen that he uses as a pantry and he will have to leave that as it is screwed into the wall, making it a "built-in" item. I will continue to use it as a pantry for all my other foods.

It makes me mad though that he has given away most of the appliances when we could have used them, and expects us to buy the lawn mower, weed eater and leaf blower. The man shows more favortism than anyone I have ever met!

All of my cleaning supplies that I have extra of, thanks to my husband who thinks I have to have extras of everything when he can get it free, will live in the hall closet, along with our linens, coats, vacuum cleaner, games, etc. Of course, I want to weed out a bunch of games that he has purchased at yard sales that we don't even mess with! I might even break down and get rid of some of my jigsaw puzzles, which I love.

I hate moving, but this is a good move. I think what I hate is packing, unpacking and then trying to get used to a new place. We have been in this duplex for about five years now, and I know my way around it in the dark. I guess I'll be putting those nightlights to use that I always kept around for the grandbabies! LOL This way I can light my way at night if I have to get up. Hmmm...I wonder how my husband is going to handle sleeping in the master bedroom which was always his mom and dad's room? Should be interesting.

I know my granddaughter is ready for us to move into the house. She and her brother will share a bedroom when they stay with us and have all their toys in one space. Plus they will share the ugly red plaid dresser my husband loves so much. (I think it is ugly and wanted to get rid of it, but he wouldn't let me!) It will look okay in the new room as it is painted blue and white. I can also put all of my nautical items in that room as it will also be our guest room.

The bathroom is all white from what I can remember. I have a tan wicker toilet space savver, a tan bath rug (I need to get another one) and other beachy type items for that room. I plan to mix it up a little with some victorian looking items. (Most of my bath towels are orange or yellow, but I have some packed away that are dark green. I will have to have some color in there! LOL)

I plan to paint the kitchen a super light yellow. That dark paneling is just so outdated and ugly and makes the kitchen seem even smaller than it is. We can't afford to replace the paneling yet, so painting is the next best thing. A good scrubbing to remove grease, a coat of primer, and then the paint and the kitchen will look great.

The dining room, living room, bedrooms, and bath have already been remodeled, so we don't have to do anything but clean the carpets. I can rent a Rug Doctor for that and will clean our chairs at the same time so they are nice and clean and look good again. They are rather stained from normal use right now and don't look real pretty.

The den will be easy too. A simple coat of paint on the paneling, if hubby will let me, is all it needs in there.

He is supposed to be moving this weekend, so hopefully he will give us the keys so we can start moving in. He hasn't even begun to start packing either! I guess he figures that his kids will pack everything up for him and then set it all up in the rental home he found. I hate to be mean, but I hope they make him do something other than sitting on his behind!!

I know that I need to get busy packing some stuff up, but everyone keeps pulling me in more directions that I can handle. I am ready to simply start shoving stuff in boxes and totes and be done with it! Forget sorting it all out. Tracy and I spent the weekend getting curtains for the windows that will be bare. I now have enough curtains for the entire house, although I will want to replace the ones I am putting in the living room eventually. They are hanging in our bedroom right now.

I have several big pieces of furniture that we will need help moving because I can't move them or help to move them. I don't carry heavy things because I am not the most graceful person, nor do I have much strength. One of Tracy's brother's has agreed to help us move those few pieces. I can handle the rest. Bookcases, beds, smaller pieces of furniture, etc., is no big deal. We have a hand truck and another friend will bring his over. Well, actually, I have to pick him up and bring him over, but close enough.

Well, I'd better get ready for bed. I am exhausted because of having to get up at 5 AM every day.