PACKING SUCKS!

Packing  is something I hope I never have to get very good at. Being military- the Army generally gives us packers and movers, so we can just sit back and get out of their way. This time however, we haven't been posted. We've just bought a house at the same posting.

So we need to pack ourselves. And it ain't pretty. I started packing back in APRIL when we bought the house- and we're still scrambling to get everything in boxes, 4 days away from moving. No amount of prep seems to make a difference- you're going to be scrambling no matter what.

So here are a few moving tips I've gathered from various sources that have helped us with this move. Hopefully I won't have to use them again for a long time.

1) Colour code your rooms. This makes it so that even bags can be easily labeled (just tie a coloured ribbon around them!) and then you can post a sign on each room with the colour on it. No more "WHERE DOES THIS GO?!"

2) The liquor store gives out great boxes. They're small, sturdy, and free.

3) Freecycle is a great place to beg for boxes. Especially if you have some time for someone to respond. I got about 40 gently used and brand new Uhaul boxes from a fellow freecycler for nothing but going to pick them up! Score!

5) Get lots of newspaper. It'll be a godsend. We were planning to cancel our subscription but we let it run till we moved out just for packing material!

6) Invest in a tape dispenser. Ours cost 10$ from WalMart, and it came with two rolls of tape. An extra 4 rolls of tape cost me 5$. We did our entire 2-bedroom apartment with just that. And it saved so much frustration!!

7) Start early. I know I said starting early didn't really benefit me, but it really did. Now that we're closer to being done I'm able to focus on getting important stuff packed, because all the pretty and the decorative was packed months ago.

I'll let you know anything else that comes to mind. Right now I need to go fill more boxes!!