The stresses of packing and moving

I can’t help but feel that my mind calculates the time I have and how long it will take me to do something and then calculates at what exact point I need to start. This leaves me with a mad scramble to do something and somehow getting it done just in time. In this instance, that something is packing. My partner and I seem to have so much stuff.  Every time we pull another box out from under the bed, there seems to be another behind it.

I previously considered this reasonable as there are two of us and we have all of our possessions and clothes and all the other nick knacks such as cutlery and bedding and books etc.  However, as I pull out our eighth nerf gun from under the bed, a giant pool floaty, roller blades, a box of random electrical cords and chargers and a dodgeball, I’m asking myself how much crap do we have and how the hell are we going to do this? This is not to blame my partner because it is common knowledge amongst my friends and family that I collect crap just like my dad, because as we say, “you never know when you’re going to need it’’, and I stand by that. However, when it comes to moving and packing, I’ve had to move quickly and make some quick choices about what is staying and what is going to be donated, recycled and binned (I kept the nerf guns and my roller blades).  

So, I always struggle with hoarding crap and letting it go. However, I also struggle with packing it well. I never seem to know the best way to stack and pack and make it all compact (excuse the rhyming). However, with some guidance from my partner I am definitely better. With a few carboard boxes from bunnings and a bit of thinking, we’ve got the room just about packed up. Next comes the cleaning, urgh!

I have a love/hate relationship with cleaning. I love the satisfaction from having a spotless room. However, sometimes I just don’t know where to start. A good way we’ve been looking at it is room by room. We section off the bathroom and give it a good clean. Next comes the wardrobe, then the bedroom, then the kitchen and so on. I like certain jobs; vacuuming, washing dishes, taking out rubbish and scrubbing drains. I don’t know why, but I just find that these tasks relax me. I do not like cleaning out the fridge, scrubbing smudges and stains and sorting through clutter. However, in desperate times (such as the mad scramble to move out) I take these tasks on!

Before I know it, the place looks as if I never lived in it. I get a mixture of nostalgia and sadness at the prospect of saying goodbye and finding somewhere new to live next semester but as always, the moving in and out can be fun and exciting.