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Moving is my least favorite thing to do. When we bought this house 20 plus years ago it was a “new build”. Literally-we saw the model and then my hubby and I stood on the foundation (that’s all there was of it) and I said “Mister, tell me now if you can stand living on this lot, cuz this is the LAST move I intend to make. “

I said this because our home, while at the end of a cul-de-sac was butting up against a major parkway. We are up on a hill, of sorts, but the traffic could and can be heard loud and clear. Are kids were 4-1/2 and 6-1/2. We had moved 5 times during the first 7 years of our marriage. The packing always seemed to be my job.

Obviously we bought the house and we’ve been here much longer than just about all our neighbors. Only we and 2 others are original owners within a 5 block radius.

I was darn serious.

The reason I’m talking about moving is because of our son and daughter-in-law’s recent move. They’re enjoying their new digs and the place looks really quite warm and homey. Toby, the Maine Coon, isn’t as overjoyed, but the soon to be married couple are happy.
Then there’s our daughter and son-in-law. They’re moving to Phoenix for some pretty nice and well-paying temp-to-hopefully-permanent jobs. They didn’t realize how much “stuff” they had that they really didn’t need. Plus they still need to transport it via U-Haul to their new city and find a place to live.

Nerves abound.

What did I suggest to both-pretend you’re going to the market: make a list and check it twice and do it once.
I’m into lists. I make them not only to make sure the proper groceries are purchased, but for lots of things-errands, doctor appointments, needed personal appointments of other kinds, things to bug the project supervisor of our bath remodels, etc…

To help our daughter, the boys (our grandsons ages 2-3/4 and 1-3/4) are moving in here with us until their parents are through training, finding a place to live and settling in-then we’ll drive the boys out for their reunion. I started writing a list of things to “not forget” to ask for: clothes, sweatshirts (in case our temps decide to dip into the 60’s or something), favorite toys, what foods to buy and the most important-a note from their parents giving us permission to take them to the doctor’s (if the need should arise) and their medical cards!

Let me tell you-I was being kidded on so many levels as I was checking off all of these things. But when our daughter started complaining about not being able to get everything done and needing help, I calmly suggested that my idea of making a list, checking it twice and doing what was on it “one step at a time” seemed very apropos.

Like finding out parents are wise, acknowledging how right I am might be years in the making, but I’m putting it on my list of things to remember. I’ll have it ready and check it off when I hear it and it’s done.