My last post dealt with moving which I am going to try very, very hard never to do again or put it off until I am so old and feeble that my children will have to do it.  Now I will talk about packing for this 6-8 month journey which I quickly realized in terms of clothes was  really packing for a 2 week vacation but with clothes for weddings, bar mitzvahs and a bit of all kinds of weather.  Much thinking needed to go into this.  I decided to keep my clothes black, white and tan with color thrown in for tops and shoes.  I tried on, shopped, matched, made piles of what I was definitely taking and what I might take.  I added, subtracted and spent many of my newly retired hours plotting my choices.  Thus I left with one duffle, one hanging bag and 1/2 of a shared shoe,cold weather and overnight bag.  

Russell left with twice as much stuff as me including 4 hanging bags.   He insisted we bring these 2 rectangular storage bins to hold more stuff.  His strategy was to take everything he owned including 11 pairs of pants, about 30 shirts and get this - 38 PAIRS OF SOCKS!  

I begged him not to do this but he kept insisting we had the room.  I even went thru his 4 hanging cases and duffle the morning we left - Sam, whom we stayed with is my witness - and made him get rid of about 20% of the stuff, but last night the trip almost ended before it really began when he looked at me and announced we had too much stuff in a tone that inferred it was my fault.  Needless to say a good 1/3 of this stuff will be deposited in our storage unit in Rochester when we return at the end of July.  I  love being right.  

And I promise I have just one more post that is not travel related.  The rest of my posts will deal with our trip but the next one will start out with as Linda Kirshen suggested...  On our last night in Rochester, our generous, warm, loving friends threw us a fabulous party (which they did).

I know I have not written since mid May but here's why..

Some thoughts about moving - which is not for the faint of heart.

1. If you are anticipating moving in the next few years - START NOW!!!  Truly, you do not have a minute to waste.  

2.  If you plan to stay for years where you are - STOP SAVING STUFF!  Truly, you are never losing the weight to fit back into that outfit and if you're saving it because it will come back in style, when it does, it will only look outdated, not updated.  Your kids will not want your old stuff - the Salvation Army, I've discovered doesn't even want it- your kids only want your new stuff - like the 50" plasma TV, not the 20 yr old 18" goliath.

3. When the Volunteers of America people break your steps leading out from your basement and your house is having it's pre closing inspection in 3 days, call your realtor.  They want this baby to close almost as much as you do.  It was fixed within 2 hours.

4. DO NOT - I REPEAT DO NOT- give anything you value on loan to men under 40.  This is after our dgt volunteered to hold onto our life sized stuffed dog- the only kind Russell ever wants again - but was reluctant because she was afraid someone- meaning her husband and his friends -  might  toss it off the 11th floor balcony of their Manhattan apt.  I will add that he and his friends all have real jobs and are all responsible adults during working hours. Something happens during off hours.  They are all from Wisconsin.  Draw your own conclusions.  It has found a happy, SAFE home with our friends the Kirschens.

5. Prepared to be surprised by the last thing that's taken out of the house.  I assumed ours would be a duffel.  NO...  It was my 25 yr old raccoon coat.  I have no idea why.  

6.  No matter how organized you are, you will have a few boxes of "miscellaneous stuff" that didn't make it into the right box.  For Russell, this was no problem ... for me it caused agita as my grandmother would say.

7.  Have good friends who will come and help you get the stuff out of the basement that volunteers of America wouldn't take because THEY BROKE YOUR STEPS!  Thank you Michael and Turk.

But we are now done.  The house passed inspection, it closed, money transferred and we are off.  We spent our first night in MA cooking dinner for our niece's family and playing spit with her children. Good little spit player my nephew Adam is becoming and Rachel and Alyssa joined Adam in making us a decadent chocolate dessert.  Today the goal is to read the entire Sunday Times in one day.  More to come.