"Bye toys!"

"Bye toys!" is what Henry said when he realized the ABF boxes were gone.

"Where did your toys go?"

"New York City!!!!" he said excitedly.

Yep.  Our stuff is gone and we are excited!

Packing day went pretty well.  On Wednesday, when the cubes arrived we packed from 9:30 pm to 1:00 am.  Then Joe was up and at 'em at 7:00 am and went STRAIGHT until Noon.  He didn't even stop for coffee.  I packed what was left in the house, made sure we had everything, took care of Henry (until he went to a friend's house) and assisted Joe - my job was a lot, but nothing compared to what Joe did.  And ya, it was raining for the last two hours...yippee.

As per ABF's advice we had everything done by noon.  We had called them around 8:30 am to let them know we'd be done.  The cubes were supposed to be picked up fairly early in the day so they could get en-route to NYC, otherwise, they tell us they might not make it in time.

We waited around until about 2:00 pm...no ABF.  So, we went over to pick Henry up and were there until 4:30.  We come back home and the cubes were not gone!  Ugh.  Another 2 phone calls, transferred to the dispatch center who then told me to call the terminal - "I just did and got transferred to you!")...they connected with the driver...he was on his way.  Finally.  So, around 7:00 pm they were picked up.  My husband worked like a dog for no reason.  I was a little irritated (and honestly, still am.)

But they are gone.  And that's what matters.  ABF is supposed to call today to talk about the timeline, but guess what?  They haven't called!  Surprised?  Me neither. 

As and end result yesterday, our house was empty (pretty-much) but a disaster with random papers, pieces of tape, etc.

I've cleaned up a bit, but there is still plenty to do!!

In four days we'll be living in New York City!

Cubes Squared

Today, just as Henry was waking up from his nap, a giant truck pulled up to our house and delivered 2 ABF ReloCubes.  He was pretty excited to see all the action!

 

The cubes are 6 feet deep by 7 feet wide by 8 feet tall.  They appear smaller from the outside, but really seem pretty big once you open it up.

Henry explained to me how we pack our things inside.  Even after his oh-so clear instructions, I still think I'll leave the job to DaDa.

I've been dealing with the phone calls with the movers.  Coordinating with ABF and then with the local movers on the NYC side has been an interesting task.  When I first contacted ABF I told them I didn't care what day they delivered the cubes to us, we just wanted them to arrive in NYC by the 16th.  The representative we spoke to said we would get them on the 7th and have them picked up on the 9th.  Then we surely would have them by the 16th.  Sounds good.

A couple weeks ago ABF calls and moves our date back to be delivered on the 9th, and we have to have them picked up by Friday the 11th in order for them to arrive in NYC by the 16th.  Alrighty.

Now they are saying we have to have them ready by TOMORROW, Thursday the 10th...and they might not get there by the 16th.

I've spoken to several people at ABF and gotten way too much information about how their systems work, and why they can't do this or that, and why our things might not arrive by the 16th...all that stuff that I, honestly, don't really care about.  All I want them to do is to abide by what they told me and make it right.  Hopefully they will.

Getting Closer

We have been packing and packing around here.  It has actually gone very smoothly - hopefully that translates to a smooth UN-packing on the other side as well.

Henry has been his usual helpful self in packing,

A wheel from a truck.  I tried to convince him more can fit in the box...

Grammy KK took Henry overnight Friday-Saturday so Joe and I were able to truly get a LOT done.

All we have left is one more box in Henry's room, 2 downstairs and then all the "last minute" items - like bedding, the few dishes we have kept out, etc.

Our big moving pods are being delivered on Wednesday, we hope to get them all packed Thursday morning.  Then Friday-Monday we'll be living in a completely empty house and Tuesday we fly out!  It's hard to believe our lives will be completely different in just over a week.

I think Henry is actually looking forward to not having a bathtub.  He's been enjoying our practice showers.

Sign of the times

You know your furniture is getting slim when you use a Little Tikes plastic grill as your end table!

Packing, packing and even more packing

We've gotten about 8 boxes full.  Which doesn't sound like much, but it truly is - we don't have much stuff left!  Probably about 12 more boxes to go.

We are using ABF ReloCubes, which are being delivered on the 7th and picked up on the 9th.  We fly out on the 15th.  So between the 10th and the 14th the Woz Household will be a very interesting place.  We can only hold back what we can bring with us on the plane.  So that means...

• No coffeepot.
• No cookware or dishes (except plastic ware).
• No bed (!!  we'll use an air mattress and Henry will have to sleep with us, or...something?)
• No furniture.
• Only a few toys/books.
• Possibly no car.  We have a buyer, but not sure what day we will work for them and us to make the deal.

And again, I emphasis, all this with no coffeepot.  Yikes.

June 15 is the day

One-way tickets have been purchased.
The movers have been booked.

June 15 is the day!

(now we just gotta pack...!)

Apartment decorating tips?

Does anyone have any apartment decorating tips?

I'm under the weather today, so I've been spending my time being chill on the computer - researching out decorating ideas/making the most of limited space.  So far I have found two sites with some great ideas: Ikea Hacker and Apartment Therapy.  Apartment Therapy is sometimes a little beyond my budget, but it does give some great ideas to spawn from.

Spawn is a fun word, eh?

There are other sites out there, but I was wondering if anyone could suggest anything rather than me Googling for hours on end.... or if you have great space saving/storage creating ideas - please share!!

Here is a growing list of ideas I have found - a resource for me.
I just found this on a site "5. To save space in the kitchen use pretty hooks (can be found for pennies in New York's second hand shops) to hang your pots and pans on the wall. This will free up your cabinets for food or whatever else you need to store. Plus, hanging the pots and pans gives your kitchen wall a great, three dimensional arty look!"  Seems like an obvious tip, but one I hadn't thought of.  I had thought of a shelf or something instead, which could still work, but I do like the idea of the pretty hooks...they don't have to match, but all have some sort of theme to tie them together.  There is enough space on the wall opposite of the counter top...the one I failed to get a picture of.

 

Or...maybe get some pegboard, spray paint it a fun color that goes with our decor and just use simple hooks.  I can picture that, along with a shelf for cookbooks, the crock pot, and other larger/bulky items that I still want in the kitchen.  Hmmm....

I also noticed this space next to our stove:

 

 

I wonder if I can squeeze in some sort of shelf there?  Something L shaped to take advantage of both the back wall and the wall under the window.  An Ikea Hack perhaps! :)  I'm also thinkin' after a while I'll ask to switch out the hardware on the cabinets, saving the current ones to replace when we move out.