Step 1

Tomorrow movers arrive bright and early to begin packing all of our life's treasures into bubble wrap and brown boxes. They complete the packing next Tuesday, then load it all into a massive truck on Wednesday. We'll sleep in sleeping bags Wednesday night and order out, because although they will have packed EVERYTHING in the truck that day, they don't pick up our cars until Thursday morning.

I asked our move consultant how much this was going to cost. See, my wife's company is paying all our relocation costs, so they're footing the pack/ship/unpack bill and myriad other expenses. He told me between $25,000 and $32,000. Gulp. It all adds up surprisingly quickly. 3,300 square foot house, 3 car garage, 2 cars, and special pack items like the antique grandfather clock, the two original oil paintings, the antique stained glass, etc.

All of this is going into a house that's 1,100 square feet less than this one, and with a 2-car garage. I think Boston Craigslisters will benefit more than their Portland counterparts. We cleared out a lot of stuff in the past few weeks via Goodwill and Craigslist (like baby items, gift certificates we wouldn't be able to use in time, an old radial arm saw, playstructures, artwork, etc.) but I think some bigger items will be hawked in Boston. Maybe our dining room set, a bed, some chairs, and other items. Oh well.

Our moving consultant contracted out to United Van Lines. They had better be 500% better than Bekins, who moved me out to Oregon from Massachusetts 10 years ago.