Monday, February 28, 2011

Movin' West

For those of you that know me, it will come as no shock that I HATE moving. Ironically (or is stupidly?) I probably move more than anyone I know. I guess I like to make my own life as miserable as possible. So this last weekend I headed back to Minnesota to move. Compound that with a good dose of freezing cold (definitely one of my top 5 sadness causers), and this did not disappoint in the category of "suck"!

It was my sister Mackenzie and I. She lives in a house of stairs, and had been storing my bed and dressers for me. She is also moving to Chicago for love, so we were moving her things as well. Here is a little breakdown on how it went.

Phase 1: 9:30am - Meet at Mackenzie's to dismantle and carry down my dressers and bed. We had a quick lunch at Chipotle, then M went to get the truck, and I went to her house to bring some additional things down, and load my car with delicates (like my TV). I locked myself out of the house, but luckily my car was unlocked and I had an extra key. I don't make anything easy. We loaded my bed, dressers, etc - and take them to Shakopee to unload at my new home (SHOUT OUT to Linda for taking me in, so I am not homeless!) This went shockingly smooth in spite of the stairs we encountered there as well. I stayed to assemble my bed, so I could fall into that night without having to be slowed down while M finished packing back at her place. I changed into dry shirts (I sweat a LOT). I required a Diet Mountain Dew on tap on the way back to Mackenzie's, to help insure I could maintain a somewhat good attitude.

Phase 2: We loaded up all of the things that are going with M to Chicago. We also hauled the dressers down 2 flights of stairs (so there was only 1 left to get them on the truck) because I suspected I wouldn't want to do it after phase 2. I am very wise. Phase 2 is where M started to show signs of cracking - - laughing for no reason, etc. We are so good at what we do! We loaded up all of her things and headed to Hudson to drop them off. We were greeted by a couple amazing things when we arrived. 1) there was help there! 3 extra people!! and 2) it was all on flat land. NO STAIRS!!! Needless to say, we had Phase 2.2 completed in about 5 minutes. Shout out to the Laurie (Sp?), Gene & Neighbor Mark! I appreciate you more than you know!

Phase 3: Load up the things heading to my parents' for storage. This includes a 3000 pound (maybe a bit of a stretch - but it is heavy!). We get the kitchen table, chairs, dressers and bike loaded up. Then M's future brother-in-law (probable?) and 2 lovely neighbors came in to save the day! They loaded the heavy couch, and brought my old couch and chair to the garage for easy loading on Saturday. SHOUT OUT to Corey, Pro & Jose. You are lovely.

After some much-needed, and well-deserved snacks at Houlihan's, we slept. Plans to meet at 7am to head down for phase 3.2 were made, and miraculously we were both on time!

Phase 3.2  went pretty well - we dropped most of the stuff off at my Dad's warehouse, put it on a pallet, and then headed to my parents' house to unload the beast (heavy couch). Luckily, my other sister Wendy was there, and we were able to get the couch into the basement. The inside of my hands were on fire, but at least it was done!

Phase 4: involved me loading up, and trying to get rid of my old couch and chair (probably about 10-12 years old), and my parents' old couch (25-30 years old, brown with flowers. pretty) at Goodwill. No go. They sent me to Chaps. No go. I called the landfill - $50 to get rid of them. Geesh! Steve thinks he can get rid of them, so they got to stay on the truck.

Noon on Saturday, the fun is finally over. I am BEAT! Met some friends for lunch, took a nap and headed out for a few hours.

I did observe a few things during this move:
  1. I wish I wouldn't have forgotten my Body Bugg in WI. I can only imagine how many cals and steps I got in on Friday! FEEL THE BURN!
  2. Although I have moments where I don't feel like I've come very far since starting FC, I have. Yes I got winded, and yes - I was sweaty. But I could keep going! We did a LOT of stairs with weights!
  3. Most amazing? I was totally able to still move on Saturday! I was sure I was going to wake up completely sore and broken. Nope. My legs were a little stiff when I first got up, but they were fine after a couple of minutes. My body was tired, but it wasn't sore like I thought it would be. If I wasn't covered head to toe in bruises, I may not have even realized I'd done anything on Friday. 
You don't always need the gym to get in a good workout! =)

2 comments:

  1. FYI Natalie, for the future, Bridging is a great place to donate furniture (couches, chairs) and household items (pots, pans, dishes, silverware, etc.). They have a list for what they take on their website. http://www.bridging.org/

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  2. Um, Sister I feel like the comment about how, "miraculously we were both on time!!" is suggesting that I am late or running behind on a consistent basis...but I know that you would never talk that way about me!

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