I leave New York to go home to Houston, my CameraMan, and my beautiful Bossy Cat on Monday (that's only 4 days away!). I am more than ready to be there. I'm so looking forward to being home—catching up with my friends, eating on the patios of our favorite restaurants, spending some quality time on the couch, and rediscovering all that I love about Houston.
I get really excited when I focus on those aspects of my time at home, but I get completely overwhelmed when I remember the other bit: getting ready for the big move. To VIENNA (have I mentioned?). Even before we knew we were moving, we were planning the Great Purge of 2010, but now it's all become much more urgent. When I get home we will have exactly 6 weeks until we move out of our apartment, and 1 of those weeks will be devoted to the craziness of Miller Tosca, and we're both traveling to see our families for a few days at the beginning of May, so let's just call it a month. ONE MONTH. In that time, we have to go through all our stuff, deciding what to bring, what to store, and what to get rid of, and then we have to actually pack, sell, throw out, or give away everything we own.
Do you read the Unclutterer blog? I read it every day, and I find it so inspirational—little ways to lose the clutter in our lives. She has a game she calls the "I'm moving overseas" game, which is, in a nutshell, to pretend you are moving overseas and go through your home deciding what you really need and what you can do without. It's a brilliant idea, really, except that for us it is not just a game. We're moving overseas! Everything has to go!
I was chatting with a lighting guy here the other night during one of the Hamlet entr'actes, and he was telling me about moving to London for a few years and then moving back again. He said that after making the overseas move not once but twice, he and his wife both felt much less need for stuff in general in their lives. I'm hoping for this to be the silver lining of the hassle of moving (besides ending up with a great life in Europe, obvs). It's always shocking to me how much stuff I manage to accumulate, even in a short 2-month stint away from home. Our apartment is cluttered with the detritus of the lives we led separately, and the stuff we don't care much about is all mixed up with the things we love dearly. I'm scared to sift through everything, but I can't wait for the freedom I know we'll feel when we're down to the essentials. We have too much of everything—clothes we never wear, dishes we never use, games we never play, books we never read.
What's going to be more difficult is getting rid of things we adore but can't hold onto because of space and other considerations. We're planning to keep a very small storage unit for the boxes of things we're keeping, but very few pieces of furniture will fit in there.
In other news, does anyone want to buy the most comfortable couch in the world? Seriously.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
LinkWithin
Posts
Okay, so reading your blog makes me feel like I'm not doing this move alone. I am selling EVERYTHING and making my life into 2 suitcases and a few boxes to store at mom's. What a pain, but its so exciting!
ReplyDeleteThank you for documenting your big move. I can't quite get into it yet. Too busy trying to remember to breathe.
I'm also grateful that you're blogging the move as well. After my cross-state move, I had hoped to pare down on stuff. Turns out this flat of mine has oodles of closet space.
ReplyDeleteI'm using this downtime to try to pare down stuff - especially clothes that I don't wear.
You're inspiring me to stick with it. I still have clothes that are still in the dry cleaning plastic from the Great Closet Disaster of 2009.
I would buy your couch if I lived in Houston... looks SOOO comfy.
She's not lying - I own this couch, thanks to LMB's post - it's amazing! BUY IT!!!!
ReplyDeleteWhen we moved the other way 30 years ago, we brought mainly books and clothing. I used to regret having given away some records - LPs, but now I barely remember what they were.
ReplyDeleteThat was long before iPods.
Do you already have a storage unit? If not, want to take a recommend from us to Bullseye Storage on Airline? We would get a credit (mwahhahaha) - it's a very secure place, seemed the best choice to us after we looked. Let us know, or not!
ReplyDeleteAfter you actually start, the paring down is really fun, and very moving.
Enjoy!
Cristina: I'm so excited that you're making your big move for love! It's so romantic and amazing. Oh, and BREATHE! :)
ReplyDeleteJennifer: Thanks for the couch love. It really is the best couch in the world.
Papa Bossy: I thought I remembered you talking about the collection of original Beatles LPs you left behind. Did I imagine that? That would have awesome, you know, to help pay for my college tuition.
Kathy: We do already have a storage unit, one that I've had for a couple years. I think we'll probably stick with the one we have, but if we don't we will definitely look into your place.