Move, accomplished.

So the move ultimately went smoothly.  The movers, from Braun moving, came about an hour late because of traffic woes (they did not charge us for the additional time and it gave us a chance to get our act together and get miscellaneous stuff out of their way), loaded everything into the truck in about two hours; then loaded everything into our house in about two/two and a half hours.  My only complaint is they had this way of looking at me like I was crazy and that all of my stuff Would Not Fit in the truck/office/dining room.  It was not an unreasonable accusation and there was a fair amount of tetris happening in the moving truck.  Ultimately, everything fit in the house but it felt pretty stuffed.  I had a total panic about us having too much stuff for the house, but we eventually got the guest room set up, realized we did in fact have room for all 5 of our bookshelves, and now I feel a lot better. 

We moved Saturday, spent Saturday night sorting furniture, setting up things like the bed and nightstands, unpacking, and on Sunday, we unpacked enough boxes to be able to take a few to the old place, then headed to the old place to get the rest of our stuff out of there.  Whenever we move out of a place, it feels like there is a ton of stuff left behind - in the closets we forgot to empty, stuff we forgot or were unable to pack (we ran out of boxes and packing material for our breakables) or is just too awkward for the movers to move. 

Sunday night, reinforcements arrived.  My inlaws had offered to come visit and help out, and I was initially worried that this would be more stressful than helpful.  I was wrong.  It turns out that the best way to do a move is to hire movers, and then ask your friends for help unpacking.  Monday morning, we got up early and got to work.  My father in law moved furniture around and helped my husband install stuff, and my mother in law and I got the kitchen entirely unpacked, tackled some of the artwork, and made sense of the dining room.  Then, the four of us went back to the old apartment where we sorted the donations and brought another load of stuff back to our house.  After they left, my husband and I took our cars back and cleared almost all of our stuff from the old place.  

I now know that the most helpful offer I can make to a friend is to come over and help unpack, rather than help moving, and that in the future when a friend offers to help me move, I will instead ask them to come help unpack.  It seems like you would want to unpack all of your stuff yourself, but having somebody unwrap and hand glassware to you, or help you go through boxes, or think through where things will go and fit, is really useful.  When you have tall cabinets that require a stepladder to put things away in, the second set of hands passing you dishes, etc. is extremely valuable.  Having somebody to force you to keep opening the next box and putting things away, even though you just want to curl up and cry because you are so overwhelmed, is priceless.  I think that without my mother in law, I would have unpacked two boxes this morning and sat in one with the other over my head and hid. 

After we emptied as much as we could from the old place, we came home and I made dinner, because I can, because the kitchen is totally unpacked and I know where everything is. Being able to cook makes me feel like a human being again, which is totally awesome.  We may not have a mattress yet, but by golly, I know where the pots and pans are.