Howell to Nashville: Stage 2 Complete!

Just wanted to take a moment to update all of you on the completion of Stage II of the LR2 "Moving to Nashville" project. Les arrived in Florida ("Florida?! What about Nashville?!" some of you may be wondering. Keep reading and I promise that it will all become clear...) today, and that about does it for Stage II.

Stage II can be summed up as a "U-Haul Extravaganza" since this is when we physically loaded up a 24-footer with the contents of our house in Michigan, drove it to Nashville, unloaded it, and then loaded a smaller U-Haul with stuff for Les's sister and mom in Florida (since we lived in Les's childhood home in Michigan, the house had a few things in it which belonged to other family members, and Les delivers!). Les did all the driving (I rode along and "entertained" during the Michigan to Nashville leg -- think "BJ and the Bear" and you'll get the idea!) and touched six different states over three days (he made the drive to Florida over two days). If that's not an "extravaganza," I don't know what is!

For those of you who have moved recently, I can officially sympathize. I don't think I have ever done quite so much lifting and carrying in my life. Les, who has helped open a couple of Borders stores over the past few years, has done similar heroic moving feats before but with an army of people by his side, as he enjoyed pointing out as we were huffing to get yet another overloaded dolly up a loading ramp which seemed to be as high as the Swiss Alps.

The last time Les and I moved, we were able to move all our belongings in two carloads. Not so, now. In fact, Les is hoping that he will be able to fit the few remaining items in the house (toaster, coffee maker,vacuum, etc.) in his car for the final drive down -- and I would guess that those items represent a mere 3% of our personal belongings. It is amazing what six years of staying put will do, and we are committed now to getting rid of a "few" things before our next move. a

After our final night of unloading the big truck in Nashville, Les fell into bed muttering something about "I just want five shirts, five pairs of pants, and a laptop." I pointed out (as a very practical person, of course) that he should at least have seven of each item of clothing so that he doesn't need to do laundry more than once a week, but I seconded his desires for simplification. De-acquiring will be our focus over the next year and we'll see how it goes. We are already making plans to buy a washer and dryer and thinner computer monitor, but I don't think this is the start of a trend. Just picking up a few things we really, really need. I swear!

Les returns to Michigan on June 16 for the "final yard sale and house-officially-on-the market" stage, and will permanently move to Nashville by the last week in June. We've lived apart for five months now and are looking forward to the reunion soon to come. In preparation, I have entered the "where do I put this stuff?!!" stage. I guess I'll send an update when that stage is complete about six months from now! It's harder than I thought, so don't hold your breath!