In the Worry Zone

I'm finally close enough to our move to really start worrying. I have a coping mechanism in which I can decide when to worry, i.e. a date and/or time. There is no point in worrying before you can really do anything about a problem, so why worry? I decided I could start worrying about the move about a week ahead.

I had a call on my phone recorder yesterday from a plumbing company who will come out next Tuesday to disconnect the washer/dryer/icemaker for us. I realized that means I have to have everything washed and dried and packed up for the kids and me to last about a week (the length of time from when the movers arrive to when I can expect to be in our new home, albeit surrounded by mountains of boxes). And that's when I started to worry. Yes, I can go to a Laundromat if necessary, and will, but I prefer not to. In addition to all the clothes and toiletries, I need to pick out sleeping bags and pillows and prepare to get them into the car to protect them from being packed up.

Food. We have a medium-sized chest freezer in the laundry room. It is close enough to empty that my goal for today is to get it unloaded into the house freezer and start defrosting it. I think we moved it full last time, so it hasn't been defrosted in about 4-5 years. Luckily we live in a dry climate so that isn't a big deal as fas as frost build-up goes. However, there isn't any way possible for us to consume everything in the fridge/freezer so I have to figure out who to give the extra food to, as well as what my priorities are in eating my favorites before we do donate the last of it. Oh, and then how do I feed my children after the cooking utensils and food are gone? I know, I know, that's what fast food restaurants are for, but we live a couple of miles from any of those and it's going to be a pain.

Then there is the cleaning. My house is not a big mess, but there are always dusty baseboards behind dressers and fingerprints on walls. Today I'm going to scrub down the shower that the older kids didn't wipe down each time they used it and get that taken care of. My own shower will be easy because I do wipe it down each time I use it. Can't do that until the final clean up though. My oven is a manual-clean oven so I sprayed it with that nasty cleaner last night and started wiping it down this morning. I'll have to use a little steel wool on it, but it's not too bad. Those are the two main cleaning things I can do ahead of time. The rest, which will be mostly just surfaces, will be easier once the house is empty.

Most of the curtains are staying so I'll try to get them down, washed, and back up for the renter. I need to wash the shower curtains.

Just writing this down has made it seem much more manageable. You know how that goes once you start thinking of things at bedtime and in the middle of the night!