How to keep your sanity, and your relationship in tact

Moving sucks. No matter the distance of the move, it just sucks. Packing makes you realize how little boxes actually hold and that you have a lot of crap. The past few weeks have been spent packing and getting rid of stuff via craigslist and FreeCycle. But we still have a lot of stuff. Our condo association doesn't allow moves (in or out) without prior approval, but this mostly pertains to people who live in a high rise, which we do not. We've been able to sneak over boxes of books, cds, kitchen stuff, etc, to start the move process as well as reuse those boxes. On Saturday, we took a good load of boxes over, and were tired and cranky from just hauling them into the English Basement - aka "The Castle". We were quiet on the drive back until the following was spoken..

"Maybe we should hire movers"

"Yes!", the other agreed before the suggestive sentence was finished.

So with that it was decided, for the sake of our relationship, if we wanted to stay together another 2+ years, we should let others move our delicate crap for us. After researching a few local moving companies, and balking at the cost per hour to move (I'm becoming my father.. "jeans cost how much??"), we settled on a troupe of 2 guys and a big truck to move us into The Castle based on a handful of 5 star ratings I found on the internet.

We don't expect the move next Monday to take more than 3 hours, which means a lot of packing and organizing on our part to make sure (most) everything is at or near the front door and ready to be picked up. Fortunately, the dog has a slumber party that weekend and will not be there to witness (re: freak out) as the boxes are loaded and moved. He's already freaking out and knows something is up, but assumes we're moving without him. It's his usual reaction most weekends as we pack to head out to the mountains. He sulks around and stares at us with those pathetic puppy dog eyes that say "you're leaving without me" when we have taken him every weekend. You'd think he'd learn, but he's excited as a kid (me) on Christmas morning when the leash comes out of the closet. The excitement dies down quickly in the car when he realizes.. "wait.. the mountains?? 90 min away?? why didn't you tell me.. I have to peeeee!!"

Every. weekend.

So for the sake of our relationship, and the fact that I'd like to sleep in the bed and not out in the living room because of the 9.5 size shoe print on the side of the incessantly whiny dog, said dog will not be present during the move. He has been to the new place and is familiar with it, but the first official night (and day) there should be interesting. My GF is taking next Tuesday off from work to continue unpacking, and to help ease the dog into the new digs.

With a lot still left to do, we should spend all our waking time packing, but that's not going to happen. In fact, we're going to take a break tonight and go out to dinner and celebrate 2 years of hell. Two years of awful, awful hell. Since we first met, we talked of going out for Ethiopian food as one of our first few dates, but never got around to it. Tonight we'll finally make up for lost time. Let's hope it's worth the wait!