May Moving Mania: The Revolving Door

It’s that time of the year again. My home is bursting at the seams. College is done for the spring semester and my daughter is home until the middle of July.

Last evening my husband, daughter and I took the pickup truck and trailer and headed to St. Cloud after work. We needed to move her large things from her apartment home until she moves into her new apartment in July. She already brought a car load of items home after finals but needed help with the large stuff.

Her apartment is on the second floor but the apartment itself sits on the top of a hill above the parking lot so its like she is on the third floor by the time you carry everything in or out of the apartment.

As we were carrying out her box spring, mattress, TV, desk, refrigerator, chair, bookcase, shelving unit,couch and some smaller items I thought back to the past few years and just about every May has been a moving month along with August. This year is no different with one exception. When we move our son the end of this month it will be the last time for a very long time. He bought his own home.

I’m glad I don’t own an apartment building or rental property. The walls in the stairway and doors show wear from the constant moving of stuff in or out. We don’t own rental property but our home is also starting to show wear from moving kids in and out. Last evening we once again moved furniture in the family room to make room for the extra furniture until July.

Each time they move from one place to the next they seem to accumulate more furniture. This time my daughter added a couch to her stuff that a friend gave her for her next apartment. Last month my girls bought a table, set of four chairs, and a bakers rack for their new kitchen which now reside in my sun room.

My mom and dad updated their appliances last month and gave our son their old appliances which now reside in the garage until the end of the month. Great deal for him since appliance were not included in the house he bought. The timing is perfect except it would of been nice to be able to move them directly to his new home without a pit stop in the garage.

My mind is already rocketing forward to the end of this month, July and imagining the moving of more stuff. I hope my daughters’ new apartment has easy access and is on the main floor. I know my son’s new home will be an easy move in his front door just four steps up or four steps down and you can back right up to our front door and his.

I think a minimalist theme would be an excellent new choice for my life and children. I like traveling light maybe I could start living light, less stuff = more happiness

For your viewing enjoyment this morning, a slideshow of some the wildflowers I found yesterday morning.

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Seasonal Rituals… Is it time to give it up?

Each season in Minnesota brings new routines and rituals.  Summertime at our home has its unique set of rituals because it involves putting away all the stuff from the last season and taking out all the stuff for the new season.  Then the reverse at the end of each season. 

In the beginning of summer we need to empty our garage to put the snowmobiles away from the winter.  We created a crate system for our garage to stack two of our snowmobiles and put the third one in a crate so we can stack things on top of it.  It requires some maneuvering on our part but we decided that we are going to use the space we already have and not construct a storage shed.  We don’t like the idea of more property taxes if we were to build a storage shed.

Another part of getting ready for summer is getting the boat ready to go in the lake.  Each fall we pile all of our outdoor furniture in our boat on the trailer and then put the boat cover over the boat.   When our kids were younger their bikes also went in the boat for the winter.  It looks a little like the Beverly Hillbillies when it is all loaded.  In the spring we need to reverse the process, taking out all of the stuff in the boat and placing it in the yard or on the porch so we can use the boat.  The boat gets cleaned and serviced and then put in the lake for the summer. 

Before we can put the boat in the lake we need to put the boat lift in the lake.  Each year we’ve learned to be more creative in doing this because depending on our timing, we will have one to four of our children around to help.  The past couple of years my husband and I have managed to do the job ourselves because we just couldn’t get the schedules coordinated with the kids.

It’s not enough for us to have one boat to take care but we also help my Dad get his 20+ foot sailboat in his lake and out each year.  It’s a comedy routine because nobody seems to remember just how we did it the last time.  Did we have the boat and trailer parked uphill or downhill to make it easier to put up or take down the 25′ mast?  Mom and Dad are in their early 70’s and my Dad still thinks that he and my Mom can do it themselves. 

Fortunately for Mom they don’t own a truck large enough to do it without our truck.  Last fall the day we took the sailboat out there were actually snowflakes falling.  Dad doesn’t want to miss one day of sailing.  The same is true for the fishing boat.  Everyone knows the fish always bite best in the fall.  So we are usually taking the dock and their boat lift out in very cold water.

One summer ritual I partake in each year is water skiing.  I have water skied every summer since I learned how at age 12 except for the summers I was pregnant with our children.  It’s not that I love water skiing but the thought that at some point in time I will no longer be able to water ski is not something I want to admit.  So every summer I put on my suit, pull out the waterskis, rope, and have my husband drag me around the lake just one time just to say that I can still do it.  Did I mention that I really hate being wet? 

Last year my muscles ached in my arms and legs for three days after skiing.  Maybe I’m in better shape this year.  Not likely.  We will see.

Grandson Jack's Look of Concern as He watched Grandma Ski