Q&A: Moving Edition

Question: "I don't even know how to conceptualize 5700 lb. Like how much stuff is that? I just can't even fathom it... Is it like one elephant? Two elephants? How do I even know what will fit in my shipment?"

Sara Lewis: "More than you think."

So far this seems to be true (so glad to have military friends who have done this over and over and over again so I can turn to them for advice). We've been collecting things in The Boat Room (a little tip from our friend Amanda) for quite some time now and we spent the last couple of days packing and weighing everything—we are sitting pretty at 56% of our weight limit with everything we have packed so far (and we're packing out in just two days so there's not too much left for us to think about). So that means we can fit in quite a few things from our "maybe" list...

Question: "Why am I so tired?"

Andrew: "Exhaustion."

Me: "Mmmmhmmm... No kidding."

Andrew: "I just mean—we've been doing a lot lately."

My mom said we were being like the pioneers, getting rid of so much in order to seize and opportunity. I've certainly thought of that myself—and it hasn't been easy to part with everything (we haven't even nearly parted with everything)—but I've also been asking myself, "What am I willing to give up for this opportunity? Am I willing to give up my couch? My table? My piano?"

The list goes on and on. 

And the answer is usually that...I am...because I know we'll find new stuff. 

Stuff is just stuff. 

Those are big words coming from me, since I tend to wax a little sentimental. Phoebe does as well. She has been asking to save things for her future babies, making sure her favourite things that she's outgrown make it into the Utah shipment, for example.

Here we are having a snuggle while she processes the fact that she cannot take every single stuffed animal she owns on the plane—some will have to follow on the boat:

"I want to keep them right away," she kept explaining. 

She got to choose a few to take on the plane and the rest were put into The Boat Room (and stuffed into nooks and crannies of our many book boxes to prevent the books from shifting). 

So, yes, I feel a little bit like a pioneer.

But also, Encyclopedia Brittanica tells us that "A typical prairie schooner weighed about 1,300 pounds (590 kg) when empty, and the general goal was to keep the weight of the added cargo to no more than 2,000 pounds (900 kg)," so we are packing much, much more than the typical pioneer family would have packed (considering we can also pack 1260 lb. in suitcase/plane stuff and have an extra baggage allowance as well).

And, like, no one is chasing us with pitchforks and hot tar or anything...so...