I have done more stairs this week than Rocky.
It has been nice living on the second floor. I don’t hear people scuttle around above me. I’m not distracted by people walking past my windows. But dear Jesus, all those benefits come at the horrible cost of having to move all my crap in small, box-sized portions, down a flight of stairs in the sun and 90-degree heat and then jog back up for another round of misery.
The moving dragged on forever and ever and ever. After moving all the large objects in a rental truck last Monday, I was left with all the remainder items to transport in car loads. Each time I’d look around the apartment and think, “Ok, this will fit in two car loads.” Then I’d pack everything up and think, “Ok, I guess I actually have two more car loads after this.” And then I’d drive and unload and come back and pack up some more and think, “Ok, this is the final two car loads for sure,” but it was not. Eventually I wondered if I’d ever finish moving out at all, but finally, yesterday, I got almost all of my crap out of that apartment and just have to go back tonight to spackle some holes in the walls and turn in my keys.
So, if you are thinking of moving, imagine how much work you think it will be and then multiply that by 200% and then hit yourself in the arms and legs with a wooden spoon a few times to visualize all the bruises that will appear on your body after lugging boxes and lamps around, and then you might have a small sense of how much fricking work it is.
I resumed my Couch to 5K training on Saturday and was sort of worried I might not be able to do the run because I’d taken 5 days off to move things, but that was silliness. I did perfectly fine and felt good to be running instead of doing the equivalent of 15 flights of stairs. I’ve even lost a pound this week, despite eating a carton of ice cream, half a pepperoni pizza and an apple pie dessert pizza from Papa Johns. As I have learned from this experience and from my recent vacation, the secret to weight maintenance is that you can eat whatever crap you want as long as you work like a dog all day long. Construction workers may have tough jobs, but they must eat like I only dream I could.
Tara says
June 29, 2009 at 11:37 amMy brother plays hockey for a living and he regularily worries because he has to eat about 3500 calories a day in order to maintain his current weight and has trouble hitting it everyday.
I hate him sometimes.
Shannon says
June 29, 2009 at 12:05 pmI recently spent a Sunday moving my two brothers and one of their girlfriends. All o them lived in walk-ups and all of them were moving to walk-ups! It was a ridiculously exhausting day, so I know where your coming from and you have my sympathy.
Lori says
June 29, 2009 at 12:29 pmMoving does suck. We have done it too many times and cross country. Even after decluttering, it’s amazing how much crap a person can still have!
psychsarah says
June 29, 2009 at 12:39 pmYour post reminded me of THE worst move ever. We were taking mine and my husbands’ (right before we were married) stuff to a teeny one bedroom apartment on the third floor of a walk-up on the hottest day of August with just me, my husband, and my parents to help. It was sheer hell. Add to that the fact that I was moving to another city in a few weeks to attend grad school (he had to stay where he was for work), so the apartment was so overstuffed, we ran out of places to put things, all while downing gallons of water in the hopes of avoiding dehydration!! I was sad and upset that we would be getting married and then living apart, but I saved my tears for another day, because I didn’t have the water to spare!! All this to say, I feel your pain, and this is why I tell my husband regularly “We’re never moving again!” Hope you get settled in and have some down time now!
Lainey says
June 29, 2009 at 1:46 pmI live in a fairly small house, and I like to look at show homes. So once in awhile, against my better judgement, I get that “let’s upgrade” gleam in my eye. But if I mention it to my husband, he gets this uncomfortable, “Nooo-I-have-nightmares-like-this” look and he starts to squirm, so I have to drop it.
So suffice it to say, we won’t be moving unless it’s really worth it (like if someday we can fulfill our dream of having an acreage).
K says
June 29, 2009 at 2:15 pmWe have lived in our house for three years, and before that we lived with my parents and had no furniture or household effects to speak of (though we did have a lot of clothes, books, CDs and papers). It still took us months to divest my parents’ house of everything I owned, and not quite so long to get J’s stuff up from his parents, though we still don’t know what happened to half his T-shirts.
I cannot imagine what it will be like when we decide we need a bigger house. We actually have _stuff_ now.
Marianne says
June 29, 2009 at 2:48 pmI feel your pain – literally! We moved from a 2-bdrm basement suite to a 1-bdrm apartment on the 2nd floor on the hottest day in the last two weeks. I hurt in places I didn’t know I had!
Cyndy says
June 29, 2009 at 4:04 pmSomeone forgot to tell you that after you have moved all of the “big” stuff, the rest breeds and multiplies over night. That way you are sure you will never have it all moved!
PurpleGirl says
June 29, 2009 at 7:01 pmGod, I’m having flashbacks of my last two moves. The first one I was only moving a mile away, but was moving from a basement to a second floor apartment. My mom, my two cousins (12 and 14) and I moved it all. My last move I was moving 80 miles away, but at least my dad and his friends handled all the lifting!
Get some rest, you deserve it.
Robin says
June 29, 2009 at 10:23 pmSo true! I ate a ton and never gained a pound last year when I was moving. And you’re so tired you just order bad food like pizza.
HugeMD says
June 29, 2009 at 10:26 pmHey, I think I’m going to switch careers. Hmmmm. I’d really like to roast coffee at a coffee shop, but that would quite be the strenuous kind of job I’d need. Plus, too many pastries in those joints. I’d have to learn a lot to be a construction worker. I have a bad shoulder, so that might disqualify me from a lot of strenuous jobs.
I know, I’m a highly qualified dog walker!!
Fran says
June 30, 2009 at 4:27 amThis is exactly why I won’t move :)
I’d rather go for a run instead.
Enjoying your new place?
Fittron says
June 30, 2009 at 8:34 amMost of us live in NYC. Moving up to an 8th floor appt in a walk up is some workout. Besides the fact that these stairwells are about 2 inches in width, they are steep and brutal. Moving into a walk up will get you in shape!
kat says
June 30, 2009 at 8:40 amI mowed lawns for a summer. I had to explain to people that nobody was beating me up- I just had trouble lifting those huge garbage cans full of grass clippings. I was never so jealous of testosterone as I was watching the guys just toss heavy things from shoulder to shoulder.
debby says
June 30, 2009 at 9:04 amOkay, I’m convinced. I’m never going to move! Except that the pizza and ice cream almost make the whole thing worth it!
christen says
June 30, 2009 at 9:07 ammy husband and I agree that it would be easier to buldoze our house and build a new one in its place, rather than move.
congrats!
Cathleen says
June 30, 2009 at 9:21 amI moved into a fifth floor walk up last year. So while I may feel for you, I feel even more — and am still feeling it! — for myself!
Val says
June 30, 2009 at 11:03 amMy friends still haven’t forgiven me for recruiting them to help me and my sister move into a 4th floor walk-up. It was 9 years ago, and I live in a new place now, but I still hear the complaints. All I can tell them is I’m sorry. :o)
Karen says
June 30, 2009 at 11:26 am@Tara – LOL! I would hate him sometimes too.
Amy says
June 30, 2009 at 12:29 pmI am constantly reviewing my stuff and giving away whatever I can part with. It just doesn’t fit in the small house I moved to and I don’t want to move that much stuff again!
I strive to have less clutter but there’s only so much you can do when you hang on to things. Guilty as charged.
Johanna says
July 1, 2009 at 7:19 amI moved to a third/top floor apartment a couple of years ago, but was sane enough to hire some movers. Hauling boxes and boxes of books and other stuff up three flights of stairs just didn’t seem like a viable option.
Best money I’ve ever spent! Didn’t have to do a thing… except grab my handbag and ride the metro to the new apartment!
Twisted Cinderella says
July 1, 2009 at 1:05 pmIf everything works out as planned, I am planning moving before I have this baby. The very idea of moving while pregnant and all that it entails is really intimidating though. And, I have moved more than 40 times, I know just how hard it is!
Cakey says
July 1, 2009 at 4:58 pmI hear you. We moved in March, and while the big stuff was done in a few hours (thanks to 2 very strong friends), the little car stuff took an additional 2 weeks. Every time we thought we were done, we’d open another closet and see something was didn’t take it the truck, thinking “Oh, we’ll just get that with the car later.”
But, like you said, it’s a great workout. Enjoy your new home!! :)
Lirpa says
July 2, 2009 at 10:45 amDe ja vous! (sp?) I just moved to a new apt a month ago, and had a very similar experience. From a first floor to a 4th floor walk-up. And did the same thing. Big stuff via moving truck with big strong men to help, then lots and lots of car loads with just me moving stuff up and down those stairs. I was really, really, really hating my decision to move to that 4th floor walk-up during that move. But now i’m happily settled in and loving the new, quieter, better view, and best of all, cheaper apt. But one piece of advice for others doing this: stretch before and after the stair climbing marathon each day! I pulled a muscle in my leg that left me laid up for 3 weeks! Stretching is really important. I’ve learned my lesson the hard way! Hope you enjoy your new place!
Contemporary Troubadour says
July 2, 2009 at 10:54 amLove your blog! I have been moving as well, out of a walk-up apartment on the third floor, so I feel your pain.
Extra props for you over at my place!
Julie says
July 4, 2009 at 2:43 pmI always thought that it would be a great “challenge” on Biggest Loser to have each team have to haul a 25-ft-long U-haul of furniture, boxes, etc. up to third or fourth floor walk-up apartment. The first group that empties their U-Haul wins the challenge!
Love your blog, Jeannette — and I just finished “Half-Assed” for the third time. I keep it on my bedside table for when I need a shot of motivation. :-)
Have a great Fourth!