We're Moving!

By Paul Morrone, CFP®, CPA/PFS, MSA

We’re (finally) moving. Halleluiah! In the world I live and work in, it’s a cardinal sin to wish for time to pass by quicker than it already does, but let me tell you I’m happy to break that rule temporarily. For the past 3 weeks, we have been packing, purging, organizing and boxing everything in our lives. I’ll put it bluntly: it sucks. I’m eating cereal out of a Tupperware, grilling with forks, reusing the same two plates for every meal, and spices – forget about it – those were packed two weeks ago. Maybe we got a bit ambitious packing the kitchen up, it made me realize how much stuff we use every day. Either way, the process of buying, selling, packing, moving and unpacking is something I hope not to do again for a very, very long time. , To say that it gives me an even higher level of respect for the hardworking men and women in our armed services who are tasked with moving every year or two, sometimes to different countries, is an understatement. God bless you all!

Except for one TV on the wall and some clothes, we’re pretty much ready to load up the moving truck. We were able to give away nearly all our furniture to family members, with the exception of Kyle’s bedroom set and our mattress. Much of that had been given away weeks ago, meaning we’ve been living without dressers, couches and dining room furniture for some time now, and it’s just weird. Kyle has been perceptive to the changes, and notices as things go missing. He gives a confused look and points to an empty wall, presumably saying ‘what the heck?! There was a couch there yesterday!’ He also feels the need to rummage through all of the boxes stacked haphazardly throughout the house and empty their contents wherever he sees fit… I couldn’t imagine doing this with two kids!

We had been on a perpetual house hunt by casually reviewing new listings and going to open houses over the past two years and were struggling to find something that met most of our (admittedly long) list of criteria. With only two or three neighborhoods in Branford that interested us, our search was quite narrow. We further limited ourselves because we were looking for a home that was move-in ready. Both Jill and I discounted the idea of a complete remodel for the obvious reasons: Kyle and baby #2. Living out of boxes is difficult enough with a 16-month-old, I couldn’t imagine living without a kitchen or bathroom for an extended period. If a remodel was part of the plan, we’d be living in constant fear of Kyle’s insatiable curiosity of all things sharp, pointy, breakable or shiny – not a good combination when your house is a construction zone. 

Ironically, we ended up finding a home in our existing neighborhood, no more than ½ mile from our current home. We love where we are but needed a little more space to accommodate a growing family. Because of how the closings are scheduled we have 24 hours to get out of our current house completely, hence all the proactive packing. Let’s hope all the dominoes fall into place! 

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