Packing, repacking, and repacking again!

As much as I tried to avoid it, I am re-packing. I thought maybe... maybe... if I packed really well and really thoughtfully the first time then I would only have to pack once.

HAHAHA!

Just shows what a novice I am at this whole "move across the country" thing. ;-)

As I mentioned in an earlier post, the semi that was going to take my stuff for me fell through and so I went to Plan B for moving all my earthly goods to Washington.

I'll be using Amtrak Express. It is actually a remarkably cheap way to ship things! It costs $50 for the first 100 pounds and then $0.57 per pound after the first 100 pounds, up to 500 pounds. If you have more than 500 pounds then it starts over again, $50 for the first 100 pounds and then $0.57 per pound after that. So I'm hoping that the total cost will still be under $500. Still much more than Plan A (it's hard to beat almost free!) but significantly cheaper than hauling it all across on a moving truck!

You can't ship breakables or electronics or furniture though. And all of the boxes have to be cardboard boxes that are 3ft by 3ft by 3ft or smaller and weigh less 50 pounds or less.

Soooo... no plastic tubs. And that's the rub for me, haha. I had like 4 plastic tubs plus 2 rolly-things that are made out of plastic. So this afternoon I went through the boxes that were neatly stacked in my living room and pulled out the containers that don't meet the criteria. I then did a trial run of loading up my car to make sure I could fit all of the things that don't meet the shipping criteria. Some things didn't make the cut and will have to be repacked into cardboard boxes.

I started  with a base layer of the hard, plastic containers. Who knew my car could hold so many plastic tubs, I mean seriously! This my little Calvin! This sports car has some serious hauling capabilities!

Then I filled up the other nooks and crannies with more squishable things. And yes, I can close the trunk. And no, it doesn't even touch the back window yet!

Filled up the front seat with some of my things that needed to be a bit more accessible.

Now if you know me at all, you probably know that I'm kind of OCD. No, not diagnosed OCD but have some pretty serious tendencies in that direction. Just ask my college friends who had to do projects with me...  or the teachers I taught with this past year... or my sister who shared a room with me for 20 years... or my mom who raised me....

And let me just tell you, even though I know it's ridiculous, I'm kind of stressing out just thinking about having my car this full and this messy for the drive out to Washington. I unloaded it all after I was sure all the necessary things would fit and I must say I was so relieved to have it OUT of my car. Hahaha!

So please, Mom and Dad, let me put some of this in your car for the drive out to Washington. I would feel so much better if I felt like my trunk was a little bit more organized! 

Prayer request in regards to my car being this full. My trunk has the weird little quirk (I love my quirky, character-filled cars ;-) where sometimes it will lock itself and not even pushing the unlock button repeatedly will unlock it. The only way to get it unlocked is to climb into the trunk from the front of the car and unlock it from the INSIDE of the trunk... yeah, probably not going to be a very good option when the car is this full! Please pray that this does not happen for a few weeks for me. :-) It would just make things much easier if the lock worked at all times.

Speaking of prayer, thank you for praying for me! God has been providing for me! He has sent a couple of small gifts my way to help pay for gas. Please keep praying that I would trust him to provide for all my needs!