Cleaning and Packing

Recently M and I started looking for a new panda dwelling to inhabit. We did a few unguided tours around some of the outer boroughs in NYC, and we did a broker-guided tour of the Financial District as well. We found a place that we really loved. It was big, had great closet space, a washer and dryer in the unit, and the rent included the use of their gym and pool in the building. Things didn't quite work out as miscommunication with our broker about fees made us miss out on this unit. In the end, this was a blessing as we found ourselves a new home.

Now comes the hard part. When we moved from Chicago nearly 6.5 years ago, we weren't the most diligent packers. We had an entire week to pack up all of our stuff, and instead of getting to work on that, we packed intermittently while also enjoying all of our favorite restaurants one last time before we left. What this resulted in was a sleepless final night followed by a great deal of random boxing of remaining items before cramming everything into our rented truck. We had initially only reserved our building freight elevator from 9am-noon as they booked out 3 hour blocks. Thankfully no one else had reserved the freight elevator all day, and we didn't end up leaving until after 8pm.

Now, that would all be well and good since we've had 6.5 years to figure everything out, but the worst part is that we never actually unpacked after getting to NYC. Sure we unpacked most of our boxes and set up our apartment, but we have boxes that, until recently, we hadn't even opened yet. We've also been very delinquent with keeping our apartment clean, and that was also hindered by our unfinished unpacking job. So now we're in a panic cleaning up all of the dust that has caked itself on to most of our items, throwing away/donating things we don't want, and packing up. Thankfully we have an entire month to pack and move as we opted to double up rent for one month, but with the amount of pure crap we have, even that might not be enough. At this rate we're hoping to avoid another last minute cram and move of our remaining items, but the more we look at the daunting piles around our apartment, the more worried we become that this will become a reality. After all, we still have to work for this month, and that only leaves us with a few hours each night to clean, pack, and move. For now we'll cross or fingers, keep plugging away at our mess, and hope for the best.