Surprise

Surprise!!

At least is was for me.  I knew we had found a flat and signed a contract, but was expecting to be in our old flat till the 18th.  Then out of knowwhere an email pops up and says your new moving date is today.  A small heart attack later I had found out that Kristen was able to move our move date forward and we were out as soon as possible.

Kristen had hired 'Man with a van' to move most of our stuff and we were going to take care of the rest of it over the weekend.  Little it I know what a long weekend it would be.

So we grabbed our giant suitcases and made it back to the flat for what I expected to be the first of two trips.  I couldn't have been more wrong.  It really seemed like everything was multiplying every time I left a room.  We were really lucky with the original move and having professional movers involved.  I didn't give them enough credit.  Not so much in the packing, but just the fact that moving is such a hassle.  Anyway, we jammed everything we could in the suitcases, and piled on as many other bags as we could and headed off.  I am sure the people on the tube with us were thoroughly confused by the sight.  Its pretty normal to see people with huge suitcases going to and from Heathrow but to randomly get on and off of the underground in the middle of the city with two huge suitcases, a backpack and another laundry bag full of things is a bit out of the ordinary.

After two trips on Saturday without really making a dent in it I was a bit worried about what Sunday would hold.  In reality it was more of the same...the ever multiplying bags of stuff, and the ever diminishing strength and resolve.  The worst part for me was the trip back to the old flat each time.  When we were taking things from the old flat to the new flat at least I felt like I was accomplishing something, whereas the return was just me dragging the suitcases behind me to go get another load.  Kinda like making a man tie his own rope.  Just not fair.  About noon on Sunday I had had just about enough.  Gone was the careful packing and thoughtful planning, replaced by cramming and stuffing and a flying elbow or two to get the bags closed.  Even went so far as to wear two of Kristen's coats at the same time to try to move as much as possible. It was time to really put my pack mule skills to a test.

Funny thing was that packing the second trip I actually thought we could fit possibly squeeze everything in.  Turned out that we ended up with all of the suitcases stuffed completely full, and about 10 other grocery and tote bags filled with random things.  Its amazing how much random stuff you accumulate.  There was clearly no chance of me carrying even half of the last load, and since we had handed our keys over to the landlord 15 or so minutes earlier there was no coming back again either.  We ended up calling a people mover (mini van for those of you not local) and piled everything that was left in the back.  Turns out that was the best decision of the day and at the same time the absolute most frustrating decision all at the same time.  We could have easily done the move the two trips I had initially anticipated, and I would have saved the sore back and a days worth of trouble.  I guess that is lesson learned, and just chalk it up to experience.  All in all worked out, and we are getting settled and sorted out.  Will post some photos of the new place when we get things put away a bit more, and you can actually see the furniture.