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Word of Advice: Don't move in January

mishou

mishou

mishou
Joined
May 1, 2010
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Word of Advice: Don't move in January

Ok I don't normally post here to complain about stuff but I seriously need you all to send me WARM thoughts tomorrow, k?

We bought a house back in October and today is closing day. And the weather is going to be the end of me!

First we had a giant thaw a few weeks ago (after getting 4 feet of snow) and all that melting caused water damage in my new house. I won't get into the long story but at least there was a happy ending because we didn't have to pay for the repairs lol

But those warm temps that caused the thaw have vanished in a snap and we're back to freezing.

We are moving (ourselves with a U-haul) tomorrow.

Forecast? With the windchill factor included, -30C (-22 Farenheit according to my converter)

Also, despite our best efforts, the driveway here is a skating rink and I'm almost positive that someone is going to get hurt lol

What is the moral of this story, kids? DO NOT MOVE IN JANUARY! :thumbsdowns

Do you have any moving horror stories? Share with me so I don't feel so bad about mine! lol
 
I don't have any moving horror stories, but I am trying really hard to huff and puff and blow some warm temps up your way. :p

Sorry you have to deal with such miserable conditions. Do you have a lot of stuff to move?
 
OK, that's COLD. I will hope you have warmer temps for the move and that nobody gets hurt. Hang in there! It will be worth it in the end.

We did a cross-country move from Pennsylvania to Kansas City in December. In PA, it was a mix of sleet and freezing rain while we were trying to load up. So, all of the furniture had to be dried once it was inside the semi so it wouldn't warp during the long haul. It was a long, cold, messy day...so I totally feel your pain.

Once the house was empty, we had to fly out to meet our stuff. At Baltimore-Washington airport, it was insane. We were traveling with our 3 cats and had to take them OUT of their carriers to go through security. Even though they were sedated, one of the cats completely freaked out and clawed us to pieces. He fought us like a demon cat when we tried to re-kennel him. It was so bad that he tore his claw and had to be taken to the emergency vet as soon as we landed in KC.

As if that wasn't enough, the moving company also tore the front grill off my DH's car when they were unloading it from the semi. So...yeah...that was NOT our easiest move ever. Feel better? LOL
 
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Yikes, Michelle! I hope everything goes smoothly in spite of the weather.

The last time I moved was in 1995. We hired one of those little 2-guys-with-a-truck type movers. If we ever move again, we're going to have to hire one of those ginormous full-size moving trucks, which scares the heck out of me with all the horror stories on the news about the disreputable ones that either break or lose everything, or basically hold people's stuff hostage for outrageous extra fees.
 
Good grief Laura! I wouldn't be surprised if that move left some permanent emotional scaring. :stars
 
Good luck!! I hate moving in the cold...we always try for summer. But it will all be worth it to be in your new house I bet! How exciting!
 
Wow, Michelle, so glad you didn't have to pay for the repairs.

We moved to Chicago, first weekend of February. It was brutal. The gas was turned off before we moved in, all the pipes were frozen, so when we got there we had no heat and no water. We ended up having to stay in a hotel for two days while we got everything sorted out. Had to make an emergency call to the gas company to get the gas turned on (our landlord was supposed to do this for us but for some reason it wasn't done). It was still a week before we had running water, but thankfully there was lots of snow to flush the toilet with and we had bottled water for drinking, washing up, etc. One of DH's coworkers offered us a shower one afternoon (wonder if she got tired of smelling DH..lol). It was an all and all nightmare of a time.
 
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Moving is never ever ever fun. I don't recommend August while 7 months pregnant, either.

It will be worth it!!
 
Bah. Good luck! We moved in April, in beautiful weather, and I still thought it sucked. That was mostly due to the horrible attitude of the moving dudes.

I hope your move goes as smoothly as possible and no one slips in your driveway! Our weather is very close to as miserable as yours with the wind chill today, I feel for you having to be out in this junk moving!
 
Angie4b1g said:
Moving is never ever ever fun. I don't recommend August while 7 months pregnant, either.

It will be worth it!!
Click to expand...

Ouch...I moved when I was about 8.5 months pregnant..it was early March and wasn't too bad, though. I can't imagine it in August.
 
oh my word.
laura and sarah - those are horrible stories! that must have been a nightmare!
and yes, that DOES make me feel better laura :giggle
tomorrow when it gets rough, i'm just going to think about this thread and thank my lucky stars!
can't imagine moving whilst 7 months pregnant either. yikes
 
We were scheduled to move the last week in August 2011. Two days before Moving Day, my grandmother passed away. Hubs had to stay behind to finish packing (our lease was up, so we had to be out) and move us U-haul style with the help of his parents while DD and I went up and stayed with my parents for the visitation, funeral, etc.

There are still things missing, like my old Ipod, 1 1/2 years later because Mr. ADHD packed them instead of me and forgot what he put where (and already had the attic filled with boxes by the time I got back). My MIL also hurt her back helping with the move.

Good luck with your move! Hope it's not as nightmarish as you imagine it to be!
 
You know the really funny thing is that my Dad is actually a mover. It's what he's done for a living since he was 17. Usually he comes in pretty handy when it's moving time. Except that dear old Dad had to go and fall on some ice and break his friggin' arm 3 weeks ago!
And my mom had broken her arm in a similar incident in November
Everything always comes in 3's so I'm fully expecting a break of some sort tomorrow. Mark my words! Hopefully it will just be a dish or something and not an arm :giggle
 
Yeah, another August move here. We moved from Michigan to Texas in August. In (what was then) record heat. While I was sick and DD was on her first-ever round of antibiotics for what the urgent care said was "probably an ear infection" (we were at my parents' house when she started vomiting. So we couldn't go 2.5 hours back to our former city--where we no longer had a home or insurance cuz DH had ended work a week before since he was driving the car to TX--and go to her regular dr). She developed a rash 3 days after moving to TX. And since we didn't have a doctor yet (or even insurance cards to go to ER), we didn't know if she had scarlet fever, an allergic reaction to the penicillin-based med, or something else.
My dad was moving boxes in the 100+ heat and he came inside just panting and red-faced. I asked him "Are you having a heart attack?!" And he yelled, "No! I'm having heat stroke! But I'm fine!" And he got back up and kept moving boxes. While I admire his work ethic, I really wish he'd settle down. I was worried he'd truly get heat stroke and pass out on us.
Anyway, we moved ourselves--with a PODs-type company that we loved except for one thing: one of the pod's roof leaked and ruined our mattress. But it could have ruined A LOT more stuff, so I'd rather it ruin just the mattress and not like all our clothes, etc.
And they must have hit the mother of all pot holes, because our heirloom dining table's legs broke off the top. Here's a pic:
DSC03759-1.jpg

IDK if you can tell, but it's a drop leaf table and the legs are ON TOP of it. You can see where they're supposed to connect to the bottom of the tabletop. (The table was about 15" off the ground. It was NOT a comfy way to eat meals rotfl.)
My point is, moving sucks no matter when you do it. But I've been to Canada and the weather is brutal. So I'm crossing my fingers everything goes well for you! And if not, then you can scrap about all the mishaps! :giggle
 
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5 days before you have your second child isn't a good time either... especially not when you also have a 15 month old hyper active toddler running everywhere as well!

NOT the best of ideas at all...

Good luck with your move...
 
Lots of horror stories here!! Good luck for the move, stay warm!
 
So sorry! But glad you didn't have to pay for repairs!

We moved from Kentucky to Germany in December, when I was 31 weeks pregnant with our first. We sat on the plane in Baltimore for an hour and a half so they could de-ice the plane. Then it was another 10.5 hour flight to Germany. Needless to say that 12 hours on a cramped plane at 31 weeks was miserable! When we got there we didn't get our household goods for a month. I slept on an air mattress for over 31 days. My back and hips hurt so bad that I could barely walk! We had a tiny little TV with German cable, no phone for weeks, and did I mention no car...so I could only walk wherever I needed to go...in a couple feet of snow. Luckily we lived on post so the post office and grocery store were close enough. We were eventually able to rent a car, but it took over a week. To pass the time, I painted the entire apartment by myself while my husband was at work. When we finally got household goods, they arrived on a Tuesday. I partially unpacked the kitchen on Wednesday and went into labor that night. Brady was born on Thursday, one month early, and three days later we came home with a newborn to a house full of boxes! It was quite an adventure! And then, we had to move when I was 29 weeks pregnant with our second son, Noah, again in December in Germany because they were renovating our building! I swore that I would NEVER again move pregnant. And now I won't have to. When we move from Virginia to Kansas in June, we'll be going with a one month old instead! lol. Which I'm sure will be a piece of cake. ;)
 
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