Friday Five: Moving

Mother Laura at RevGalBlogPals shares this wonderful video of The McGarrigle Sisters (a personal favorite with Auntie Knickers)


and says:

We are right in the middle of a move--only twenty minutes away, but we're still a mix of busy, excited, nervous and surprisingly full of grief about what we're leaving, for me at least. So this week's Friday Five asks about your experience of the marvels and madness of moving...

1. How many times have you moved? When was the last time?
Um - you're not going to believe this -- I come up with 36 moves. Only ten of them have been since I was married, so Onkel Hankie Pants appears to have brought some stability to my life. The Army career of my father and the usual migrations of college students account for the rest.

2. What do you love and hate about moving?
I love the new beginning, the finding out about a new place, a chance to start over. I hate leaving people behind.

3. Do you do it yourself or hire movers?
Since I have been responsible for it myself, it's always been ourselves and friends -- though the last two moves we did hire some younger people to do some of the heavy lifting. When I was younger the Army paid for movers.

4. Advice for surviving and thriving during a move?
Divest yourself of excess stuff BEFORE the move.
Label the boxes so you'll know what's in them, especially the ones with things you'll need right away.
Think positively and relax.

5. Are you in the middle of any inner moves, if not outer ones?
Nope.

Bonus: Share a piece of music/poetry/film/book that expresses something about what moving means to you.
The only thing I could come up with was a song by Jim Kweskin and the Jug Band called "Moving Day." It's actually about having to move because you can't pay the rent, but it's upbeat and happyfeeling. Unfortunately I couldn't find a way to share it, but you can buy it on iTunes for 99c. I think the Holy Modal Rounders have also recorded it. It just comes into my head when I think of moving, because it's one of the upbeat songs I think of as "Songs to Clean House By" -- or move boxes by.