So... What are you doing with all your stuff?

Now that you know the WWWH of this whole thing you are probably asking yourself...What are you doing with your house...your car...your stuff?

House

We are renting it out.  (Know of anyone that is looking?)

Car

Selling it! I don't drive much now but M is really excited about taking public transit.

the ugly chair

Stuff

Well this is a little more of a complicated situation. As part of the relocation package we get 16 cubic meters packed, shipped and unpacked.  'What is 16 cubic meters?' you ask.  Well it is roughly half of a 20 foot shipping container or 4,000 lbs of stuff.  Which means most things can go, but not all of it. This forces us to decide which items are lucky enough to make the trip and which are not. This has been a bit of an odd process. Some people have suggested that we just get rid of everything and start afresh in Sweden. BUT, I'll admit it, I like most of our stuff and don't really want to get rid of all of it. And even though we are moving to the land of IKEA, we don't want to get there and have to buy everything new, especially since we aren't paying to ship it.


That means all of our stuff gets put in one of 3 categories: ships, goes and stores.  We are taking the beds, a couch, most of our kitchen stuff, some odds and ends that having meaning and purpose to us, PLUS all of G's stuff.   We are selling/giving away: the ugly chair, a couch, kitchen table etc. The ugly chair is a beloved fixture in our lives, and I am a little sad to see it go. I got the ugly chair when I first moved to Seattle from a family friend.  Since I had nothing and they were getting rid of stuff, I gladly took it.  It isn't the most attractive chair but I love it.  It is squishy and rocks and it's way comfy.  M hates it and every chance he gets he tries to get rid of it.  His wish has finally come true, the ugly chair is going to a friend.  I will still have visitation rights.

As for stuff that is getting stored/borrowed,  these are things that we just don't have room for in the shipping container, and probably won't have room in Sweden. Things that I just don't want to part with like the china we got as wedding gifts or the coffee table I made in college (this I don't think would survive the trip).  These few items are going to friends.  They are going to "borrow" these items until we a. move back, b. decide to sell them the item or c. ship it to wherever we are.

As I said earlier this is a weird process.  I  know we are going to the land of IKEA and good stuff, but we need to not feel completely like we are starting over when we get there.  In the end though it is all just stuff and stuff is replaceable.

til next time...