Back to Business

We moved over the weekend.

Sure, most people do it that way, at least people who work a standard office job with a standard schedule. What I mean is that we moved over the weekend, and now we’re back to business.

It is hard to believe. My husband woke up Friday morning and went to work. The only disruption to his routine was shifting his schedule an hour later so he could drop off our dog at doggy day care. When he came home with the dog, it was to our new address.

When we went to bed Friday night, it was amidst a cardboard city of box towers. We could sleep in our bed, use the shower, and microwave food, but otherwise it was pretty obvious that we had just moved in.

By Monday morning, the bathroom was DONE

and the kitchen was DONE

and the desks were DONE

and the laundry was DONE

and all the furniture was set up in its correct location

and there were only two boxes left to unpack in the bedroom

and thirty-five of the fifty boxes were unpacked

and the flattened, empty boxes were carried down to the parking garage to be given away

and the old apartment was mostly clean

and there was much rejoicing.

On Friday, I sent occasional text updates. I knew my honey was super stressed and worried about the move, and I knew he would be able to focus better if he felt like everything was under control. We were ahead of schedule and everything was going according to plan. I could feel the smog cloud of stress lifting off him with each bulletin.

THIS JUST IN: everything is fine

Instead of stress, the feeling that started to come across was curious anticipation. What’s going on over there? What’s it going to look like?

I raced the clock all day, knowing I was going to be tired no matter what, determined to get as much as possible done before dinner. I also had a vision of my partner’s expression when he walked in.

He was stunned and impressed. He was also extremely pleased that he hadn’t had to haul anything himself!

The great thing about all this is that we’re closing in on our tenth wedding anniversary. As we both think about this milestone and the early days of our romance, he will be thinking of me in this context.

As the moving day updates were coming in, my hubby’s colleagues were checking in as well. “Aren’t you moving today? Why are you here?”

“You don’t understand. My wife is the logistics manager. She’s ON IT.”

“I was bragging on you today,” he tells me, and the last time it was about my homemade banana bread.

This is all part of a conscious strategy on my part. I believe that two heads are better than one head, and that a solid partnership of any kind is incredibly helpful for spiritual growth, not to mention career performance. This can be true of colleagues, friends, and siblings, of course, and even neighbors. When it’s a marriage, it can work on even more levels.

One of these mastermind benefits of marriage is that we can facilitate each other’s career growth. This is fun and it also leads directly to money.

Divorce, on the other hand, can be one of the most expensive things of all. It’s a good thinking exercise to ask oneself, What is the opposite of this?, and see if it makes sense. What is the  opposite of divorce? What would be the opposite response in this scenario to what my partner’s ex would do? (Or mine).

My hubby and his ex had quite a bad fight over a relocation, their marriage was never the same, they eventually split up, and now I have him. I also have an easy visual of What Not to Do with this particular man.

What’s the opposite of a marriage-killing feud over a difficult move? Hmm, she ponders.

A quick, easy, streamlined one!

For most people, a move is an extravagant disruption. The turmoil can stretch on for months, and indeed a lot of people never completely unpack every single box. The same box of MISC (the dreaded misc) will be hauled from house to house.

I determined to do it differently. I’d make our move a mere blip. We’d leave our cruddy little studio with the inconsiderate chaos muppets upstairs, and we’d get ourselves a lifestyle upgrade as quick as we could go.

This is good in such a number of ways.

1. The end of the single worst element of our lives, tolerating the selfish neighbors
2. The sense of a lifestyle upgrade
3. The increased hope, optimism, and problem-solving mindset coming from this win
4. Trusting and relying on each other more
5. Gratitude toward the job
6. Appreciation of the community and geographic benefits of working there 

I dominated over this move. It’s true that we still have boxes to unpack in the dining room and living room. It’s true, too, that we went from Fifty Boxes to Slightly Messy Apartment in only three days. Our pets both clearly love it here and it’s so, so quiet. We don’t have to say “we’re moving” any more. My honey can work in his office and give total focus and attention to his projects.

I haven’t mentioned in all this that our home is my office. The main reason I took on this move alone, besides earning a million brownie points, is that I knew it would give me latitude to do it my way. I could choose where I wanted my desk and create my ideal rooms in so many ways. Usually women feel more stressed about cluttered living environments than men do, for whatever reason, and I know that’s true for me. If I planned the move myself, I could do it on my schedule and my terms. I could close the loop.

Now that loop is closed, the move is effectively over, and everyone concerned is back to business.