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Post by violet on Sept 25, 2005 15:36:16 GMT 10
In my occasional job helping people unpack their belongings after moving, I see a reasonable variety of lifestyles, although given the cost they're generally more affluent. So, a couple of weeks ago we helped a really lovely man who had moved from another State. His wife was in hospital with their newest child, and his little daughter was at home with him. They had what seemed an appropriate number of belongings and it took 2 of us 4 hours, with his help, to unpack most of their stuff. Yesterday, I was one of a team of 6 ladies and 3 men helping an older family unpack in their new house. A couple of the kids helped. They had over 300 cartons of stuff. After the 9 of us, plus parents and kids, had done 5 solid hours there were still what seemed like a million cartons left to open and unpack. They seemed to have kept every belonging they'd ever had, also there were multiples of everything, like 8 spare printer cartridges. What would your house be like to unpack?
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Post by Karen on Sept 25, 2005 16:20:53 GMT 10
Unpack  If it's still in a box next spring, it's trash! And we filled a large trash container, like they use on construction sites, before we moved....... I guess packrats are attracted to each other, lol! |
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Post by braided-rug on Sept 25, 2005 18:45:06 GMT 10
I wish I knew the answer to that. I know I have some old videos and paperbacks that I still have not gotten rid of, that I had hoped to do soon.
We got rid of I think the equivalent of two book boxes of papers yesterday. We sided the bottom half or third of the shed today where it didn't have siding from the previous owners. So we can move things into permanent position on that side of the shed. We had to do frame work before this so we are getting there.
When I move those videos I can unpack the rest of my baking things and see how many are left after that.
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Deed
Treasured
~Super Savvy Seamstress~
Posts: 2,240
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Post by Deed on Sept 25, 2005 21:14:03 GMT 10
What would your house be like to unpack? A nightmare? Ummm hi my name is Deed and I'm a packrat!  |
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Admin
Major Contributor
formerly ~cara~
Posts: 4,651
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Post by Admin on Sept 25, 2005 22:26:22 GMT 10
Miss Voilet...Well, I am in my late fifties and I am not a packrat, but dh is. I do have lots of treasures and collections though, so suffice to say it would take a long time. I would I could say it would only take a few hours, but last time we moved (5 years ago) it took me weeks to unpack and put things away. Course it was a one woman operation.
Very interesting question...Thanks for posting it
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Post by sunshine on Sept 25, 2005 23:41:02 GMT 10
I'm a horrific packrat-- my house/sheds/barn are so cluttered! I'm working on getting it under control. . . . . . .
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Post by teddymaker on Sept 26, 2005 23:35:56 GMT 10
I shudder to think about it!!!!....We have so much stuff it is ridiculous!!!...Christmas decorations alone would fill up a small room...We both keep saying we need to go through things, but never seem to make the time for it....One good thing is that I have stayed away from yard sales and flea markets so I havent bought any more junk!!!
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Post by ellise on Sept 26, 2005 23:51:42 GMT 10
Let's see the last time we moved 3 years ago it took the three of us a 4 days to unpack and get everything (we brought) in it's place. We still have loads of stuff in the attic of our other house, (that will be gone through in a few weeks).
I have been going through a lot of it and have decreased it by about 1/3 so hoping if we ever have to move again it won't be so bad.
Now DH's office and the outbuilding are a whole other story!
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Post by niceday on Sept 27, 2005 1:34:33 GMT 10
Another pack rat here, but gradually going through stuff and decluttering but its gonna take awhile we have lots of stuff.
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Post by braided-rug on Sept 27, 2005 12:51:14 GMT 10
teddymaker, one thing I admire about Americans is how they decorate for Christmas. Although there are some great Australian families who really get into decorating their houses with lights and things in their front yard. I would love to hear about your Christmas decorations, I'll have to check out the winter forum.
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Post by violet on Sept 27, 2005 15:07:52 GMT 10
Lol, sounds like there are lots of pack rats here! I wish I could paint a better picture of the house we worked at. It was a huge house, with tons of storage, but there was no way everything was going to fit - I later heard they filled up the basement area too, which was originally going to be used as a study/art studio. Walking past the daughter's bedroom, which she unpacked herself, there were 5 hair straighteners outside her door - they were the ones she didn't need! I suppose too that the more interests you have and the more years you spend in a house, the more stuff you can end up with. Until I started in this work I honestly didn't realise how attached people got to their stuff.  |
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Post by teddymaker on Sept 27, 2005 23:10:08 GMT 10
Braidedrug, I'll post some pics during the holidays...but I'll warn you, it looks like an elf threwup in this house LOL!!!!, every inch is decorated....
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Post by frugalmel on Sept 28, 2005 12:35:25 GMT 10
Well since we unpack on average about every 2 yrs, not as long as you would think. lol A benefit of being an Army family. It would take longer than it should, because we keep getting more stuff. Every time we move, we toss, toss, toss, but it keeps coming back, back, back!  |
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If it's still in a box next spring, it's trash! And we filled a large trash container, like they use on construction sites, before we moved....... I guess packrats are attracted to each other, lol!
