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About 13 boxes’ worth

When Daughter C and the J-Man left the Farm, they left behind about 13 overflowing boxes’ worth of crappy old books. Mind, none of the books were actually in boxes when they left, they were on shelves and other surface areas of the Apartment.

Months later, one of the tasks the Farmhand pretended to do was take each book off the shelf, dust it, and put it in the appropriately labeled box(es): Philosophy, Science, Humanities, Fiction, Classics. I will not re-visit the fact that he did not do a particularly good job at sorting– even though I was sorting right along side and he could have asked– nor that his dusting skills were not up to snuff. Mr. Big Food helped moved the large bookshelf today. So suffice it to say that I am dusting and sorting 13 boxes of books. (I take that back. How does one put a gynecology text in a box marked philosophy?)

There were fewer philosophy books than I’d thought. Though it makes sense, the J-Man would have taken those. Many more cultural anthropology texts, which is good because I was low on those (j/k). A. LOT. OF. FICTION. And by a lot, I mean a lot.

Mr. Big Food came up to check on progress and see if I needed him to help. He pointed at the floor and asked, “Are all those books going to fit on those shelves?”

Of course. Somehow, someway, I will figure it out. Probably. More than likely. I am pretty darned good at it. I’ve had a lot of practice.

7 Responses

  2. Looking at the photo again…
    you need _book_ boxes if you’re going to pack books away! Those boxes are too big! You’ll break your back trying to move them around if they’re full of books!
    Of course, if you’re just “congregating” the books for the sake of organization (even if the Farm Hand had no idea what that meant when it came to books) then all you have to do is shove them around on the floor. But if you actually have to _move_ them….those boxes are _too big_!!!!

    https://www.uhaul.com/MovingSupplies/Boxes/Standard-Sized-Moving-Boxes/Book-Box/?id=3161

    Note the weight limit….65 lbs!!! I don’t think you can put 65 pounds of books in that size box…but even in a box that size, it can get pretty heavy if you fill it with books!

    1. No. Those were actual book boxes from moving to the farm from Cincinnati. Broke ’em down and put them back together. But you’re right– all I needed to do was get the books off the shelves so John could move the bookshelves, and then put books back on the shelves. Never picked one up, just scooted.

      I will say, not since my first moce after college have I ever had to move myself. Movers.

  3. Moving with the military is the only way to go! I’ve moved myself a couple of times…hate it! With the military, you do some pre-move stuff – or not – they come in, pack your stuff, move it, unload at your destination and unpack. Then of course, you have to “put it” somewhere. My Mom had her coffee pot – with the grounds still in it -moved once, and another time had her kitchen trash can – trash included – arrive at her destination another time. They just pack and move…_everything_!

    So…I miscalculated the box size…the photo makes them look larger than book boxes!

    1. Yeah. Once my mom unpacked a vase with dead flowers in it.

      I wasn’t blogging when we moved in here, but what a story. We didn’t have the Farm yet so– ah. I lied. forgot all about this.– but we had to move so we packed up a UHaul with the bare minimum and moved to a little house we rented. Then we found the farm and closed on the old house. So movers had come before to “inventory” sort of and determined that we needed the biggest van possible. And this was like Mayflower or whoever. So they loaded it up and it went from end to end. Totally full.

      The banker agreed to let us “store” our stuff at the Farm until official closing. So there it all was one big heap in the middle of the great room because we didn’t want them to put it in rooms b/c we hadn’t closed yet. What if something happened?

      The really bad part, though was that it had rained for like 40 (not kidding) days and the weight of the van was such that it would have gotten stuck coming up our long driveway. Plus– it was too tall to fit under the gate.

      So they had to ask the guy at the store 2 miles down the road if they could park the van, go get a smaller truck, and bring it up in loads. And it was raining. They got here at 8am and left at 2am.

      It was months before I had everything unpacked. Waited for my mother-in-law and aunt-in -law to visit to help me put the china and stuff away.

      I cannot in my worst nightmare think of moving without a company.

      And I pity all these kids– like the one who’s renting. Ugh. There’s great advantage to being grownup.

  4. Even in the military….there was one time when we stayed and waited until 10PM so that the kids would be able to sleep in their own beds…and then it turned out that the moving company lost the sides of the beds. We never did get them. Had to buy metal side rails. They worked…but they weren’t the originals.

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