Beat down by luggage....

Seriously. Everytime I do major packing for a major move there is always major cleaning involved. My husband doesn't appear to suffer from this ailment.... His "junk drawers" were still "junky" as he handed over his boarding pass. 

But me, I suffer from "must take advantage of empty rooms to throughly clean carpet" & "It's the perfect time to clean out kid closets/room/drawers". And

 I ask myself, "Why?!" Why do I kill myself? Why do I feel compelled to clean out every last drawer? Why on Earth did I think we couldn't possible leave the house in the care of the house sitter until the patio had been power washed?

(BTW, the boy child did an excellent job!)

I don't know.... But the patio looks fantastic, there are actually empty drawers in every room of this house, & all the dead light bulbs have been replaced! Yes, even that halogen security lamp some 25 feet up the back side of the house! 

I was pooped BEFORE I started packing the luggage today. 

Packing luggage is an art. No, really....

We are only allowed 4 large bags, 4 carry-ons, & 4 personal items between the 4 of us. Sounds like a ton of space, right? Wrong!

Have you traveled with 3 kids over the age of 8 lately? They come with more wires, plugs, devices, & headphones than they have appendages. It's hard enough packing 10 days worth of clothes & shoes, toiletries, bits to tide us over til the air shipment arrives, 6 months of Rx medicine & diabetic pump gear (that arrived 1 day AFTER Lindsey's flight left TX... Grrrrr!), important papers, etc... 

But the absolute killer is balancing the amount of toys, books, & devices the kids consider "absolutely vital". 

Remember, gotta keep the weight of the checked bags below the magical 50# limit. 

It's a dance... It's an art. I bet I packed, weighed, groaned/complained, repacked, then reweighed at least 4 times tonight. My suitcase is the closest at 49.2#. Yikes! 

Somehow, after 6 hours of folding, rolling, & shoving, we managed to zip up 4 large & 2 small cases. Each kid has a backpack. They must carry their own devices, wires, chargers, plug converters, & toys.  I think I only have about 3 or 4 small details left for the morning. 

I would probably be excited ... If I had the energy....