January 2009 already?

Wow, 2008 just flew by and here we are nearly at the end of January 2009. I've been very slack with this blog and I must apologise. There was just so much going on over the festive season I didn't have a moment. And now we are in the process of moving house so I'm sitting here in a little cave of boxes, which is not very conducive to work. So, a little break from the Multiple Intelligences while I share with you the plan that is helping me to move house with two 7-year-olds, several pets, and far too many books while still maintaining my sanity.

First I listed each room in the house:
Main bedroom
Kids Bedroom 1 and 2
Kitchen
Office
Garage
Bathrooms
Main - I grouped the lounge and dining room together here because mostly it's books and ornaments.

Then I broke each room down into phases. For example, in the office there are 3 phases:
1: Stationery, craft equipment and unused files
2: Books and files
3: Computer peripherals and equipment
I leave the computer itself, along with other big pieces of furniture, til last.

Basically, the phases cover (1) Things we generally don't use very often, (2) Things that are used but that we can do without for a week or two, and (3) Things that we're probably going to need right up until the move. So, another example: winter clothes can go in phase 1 since it's summer here now, but summer clothes need to go in phase 3. I hope this is making sense.

Next, I diarised the packing phases for each room leading up to moving day, and begining, obviously, by working through Phase 1 in each room then moving on to Phase 2.

So far I'm pretty much on schedule (apart from the office, which is just full of stuff and very difficult to phase).

Any great tips for packing up houses or the moving day? Please let me know in the comments thread...