++Becoming an expert++

I'm one of those people who learns best by doing. And each time I move I learn a little more. In fact, Mark and I laugh that we even have an agreed upon strategy for unpacking. Here are a few things that we've learned (if you, too, get to be as lucky as us and have enough packing paper in your family room for your son to literally SWIM in).
++Unpack the kitchen first. You are going to get hungry and thirsty and it will be nice to know where the cups are.
++Get the kids rooms done second. This whole move thing is shaking up their world and anything you can do to make the new place feel like home is helpful. (so...Wyatt's room is 100% done and Claire's room is just waiting for pictures to be hung).
++Put all the accessory/artwork stuff in one out-of-the-place room. This is what you are going to deal with LAST.
++This mainly applies if you have packers but, if possible, make sure everything is in the room where it belongs on the day of packing. It makes unpacking so much more bearable. We did not heed this advice this time and are paying for it.
++Purge, purge, purge. Moving is a great time to get rid of old stuff. We have one big garage sale in our future!
++Just relax and realize everything will take time.
And there you have it. My little tutorial on moving. We've unpacked all the boxes and have most of the stuff put away. It's just those pesky things that we aren't sure where to put that are lingering. Oh...and lots and lots of picture hanging. Our least favorite task.