The crate arrived yesterday! It was a big event here, but I haven’t written all that much about it. We ordered a crate kit from UPakWeShip, and doing so was inspired by a conversation I had with Annelott about getting stuff for Martin, and stuff from my mom’s to me, over here. I had been thinking that shipping household goods would be so crazy expensive that I hadn’t even looked into it, but she said, it can’t be that bad…people and businesses ship stuff all the time.
I had extra savings due to the stimulus checks that we got from the US government during the pandemic, so that was what I used to pay for the whole thing. UPakWeShip is awesome. They have several options, from shipping single or multiple boxes, to various size crates (on a pallet), to containers. My brother wanted in on the action, because he still had stuff at my mom’s that had been in her basement for the 20 years he’s been living abroad, including skis and snowboards. Most of the rest of the crate was Martin’s furniture and household goods from his 4 years in Detroit, but I also had a few things coming: a chair and 2 small metal tables from my mom, plus some other bits and pieces. We had to get an extra tall crate to accommodate John’s skis/snowboards, though, but it turned out to be just as well: we filled it completely. The crate we ordered was 43x43x72 inches. Taller than me!
UPakWeShip sends the crate kit to the collection address (in this case, my mom’s, in South Carolina), and you pack it, put it together, seal it, fill out all the forms and documentation, and then they come and collect it and ship it to the delivery address. I ordered the crate kit in early June last year, but due to some logistical issues (it was too tall to fit inside my mom’s garage) and then my mom and sister’s trip to Europe in August, it ended up not getting packed until months later. We also ended up having to move the entire thing to my sister’s place, which was a huge pain for my sister and her family, but ended up working out much better as they had a better space to put it, which wouldn’t require it being unattended on the street for days. Sarah was a champion, getting everything packed, labeled, and placed into the crate. She actually did it several times, first to make sure things would fit, then having to redo it once everything was moved to her home instead.
They got it all finalized and sealed and ready to be collected at the very end of November, and then it took several months to go through the shipping process. We also ended up paying more, because the price had gone up due to the fact that we had not had it collected within 30 days of our original quote. It was collected in early December once we had sent off all the paperwork, and paid for the shipping and the insurance, sent to Virginia, weighed and then waited for space in a container, which then waited for a place on a ship. We had confirmation that the ship had sailed on January 5, and it arrived in Rotterdam for processing on January 21. It cleared customs quickly and left Rotterdam on February 2 and arrived at our place by truck on February 10.
I had scheduled the delivery date with Postnord (the Swedish postal service) for Friday and worked from home that day. I heard the truck outside at 10:30 and when I opened the door and came outside, the truck driver spread his arms and said “Heeeey!” Despite the fact that the delivery had specified curbside (street edge) dropoff, he very kindly brought it up our driveway and parked it just outside our front door. I sent off a message to the family that it had arrived, and Martin actually left work early to come home and deal with it; he was so excited to get his stuff!
I still had about an hour of working to do, so Martin got busy unsealing the crate, getting the plastic and the straps off, and the lid off and opening it. He started moving all the boxes and furniture into the house, and I came out every now and then to help when he needed an extra hand, but he did most of it, including all the heavy lifting. It took him just under an hour; perfect timing as it started to rain JUST as he was finished.
A little while later, it looked like a bomb had exploded inside our house: boxes and packing paper and bubble wrap and STUFF everywhere! Martin showed me everything, and I kept wondering where he was going to put all this new stuff, considering that his room was already full of stuff to begin with! đŸ˜€ Some things were for me: record albums, including the recording my high school choir had made in 1980; some framed photographs, a beautiful vase from my mom, the replacement dishes I had bought and sent to my sister’s over a year ago, underwear that Sarah had gotten for me, two metal leaf tables and my mom’s bird chair (things I have coveted all my life), and a Belleek pitcher.
Martin had a desk/dresser, two smaller tables, several framed posters and a mirror, 8 boxes of household goods (some of which, like his Christmas ornaments) had all gone from Sweden TO Detroit, and now back again, books, records, games, and his Playstation, plus jackets, clothes, and a bazillion decorative throw pillows. And John has a huge framed print, a mirror, and a large box of miscellaneous stuff in addition to his skis and snowboards.
It was like Christmas except it was all stuff FROM us (or my mom) TO us. Martin got everything unpacked, and was up until quite late, moving stuff out of the living/dining room into his room and the playroom to get it all out of the way. This morning we flattened all the packing paper, bagged all the plastic and bubble wrap, and moved all the boxes out of the way. Martin still has to open the two snowboard containers because Sarah said there was other stuff in them, but he’s out this evening with friends so he’ll do that tomorrow.
I’m so grateful to my mom, my sister, her husband and her son, for all the help and all the hard work they did getting everything put together and packed and sealed, and labeled. My sister, especially. She was truly amazing. Now we just have to get John up here to fetch his stuff because we don’t have a basement to store it in for another 20 years, haha!
Mood: happy
Music: Caro Emerald—One Day