Moving a Gang: Neth's Fuc'n House And How She and Bae Got the AGGiRL Into It

The place looks new. Because it is.

*dusts cobwebs* ahhhh--dead spiders~!¹

*blows dust* oh god bad idea--hack hack hack *cough*

*one inhaler pump, a cold beer, and a pack of Halls later*

Backstreet's Nethie's back, all right!

On Gods and Yemaya, it's been a time and a half, hasn't it my loves? We've got like, three months left in the year--Inktober,² NaNoWriMo,³ and Holiday. And I ain't blogged but once to say that I couldn't blog yet back in Pride Month but good things were happening. I call months what I want, thank you for coming to my TED Talk.

Twenty-Bi-Teen has been a year of transformation for me in so many good ways. I have been elevated and rose and am making my ancestors proud. I've been working, I've been working, I get focused when that caffeine get into me. I had a Thing. A multiple month long Thing.

But working on The Thing meant not being able to blog here.

Yes I know there's new things from AG. I got pictures of them each release--huh, we actually had and lost a whole set of mix and match options while I was doing the thing, didn't we? They redid the AG core books while I was busy.⁴ Blaire got here and been here as my Fifi and will get her freckles later. Eyes were addressed. And if I hadn't been doing the Thing, I would have done the blogs. I'm just going to play catch up later, and everyone will be okay with it. Even when new stuff coming out--what you mean it's in the stores today look I will just go this weekend.

Spinning more than wheels.

I did many things while doing The Thing. I ended up with two Kirstens.⁵ I had visitors in the state that came to hang out--multiple different sets--while I did the Thing. I went to my con-work and MCM while doing the thing. Visited my grandma and mom and family. Ate the creamed puff and the scone. Went to the state fair as a demonstrator again. Hung out with friends in Seattle. Went to PAX West. All while doing the Thing.

The Thing I was doing?

Moving. Into a new house. That Bae and I now own.

Kirsten under the sold sign. To my house.

say what hit that cut

Let me sum it up. After months of nonsense from our apartments, constant invasive investigations to try and drive us off while they changed management repeatedly, distrustworthy secretaries lying about shit and then playing dumb and shocked when we say we've lived somewhere for ten-plus years, and accusations of a racial nature,⁶ Bae and I decided that we wanted to be somewhere else when our lease came up. We sat with our finances, looked at the housing market, and gripped hands and took the leap to buy a house of our own. We thought it might take months.

It took two weeks from "let's start looking" to "we want this one." We put the offer in and it was accepted the next day. It went smoother than fresh laid edges. Everything lined up so smoothly that we didn't lose a single vacation we planned over the summer, we didn't have a single trip up in the steps to the closing, and Neth now knows what fascia boards are.

If you follow me on my Instagram account--and if you don't you either don't have an account, haven't found me yet, got blocked for being a jackass, or are a hater, sorry I don't make the rules--you've have seen me crowing about this since July after we closed. And I'm fucking proud of what me and my Bae did together. I have a lovely set up. I have multiple bedrooms, an en-suite bathroom with a tub separate from my shower, a plant as a gift that is a bad bitch and cannae be killed, a backyard--

With trees. Two of em.

--a porch and a balcony, brand new carpet, three rose bushes, and granite goddamn countertops. I have Kelvin, my new fridge, that's an absolute unit. I have stairs. I have a king sized bed with matching nightstands. I have a brand new sewing table we got for Free-99, and a whole new computer desk. I even got to paint a whole room because I didn't like the green in it and so now it's "Fuck It, It Was Nine Bucks" Blue. As the Snoop Dogg song goes?

This is my fuc'n house.

So I had to move the things from old apartment to new house. And along with owning a house, I also have a huge AG collection. Which had to be moved. And which I wanted to be in control of the whole time it moved.

Now, peeps, you may not know this as I have only been blogging for a few years here, but I last moved twelve years ago and at the time, I did not have the AG collection I do now. Kit was my newest doll, making for a total of nine dolls--ah ha ha, hah hah--and my collection fit in about three or four boxes, including a couple storage drawers and Addy's and Josefina's trunk. I put the gang in a laundry basket, put their stuff in the backseat, and we got them moved in a single night before going back and cleaning the apartment to get the deposit back.⁷

It....don't do that no more. And I told Bae that, along with packing all my books and fabric and art supplies and ponies and other dolls and stuff, I'd handle the gang. All he'd have to worry about was the kitchen, our gaming console set ups, and his stuff--and in the end I went and helped him with that too, because I'm a fast and effective packer even with the Inattentions⁸ wonking me up. I even packed a whole bathroom. I'm a good Nethie and I deserve good things.

So this return to blogging is not about the new stuff. Next week? It can be, and the old new stuff. But this week? It's about how I moved an AG collection of my size from one spot to another without breaking or losing anything.

Now for the Disclaimers: I have a large collection, but I was also moving a short (but significant) distance away. No crossing state lines, no long goodbyes, no long shipping. AG Seattle is still the nearest store to me, and I had the time and ability to pack and haul things on my own. We have a decently sized car that was good for hauling things, so we never rented a UHaul. The whole weeks that we packed and moved, I had the luxury space gay communism of being able to pack everything AG myself and move it via vehicle, always in my sight, instead of the use of a moving van or truck. Bae and I, on the day we moved formally, only had to have the furniture and twenty-nine boxes of packed books moved.⁹ I even moved all my strawberries, Fern the fern, and two in growth tomato plants. (The apartment murdered my third one. Assholes.)

So all the AG stuff? Was us. How? This way.

Securing the AG Bag Drawers:

I store a lot of my AG clothes and accessories in Sterilite Three-drawer bins. It takes a lot of them.What's not in there in some way or another are in trunks: two official ones, Addy's hinged and Kit's take-off lidded one, along with unofficial ones for Elizabeth/Felicity, Josefina, and Cecile. Ellie has one but right now it's full of fabric. DeeDee uses a drawer til I buy her a trunk, as do several other historicals, and all the moddie stuff is in the drawers sorted--somewhat. This is also where I keep shoes, accessories, and other little things.

But this means that packing them was easy.

Tape it shut.

I got blue painters tape--which peels up neat, no residue--and tapped each drawer shut around without even opening it. Did the same with the accessory drawers, trunks, and anything that could think to open while it was being loaded. Once I had them closed, we loaded the car up with bins for multiple trips, hauled them in, and moved each bin into the temp storage space while I painted the doll room Fuck It Nine Blue. I'm still untaping them, and when I do I'll be Marie Kondoing the things as I sort through.

Your nonsense does not spark joy.

Box It, Bag It, Double Tag It--Roll it Around, Don't Drag it:

Then there was the furniture and the small things not in drawers for one reason or another.  

Boxes and baggies and tables oh my.

That got boxed and bagged to carry over. I still had the boxes that several pieces--such as Addy's Table and Chairs, Kit's Washing Set, Josefina's loom set, the easels, and Addy's official beds¹⁰--came in. With Addy's set, I still had all the styrofoam padding for it too.

So I put them to use. AG generally managed to ship it across the country without it shattering, the box is probably still good. I left the packing boxes untaped, since they would be in my car, and made sure not to put weights on them. We just kinda lifted Gabby's bed and stuck it in the backseat, and while I was able to dismantle the Addy beds, Felicity's would have been too much work so we just made sure it was set in lightly. "Julie's" is still in the box.

Small loose things went into AG bags. Reuse and reduce.

The Box says Fra-Ghilly:

I own Felicity's Tea set, Addy's OG Wash up set, and various other small, retired, breakable sets. And, like my altar blown swan and all the kitchen glasses, I packed them with all the soft things gently and moved them soft, so they wouldn't move.

Each item was taped together--with the painters tape, really useful stuff--so they would not rattle. I wrapped Addy's wash stuff in loose clothing and taped it shut in boxes. Then I packed those in older AG boxes lined with bedsheets from the dismantled beds, or smaller containers I owned. Some ended up in other trunks.

Not a damn thing broke. 

I Have More AG Books Than You: 

Book It, get free pizza.

Wimps have three yellow cardigans because they can't fathom the idea of best friends not matching down to the underwear. I have every pasttime book ever released, every paper doll ever released, five out of six teachers guides,¹¹ and AG magazines from launch in 1993 until about 2003. And that's before you get into the actual stories. There's a reason I'm not chuffed too hard about abridged books.

But the books were the easiest. Just crammed them in boxes--small boxes, don't go breaking anyone's spine--and labelled them if I needed to. A mix of U-Haul boxes and Bankers storage boxes got it done.

Becoming the AGGirL in a Single Road Trip:

And then came one of the largest tasks: the gang themselves. They were changing from the AGGiB to the AGGiRL but I have a lot more than nine now. Like try nearly seven times that many, repeating. A laundry basket wouldn't cut it nan more. So instead?

MCM bags. I keep them because they're good for what hauls ya, and I know they carry a lot of dolls when they're boxed. But without a box? Even more.

Don't look inside my carry on. It's got people in it.

With the exception of Addy FirstArrival Walker, everyone--dressed--laid down, stacked, in the bags. A few had to go into an open box. Then I carefully hauled them into the car, sat in the backseat--the front had the tomato plant--

Riding in style.12

--and we went to our new home. Then I carefully carried everyone down the stairs and took them out of the bag to stand and get to see their new home place. Addy was in charge all night.

But, you ask, what about the glasses? You have Z, she has glasses--

I have more than Z with glasses. And I wanted to make sure no one who wore them lost a pair.

Hold on to your peepers.

Small rubber bands. 

All lined up.

Everyone had their glasses put on their wrist at the bridge, folded neatly, as I put them in the carry bags, and then once we were moved they put them back on their faces.

Why yes that does appear to be a colonial tribade with glasses. I bet you want to know what that's about. Soon enough, lovies.

The gang was the very last thing to move. The next day the movers moved the things, and we were in our new house.

Miscellany: 

* The Two Scenes and Settings I have were just a case of snapping shut and putting in the car.

* The many, many patterns I own for sewing AG clothes just went in their plastic box and are now in the sewing room. Yes, I have a sewing room now. It's everything I ever wanted.

* Pets all went into a plastic bin that is ready to have them freed later.

* I later went through several of the loose stuff bags to start putting things back where they go.

* Felicity's Table is in the corner. It knows what it did.

Conclusion:

I wasn't able to do anything while I packed that was fun for weeks. I barely read. I crashed nightly woke up daily, and drank lots of coffee. I didn't sew, barely drew, and wasn't even able to look at Binging with Babish videos from the time I got back from Milwaukee. It was several weeks of focused work and hauls every single night for a month. And we're gonna have to rest a while to make up for such a huge purchase. But, in the end?

We're comfy in our new home, me and my gang, with space to sprawl and new rugs and grass to touch.

Now let us never have to move again.

Okay ladies, let's get in formation!13

--Neth

¹ Moving shelves from an apartment you've lived in for twelve years encounters more dead spiders behind them than a little bit, let me tell you internet. There was a graveyard in one set of shelves. I'm still like, how did the spiders even get in the tubes? Were there noms for them I ain't know about? Was it like the Elephant Graveyard, but for spiders? We'll never know.

² This year I can do it start to finish. Even got my ArtSnacks lined up for it.

³ This year will make Year Fifteen of participation.

⁴ "We want the illustrations back! We need them! Give us pictures!"*monkey paw curls* "Picture's worth a thousand words, ain't it." I'd be more chuffed but I own so many versions of AG Books. But I got the new ones on a Yoink One Yeet One Sale, and can do all the comparisons.

⁵ My buddy, AG_Maria, got me one with the sweet checkered dress for standard costs, because she is awesome and sits on a goldmine of used goodness. Then I found Second Kirsten in a Goodwill for six--count em, six bucks. You wish you had my good things.

⁶  When you, white couple, accuse a black couple of weed smells and go to management to make them put notices on our door to inspect us, because your children are "disturbed" by it? When they're the first person you point at instead of anyone else? That's racist. Yes I live in Washington State, where it's legal. I begrudge no one that smokes. I have friends who partake. But I don't smoke cause it exacerbates my Inattentions, and my Bae is not in punk but he's straight edge. The end of the story was the neighbors moved out in a rush about a week after that accusation was investigated and the apartments had to run humidifiers and clear the whole room fast, so the problem was on their side and not ours and the apartment had to drop that line of attempted harrass-mess. Wasn't from us, jerks. I wash my legs and feet in the shower. With a washcloth. And soap.

⁷ Fun fact? Apartment carpet lasts about five years and paint three. After that they can't charge you for wear and tear. So when we moved this time? No need to steam clean the carpets or scrub walls hard! Winner winner chicken dinner.

⁸ Conversation that happened this summer:

Friend with ADD: Neth have you considered you probably have ADD
Me: *trying to do four things at once and stopping mid sentence talking* I what
FwADD: you have it. I have it. You have it like someone who never had it taken care of. Get tested. It's okay. You probably self medicate. But you should get screened even if to find out I'm wrong.

*everything clicks into place*

Later:
Me, nervously while with Ma: haha ma so my friend says I might have the ADD that's crazy right
Ma: there's no might, Neth
Me: wait I what
Ma: Oh, baby, I saw the signs when you were in 1st Grade. But we were on welfare and the stigma was bad enough, plus getting you to a doctor when you were sick was hard enough. I couldn't cover the cost of testing and formal diagnosis. So I just read books and taught you adaptive techniques to help you get by, since we couldn't get you a formal diagnosis. 

*other chunks I didn't know I had click into place and make a final picture*

I'm not lazy, stupid, or crazy. I just have Inattentions.

⁹ If you think I have too much goddamn AG shit, you should see my books. I have so many books. Books are the best. I live my best reading life.

¹⁰ That's not a typo. I have three Addy beds. I will not be taking questions at this time.

¹¹ Out here claiming to be educated and loving Brand, and you don't even know those existed, stop being a sucker for love.

¹² The bag under her is my BJD bag. They were even more secure.

¹³ This is just the DoC, it's DoC month, I'll do everyone in Later.