Here we go again (as a good friend of my so eloquently put it). Today was moving day, which in an overseas assignment means it's the day your house gets packed up so that it can start its two month journey across the ocean. Today is that day that so many of the items on your "to do" list converge and get crossed off.
It feels like there are a thousands pieces floating around that need to be pulled together at just the right time, but somehow things are falling into place for us on this transition. So, the normal stress that goes along with PCS season aside, and we are all doing pretty well. Big R's race car got shipped yesterday, our household goods head out this week, and we will have about a month or so before we have to start worrying about more deadlines when it's time to send the BMW and get ready for our last shipment. In the meantime, we are continuing to check those items off our list and soak up as much of Germany and our good friends here as we can.
So, whether we were ready or not, the packers were here. It seems no matter what you do to prepare, you never feel quite ready, or you discover during the process that you forgot to add a few more items to that list. Oh, and I have to say, the only thing more stressful than movers that are insanely late (i.e., our move from Bischberg to here when they showed up at 4:00 p.m.!) is when they show up to pack your house for an overseas move EARLY. Yeah, I really could have used that extra 30 minutes this morning. Can't tell you the last time movers were even on time to pack us up, so I never thought that I needed to hurry things up. Although, I have to admit that I didn't realize how many little things I crammed into that last 30 minutes until that time was somehow gone. I had dropped into bed like a zombie after midnight working on a paper that was due for my class and completely forgot that we hadn't cleaned up after dinner. If you know me, you know this pretty much never happens. I usually can't sleep if my kitchen isn't clean (yes, I'm that person, sorry), and the timing on this one wickedly unusual oversight was not terribly great.
The moment kind of escalated into that perfect storm where it felt like everything quite literally happened at the same time. I had looked at the clock wondering if I should holler down to Big R to wake up because the movers could be here soon (wanting to let him sleep because he usually has to be up at 530 every day), baby c was starting to lose his cool over breakfast, and little r was definitely ready for school. I had just finished making little r's lunch when I heard a strange man with a thick accent shout for me outside our kitchen window. I immediately yelled, "wake up, the movers are here!!!!" Somehow my hands were full. I don't even remember what they were full of, but I had set baby c down on the kitchen floor to unload the pantry, when I let the packing crew in the door. They were ready to get to work, and I was no where near ready for them to start. But I immediately went into my spiel about what was to be packed, what was staying, which rooms to avoid, yadda yadda, meanwhile picking up incredibly important items scattered throughout the house to place them into the "safe room" so they wouldn't accidentally get packed. I kept peaking into the kitchen to make sure baby c was safe, but by the time I unloaded my arms and ran back down the stairs, he had started pulling things out of the cabinet. Not a big deal, this has become his favorite past time, until a huge glass bowl hits the floor and literally breaks into a million pieces. Seriously?! I'd like to tell you all the steps that happen next, but it was pure mayhem in here, and I remember very little of it except that Big R got the boys to school after yelling at me over and over again to "take a deep breath." It was hard to explain to him that I was perfectly calm and all was well in my world until about 5 minutes earlier.
Meanwhile, baby c had drenched his clothes playing in Lando's water (another favorite past time), and he had also crapped his pants. Neither of these were probably acceptable conditions to send him to the krippe. At some point Big R got the boys out of here and safely to school while I secured the kitchen of glass shards and readied it for packing. Phew... and the rest of the day remained relatively painless and actually rather boring.
So, the first page of this last chapter in our Germany book has been turned. We are really sad to see this part of our lives coming to a close. We are looking forward to the next assignment though, and it will be a treat to not only be near family but to be in a closer time zone. With that, I'm going to sign off, open a bottle of wine with my sweet and very patient husband, and get my butt up off of this cold floor (currently the most comfortable place in the house to sit - haha).
 |
| pictures are always cuter with Lando in them :) |
It feels like there are a thousands pieces floating around that need to be pulled together at just the right time, but somehow things are falling into place for us on this transition. So, the normal stress that goes along with PCS season aside, and we are all doing pretty well. Big R's race car got shipped yesterday, our household goods head out this week, and we will have about a month or so before we have to start worrying about more deadlines when it's time to send the BMW and get ready for our last shipment. In the meantime, we are continuing to check those items off our list and soak up as much of Germany and our good friends here as we can.
So, whether we were ready or not, the packers were here. It seems no matter what you do to prepare, you never feel quite ready, or you discover during the process that you forgot to add a few more items to that list. Oh, and I have to say, the only thing more stressful than movers that are insanely late (i.e., our move from Bischberg to here when they showed up at 4:00 p.m.!) is when they show up to pack your house for an overseas move EARLY. Yeah, I really could have used that extra 30 minutes this morning. Can't tell you the last time movers were even on time to pack us up, so I never thought that I needed to hurry things up. Although, I have to admit that I didn't realize how many little things I crammed into that last 30 minutes until that time was somehow gone. I had dropped into bed like a zombie after midnight working on a paper that was due for my class and completely forgot that we hadn't cleaned up after dinner. If you know me, you know this pretty much never happens. I usually can't sleep if my kitchen isn't clean (yes, I'm that person, sorry), and the timing on this one wickedly unusual oversight was not terribly great.
The moment kind of escalated into that perfect storm where it felt like everything quite literally happened at the same time. I had looked at the clock wondering if I should holler down to Big R to wake up because the movers could be here soon (wanting to let him sleep because he usually has to be up at 530 every day), baby c was starting to lose his cool over breakfast, and little r was definitely ready for school. I had just finished making little r's lunch when I heard a strange man with a thick accent shout for me outside our kitchen window. I immediately yelled, "wake up, the movers are here!!!!" Somehow my hands were full. I don't even remember what they were full of, but I had set baby c down on the kitchen floor to unload the pantry, when I let the packing crew in the door. They were ready to get to work, and I was no where near ready for them to start. But I immediately went into my spiel about what was to be packed, what was staying, which rooms to avoid, yadda yadda, meanwhile picking up incredibly important items scattered throughout the house to place them into the "safe room" so they wouldn't accidentally get packed. I kept peaking into the kitchen to make sure baby c was safe, but by the time I unloaded my arms and ran back down the stairs, he had started pulling things out of the cabinet. Not a big deal, this has become his favorite past time, until a huge glass bowl hits the floor and literally breaks into a million pieces. Seriously?! I'd like to tell you all the steps that happen next, but it was pure mayhem in here, and I remember very little of it except that Big R got the boys to school after yelling at me over and over again to "take a deep breath." It was hard to explain to him that I was perfectly calm and all was well in my world until about 5 minutes earlier.
Meanwhile, baby c had drenched his clothes playing in Lando's water (another favorite past time), and he had also crapped his pants. Neither of these were probably acceptable conditions to send him to the krippe. At some point Big R got the boys out of here and safely to school while I secured the kitchen of glass shards and readied it for packing. Phew... and the rest of the day remained relatively painless and actually rather boring.
So, the first page of this last chapter in our Germany book has been turned. We are really sad to see this part of our lives coming to a close. We are looking forward to the next assignment though, and it will be a treat to not only be near family but to be in a closer time zone. With that, I'm going to sign off, open a bottle of wine with my sweet and very patient husband, and get my butt up off of this cold floor (currently the most comfortable place in the house to sit - haha).
xoxoxoxo
No comments:
Post a Comment