Moving Day No. 1

I really did not think this day would ever come. I saw this day from far off in the distance months ago when we got our orders. But I didn’t really think we would ever get to it. So as I stood in my living room while the movers were bustling all about me, wrapping my stuff, packing it into boxes, carrying it out of my life for the foreseeable future, it felt very surreal.

Now here I am in an unbearably empty and cold townhouse, with the sound of my fingers hitting these keys echoing off the walls and the very intrusive blaze of the overhead light interrupting what would be a normal, warm, relaxing night on my comfy couch under the soft glow of a table lamp.

But this is all just part of a process, right? A journey, or as I prefer to call it, an adventure! The step before this was filling out and sending in our visa applications. That was quite a nightmare. I had no experience with that kind of paperwork and (not surprising) no one at the base here could help me, not even the person who accepts the applications. Go figure.

So I did the best I could and turned them in. That was almost three weeks ago. (We were told the we would get the visas in three weeks.) Haven’t heard a word since. The man in the applications office informed us, as we handed in our paperwork, that me and the kids cannot enter the UK without the visas (yet he wouldn’t let us turn the apps in until we were less than two months from leaving …)Thanks for that, Mister.

Now, we are at one of the last steps in the moving process: shipping our stuff. The first shipment was yesterday and that was shipping all of our big stuff and non-necessities: all furniture, knick knacks, some clothes, some kitchen stuff. This, the biggest shipment, will take 2-3 months to arrive in the UK. It was packed away into plywood crates and is being carried off to the ship that will convey it to England (assuming there are no hurricanes, typhoons, or other crazy mishaps. Cross your fingers!)

We were “authorized” to ship 9000lbs at the military’s expense. So, for that reason, a full-size freight truck showed up at our tiny townhouse complex Friday morning at 9:00 sharp. I did not think we had enough stuff to fill up all of the crates it brought. I was wrong. I think our total came to around 5700lbs for this shipment and it took them all day…

They packed everything in sight. Even my dog’s bowl that I accidentally left on the dining room floor. Poor Luna has to eat out of Tupperware containers for now.

Even though that shipment is going out now, one month before we leave, we will have already been in England 1+ months before it arrives. The next shipment, which will be picked up on Monday, is our “unaccompanied baggage.” This includes all of our necessities that we will need as soon as we get there, such as pots and pans, towels, sheets, etc. We are “authorized” 1000lbs for this shipment and it will actually fly over on a plane.

Once it goes, we will be absolutely living out of our suitcases (all 12 of them) and eating sandwiches off paper plates for the next month. It’s going to be rough.

And so the inconveniences begin...

Moving sucks, y’all. And I had forgotten just how much until I got a taste of it a few weekends ago. You see, part of the criteria for moving to England was selling our house (and, unfortunately, we could not time the sell with our PCS). This brought out a lot of mixed feelings. On the surface, we were ready to move out of our house. We were ready for a change. But when it came down to it, we just plain hated it and not just because moving sucks.

Even though our house wasn’t bright, shiny, and new anymore, and maybe our family had outgrown it a little, it was still home and it was ours. It was the place we felt most comfortable. The place we felt safe.

But move we must, and move we did. Into a tiny, no-room-whatsoever-for-storage townhouse about fifteen miles further from town than we already were in our suburban house.  And it was the most unorganized, last-minute move I have ever experienced. We knew we were moving soon. But the date of closing (on the house with the buyer) was up in the air and kept changing for at least two weeks. When we finally got a date, it was sooner than expected. So with very short notice and very little help, and the last moving truck available anywhere near us, we picked up our lives and memories and big, bulky furniture and hauled it to the only apartment complex in a 30-mile radius that would rent to us on a short-term lease.

So, needless to say, this has kept me away for a while. For the first week, our townhouse was in a state of disarray that was just plain unlivable. It is starting to find some order now, except one room at the top of the stairs that has been dubbed the “storage” room and it is approached slowly and with the most apprehension. (You know, like the door in horror movies that you know the bad guy is hiding behind. Yeah, that’s the door.)

Anyway, I have not forgotten my promise of a full English breakfast. It’s coming…Check back soon!