Moving Day 1

Yesterday was day 1 of the movers being here and packing our stuff. Due to the hectic day and running around since 5 am sorting and putting the things aside I wanted to make sure didn't get packed I didn't have the energy to even think about posting pictures from the day, so here are a few from yesterday.

This is the truck the movers came in, they brought tons of boxes and brown paper that they have wrapped all the furniture in.

Here is a sample of the brown paper and the boxes that they are using. I'm just hoping that the paper is recyclable because those crazy Germans are REALLY into recycling and I don't want any trouble.

Here are some of the boxes from the kitchen. This does not include any of my serving dishes, those weren't packed up when I took this picture. It also does not include most of my pans and other cooking items because those were sent in the 1000 lb load. Yes...I admit I do have a lot of kitchen stuff, it's my weakness lol.

These boxes were under the island on next to the ones in the picture above....I know, I have a lot. But I LOVE it all so I don't see it going any where any time soon....except to Germany! lol

So far the week hasn't been very stressful for me at all, mostly because the movers are doing all the work. I will admit that the few days before they got here were super stressful, just getting ready so we didn't forget anything we needed. But of course as usual there were a few things I forgot to set aside the air bed that my husband and I were going to sleep on. I guess we'll be buying a new one, we needed to get one for our daughter to use anyway so I guess we'll just get 2 new air beds lol. A lesson learned the hard way. If that's the only lesson we learn the hard way on our first overseas move then I'll be really happy!

Keep an eye out later tonight for the pictures and an update from today. We have some loading planned for the day!

Top 10 Things I love about Tucson, AZ - #1

It's not hard to find a list of things to not like about Tucson, as a matter of fact I can think of several just off the top of my head; heat, heat, heat and a ton of other things. But, as much as I like to complain about the heat, anyone that lives here loves to complain about the heat on a regular basis yet very few people actually move from here, there are still things about Tucson that I love and I will miss greatly when we move in 6 weeks. Here is the first in the series:

The Heat - Ok, ok, ok I know I was just saying how much I love to complain about the heat but let me elaborate on that. July and August are a total downer in Arizona. It's so hot that you can hardly go out in the middle of the day. The "cold" water comes out of the faucet already warm enough to melt the ice in your cup because the ground is so hot and the water just never gets cold. If you want to do anything outside you have to do it before 8 am or it's just too hot to enjoy it.

Given all that is bad and evil about the scorching heat in Arizona, I have to say that it's also something that can be wonderful. Example: This summer we took the kids to Lake Havasu for a few days. While it was 118 that day when we got in to the lake the water was like a nice warm bath. I couldn't believe how great it felt to be floating in warm water getting a tan!

We have more sunny days in a month than some states have all year, how lucky are we? While there are a few months that it it hard to get out and enjoy the sunny days for the most part its a good thing because the rest of the year it's wonderful to be able to get outside and do something.

1000 lbs and No Carrier

The Travel Management Office (TMO) briefed us on all the things that we needed to do to be ready for the movers next week. Like I said before we have two shipments, one that is 1000 lbs of stuff we need right away and the rest will arrive shortly after we get to Germany. As of today we have only met with the carrier that is taking the larger load. They came out and estimated the weight last week and it looks like we are good to go on that.

Now things get interesting....some time its the same carrier for both loads, and sometime not. I guess we fell into the net category, just my luck! As of today we still have not heard from the carrier that is supposed to be picking up the smaller shipment. Why is this a HUGE deal?! Because if we don't have a smaller shipment we wont have anything we own until at least December 8th! All we will have is the stuff we can take in our luggage, we will not be able to have anything there waiting for us....

I'm hoping that we can get this worked out, if not it's going to be a very stressful day.

Update: We DO have a carrier! We were able to confirm the carrier on Friday afternoon for tomorrow morning. So now I can rest easy that I do not have to pack absolutely everything that I have for the winter and fall into 1 suitcase (which btw is technically IMPOSSIBLE). So now we are working on the gigantic tasking of sorting into 3 piles....pack, 30 day shipment, or regular shipment....oh yeah and a 4th pile DONATE. I'm working on donating a ton of stuff that we no longer use/ want for the 3rd time this year. At the rate I'm going I wont have much to ship when they get here next week.  

6 days

I have 6 days to get together anything that I want to ship to Germany that I want to arrive in 30-40 days. Starting to freak out a little bit. I have to plan everything that we will need for the next couple months and set it aside so that I don't accidentally send it! Then I have to decide what to send and what can wait to arrive in the middle of December. Seriously, how am I supposed to know everything that I will possibly need for the next 60 days?! Here's the best part....it all has to be able to fit into our luggage! I feel a headache coming on already....

Travel Plan

This week we got our actual flight information! I'm really excited because I've had to tell everyone that asks me, and just about everyone that I know has asked me several times, when we are leaving that we are leaving "around the 1st of November". Well, now I know for sure that we are leaving on the 2nd of November. The rest of the details of course I will not share for security reasons, BUT I am happy to say that I have official flight information! I feel really excited and a little nervous about it. It was hard not knowing when we were leaving but now that I do know for sure I'm a little nervous because it's so REAL now.

Now I have really have to kick it into high gear with the packing and sorting and donating. The movers will be here soon and I still feel a million years from being ready. Wish me luck!

September 9 - TMO Appointment

The packing and moving saga continues....

For our move we are authorized to send 1000 lbs in a smaller shipment that will go "express" via air to Germany. This shipment takes about 30-40 days to arrive at its destination, hence the "express" part. At first I was really excited about this because I thought I would be able to send things like beds and linens and stuff that we will need to be comfortable until the rest of our HHG (Household Goods) arrive. I had a great plan!

Well, it turns out I was wrong and all my planning was for nothing. You can't even send furniture!!...I was like whoa, whoa...w ...h...o....a, what do you mean I can't send beds? The girl, yes I said girl because she was like 14, told me that furniture is a huge no no and it's more for things like seasonal clothing and small stuff like toys or a tv maybe some pans and dishes. All that will be fantastic while we are sleeping on the floor! Ok, maybe that's a little dramatic. I know the AF has a loaner program so we can use their stuff until we get ours, but it's not the same as sleeping on your own bed with your own sheets.

So now I have to go back to the drawing board and start my plan of what will ship in two weeks and what we will have till the following week. I also have to catalog all my DVD's, cd's, electronic equipment, condition of the furniture, sorting out what clothes will stay with us and what can ship, etc. So if anyone is wondering what I will be doing for the next two weeks...now you know!

Official Move Timeline

Ok, so here is the latest news on the "Official Move Timeline"...

September 9 - Meeting at TMO to get the details on the movers and what we can and what we can not take with us. This is when it's going to get really busy around here. We've already donated a TON of stuff to Goodwill and we've tossed the rest that was, well...lets just say junk that even Goodwill wouldn't want. Even with all this we still have so much to go through and I'm *hoping* to get rid of a lot more of it.

September 21 - The movers will be here to pick up 1000 lbs of my "stuff". This shipment will take about 30 days to get to Germany which means it will be there waiting for us when we arrive. So it will consist of important items that we will want right away when we get there like our beds. That also means that anything we send in this shipment we will no longer have here. So for about 6 weeks we'll be sleeping on air beds. I think our 10 year old will love it because it will be like camping in the house, the rest of us....not so much in the excitement department. lol

September 28 to October 1- The movers will be back to pack the rest of our "stuff" for several day and then they will take it all away. This is when its really going to start sucking big time. This shipment will take 60-75 days to get to Germany so it will arrive just after we get there. Sound great because we should have a house by then and we will be ready to unpack. The part that sucks means that the rest of the stuff that we were using after our 1000 lbs left will now also be gone. We'll basically be living in a very empty house. My husband even suggested that we should just all "live" in the living room and that we only need to go upstairs to shower....sadly I was thinking the same thing. I mean we wont have a couch, so we'll need something to sleep on i.e. our air beds!

November 1 (approximately) - We leave for Germany!