Our Moving Prepartions Are In Full Bloom!

Spring has sprung! The signs are everywhere. Literally… The billboard at the entrance of the drive-inn proclaimed “We’re Open” as I drove by last week. Our newly planted Bradford Pear trees are blooming for the first time, Casey’s been eyeing BOTH of his broken tillers, my flip-flops and softly worn leather sandals have already taken their place in the front row of shoes in my closet, and our moving preparations are in full bloom.
We received our flight itinerary last week… After a 4 hour flight, a 5 hour layover, a 13 hour flight, a 2 hour layover, and another 3 hour flight we will arrive in Chengdu, China. If you have done your math you might realize that this equals 27 hours, 3 children and 2 insane parents.
Honestly, psychosis may develop before we actually step foot on the first flight. While we’ve been able to check a few items off our “to-do” list such as obtaining a COMPLETE physical examination and acquiring passports for our children, others linger about. Although it might seem as though I am worried, I’m really not! I’m excited! Simply receiving my children’s passports in the mail seemed like a reason to celebrate. When their passports arrived today, via US postal services, Casey was scared to let Phillip and Grayce touch their passport books. (He explained later he feared cute, little, crayon drawings might be an issue when going through customs.) After a moment of thought, I agreed! Emma carefully flipped through the pages of her passport and smiled.
Each step brings us closer to the reality that we are moving. I believe we have successfully rented our house (we’ll find out this week) and have begun wading through 14 years of stuff. We have been told to pack the minimal, so I spent the better part of a day eliminating clothes and other items in our bedroom. It’s difficult to throw out jeans you haven’t worn in 10 years. It’s like giving up hope that you’ll ever have the body you had as a 25 year old. I was comforted by the thought that the flared legs might not be as hip as they once were. Apparently, Casey found the amazing feat of cleaning out my closet quite hilarious. It became even more evident that he didn’t have faith in my ability to simplify when he grabbed my camera and began taking pictures. Pictures he made me promise I would post to the blog.

Items I would like to keep!

Garage Sale Items

It looks bad, but I was able to make significant progress after the photos were taken.

We are permitted 2 pieces of luggage per person. We can pay a $150 fee per additional 50 pound piece of luggage. There is also the option to ship some personal affects. However, it costs around $500 to have a 50 pound box shipped to China. It seems we will be drastically limiting our possessions! Spring cleaning has taken on a whole new meaning!