It's only change...right?

I am facing facts that this trip to Italy is real, not some crazy dream I am having. Right now, my life feels more like one of those crazy dreams where you feel more tired after you wake from it. Only, I am not asleep.

My house is in shambles. I have not completely packed for the flight, which leaves day after tomorrow.  I have stacks of stuff that needs to fit in suitcases, which are already looking quite full. I have stuff that probably should be hand-carried packed in boxes to be mailed to Italy. I have stuff that just hasn't got packed up and stashed in my storage unit, a.k.a. my downstairs bedroom. I have four cats that keep jumping in boxes, sleeping on piles of stuff and generally being pests. This fact, of course, puts me in tears  because I will be making the trip without them. Not to mention, my two darling sons who feel the stress and are generally acting difficult.

The joys of moving across the world are too numerous to mention right now. Reading this, you would think I do not want to move to Italy. I really do, it is just a huge change for me. How many people could pack up and move across the world with only six months notice and not experience some stress?

Time Line

Well, I have to apologize to everyone, which is mostly myself, for not keeping up with this blog. I want to journal every detail, but life keeps getting in the way. I am going to train myself to blog regularly, I really am...

Here is our timeline:
February 26...Notice that we were being sent to Italy
March...Filled out applications for passports, both tourist and official
April...Received boys tourist passports, quickly! Eventually received our official passports...
May...Waited and waited, no visas came. Gary's unaccompanied baggage left Kansas
June...Gary left for Italy. Visas finally arrived. Experienced an incident which reminds us of the ineptness of the USPS. Gary started looking at houses, after only a few trips found one
July...Gary took possession of the house. We fly out on July 14.

To be continued....

Movers!

Today the movers are here. For anyone who has not had the annoyance joy of dealing with professional movers, you are lucky. Movers are a double-edged sword. The good side is that you have someone else to pack up and move your stuff. The not-so-good side is that someone else is packing and moving your stuff.

No one really appreciates your stuff like you can. Seeing someone disassemble your possession, wrap it up in wrinkled paper and use it as a jigsaw piece as it is stuffed in a cardboard box with all your other possessions is a bit unnerving to say the least. Had I known they were going to disassemble some of the "prefab" furniture I have collected over the years, I truly would not have brought it along. I am pretty sure some of it will not be resurrected and will likely spend the remainder of  eternity in some Italian landfill! Unless...recycling it is an option. After all, recycling is mandatory in Italy!

Six weeks from now, I will be reunited with my stuff. For now, I will dream of my comfy pillows while I toss and turn on the cheap ones I purchased for guests years ago!

Moving is all to real now!