Adiós, Worldly Possessions!

It’s been a little unexpected around here lately. – Since the movers decided to not show up on the day they were scheduled to come and pack, load and transport our household goods. That’s what they call all your worldly possessions in the military – “Household Goods.”  And if they’re gettin’ fancy, just HHG.  You can always count on them to make up an acronym.  They have whole manuals dedicated to decoding them.  But, I digress.  

Cheety doesn't know what to make of 
all the activity. - Just that it's very 
untrustworthy!

Anyway, somebody along the way dropped the ball on when the movers were scheduled to come, so we had to re-schedule them for the following week after they were originally supposed to come.  Which actually worked out better, since we were in no way ready for them to converge on the house and start doing their thing.  And our total lack of preparation has nothing at all to do with the fact that my main priority the weekend before was lying by the pool and drinking beers.  Somehow doing any of the 500 things that needed to be done to get ready wasn’t as important.  Eh, it happens.  

So, here we are.  We got an extra week with all our things, and now we’ll only have to house camp for 1 week instead of 2.  Sounds good to me - everyone wins.  It took me a little while to get to that point, though.  At first I was completely irritated and genuinely pissed off that it wasn’t going as planned.  I’m better now.  Let’s hear it for forced flexibility when one of your default traits is being rigid.

Hubby With Gene, one of our impressively efficient movers & a Tower o' Boxes in the kitchen

So at the moment, I'm sitting on the tiny island free of chaos that is our couch. (With a very concerned Pugbull by my side.) They're wrapping and packing today, and loading should start tomorrow.  That's good, because that means I don't have to get up yet.  And so it begins.

Bedroom Anarchy

He has to be thinking, "Well, my bed USED to be here."

House Camping

So, it’s upon us.  The movers will be here on Tuesday, and they’ll start packing and wrapping every single thing we own.  I’m not kidding.  They literally wrap everything.   I’ve told this story over and over, but it’s worth repeating because it’s just absurd.  During our last move - I mean bubble wrap fest 2009 - the guy who was tackling our kitchen decided that the dirty dish that was in the sink – which included a little bit of leftover Thai noodles from lunch – was something he needed to wrap up and pack.  Including the noodles.  Without taking a moment to think, hmmm, maybe I should ask them if they want to wash it before I pack it up.  Let’s just say I had a little surprise when we were unpacking the kitchen a few weeks later.   Really, who packs dirty dishes?   

Despite that little tid-bit, the movers are a major perk of the military move.  You don’t have to worry about packing or transporting anything.  They come and do it all.  They supply all the boxes and packing material, they bring the truck, they pack every last item, hoof all your crap out to the truck, load it, and they transport it to your next destination.  It no doubt takes some of the stress and irritation out of moving, so I guess I can give a pass to any dirty dishes that might get swooped up, wrapped and packed away.   Actually, I think I’ll just make sure all the dishes are clean before they even get here!

Needles to say, job number one for this weekend will be deciding what we don’t want the movers to pack and setting it aside.  Which will be a little bit more challenging than in the past, because we’ll be driving for pretty much the entire month of June.  Yes, we’re driving from Key West, FL to Homer, Alaska. - And then taking a ferry from Homer to Kodiak Island.  No, we haven’t lost our minds.  I’m actually looking forward to it.  It’s going to be a once in a lifetime trip and I can’t wait to see what we stumble across on the journey.  Like moose! (and Lord knows what else when we get into the real deal Canadian wilderness)  I’ll definitely share some pictures of all the non-standard wildlife we’re bound to see on the drive.  We’re also planning on a bunch of pit-stops all along the way to visit with friends and family before we disappear into the great white north.  I’m really looking forward to seeing everyone again.

But, the month of travel means we have to think a little bit more about what we need to hold back for the road trip and traveling all that time.  Like Clorox wipes.  (yes, that's actually one of the first things I thought of. - Cleaning supplies)  You think I’m not going to Clorox wipe every last hotel room remote we come into contact with?  Just do a little google search.  You’ll see.  It’s beyond icky.  

Aside from my germaphobe tendencies, we also need to account for the last two weeks we’ll be here in our house in Key West.  Hence, the name of this post.  We’ll pretty much just have our clothes/toiletries, an air mattress, a laptop, and some camping cookware to hold us over until we hit the road.  I’ve finally convinced myself that we don’t need a full place setting for both of us and that paper plates and bowls are the way to go for a couple of weeks.  What?  I like dishes.  ;)  It’ll be like a really long picnic.  But, I have to hold back at least one wine glass.  If I don’t have to drink wine from a plastic cup, I definitely don’t want to!  Priorities.  So, now is about the time I need to get off this couch and get my act together.  

Cheety's ready for the movers to come.  :)