Countdown to Reality

Today Luke and I went to the moving truck and put up the plywood retainer wall that will separate our stuff from some commercial load that is Virginia-bound. We are officially one week away from stepping onto an airplane headed back to reality. (In this case, reality is Charlottesville, VA).

After four months of life on a ship, and two months of living with Luke's mom in Salem, we're off to start our ordinary day to day life up again. I'm anxious and excited in equal measure. Floating out here in non-reality, where both of us stay at home all day with the kids, where we pay no bills, and where the kitchen really does seem to clean itself magically if you let stuff sit too long, I have been able to avoid the fact that we are about to be in a completely new place making a completely new life. I think we are headed for a big shock.

The craziest thing for me has been the reality that I have no idea what I might do in Charlottesville. Starting a career from scratch in a place I am so unfamiliar with sort of makes me feel like I am without bearing - it is really overwhelming. I have a feeling it may be awhile before I get settled into something, but I just keep telling myself that in five years I will look back and say, "now see, that all worked out for the best, didn't it?" So, score one more point for Melanie Jones and her magical thinking.

The most useful thing I've learned in the past six months is that there are scores of things that I don't really need and ultimately don't care about. All of the stuff that we are shipping to Virginia is just stuff. Being separated from it for six months has provided some necessary detachment. I'm sure this will come in handy during the unpacking phase, because we already heard lots of broken glass when moving all of our boxes from the storage unit onto the Virginia-bound truck.

The most exciting thing is that we (fingers-crossed) are buying our first house in Charlottesville. If all goes as planned, we will close on a home on July 8th. This will be the first time that we have had a place that didn't share walls with a neighbor, or that had a real yard with grass. It even has central heat and air. This new development has me completely over the moon, HGTV-obsessed (the cable is free in non-reality, should you ever have an excuse to visit), and watching Craigslist like a hawk for just the right couch to come available in Charlottesville. I don't think I did a very thorough job of nesting with Abi or Lily either one - they were both born at very transition-y times in our lives. Maybe that nesting instinct just goes dormant if you don't fully exercise it, and then explodes all over the first opportunity there is to express it. That's my explanation of what is going on in my mind right now... like we are going to walk into our house and I am just going to blow up and leave smears of fuschia paint all over the girls walls. (It's just a metaphor...don't worry.)

The house-buying process was pretty uneventful, but still one of the most nerve-racking processes we have ever been through together. We were working on a 30 day timeline, and everything needed to happen very fast. I never imagined I could get so emotional over a house, as logical Melanie knows that a house is just a place to sleep, eat, and wash up like a Motel 6 or something. Of course, I also never imagined I could get so emotional over a baby. So there you go. Houses and babies both make me cry and stay awake all night. I guess I am waaaay more normal than anyone ever imagined.

I think that is all for now.

Moving Tips: Driving your Moving Van Through a Snow Storm

Well, we just had the moving trip from you-know-where, and I learned a lot I did not know about moving vans, and moving in the snow. Thankfully, we arrived safely in Oregon after an epic journey. Those Oregon Trail pioneers have nothing on us!

Enjoy the fruits of our inexperience! These snow moving tips are free!

Tip #1- Charge your cellphones-and bring a car charger: If you are moving in a snow storm, a six hour drive can quickly turn into a 20 hour non-stop driving marathon. Cellphone batteries will not survive that long.

Tip #2-Make sure all parties involved in the moving experience have the numbers, addresses, and map directions for wherever you are going written down on paper: Having information stored in a cell-phone isn't enough if it is dead.

Tip #3a-If you plan on making a winter move, ask the moving company what tire size your moving truck will have so you can purchase chains ahead of time: Purchasing tire chains a week into a record snowfall year is nearly impossible, and expensive. Buy your chains from some place that allows you to return them. If you don't need them, then you can take them back.

Tip #3b-Have the person at the chain store show you exactly how to put the chains on: This saved me a lot of time and trouble while putting chains on in a parking lot in the freezing cold with a crying baby in the moving van.

Tip #3c-When taking the chains off of your moving van tires, undo the inside first and the outside second: If you undo the outside first, there is a good chance that your chains will slip onto the axle between the dual tires, and you will have to get under the moving van, yank, curse, reverse-forward-reverse-forward, etc.

Tip #3d-If the improper installation/removal of your tire chains results in multiple flat tires, fear not: Call the moving company with your handy charged cell-phone and they will send someone to help you out.

Tip #4-If moving in a snow storm, never let your gas tank drop below half-full: When moving in a snow storm, you may find yourself stuck on the interstate for five hours or more without an opportunity to exit. Once you finally exit to fill up, the gas stations might all be out of gas, because the gas trucks are stuck in a parking lot, which was known as I-5 better weather, and won't be in for days.

Tip #5-The following items should be stored so they can be easily accessed from the moving truck: Hammer, broom, pliers, de-icer, blankets, food, drinks, movies, shovels, kitty-litter, and anything else that could be used to fight snow, exhaustion, and malfunctioning truck parts.

Our epic moving adventure included two flat tires, two dead cell phones, one motel room, one truck out of gas, three tire chain installs, one all nighter drive, and four very tired Joneses!

However, we made it to Salem finally, and have enjoyed a very relaxing Christmas.

What we would do for four more feet...

I think we can officially say the adventure has begun, even if the journey isn't underway yet. Here is a run-down of how our move is shaping up:

• There has been record snowfall all over the northwest, up to 24 inches in a day! Currently, every road that would take us to Portland is closed at some point, making travel impossible.
• Moving trucks don't come with chains, you have to buy your own. Have you ever tried to buy chains for a moving truck the week after record snow fall hits your region?? I would file that under "do not recommend".
• We have a two bedroom apartment. We got the moving truck recommended for "2-3 bedroom apartment". That 16 foot truck is full, and still doesn't have our daughter's bed, a crib, bookshelves, washer/dryer, bikes, car tires or a room full of boxes in it yet. (I'm calling today to get the storage unit one size higher than the one recommended for "2-3 bedroom apartment" -- apparently we don't fit the mold!)
• We are now renting an additional 14 foot moving truck with car tow one day prior to a move.
• And we took our children to the doctor yesterday and both have ear infection/runny nose grossness.

So, it has been an adventure! Thanks to the help of many friends and my mom we were able to pack almost everything into the first van yesterday, and thankfully there was no snow falling during the drive to pick up the van from Spokane or during the moving party. Despite the fact there are no cooking utensils left in the house, we have yet to miss out on a home-cooked meal thanks to the support of many friends.

I'm keeping my mind on the day a week from now when everything will be tucked away in storage, neither of us will be working, and there will be nothing to do but spend time with family and relax!

Moving Day???!

Here's the story. We planned our move so that we could leave sometime around the 21st -- we would just pick a day when it wasn't snowing. Ha! It has snowed every day since Wednesday, with no sign of letting up any time soon. This means we have to add another item to our moving budget -- chains for a moving truck, to the tune of $100. Hopefully we can turn around and sell those puppies fast, as it looks like it should be a pretty snowy winter.

We have family coming in and going out to help with the move, but the airport has been closed on and off on either end. If my mother-in-law doesn't get here with chains for our car, then we may be unable to move until roads are reopened, as there are checkpoints to make sure tires have chains and travel without chains is not allowed for part of our trip at the moment. We could go buy chains ourselves...but they are all sold out everywhere. So, we may be knocking at your door sometime in the upcoming week as our whole house is almost packed and we are out of an apartment as of the 23rd.

Please pray for our safe travel!

Semester at Sea Itinerary Change for Spring 2009 Voyage

I updated our itinerary to reflect the changes that have been made recently. Our ship is no longer sailing through the Gulf of Aden due to pirate activity there. Recently a cruise ship was chased by pirates with guns. As 17 ships are currently held by pirates in the Gulf of Aden, I'm not that disappointed to miss out on the pirate infested waters. However, pirates, if you are reading this I am so mad at you for making me miss out on a trip to Egypt. We just watched the Swiss Family Robinson - we know how to take care of pirates. Watch out. Any pirate that stands in the way of me and a bowl of gelato better have made peace with his maker.

For the non-pirate audience, this change of itinerary means the itinerary no longer includes Italy, Turkey, or Egypt. Instead we will travel all the way around Africa and sail to Morocco, Namibia, South Africa and Mauritius. I think that is an alright consolation prize! We'll have to do some more investigation into kids activities in each of those countries, but I already have a few things in mind for adult activities -- maybe this time we can have a case of wine shipped back from Stellenbosch!

I am writing from Oklahoma. We're visiting my family before we make our big move. Abi is going to stay with my parents in Oklahoma from the 13th until the 17th. This will give us a little time to pack up without her help. (Not that she isn't an exceptionally helpful three year old, but sheesh, she's a three year old!) In just one week, we will be throwing all of our worldly posessions into the back of a moving truck and heading for Oregon.

Last Day of Work

I can hardly believe it! I finished up at work today, and now what am I? A world traveler? A stay-at-home mom? A bum? I’m not really sure what I’ll be, but when I wake up tomorrow I won’t be a secretary anymore, and I’m excited to see what life looks like from a new angle!

When I graduated from high school, I felt like the future was horizon in every direction with an endless array of opportunities spread before me. Life, while good, hasn’t had that feeling of possibility for a little while now. At the present moment, it is energizing to start thinking about life in that way again.

My office had a farewell party last night, which I will hopefully post some pictures of eventually. It was the beginning of the “lasts” in Pullman, which are difficult. Having lived here since 2001, and this being the only home our kids have had, it is surreal to imagine waking up some day in December and not being able to connect with our network of people anymore. In the past 7 years our family has been changed and influenced by so many wonderful people. I want to take them all with me.

I guess this is the ever-present battle between roots and wings – it can be difficult to have both at the same time.

The Moving Truck...and other shameless plugs

It's official -- after two days on the phone and some wheelin' and dealin' by Luke and I, we've got the moving truck scheduled. In the process, I stumbled on a website that I think rocks! If you are ever about to purchase something, go to http://www.retailmenot.com/ first! People post codes for coupons, and you just enter the name of a store you want to shop at and see what comes up. When I was buying stuff for a baby shower, I put in "Babies-R-Us" and got a code for an automatic 20% off my order. As I've browsed I found coupons for airline tickets, hotels, and almost any retail store. Especially if you are about to purchase something on-line anyway, it makes sense to check and see if you can find a code to use before you check-out.

There is more than just coupons though. When I put in the names of the moving companies we were considering, there were some instructions for getting your cost lowered. Not a coupon per se, just a strategy of using the phone to make your reservation, getting your second-favorite mover down to a low price, and then seeing if your favorite mover will match it. In the end, we saved $70 off our first quote, and got to keep the truck for three extra days.

In a coupon-related note, if you are in the market for disposable or cloth diapers, or really anything for a baby/toddler, consider going to http://www.diapers.com. Despite the diaper-specific name, the store is really more like a Babies-R-Us. My daughter's daycare gets a discount for every new customer that enters referral code PCCC. The code gets you an automatic $10 off your order of $50, plus free shipping. I thought they just carried disposable diapers, but they actually sell all kinds of products for kids for very reasonable prices. Once you place an order, you'll get a referral code that will save you money when people use it. How awesome is that!

Vacating Instructions

We just received instructions for cleaning our apartment when we move out. There are a few from the list that have me worried...

VACATING INSTRUCTIONS:

"Upon termination and vacation, restore the premises to their initial condition, except for reasonable wear and tear." For the record, I think everything about the time Abi tried to color her wall red was reasonable -- she was just learning how to color at the time. And the door I damaged when I tried to pry it open after she locked me outside in my underwear -- I think we can all agree that any effort to pry open a door when you are locked outside in your underwear is "reasonable". Surely we won't have to pay for that.

-Remove ALL personal contents from unit (including cupboards and closets) As we work on this task, I am noticing that many of our "personal contents" are being removed straight to the dumpster...at least it is removed from the unit, right?

-Wash windows inside and outside. I can do inside. Outside...umm, we're moving in December. We can see through our windows. I hope that will be good enough.

-Clean all blinds; launder and iron ALL curtains and replace. I'm one step ahead on that one - I took down the blinds and curtains when we got here. They are zip tied and ironed in a a closet because I hate cleaning blinds.

-Strip, wash and re-wax all vinyl floors (including under range and refrigerator). I had to google "strip and wax floors". For the record, much of what came out of that search was not appropriate for children. I did learn that the liklihood of me ever stripping and waxing a floor was somewhere near 0%.

Everything else I think I can handle -- cleaning the oven, the light fixtures, the walls, carpets and cupboards are not above my cleaning repertoire. However, I believe none of those things have been done more than once during our three years in this place! I think we should probably move every 3 years for the rest of our lives. That way the oven will get cleaned, the cupboards and walls wiped down, and the closets emptied at least once every three years. When we buy a house and settle down someday, I am going to ask my landlord to send us this list every year!