Getting Ready

In less than four weeks time Nate and I will be flying to Munich with a toddler and 2 cats. The cats will be tucked underneath the seat in front of us as carry ons, hopefully sleeping from their chicken flavored liquid sedative. Yup, we are going to be "that" family. Fingers crossed I'm only cleaning Lily's poop on our flights.

Of all the things that are taking up our time packing up our Portland life, selling what we need to sell is our biggest time sink and we are selling a lot....treadmill, couches, grill, both cars, stereo and TV, and that's not even half of it. Craigslist is awesome but wow, I had forgotten how much time it can suck up with managing interest, usually flaky interest.

From getting the cats "certified" to move to Germany to travel logistics (when should moving company come and how many days does that mean we stay in a hotel and which hotel that is cat friendly), we've been working on closing things from memberships to bank accounts to cell phones to credit cards to subscriptions and shopping more than usual. Did you know jeans and running shoes are as crazy expensive as gas is compared to the US? Also, good tasting peanut butter, baking chocolate chips, brown sugar, over the counter medication for kids, and even pancake mix is really hard to find?

I'd like to spend less time tackling a to do list and more time hanging out with friends. I am very much aware what amazing friends I've been blessed with here and how lonely I'm about to feel for what might be quite a while. As I get older, I get grumpier about having to tackle the friend "dating" scene again. I love meeting new people yet I am more than satisfied with the friends I have and will miss that comfort I so often feel hanging out with good friends here.

When I want to procrastinate with what needs to be done, I go to google maps and go to Munich and do two things. 1) Type in our new address on Maistrasse and explore the stores and shops and sights nearby. Seeing how close we are by foot to Oktoberfest and Marienplatz does make me smile. We live in a great location that visitors should want to come to... hint hint hint. 2) Type in European cities of interest to me. I had no idea Venice was less than 6 hours away and Zurich only 3. Cool.

I'll leave you with a recent picture of Lily that reminds me a little bit of how I'm feeling these days - zoning out a bit more than usual and having hair raising moments.

i