Good News and Bad News

Let's start with the good news: We got our Visas from the UK Embassy today!!! Hallelujah! The paperwork to get this thing done was heinous and very strict, but it's over and these beautiful vignettes will be forever glued into our passports. Here they are!

Now for the bad news: We had to part with some more things of high emotional value today, but the bright side to this bad news is that they're all going to the homes of some wonderful people. Our first stop today was to my dear friend Marissa's house to drop off our beloved (well, Audrey's beloved) fish, Molly. Audrey's had quite a hard time dealing with the fact that Molly will not be moving overseas with us, so we arranged for Molly (full name: Molly Gem Smith, who is actually a male betta fish...but who's asking anyway) to be adopted by her sweet little friend Rynnie. Audrey's at peace knowing that her fish is with a fellow princess and I'm just glad that Marissa won't be able to go a day without seeing the fish and thinking about me...especially when the tank needs a good cleaning! Here's Rynnie bonding with her new fish! Isn't she a beauty?!

Our second stop today was to the home of the funniest couple we know. I met Riquesha two and a half years ago on Audrey's first day of dance class with Miss Nicole. While I knew she was a little wacky and definitely had a few screws loose, I was charmed. A six year-old, a one year-old, and twin boys on the way--all while juggling a full time job...this lady can do it all. It was a little sad disassembling the crib that Audrey and Dorian both spent the first couple years of their lives sleeping in, but I was more than happy to send it off to the Evins family and keep that bed filled with awesome babies. Here are Quick and Riquesha (and Riquesha's stomach)!

And here is Audrey having an impromptu playdate with Ori. I love these girls!

I guess if you take bad news and add great friends to the equation, you end up with good times anyway. I'll take it!

The Plague of 2013

I didn't get lazy these past few days of non-blogging...I got the plague, otherwise known as the worst stomach flu ever. When Dorian and Audrey were sick these past couple of weeks, I often told Stegen that I felt so bad for our babies and I just wished I understood what kind of pain they were in so that I could help relieve it. Well, wish granted. Stegen and I got knocked down by the flu and suffered severe stomach pains accompanied by vomiting and...other things you don't need details on! It's a good thing I got our movers to push back the date of packing and loading into the shipment containers--this weekend was a bust. 

Our Visas were approved on Friday and we should be getting them delivered by UPS tomorrow (hooray!). Our final pack & load date is scheduled for October 7th and 8th, with a flight date of October 9th. Just ten short days left in the United States...and I'm definitely starting to feel the separation anxiety. My good friend Marissa sent me this text last week and helped me get through a fleeting moment of sadness. Thanks, Mariss!

 
On another note, we finally got ourselves emotionally ready to list our wonderful Odyssey for sale on AutoTrader. As Stegen says (at least 3 times a day), "Man, that's a good car." It's hard to say goodbye to the car that we took both kids home from the hospital in, but we were ready to pass it on to another good family...until Annette happened. This is the email that I got after I replied to an inquiry through AutoTrader about the van:

Buy a car you've never seen and pay for it through PAYPAL?! I'm glad Stegen was sketched out and forced me to do a little research before agreeing and giving her our paypal info--turns out these types of emails are used verbatim all the time to scam people into giving out their paypal account information...which seems fine, until they take all of your money! Thanks a lot, Annette. I trusted you...a little.

Anyway, on a happier note, we got a package from GG and Papa who are currently leaving Disney World and headed for their Western Caribbean cruise. They got Audrey and Dorian some cute luggage tags and these awesome trading pins! 

Thank you GG & Papa! Have a wonderful time on your cruise!
 
 

Goodbye, FasTrak. It's been real.

Today I drove Stegen to the office in San Francisco. The traffic was awful, but the views were amazing! We were definitely reminded of how lucky we've been to live in the bay area with such easy access to the city and its many landmarks. Here's a shot I snapped (yes, I was in the driver seat, but trust me, we weren't moving) while we sat (and sat) in traffic on The Embarcadero.

Anybody who has ever moved will attest to the fact that moving SUCKS. This international move is triple the monster of our move from Newark to Union City. It's almost like when you pack for a big trip out of the country and while you're at the airport, you realize you've forgotten to bring your passport...and your underwear. Yeah, just like that...except there's something new I've forgotten every day!

Yesterday, it dawned on me that we needed to cancel our FasTrak account. How it occurred to me is still a mystery, but I'm glad it did. Those bad boys would cost us $20 a piece if we lost them and for some odd reason, we had three! Definitely worth the morning traffic drama to SF. So goodbye for now, FasTrak...your velcro strips never worked on our windshield and we nearly crashed each time we tried to simultaneously hold you up while speeding through the narrow toll, but you've been good to us.

I sure hope there aren't too many more things I'm forgetting to cancel...and if there are, I hope they dawn on me soon!

The positive side of sitting through traffic today was that Stegen got to hang with some of his favorite co-workers in the Townsend office. I know he'll miss seeing these guys (once every three months...haha), but 3-5 years will fly by and another happy reunion will be in the works soon enough!

                                               From left to right: Kendall, King, Stegen, Ken, Wesley


Update on our move: We're trying to push off the movers until October 7-8 so that we have the next weekend to pack our suitcases. For now, they're scheduled to come pack us up October 3-4...that's NEXT WEEK!!!!!!!

Update on shipment goods: Still a no-go on the massive amounts of french vanilla foaming handsoap refills that I've hoarded over the years...but we got the green light on the 8 packs of Clorox sanitizing wipes that I stocked up on! Hooray for small victories!

Air VS Sea Dilemma

Before I start my rant about this whole international moving company problem, I just want to let everyone know that Audrey is feeling a bit better, but still having random bouts of stabbing pain in her stomach. Stegen is convinced that it's the recent flu vaccination that's messed the kids up. We kept her home from school today and might have to keep her home again tomorrow.

(Start of rant)
So Adobe has so kindly given us an air shipment container as well as a sea shipment container to ship our furniture and other belongings to England. They're also putting us up in fully furnished corporate housing for the first 30 days before we need to find a permanent, unfurnished home to move to. The air container shipment takes 4-6 weeks to arrive in England and the sea container takes...wait for it...8-12!! We were advised to use the air container for things that we'll need right away--like pots/pans, extra clothing, and toys.

If your thought process is anything like mine, you're probably assuming they meant to add in "beds" to that list, but maybe just forgot. Well, no. The air container is only 95 cubic feet and can't even hold one bed! So what happens after the 30 days of housing are over and we move to our unfurnished home? Do we sleep on the floor for another 30 days before our beds will (maybe) arrive?

 Thankfully, our relocation agent assured us that she'd try to get us approval for some rental furniture, should our goods not arrive by the time we move into our new home. WHEW! Good ending to the bed troubles, but customs is giving us another headache. Apparently we aren't allowed to ship any of our spices, canned goods, protein powder, dry goods, or any of the self-foaming hand soap that I've spent weeks trying to accumulate from any and all Targets that had them in stock. Ay Caramba! Someone, please... get me a martini.

(End of rant)

Reality check

Sometimes I let big events take over my life. I get so focused on tackling that one, big goal, that I ignore the fact that the rest of my life is still happening. With the chaos of the move, I've skipped out on meal prep, park excursions, and leisurely walks to school. Somewhere along the line, I went into survival mode and started tuning out the whining from the kids--until today.

Last week, Dorian spent the week complaining about a tummy ache, which turned into vomiting. We did what we could to make him comfortable and soon enough, he was all better. So when Audrey started complaining two days ago of a tummy ache, I figured she had either caught what D had, or was fishing for some attention...I tuned out. (BAD PARENT ALERT)

Turns out Audrey's tummy hurt so bad that she couldn't eat any of her very favorite pancakes. She suffered through school today and was miserable when I took her to the park afterwards. When we got home, she disappeared for awhile. Where was she? She'd put herself to bed in fetal position. Something was wrong with my baby and I was too busy organizing the move to notice.

Anyway, she screamed when we touched her belly and would rock back and forth for about 5 minutes before she'd suddenly tell me that she felt much better. Not 15 minutes later, she would turn sheet white again and drop to the ground in pain. I took her to the pediatrician's office and Dr. Burke ruled out appendicitis, but is having me watch her for continued intervals of pain, which may be a sign of what I had as a child: intussusception. So far, it's continued to be a pattern of pain and relief, but I'm hoping she'll feel much better soon.

I'm sure there will be several other instances in my life when I feel like an awful mother, but I've learned my lesson and will definitely work to minimize them. No matter what important opportunities may arise, don't lose sight of the other precious things you already have.

It's the final countdown (yes, you should sing it)!

Well, after a crazy weekend of moving things, tossing things, and stressing out, Audrey, Stegen, and I got up this morning to attend our Biometric Data appointment for our UK Visas. Dorian wasn't required to attend since he's less than 5 years old. The office where they process all this top-secret information reminded me of the DMV, with a bunch of seats in rows, facing a screen with red numbers on it. The only difference was that the people working there didn't scowl at us and make us feel dumb! 

Each of us got fingerprinted and our Visa information was entered into their system. After we finished up, we scoured through our applications, passports, UK photos, and birth certificates, to make sure that everything was in place to be sent over to the British Consulate in New York. This step was crazy stressful and nerve-racking, so the sweet ladies at the Smith Street USPS offered to take a photo of the three of us, getting ready to send off our important documents! And don't fret--Dorian's docs are in there too :)

We had a few minutes to spare before Stegen had to get back to work, so we shot over to Costco to pick up another mattress for Dorian's top bunk of his new bunk bed. For some reason, stores like Sleep Train and Mancini's Sleepworld sell twin mattresses (without boxspring) for over $400! Costco has their Sealy Dearborne twin 10" for only $149...either Costco is really awesome, or an unfortunate guest is going to have a sore back when they visit us in England and bunk with Dorian! Anyway, leave it to Audrey to get some R&R anywhere she can!

 

What the rain?!

U-haul truck: check. Cousin muscles: check. Clear skies: WHAT HAPPENED?? We had our coffee brewing, the good moving vibes flowing, and BAM! Pouring rain. Good thing we were surrounded by awesome cousins who stayed with us for over 12 hours, slaving away. Here's a picture of them "working" on wrapping up our giant dining table. How many guys does it take to wrap that thing anyway?!

After hours of wrapping (and standing around), we decided it was time to hit the pause button and break for lunch. This is why my cousins are my heroes today...they custom wrapped all of our precious furniture that we aren't bringing to England, dealt with my random demands, somehow threw our couch downstairs without dropping it, and STILL had smiles on their faces. Here are Sean-E and Kevin ready to dart through the rain.

We took the boys (and Joanna joined us!) to Texas Roadhouse where everyone gathered some strength with a juicy ribeye each. 

From left to right: Stegen, Bo Gongles, Kevin, Johann, Sean-E, Joanna

Even with the rain drenching us from head to toe (and you know Stegen and I were in our favorite sandals), these guys pulled it together and got the upstairs couch over to my mom's and everything else in the truck. Storage moving part 1 is done...not really looking forward to tomorrow! 

Sidenote: Jonathan, Sean, and Joanna are STILL here putting together Dorian's bunkbed. 

All I can say is this: You guys are amazing and we love you all. 

Goodbye, sweet bed.

Well, tonight is the night. We're scheduled to move into our storage unit this weekend, which means it's time to break down our wonderfully wide, roomy, spacious (get the point?) cal-king bed, and get used to sleeping on the queen downstairs...move over, Stegen!!

It's been very interesting house-hunting for homes in England. Most listings for detached family homes--for the same price as our 2,700 square foot house--are averaging about 900 square feet...say what?? The houses usually have 2 double bedrooms and a single bedroom, which would only fit a skinny twin bed and leave just a sliver of walking room to get to the door. The most common bed size in the UK is a double. Their "king" size is our "queen" size, and our "king" is their "super king". One article online gave me a good chuckle when it suggested that more people are upgrading to queen sized beds and willing to crab walk around it, just so they have a few extra inches of sprawl space...welp, that'll be me. Better get my crab walk on!

So, goodbye for now, bed and accompanying furniture. You won't be forgotten.

And the winner is: Storage Pro!

We finally decided on a self-storage company, signed the paperwork, and got our keys today! 

 
Searching for the perfect storage unit was way harder than we could've imagined. The most important thing we learned from this experience? All storage facilities are not created equal. Almost every business we looked into either had crazy prices for small spaces, or decent prices for molding units with customer service that lacked, well...service. While visiting one of these molding/rat-friendly facilities, the office manager mentioned that they have the best prices, but if we were looking for something "nicer", we had better check out Storage Pro. (I think that was an unintentional advertisement for the other guys!)

Long story short, I blasted over to Storage Pro. I didn't even need to see an actual unit to know that this was it...our junk would have a safe, clean, beautiful new space to call home for the next three years! Ahh...I could finally relax for a bit...until we faced our next challenge: clearing out our closets! Looks like Matt (Stegen) had a little too much fun trying on my blazer.

 

Ducks in a row...slowly

It's been about 6 months since we first started having conversations about the possibility of moving abroad to England. Last week, we finally completed our paperwork for our Visas with Ernst & Young and started corresponding with Kati, the Global Relocation Specialist assigned to us from Altair. Since those conversations happened, things have really picked up (as have stress levels!). Kati sent us a crazy, huge list of "to-do's" and we've been trying to tackle them one (or five) at a time. While I'm stressed beyond words, there is seriously something so euphoric about crossing things off of a LONG checklist--lord, I'm sick!

One of the main things we needed to do before moving was to get final check-ups for all four of us (physical, dental, vision) and obtain all of the records. Since time in the US is a precious commodity for us right now, we had to schedule our dental appointment for 6:30 this evening. Good thing our dentist is also our friend...he left his baby girl and beautiful wife to clean our teeth for over 3 hours!! Thanks Dr. T! I'm happy to report that we're all cavity-free and finally home.

Here's a picture of Matt (Stegen) getting his teeth cleaned by Dr. T. with the kids hovering close by in case he got too scared.