Category Archives: Moving Experiences
The Gnomes Have Landed
My brother is visiting, and kindly offered to help bring home bags of garden soil and other necessities from the hardware store. So, yesterday I set about getting the terrace in order. It faces southwest, and gets full sun for several hours a day, so yay! I can plant some veggies! I’ve picked up a […]
Just This Side of Chaos
I must say, this side is much better than the other side! Which is where we were last week, packing up all our earthly goods to move across town. Yes, it is a mid-tour move! I went into the reasons we were moving a few weeks ago, so I won’t repeat them here. Even though this […]
Never a Dull Moment
A lot going on around here. Next week, we move to a new apartment. Which is, on the whole, a positive development, but also a major hassle. We’ll get it done, but of course I’d just as soon not have to! Everything in the house is sort of lying around half-sorted at the moment. I […]
We’re Movin’ On Up!
Just got the email everyone in the Foreign Service needs to hear at some point: “your housing board appeal has been approved!” Yes, it is slightly insane to move one year into a three-year tour. But we’re going to do what we have to do. I’m thinking one intense week of moving-related activity. Like a […]
Getting it DONE
There are probably some people out there who enjoy feeling like they are in a constant state of transition. I am not one of those people. I freakin’ hate moving. I usually have my HHE unpacked in two or three days. Not perfectly unpacked, but I want those boxes out of my sight as soon […]
Prague 2.0
So, two weeks after my arrival in Vienna, my husband is still not at post! Right now,after much confusion involving three different doctors plus M/MED, it look like he will be flying over late next week. Meanwhile, he’s twiddling his thumbs in a hotel room on medevac status while we get settled. It’s the complete […]
First Day Out in Vienna
Finally arrived with Conehead Kitty in Vienna on Friday, after negotiating several airline issues. A long and boring story, but I will note that I think it’s pretty sleazy that airlines charge you an “extra baggage fee” for a cabin cat, then insist that the cat is one of two normally allowed carry-ons. Exactly what […]
Coming Up for Air
I was at dinner with my husband tonight and noticed that hey, this was the first night in I can’t remember how long that I haven’t been totally exhausted by dinnertime. In fact, I feel pretty much normal, and I’m not scaring myself when I look in the mirror anymore. Awesome. We’ve been taking it […]
Yep, That’s Three…
Packout went well, considering the husband couldn’t do anything that involved standing or moving around. We had a great Salvadoran crew that got everything out of the house in less than three days. After all the horror stories I have been hearing about moving companies lately, I was relieved to see how obviously competent they […]
Waiting on Number Three
Good and bad things come in threes, or so the saying goes. Packers come tomorrow, and we’re waiting for number three. I thought I was so on top of things, and yesterday, what did I do? Leave my purse in a shopping cart at Target! Picture a calm–almost smug–ride home with a car full of […]
Bye-Bye Kitty
Finally, after weeks of beating the bushes, putting up flyers, and sending out emails to everyone I know in the DC area, it looks like I have found a home for our cat, Mocha. We’ll miss her, but it’s the right choice for everyone. Even my son, who is not at all happy about this […]
Time for Top Tens!
Three weeks and counting! Made a couple of mental lists while driving around the ‘burbs today. Top Ten Things I Won’t Miss about NoVA 1.) Women in minivans yakking on cell phones. Going ten miles under the speed limit and/or making very slow, wide left turns with one hand. You know who you are. 2.) […]
I May Be Getting Too Old For This
Well, after three weeks of flat-out, knock-down, drag-out work on this new house, I am tired. Dog tired. Plumb worn out. Beat. Completely knackered. Apparently, there is a difference between renovating a house before age 40 and after age 40. DUH, you say. Well, now, give me a break here. It’s my first time. I […]
ADHD and the Foreign Service Part Five: And They All Lived Happily Ever After (Even With ADHD)
Wow, big week! On Monday, we closed on that little fixer-upper I’ve been on about. It was an intercultural experience. The sellers were an older Iranian couple who were apparently under the impression that there is no such thing as a done deal. Everything is negotiable, even at settlement–and even with your own agent! It […]
There’s a Term for This – And It Starts With “Cluster”
We live in Reston, the Mauve-Colored New Town on the Potomac. There are many good reasons to like the place. So many that we decided to buy another house here to move back to after Vienna. We’re really happy about that decision. But it can get a little weird. The whole town (of something like […]
ADHD and the Foreign Service Part Four: Things Are Looking Up (Sort Of)
Well, the short story is that we are going to Vienna. Much rejoicing! School number two did finally get back to us with a letter thanking us AGAIN for our “honesty.” ( I swear, we must be the most honest parents in the expat universe.) And stating that they will admit our son, but will […]
Timing is Everything
Taking a little break from blogging about special ed issues to write about something that is actually going right in my life. The prologue to this is that we still don’t know where we’ll be in July. And won’t know for at least a few more days. But, I have a project! That little ugly […]
Top Ten Ways I Can Tell We Are Moving
About a year before packout: I start looking at stuff with a beady eye. Do I really want to pack/unpack that again? Can I sneak it out of the house when no one is looking? Can I sucker a freecycler into taking it? Can I take it to my stitch and bitch group and hope […]
My Son, the Axe Murderer
OK, let’s just get this out there. Special needs kids and the Foreign Service don’t mix. If anyone tells you they do, run like hell. In the opposite direction. Step 1 of the bidding cycle (after getting a full psychological evaluation required by MED that notably does not mention “axe-murderer”): get your officer to make […]
How to Make a TCK Without Even Trying
What kind of mama would be thrilled that her teenage son broke up with (or was possibly dumped by) his girlfriend? Answer: a Foreign Service mama who is scheduled to leave for post in four months. Now, there was really nothing wrong with this girlfriend. She seemed perfectly nice. They lived quite a distance apart, […]
How to Spend Per Diem: Lesson 101
So, after you “pack out” for a State Department move, you get ten days of per diem so you don’t have to live on the street while you do your consultations, change your telephone bill over to the renters, invite your friends over to drink up all your leftover unshippable booze, etc. You could use […]
Are We Insane?
I was sitting in our therapist’s office this afternoon attempting to “therapize” with a 15 year old who is quite naturally and thoroughly pissed off about the upcoming move. Let’s just say that this is being expressed in a variety of ways. The earring and eyeliner we are cool with but the academic part may […]
The Big Leap
The sign says it all. After over six years in the Mauve-Colored New Town on the Potomac, we are getting ready to pack out once again. And, I am actually thrilled OK with it. No, really, I am. For various reasons, which range from being not all that well-suited to cul-de-sac life, to being […]
