Saturday

Welp, today is the Big Day. Our apartment is in shambles and has the distinct aroma of Lysol Wipes (lemon AND original - we got the two-pack). I'm sitting on the only piece of real estate that could fit my voluminous butt, which is the corner of the bed. I'm surrounded by boxes and bags of yarn I never got around to using, a picnic basket, a wicker trash can, and an empty suitcase.

On the couch next to me is Aaron's laptop, about seven DVD spindles (three of them empty), two big piles of books/notebooks/folders we're keeping, the entire contents of Aaron's side of the dresser, and a copy paper box filled with "stuff" I need to go through. From here I can see Gran's lemon painting, a sewing kit and a pair of socks sticking out of that box.

It's time for a break, so I'm chomping on some Texas Toast. My suitcase is on the floor in the middle of the living room, open and overflowing. I can hear the bathroom door squeaking, so I guess Aaron is cleaning in there or something.

There are photos and pictures and plaques on the walls. There are still two Australian flags stapled up as well. I haven't even done laundry or dishes in about two or three days, which is adding to the pile-up.

Packing is one of those things you think you can easily do in like a day or a weekend, but it ends up taking four times as long. And it's gross. So far my favorite part of today was taking the TV off the stand to find a Buggy Graveyard. So gross.

"Alright!" Aaron has just declared with an air of accomplishment.

"Alright what?" I ask.

"I got the back of the TV off." Aaron just walked from Addy's room to the kitchen. He then went back to Addy's room holding the vacuum cleaner. I half-expected him to be carrying a fire extinguisher, a la Buster Bluth. And now he's vacuuming out all the dust and bugs from the TV. The TV is going to Nora and Anna. :)

My toast is all gone now, so I should get back into it. I have been taking photos randomly, so hopefully I can figure out how to post up some of them soon for you.

I made a ticker! :D

That bed

Well, I finally took apart Addy's bed. She's been sleeping in my bed a lot for the past few weeks, so I thought why not. All I can say is, I'm glad I never have to put that bastard together ever again. Sure it's been a great bed for four years, but I am not sorry to see it go.

Downsizing Your Stuff

With two weeks until our lease is up, it seems our Move is going to occur in stages. We're not going directly from here to Australia (although "From Here To Australia" sounds like the sequel of "From Here To Eternity" - except instead of Deborah Kerr and Burt Lancaster rolling around in the sand smooching it up, it's you and a crocodile. There will be no more sequels because the crocodile will eat you).

Okay I lost my train of thought. We're not going directly from our apartment here to my Mum & Dad's place in Australia - we're having a layover at Aaron's parents' place for a few months.

While it's going to be fantastic spending some time with our family, it does pose somewhat of a logistical problem. When one moves, one usually puts things in boxes and moves them from one place to another. In our case, we have to go through all our belongings first and donate or toss about 90% of it. There's no throwing everything in boxes on the last day (I mean, not that I've ever packed in that fashion before...), but rather preceding weeks spent going through every little thing, bringing loads of garbage bags and boxes to Goodwill, bringing more garbage bags to the dumpster, selling stuff on Craigslist, and begging and pleading with friends and coworkers to take some of this stuff off our hands.

It really has been an ongoing process. For those who don't know, our apartment has unfortunately had a problem with roaches. I know, I know, it's gross. Had we not been planning to move to Australia, we would have moved ages ago. But it has been somewhat of a blessing in disguise. From memory I believe Pest Control has been out to spray at least four or five times in the past two years (or as Addy calls them, "the bug boom guys"), and each time, we have to lug all our stuff out of closets and cabinets. So whenever that happened, we were able to toss/donate some stuff that way. Our closets have been virtually bare for a couple of months now, at least. So hooray! One less thing to do!

And for all my laziness ("eh, I'm feeling kind of chubby-tired"), I have actually been doing stuff slowly. When we moved from Eden Prairie, I was a new mother and despite being home with my baby, I did very, very little packing during the lead-up to moving day. To their awesome credit, my in-laws pretty much packed everything for us. And I remember Aunty Jo told me that day, "There's a saying that goes 'How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.'" I've never forgotten it (imagine how gross elephants must taste), and it has been a great mantraphor (see what I did there? It's a metaphor that's also a mantra. WOo!)

So despite having a full-time job and a rare-time husband, this time things are a lot easier. Maybe it's because I'm tossing a lot of stuff, who knows? But things are progressing at a good speed.

What are we keeping? Well, clothes obviously (Australia's laidback but they do frown upon public nudity). Winter clothes do need to be kept for now, which refers back to the logistical problem I mentioned earlier - we can't toss them yet, but we won't need them in Australia. We went through our bookcase and have a giant pile of them to donate or give away (I took a bunch of our old English and Drama texts from Uni to the baristas at my Caribou - it was like seagulls on chips, seriously. One of the baristas still raves to me, every time he sees me, about how awesome all the books are). We do have two boxes of books we're keeping though, plus another one for some of Addy's more beloved books. Aaron has been in the process of importing all our DVDs onto our external hard-drive, rather than take up an entire suitcase with them. We've already donated and tossed about 90% of our kitchen stuff, and most of the rest will have to go too. I do want to bring my Caribou cool drink cup, my Caribou Twin Cities hot drink mug, and my Pine Lake Camps cool drink cup.

I have managed to give away quite a bit already to friends and coworkers. Addy's Legos, dress-ups and play-tent have already found new owners, and there is the possibility of giving away her dresser this weekend. I think I may have given away a floor lamp to a coworker also, and our bookshelf. I also have a box of tiny baby dresses and other cute stuff, and a stroller, to possibly give to a lady at work who has a four-month-old baby. It's just nice to see other people getting to enjoy stuff that has brought us joy too. :)

This has turned into rather a long post, but I wanted to keep you all updated. I'd love to get some comments! Ask me anything :)

The Wondrous Life of Addy Plein

It seems our journey to Australia is more than just going to Australia. Miss Adelaide will be starting school about a week after we arrive.

Now, obviously there's been some kind of mistake. I'm skeptical of the fact that my child is nearly five years old. But if she wants to try and fool the principal at Bordertown Primary, well, be my guest kiddo.

I remember my first day of school. Mum gave me a KIT KAT in my lunchbox, and I thought that was awesome. But I didn't understand the whole recess and lunch thing, so when I went to get something out of my bag, I dug it out and ate it. I don't remember if I got into trouble, but my teacher did have to remind me about when it's okay to eat our food. Stupid lady trying to tell me when to eat My Special Kit Kat. Bet she just wanted some.

Anyway. So as mentioned above, Addy will most likely be going to Bordertown Primary School, which is kind of within walking distance of where we'll be staying (when I say "kind of", I mean it's 2kms/1.25 miles away). She has to have a uniform, a backpack, a lunchbox... all that fun stuff. At least she won't need snow boots, snow pants, winter coat, snow mittens...

Seriously though, I am excited about this next step in the Wondrous Life of Addy Plein. She also wants to take dance lessons ("so I can do my jazz, Mummy"), and I want her to take piano as well. But we'll see what happens. :)

It gets real.

And things continue to get real.

I took a mid-morning trip to the post office to send our first Box Of Stuff (BoS) to Mum and Dad :D

A small box, weighed about 7.2 pounds.

Cost $63.00

*rageface*

But I gritted my teeth and forked over the green. BoS #1 is on its way.

I guess I knew things were going to be expensive, but still. When that price flashes at you from the register, it's all "...well damn."

I should mention also that the other day I ordered some change-of-address business cards from Vistaprint, so I'll be handing those out here, and including them in our Christmas letter this year. :)

What's all this? Susan is starting yet another blog that she'll probably not keep up with? Refreshing!

Hi there! :) I've decided to start keeping a blog again, seeing as the next year is going to be be-zonkers.

Most of you will know this already, but for the scant few who don't, we are MOVING BACK TO AUSTRALIA! *cue fanfare* Rather than continue to say "we'll do it one day", we bit the bullet way back in April and bought some one-tickets for a reasonable price. The past six months have seen me happily dreaming about what life will be like in 2013 for us; the past one month has seen an increase of panic and empty boxes and trips to Goodwill in an effort to donate 90% of our belongings.

"When are you flying out?"

We're heading out on January 18th, and due to the wonders of time travel, will arrive one day later, on January 20th. Our current apartment lease expires in two weeks, so we're actually going to stay with John and Mary from November to January. Just in time for the holidays. :)

"Are you excited?"

Just a little. ;)

"Don't Addy and Aaron have to be citizens?"

Technically no. Aaron's applying for permanent residency (much the way I did - though he'll be staying here for another 5-7 months depending on how long his visa takes), but Addy should have dual citizenship by the time we are ready to leave.

"Waiwaiwait. Aaron's not going with you?"

Not to start with. Believe me, it's not how we pictured it either, and it's far from ideal. But from what we understand, it's a little shady (and maybe not even possible) for him to come over on a Tourist visa, then immediately apply for PR. Plus, if he does come over and has to wait six months or more to be able to work, that's one income we're missing. We're not money-grubbing people, but we need two incomes. If Aaron's able to work non-stop and live in his truck (again, far from ideal), he can make a huge dent in his student loans, which have been a real monkey on his back for the past decade.

Honestly I was really mad when he first approached the topic, and we've had several discussions about it, but ultimately we've decided it's the most feasible option right now, sucky though it is. I've told him he needs to be in Australia no later than October 15, 2013 (our 8th wedding anniversary), and he said he will be. :)

"Where will you live?"

To begin with, we'll live in Bordertown, South Australia, with my parents. Being that Aaron won't be around for a bit, I'll probably find something there for Addy and me to rent while we wait for him :)

"You should move to Adelaide/Murray Bridge/Melbourne!"

Maybe, maybe and maybe. All three are on our shortlist, though we will exhaust all possibilities in Adelaide first.

I'm starting this blog so I can record what's going on for the next three months. It's similar to a travel journal I guess. Let me know if there are any topics you want me to cover, or any questions you want answered :)