Post-it Notes

There is one thing I must have for my moves. I cannot move without Post-it Notes. I have put one on everything we own. There is a Post-it for Sea Shipment to Nigeria, a Post-it for Sea Shipment to storage in Texas and a Post-it for Air Shipments to Nigeria. Canned goods have Post-its, toilet paper has a Post-it...if you sit still long enough, you too will have a Post-it. I like hot pink Post-its...they can not be ignored. Having said that, I can guarantee that there will be an item show up in Nigeria with a bright pink Post-it with "Houston Storage" written on it in wide black sharpie.
Other things that are handy to have for international moves are a moving crew of 4 guys to actually do all the work, a sofa for me to sit on while I supervise my crew and some chocolate bon bons to keep up my morale. Now where did I put my Post-its??

My Pantry is a Warhol Painting

For most of our international moves, we have not been able to bring food with us; however, a move to Africa is the exception. We are told to bring pretty much everything we need for a full year and today was a good day for buying in bulk. I bought obscene amounts of detergent, cream of mushroom soup, printer paper, coffee filters etc. The Velveeta boat must have just unloaded here in Abu Dhabi because the shelves were overflowing with the golden bricks and that was a glorious sight.
I was able to figure out how many pounds of Tide we needed by using a complicated secret algebraic equation that equaled my weight at the end of freshman year....but Tide doesn't expire. A year's supply of Velveeta....hmmm...how much is that? What if I get too greedy and buy too much Velveeta and it expires and I have to throw it away? It is actually like gold and if I'm going to make queso for you in Africa, you have to be pretty special. Just like some people get out their 100 year old brandy for special occasions....that is how I feel about my Velveeta. What if I don't buy enough...can I get it on the black market? Anyway, what if I can't get tortilla chips to dip in the queso? My head is spinning as I come to the ugly reality of how much Velveeta I eat in year....you could build a large wall with my year's supply of Velveeta bricks. Walls of Velveeta and mountains of Tide...this is what packing for Africa looks like.

Anatomy of a move

When I started this blog, I had already settled in here in Abu Dhabi and therefore did not think to share our international moving experiences. I usually like to block those out of my mind as soon as they are over. For this move I will try to document the process to give you an idea of what it takes to move around the world.

It always begins with denial ...
D- Guess what, we are moving to Nigeria
J- That's nice dear. I'm going to the store now, would you like me to pick up anything while I'm out?

one hour to one month later
J - Did you say Nigeria?
D - yes and your physical and vaccination appointment is tomorrow.

After 4 shots, 3 vials of blood and a perscription for a year's supply of malaria pills, denial is still hanging in there

6 weeks later - packing begins - denial starts to be replaced by reality
J- I think I might really be moving to Nigeria
D- Thats right, the packers come tomorrow and you need to write down everything we own and put a value on it.

J- What would you say is the value of your baseball hat collection

D- Priceless

J- I was thinking more around the $5 range...I like to round up the amounts

5 hours later-

J-We have too much stuff. I think I'll get rid of everything a become a minimalist.

D- Don't touch those hats

To Be Continued....

On the Road Again

sing it Willie

When I met my husband 27 years ago, I remember being very impressed by the fact that he owned two suits. I thought, WOW...this guy is really going places. WAS I EVER RIGHT!!! We are in now in the process of packing for a move to Lagos, Nigeria. This will be our 20th move and our 7th country.

If the soundtrack of my life is "On the Road Again", then the Greek myth of my life would have to be Sisyphus. The man is sentenced to an eternity of rolling a rock up a hill only to have it roll back down again. Up the hill, down the hill...this describes the expat wife very well. We pack, we unpack, we pack we unpack. But here the similarities end. You see Sisyphus' task is boring and monotonous, while the expat life is not. I think that is why we like to watch bull riding...it is similar to some of our life experences....what a ride.

Happy Birthday Special D

This is a special message to a special man who doesn't like to be mentioned or pictured in any of my blogs. His boss is in town on his special day, so I thought he needed a blog posting to boost his spirits. I do want to mention that D's wife got up at 4:30 am (before the sunrise call to prayer I might add) and fixed the Birthday Boy a nice breakfast. This is now documented in cyberspace, so therefore cannot be disputed if the existance of early morning breakfast making is ever called into question.
Hope you have a great day....Love you