Under 8 weeks

and I am trying not to freak out.

And probably failing at that. :P

Today I am giving away the kids' crib bedding that all four of them used at one time or another. I bought a girly set for our youngest that sort of matches the older girls' bedding for when they share a room after we move.

The Christmas tree is going too. It was a $40 special at Old Time Pottery four years ago, so it definitely paid for itself and more after being used four Christmases. Hubs said he didn't want to deal with it this year and all of its needle-shedding goodness. I figure that always made it seem sort of lifelike, minus the watering part. In exchange I (as in we) get to start listening to Christmas music anywhere in the house the first of November. Major victory there, so I will not miss the tree as much as I originally thought. :P

Also coming next week--purchasing a membership to Westside Rentals, THE site for renting a place in LA. And yes, you have to pay for it. Yes, I think this is insane. On the other hand, given the size of LA's west side, it provides a good service and as long as I stick with the basic membership and don't wander into the "We provide a driver for you for a day of checking out potential homes" membership, it will only cost $60.

How did people move before computers? I have asked that question so many times over the past few weeks, and I'm not sure I want the answer. I keep thinking we are unprepared for this or that, but with a few strokes of the keyboard I can instantly find out information on everything from homeschooling in LA to how far a prospective home is from a Trader Joe's (this is important information!).

T- 7w6d

Doing what I was meant to do

There are times in my life when I have the feeling that I'm where I'm supposed to be: at summer camp with some of the best friends I have ever had; in a classroom--sometimes as the student, sometimes as the teacher; special times with my husband; holding and feeding my babies.

Last night I added another one to my list: helping a woman feed her baby.

I suppose it was just the natural combination of all of the things I enjoy doing. And it was great.

I look forward to many more experiences like that in the months and years to come, and I pray that I will be a blessing to those who want my help and service.

In moving news, the truck is reserved, the auto shipping is reserved, and six plane tickets are secured.

T- 8w3d (this is starting to feel like a pregnancy with the countdown :))

Airfare secured

Thanks to a wonderful woman in the church in CA, we have secured airfare at no cost to us. Tomorrow I make the reservation to ship our car. Then we just keep packing and hopefully everything will keep falling into place. I have felt recently as if this move is my life and my life is this move, so the past couple of days I tried getting the phone call-related tasks done and tomorrow should complete that for a while. It'll be nice not to be on hold with an operator on the other end of the line or thinking about the cost of everything for a while. :)

Truck reserved!

The truck is reserved. This is exciting and terrifying.

I got more done last week as far as paring down our household belongings. We still have a long way to go, but I think we'll get it all done. We must get it all done! :)

The kids are really excited about moving to LA. They have asked extensive questions about earthquakes, the ocean, what our house will look like, etc. Seeing this adventure through their eyes makes me even more excited about all of it.

Yet it is bittersweet. We will leave some very good friends behind, and that will be tough. :(

T- 9 weeks until the truck arrives. EEK!

Packing

The biggest motivator for purging our belongings that I have ever had is this move.  I have begun calling it THE MOVE because it at times seems so crazy, so overwhelming, that such a name needs to be simple yet definitive.  "The Move" it is.  I even wrote that on a folder the other day and then filled said folder with all of our moving truck-related paperwork and FlyLady's Moving Tips printed out. Nothing says purging like creating more paperwork.

I have begun compiling a list of items we WILL move, because this seems easier than making a list of things NOT to move. There is a lot of stuff we're dumping here--at the local clothing bank, at the Goodwill, on Craigslist if anyone actually wants to pay money for our stuff--and we will never have to see it again. I look forward to this! We anticipate cramming 2300 sq ft of stuff for a family of six into a 1200 sq ft (or less) space for a family of six (and likely no basement, which as far as I know is not included in the square footage of this house...).

Meanwhile, I have already started looking into homeschooling in California, checked out various museum websites, investigated some social opportunities, etc. It is going to be very overwhelming regardless, but I hope that this extra preparation will help our acclimation to the area.

T- 10 weeks until the moving truck arrives