What we saw after the sofa was moved.
In all, we found two dozen cat toys after the movers had finished loading the truck. We’d already collected a selection of toys to ship to our new home. This new stash we’ll send in the mail.
Baxter doesn't want to leave the now empty house.
He’s getting used to his new routine and knows we’re getting ready to load him into his carrier for a ride to the hotel.
Baxter investigates wrapping paper in the now empty den.
Lulu prepares to attack a roll of tape.
Another fitful night of sleep and another early morning start. This morning the movers arrived at 8 a.m. and set to work finishing up the household goods. Then they began on the items for storage. Actually they had begun on the storage items yesterday and kept them separate from the HHG that was left to be crated. All went smoothly. And another big surprise! My high school ring was found on the floor when my dresser was moved. Another item we thought had been stolen but was miraculously found!
When the movers were ready to roll out around 7 p.m. they’d packed up another crate and a half of household goods (for a total of six and a half crates) and six crates for the storage facility. So it looks like we are taking about half the contents of our home with us, even though most of what we are taking is not furniture! We’ll be moving into a furnished house but we took our mattress and box spring; mattress, box spring and frame for a guest bed; three living room chairs, our tv cabinet and assorted shelving units, a bookcase, and some lamps.
I took the kitties for their second trip to the vet in as many days. The ride went smoothly. Baxter did not soil his cage at all, but Lulu’s still crying (a little) and drooling (a lot). I discovered that I need to take a form to the USDA Veterinarian in Annapolis to get their final stamp of approval. I hadn’t realized this step was even necessary. I also need to get the results of their Rabies Titer before we leave the country. I made countless phone calls to the Rabies Lab in Kansas and to my local vet to make sure I would have the lab results in hand before we leave the country.
I’ve been fretting over the myriad details of the requirements to bring the kitties overseas with us. One of the requirements is that they must get a health certificate from the vet within 10 days of their arrival in Tel Aviv. So made the appointment with the vet for today, 10 days before our departure on Dec. 8. I bundled the kitties into their carriers and drove to the vets. Baxter pooped in his carrier about 10 minutes into the ride. And Lulu drooled profusely. Then when we were finally in the exam room waiting to see the vet it occurred to me — we depart on Dec. 8 but we arrive the next day, Dec. 9. I was one day too early for the health certificate! I was so embarrassed! The vet was really cool about it, though, and we rescheduled for tomorrow. And poor Baxter and Lulu. However…it may have been a good thing. On the way home, for the first time ever, Baxter did not poop or puke! And Lulu only whimpered faintly a couple of times and didn’t drool nearly as much as usual. Maybe they’re getting used to travel by car! Maybe this will be good practice before their big journey by air.
Boxes Packed and Ready to be Crated
Brad's Ducati, La Strega, gets loaded onto the truck.
We got around 4 hours of sleep last night. We didn’t get to the hotel till around 2 a.m. We were both exhausted but slept fitfully. You would think that since we’ve made this kind of move before, things would be easier this time around. But they aren’t.
Movers arrived on schedule around 10 a.m. A very nice crew of workers. The crew chief, Melvin, and his workers first went through the house with us as we showed them what was to ship by air, what was to ship by sea and what was meant for storage. I had labeled everything with color-coded stickies for extra clarification. Even so, throughout the day they called us over for clarification about what was HHG (household goods that go by ship), UAB (unaccompanied baggage, that goes by air) and what was to go into storage. Melvin is a very likeable guy and punctuated many of his statements by saying, “Cool.” We treated them to coffee in the morning and lunch, of which they were very appreciable and thanked us quite politely.
Surprise of the day: One of the crew found a gold necklace that Brad had gotten for me in Turkey. We thought it had been stolen when our house was burgled a year or so ago. The burglar must have dropped it and it has lain there under my dresser all this time! Even though I do vacuum under the dresser when I clean house.
It was a long day. They worked until nearly 8 p.m. and by then had crated all our UAB and nearly all of our HHG (5 crates by quitting time). We learned that they planned to complete the entire move in 2 days. We had thought it would take 3 days.
Dining Room Sorted and Labeled: Yellow Tag = Ship, Blue Tag = Store
I’ve spent half the day in the dining room, half the day in the kitchen and the rest of the time in other rooms of the house, preparing for the arrival of the movers. So much to do and time’s running out. I kept getting distracted as I walked from one room to the other, seeing things that needed to be taken care. Going through every closet, every drawer, sorting what needs to go in storage, what we will ship, what we will donate, what we will throw away. A very cathartic exercise.
Becky stopped by to pick up one of the house plants. We stood and chatted for awhile then I got antsy about all the work left to be done. Hope I get to see her again before we leave.
And yesterday Brad delivered the other plant to a co-worker. Yay, we found homes for both of our house plants!
My Studio In Preparation for the Movers
I’ve spent nearly the entire day in my studio getting ready for the move and I think I’m finally…almost…done! Just a few details to take care of and then I can concentrate on other rooms of the house.
We had a fabulous Thanksgiving meal at Domenica and Brenda’s this afternoon. Domenica roasted a brined organic turkey to perfection. All the fixin’s were delish. And we had such a good time yakking away, dancing to Abba, laughing till our sides nearly split and playing with Olive and Alfie.
Afterward JoAnn and I went to see the new Harry Potter film, Deathly Hallows, Part 1. Enjoyed it immensely. I was also thrilled to see that one scene was shot in one of my very favorite spots in North Yorkshire: Malham Cove.
Tomorrow, back to the business of packing up.
We’re not selling the Camry. We were almost ready to trade it in for a Subaru Forester until we realized we wouldn’t be able to get the title before we leave the country. The company that will ship the car will come pick it up on Monday, Dec. 6. On previous moves overseas we had to drive to one of the ports in Dundalk to drop the car off. On thing less we need worry about.
I called the vet to see if the blood test results were in for Baxter and Lulu. This is the test to prove that the rabies shot they got at the beginning of the month has been effective. I was horrified to hear that the testing won’t be done till the beginning of December. Ack! Too close for comfort. I asked if there was anything they could do to expedite the results. The best they can do is to courier the results to the vet rather than send via US post. I’m going to lose some more sleep over this one.
Got my immunizations for Israel today. All six of them. It doesn’t feel any better hearing the nurse who gave them to me say she didn’t think I needed all those shots. But the Med. Center for Brad’s office said I needed to get them. The shots didn’t hurt too bad when I got them but my arms are dreadfully sore right now.
Yesterday I managed to get my hair done and treated myself to a pedicure while I was at the salon. After all, I’ll be enjoying sandal weather soon!
Finally began to gather up the items we want to mail to our new address. These are things that we want to have upon our arrival. Better get them in the mail soon or we will arrive before the packages do.
Time in Linthicum: 11:00 p.m. | Time in Tel Aviv: 4 a.m. | Temperature in both places: 57°
I decided to add another desktop weather widget to keep an eye on the weather in Tel Aviv. Imagine my surprise to discover that both locations were experiencing the very same temperature. The highs and lows for each day tell the full story.
Spent the morning on the phone with USAA updating our homeowner’s, renter’s and automobile insurance policies. They will be able to cover us for everything except for whatever car we ship overseas. We’ll have to shop for that locally when we get to Tel Aviv. Then Brad and I headed back down to the DC Passport office to pick up our new passports only to hand them over immediately to get our visas for Israel, for which we need expedited service. Then more car shopping. I took a Subaru Impreza out for a test drive and liked it but thought it was a little bit too tin-canny. Sat in another Rav4, confirming my preference for it over other small SUVs we’ve looked at. Had a very very late lunch (or very very early dinner) then came home. I just finished sorting out stuff in my studio (again!) — almost done in this room. Brad went out to check out more cars. I’m gonna call it quits now for tonight and rest up for a bit before LENNONYC comes on tonight.
Volare Via 