29 May 2011

lists

Maybe if I write it down I can stop trying to hold onto it in my head and it will all see easier. And, since you asked, in the next three weeks (We leave Monday, June 20)...

I need to:

  1. make second grade movie
  2. sort everything for packing--what stays, what goes in boxes, what goes in suitcases--and make it easy for the Russian-speaking-only packers to pack it by moving things to different rooms
  3. do a "dry run" to see what will fit in how many suitcases--aiming for three large and Lexi's wheelie bag (I don't know how I'll manage all this at the airport.)
    • mac mini
    • dvd player (universal)
    • monitor?
    • keyboard/mouse
    • Mouse, Medved, George, George's clothes
    • a FEW beloved books, preferably paperback
    • a FEW comfort dvd's
    • the green throw that is both a princess dress and her swaddling when she's a baby
    • towels x 4
    • sheets x 2
    • duvet cover for Lexi?
    • clothes
    • bike helmet
  4. pack up personal things in classroom
  5. get things home
  6. deregister car--no idea how
  7. sell car--have buyer but don't know how
  8. deregister self--cancel visa, turn in consulate badge and diplomatic card
  9. schedule last visit with Russian sw (and Galina)
  10. vet visits this week, three days before and 24 hours before
  11. bathe Beazy before vet visits
  12. hope carriers come
  13. try to find Delta approved carriers in the city in case they don't come...at a pet store near a metro stop as car will be sold
  14. school bbq
  15. class party(ies) for grade 2 (and maybe Lexi's for grade 1...but leaning towards no on that one)
  16. end of year testing--dra, math, cumulative spelling
  17. continue medieval unit--make castles, living history museum, batering
  18. report cards
  19. sports day
  20. research French in-transit animal requirements
  21. get pillowcase for Noor, who is leaving this year, and have Sofia and Carlotta sign it before they leave early
  22. ask Marina to call Meridian to schedule pick-up and Alina Nikolaievna to say good-bye since I won't make it out there before they move all the kids
  23. not feel guilty about that
  24. fill out all sorts of ridiculous forms detailing everything I've bought either here or in the US and brought here in the last six years that is being shipped home
  25. supervise packers
  26. organize gifts--and who would use American children's meds, games, and baking ingredients
  27. sell my electronics to remaining and incoming staff members
  28. wash everything going in boxes
  29. bake banana bread with the bananas in the freezer
  30. normal cooking, washing, cleaning (quit having the cleaner two weeks ago), homework, playing, bathing, etc.

get in the US within a week (hopefully sooner) of our arrival:
  • car--I want a gently used CRV
  • internet access
  • couch
  • beds
  • table & chairs
  • car seat until ours comes
  • monitor (if I don't bring mine)
  • library cards
  • pool membership
  • bikes
  • swing?
  • television?
  • find out about Jenn's Blue Cross insurance plan

31. **keep life as normal as possible for a sensitive little girl who is feeling the stress despite my best efforts and who seems to be at the start of (exhausting) anniversary regressions on top of everything else and needs extra reassurances and Momma-time**

32. breathe
33. sleep
34. call Aetna AGAIN about where the reimbursement check is

I did:
  1. roast a chicken today only to find, when I was cutting off a leg for Lexi, a bizarre, large... blood capsule in the joint which exploded, rendering the chicken, in my opinion, inedible
  2. throw away the chicken
  3. wash our linens for packing
  4. put school linens on bed
    I thought that I would want our things out and about for Lexi for as long as possible, so I scheduled our packers for a week before we left. Then, yesterday, I decided that might be too big of a shock. So, I started transitioning a few things--including bed linens. We've been weeding out toys for a while--but not giving them away. There is just a big pile of things "for the orphanage" (actually going to a group who helps families in need because they will pick it up) but she can still see it all. And, she can retrieve a toy if it's more beloved than I thought--like her Elephant and Piggie stuffed animals that she never plays with
  5. pack away winter clothes for us both in a trunk (it's still chilly here)
  6. call the vet & scheduled appointments for rabies shots and Mia's microchipping (he'll come to our house)
  7. order official Delta approved carriers
  8. our last grocery shop
  9. take pictures of lamps, digital clocks, humidifiers, (fans are spoken for)
  10. asked Marina to call the vet to figure out how to bribe our way onto the Air France flight (there is a precedent, but that flight left from Moscow)
  11. find out Cobra for our insurance is a ridiculous $2000 pcm
  12. put back up the apartment's curtains in Lexi's room
  13. (well, my friend Kerry did for me) got water and electricity put in my name
  14. give Lexi a haircut
  15. schedule a haircut for myself

I gave up (as in released myself of the obligation to do, not as in quit):
photos
  • I was going to have a professional photographer take pictures of us out and about in the city...but there's just no time. I may be able to have a friend take some. But, it may just not happen.

10 comments:

Maura said...

That's quite a list - but I do believe that writing it all down helps relieve the stress a bit, and to keep your eye on the prize when it feels like too much. And you get to cross things out as they get done, or "release" them as time and priorities dictate.

It will be a crazy few weeks, but you will get through it. Keep looking at the photos of your new house. :-) And then you'll have the summer to re-group!

Dawn said...

Glad you have breathe and sleep on your list!

Matt and Carla Morgan said...

Whew. I'm exhausted just reading it.

Praying for you!

cm

Devon said...

That is a LIST! Whew! But I'm sure you'll accomplish all that, and probably a few other things that didn't make it down on paper!
If you want, message me with how much you are looking to spend on a CRV... Anthony's dad has a car lot, and he sometimes has one. It just depends on what you are looking to spend/how new or old you want. But we can check.

ALPAL said...

WOW! That's quite a list, but you will get it done. But why do you need a bike helmet in your luggage? They sell them over here!

june said...

Ok, you need to also relieve yourself of the banana bread item. Just throw the bananas out. (I know, I hate to do that too, but needs must and all that.)

Also, I am beginning to think you should just push that bloody car in the river.

And relating to the cat issues in the previous post - I seriously doubt they will weigh her. Especially if you are merrily carrying the bags as if they weigh next to nothing. That is always my strategy with carry on bags on the heavy side, and it's never failed yet.

beckyww said...

Somewhere in there...eat, sleep?!

votemom said...

ok i couldn't read the whole list becuz i was getting too stressed out.

make time each morning to get on your knees and hand over the day and the list to God. He is able.

Barb said...

So, I started to read this list 3 different times before I finally had time to read the whole thing . . . no idea how you do it. You are an amazingly organized woman:)

Signe said...

There are so many things I could comment on in this post but the one thing I cannot NOT mention is that I may never cook or eat a whole chicken again!! EEEEWWWWWW!!!!