I’m beginning to like this once-a-week blog posting.  There’s so much stuff going on these days that I just don’t have the time or energy to write more often than that!

It’s less than 4 weeks till we leave for the UK.  I’m ready to be done with all of the prep work – the sorting, the packing, the giving away, the selling, the storing and moving and making reservations and flights – and just be there.  It’s just a wee bit depressing to think about the fact that when we get back, I’ll have to do a lot of those things in reverse – the unstoring, the unpacking – and repeat myself in other ways – the moving, the sorting again, and probably buying things to replace stuff that was worn out and not worth storing to begin with (such as most of our plastic food storage containers, aka, leftover takeaway boxes that are at least a year old!).  Let’s not even think about July 2013 when we move back to the States.

I have made progress.  I sold a bunch of Joe’s baby clothes (though I still have a second wave to sort through, photograph, list, and sell), I got rid of our memory foam mattress topper on Freecycle, I found a storage facility and have reserved a unit for our time in the UK and we’ve hired movers to help us with the extra large stuff.  I’ve also been getting rid of small things bit by bit.  Nearly all of my books are gone.  My desk has been sold and I am now using our old kitchen table as a desk (we’ll store the table and use it when we come back, as our current apartment came with a dining room table + chairs).  I’ve listed our bookshelves and have photographed several other items of furniture.  I’ve gotten rid of some kitchen appliances.  I’ve sorted through my clothes and shoes and Chris’ clothes and shoes and either donated, thrown out, or sold what I didn’t want.  Chris has taken care of figuring out which international movers we will use (we are only shipping a small container of things back to the States).

Here’s a small sampling of some of the baby clothes that I’ve sorted through…

That’s about 1/3 of all of the clothes that I’ve sorted through and will either be donating, passing on to friends, or posting on TradeMe.  I did the first wave last week, sold most of them and donated the rest, have moved on to the second wave, and am leaving the 3rd and final wave for before we leave New Zealand.  Joe, my not-quite-15-month-old, is already wearing size 24 months clothing.  Which means that all of the hand-me-downs and clothes that were given to me by my mom have been blown through in no time at all.  I’m really glad that when we were in the States and I was choosing which clothes to bring back, I did it according to season (“Joe will be 2 years old in winter, so I’ll bring back mainly winter 24 month clothing”).  This has worked out well since it’s the end of winter here and we’ll be heading into winter in the UK.

I still can’t believe how big Joe is.  The creche volunteers at church gave him a new nickname last week: The Woodchipper.  That’s on account of how quickly he plows through food, be it his or someone else’s.  His afternoon snack today was 4 1/2 kiwifruit.  I just kept peeling and cutting them and he just kept eating them.  And dinner?  Dinner was a bowl of broccoli salad with cranberries, cabbage, bacon, walnuts, and carrots + a PB & Honey sandwich chaser with a side of unsweetened yoghurt + chia seeds.  I’d tell you what he ate for breakfast, morning tea, and lunch, but that would require a further 2 paragraphs.  That boy can EAT.

Now, it’s time to slowly start to collect boxes.  I considered buying some (and may have to do that toward the end) but when I saw that a large box cost $10, I thought, “No thanks” and have been keeping an eye out.

Joe is doing great.  He loves going to daycare now during his 2 mornings a week.  When I dropped him off the other day, he had a big grin on his face and ran for his teacher, who held his hand and led him around the room.  He’s also reached the point where when I show up to take him home, he looks at me like, “Oh, hi.  I’m glad you’re here, but I’m still playing,” and then continues doing whatever he was doing before I showed up.  I’m just waiting for the day when I take him home and he starts to cry.  Wouldn’t that be a reversal!

That’s about all the news that I’ve got for you.  This week looks to be much the same as last week.  I’m hoping that the time between now and the UK flies by quickly, that our sorting and packing and moving gets done without too much trouble, and that we all stay healthy in the interim.