Moving = Sorting!

If you’ve never moved with the military, …then you really have had a tough time moving!! The process itself is only as strenuous as making phone calls and pointing at the right items. Well, for me the toughest part is getting it all organized in my mind.

Here is the basic framework for an overseas move: Hubbalicious sets up the move (this time he had to sit in on an info session first). The movers come to assess how big your load will be. Then there is a series of packing and shipping days that comprise the end of your stay at your latest duty station. We have three shipments to organize: one that stays in the US in storage, one that will arrive when we find a place in Stuttgart, and one that should come a few weeks after we get to our temporary digs on base.

Our move week is scheduled for the Tuesday before Memorial Day weekend. Packers will come on Tuesday, and pack up our Germany bound items. Then they will return on Wednesday to load said items into the truck. On Thursday they will pack and load our items for US storage –and Friday they’ll pack and ship our shortest shipment. This means that by the Wednesday night, we’ll be without our bed, lamps and shower curtain – and time for us to sleep elsewhere. We’ll figure out the “where” soon enough.

The packing itself, is also an exercise in mental clarity. Those packers move quickly - and assume that everything is perfectly good to go. I've heard horror stories about garbage cans being sent with the garbage still in them, and of essential items going on a truck when they were intended for travel with the family (children's comfort items, or medications). So our part of the day consists mostly of dividing and conquering to point and watch the packing closely. We've also been warned that there are disreputable people in the world, so videoing your stuff before the packers come can be helpful when the vacuum you put on the truck is very different from the one that comes off of it!

So in the meantime, we have only to get organized and agree upon the items we want to go in each shipment. The biggest realization I’ve had so far is that we’re going to have to store pretty much anything that plugs into the wall. 220 voltage used in Europe will fry our 110 appliances/vacuum/iron /alarm clock/tv etc. I hear that power is very expensive in Germany – and converters draw power even when the item is not powered on. So our plan of record is to have a converter handy for one time use items (mixer, iron, etc) but to buy second hand items to fill in the few years we’re overseas. This is a bit of a gamble, because the cycles are different from one place to another - so even if you convert the power and adapt the plug - you still won't have a perfectly functioning item, because the power cycles will be different. (a clock will loose something like 17 minutes each day). A little trivia for you – laptops are usually dual voltage, as are iPods – but LAMPS will also work overseas –you just need to change the bulbs!

"They need to know right now..."

It all started in February. I was in Italy on a business trip. Hubbalicious woke me up in the middle of the night with the following question: “They need to know right now… do you want to take orders to Germany?”. I sat straight up in bed, tried to buy myself a few minutes to figure out whether I was dreaming or awake. 30 minutes later, after the adrenaline rush passed and a quick “gut check” call to my mom (….roaming…from Italy), I called him back and said “Let’s do it”! [Sidebar: Apparently, this is the way that questions about moving/orders most frequently occur. Most of my military wife friends laughed, nodded and had similar stories when I shared this experience with them!!]

So then the waiting game began. If you’re not in the military, you may not be able to fully comprehend the “hurry up and wait” way of life that comes with bureaucracy. (This activity is frequently followed by the “bring me a rock. Nope, wrong rock” game, which is equally frustrating). We had what Hubbalicious called “verbal orders”, which means that we had agreed to go – but nothing was in writing. This is a bit of a paralyzing position, because NOTHING can be done about a move until the orders are in hand. We had 3 months to get ready – but no one would even talk to us about moving unless we had the paperwork.

Suddenly – mid-March was upon us, and the orders were in Hubbalicious’ inbox. The process could finally begin!! There is a series of errands that have to be performed before you can be approved to go overseas. They include: a medical screening, a dental screening, and a new (no fee) passport. This can be a frustrating circle of tail chasing, but patience and a sense of humor saw us through just fine. Thank goodness my job is flexible with the time I am online – because I spent the better part of a day at medical, and another half day between the dental clinic and passport office. I also am thankful that Todd is in a squadron and has access to a flight doc! He was a HUGE help in getting us timely appointments and even did our exams for us. I honestly think we would have missed the deadline if it hadn’t been for him.

So – here we are. Our paperwork is in and we are on to the next stage...preparing for THE MOVE!!