Monday, December 28, 2009

Days One & Two of Moving...

So, Monday, the movers came, and I will tell you, we were scrambling ALL day long. Though Scott and I are pretty prepared, it seemed we had so much more to get done once they came. Moving overseas is a lot more complicated than moving from Connecticut to Michigan. What do we store?? What do we ship in the air shipment versus the sea shipment? Can we really live without that extra can of hairspray for a month (ok, that was me, not Scott)??!! UGH!! Decisions, Decisions....I will say, the movers, all five of them, are some of the most polite fellas you could ever meet...even asking if they could use the restroom (I actually thought they should have to hold it all day long, but Scott and I disagreed and he won !). Overall, Scott and I are realizing that we have a LOT more stuff than we thought...6 years in once place has made us pack rats I guess!
Our first night in the hotel (first of 10 days sleeping in random places!) went as expected- not great. For some reason, the first day of any travel experience/overnight for our girls does not go well. Maya didn't fall asleep until late, but got to order out and eat on the bed (like a hotel picnic, according to her!) with us. Early rising took place at about 5am, so we are all a bit beat.

Day two....has been a little less hectic. We had to figure out what we were packing in our luggage vs. sending in air and sea, but aside from that, we watched 6 guys (they brought an extra - they apparently think we have a lot more stuff than we did too!) work REALLY hard....I went to lunch, read the Sunday paper, answered some questions, and really, am so exhausted from seeing them work!! Can't wait to go to bed tonite :) Our little piece of good news though- the amount we chose to go in our Air shipment was actually a couple hundred pounds under weight, so we got to add more stuff to it!YIPPEEE.....

We spent our last night in Portage (at least for a bit) at the hotel, with our friends the Van Winkle's, Filary's and Sobell's...pool/pizza party and $2 drafts..what more could we ask for?? The night went really great- everyone had fun, and we really appreciated another night getting to hang with them (you know it is good when both kids bawled for over 20 minutes upon returning to the hotel room about how they were going to miss their home and their friends....sad... :( )
It looks like tomorrow will be a pretty full day for the movers as well...., so we don't expect to leave Portage until at least mid-late afternoon....ughhhh!!!

Sunday, December 20, 2009


Getting Ready for the BIG Move

The past two and a half months have been super busy....a lot busier than I could imagine, trying to get ready for our move to Tokyo. We have been spending, and planning, and researching (for all of you who know Scott and I, I know this isn't a surprise!!) like mad. I feel like we are about as ready as we are ever going to be, and I think everyone one of us is ready to just get it started.

Maya and Hanna both had their last days in school this week, which included Christmas parties, movie days and getting to say goodbye to all their friends...overall, it was a great week, with a bit of sadness (like crying for about 3 hours on Maya's Christmas party day...her teacher, who was out on medical leave, made a surprise appearance, and made it very special for Maya...but that was when it clicked for her that she was not going to be coming back to Room 10 after break!). Hanna, who is much less attached to her preschool, thought it was great that she got to run the show for her last day in class....she says she will miss her friends, her class, but as of now, she is not quite as emotional about it. She has been super sad about leaving her daycare, Melissa, and all her friends there though.

We had a lot going on this week with last time get togethers (thanks Tricia, Joell & Chris, Wayne & Renee, and all of my Tennis friends)- what a great week it was for me personally. It also hit me though, that I won't get to see all my friends for awhile....I think I have been so busy that I didn't even think about it up until then. Scott had his work party as well...where he/we got to say goodbye to some of our friends there...

Now, we are hoping to enjoy the week of Christmas before we have to start cracking on the 26th. The movers are coming on December 28th and 29th, and then we are outta here... :( We have exactly one week left in our house...which is quite sad to think about. Our travel plans are as follows:
December 28 & 29: movers are here...staying in a local hotel, and having one last night of fun with the Van Winkle's, Sobell's and the Filary's.
December 30 & 31: At Scott's mom and dad's in the Detroit area
January 1-3: Spending some good, quality time at Scott's brother Greg's, in Dallas, TX. We are really looking forward to seeing them, getting to see their home for the first time, and visiting. It has been way too long!!
January 4: Hop on our flight direct from Dallas to Narita airport...will be on the plane overnight, and will arrive in the afternoon on the 5th.
January 5: Staying in Tokyo at the Hyatt Regency Tokyo...
January 6: Move into our new apartment
January 8: Hanna's 4th birthday...any ideas for what to do in a new city??
January 11: Maya starts school at ASIJ, and reality begins for the Garrison's!

This is going to be a LOOOONNGGG 10 days for our family, but we are hoping for the best!! For anyone who wants to visit, please let me know- we would love to see you!!

Happy Holidays, take care, and please KEEP IN TOUCH!!!