My husband called me on Tuesday and said three words to me that just made me all giddy and happy and made me want to jump all over him and make another baby (just kidding...we are so done in that department). But he said, "WE HAVE ORDERS"!!!!! Whoop whoop!
Now I can officially start prepping for PCS. In reality, I've been 'prepping' for weeks. We already have a realtor in Virginia that we're working with, plus a line on a house that we really like that is in the perfect neighborhood, our two-week trek back East was planned last weekend and hotels were booked, but at least now I can say the words 'we have orders' and not secretly worry that all of this work will be wasted (which happened to us our last PCS, we had the perfect house lined up back in Sneads Ferry, NC, told all our family we were coming back East, only to find out our orders were actually to California. Womp womp. That was a fun conversation to have with our families who were over the moon that we were coming back to the East Coast.)
PCS-ing is not for the faint of heart. It's a bitch. Like a New Jersey flip the table over, Southern 'Bless your heart,' in your face Karen whose sole purpose on this earth is to piss you off and make you scream, biz-nitch. But it can be managed, at least for me, by taking one little task at a time.
For me and my husband, we know there are certain things we do NOT want the movers to touch. Why? Because things get lost, damaged or stolen (I mean let's be real) and some things just can't be replaced. Like my wedding broach bouquet that was made by a friend of the family and has pieces from the women in my family, as well as my husband's, mixed in. Or the cartoon drawing of me and my husband from over a decade ago, back when we went to the San Diego Zoo for my birthday when it was just me and him living in California.
Usually, we take a U-Haul with all of the items but this time we opted not to. That, in and of itself, is a pain in the ass. You have to worry about it getting broken into along your travels, the added weight to the vehicle you're driving, you can't unhitch it until you get to where you're unloading it, so it's always attached the whole trip, etc. This time, we're packing a POD container and sending that ahead which means I need to get packing.
The smallest POD they have is an 8ft by 8ft, so we have plenty of room for more than what we normally pack. We also don't know how long it will take to get our household goods on the other end, so I need to prepare for us being in an empty home. I'm taking all of our family photos, our clothes, some kitchen items, some of the kids toys, our electronic gaming systems, my husband's uniforms...and I'm sure some other stuff.
We also have to prepare the base house we are currently living in to be turned back over to housing, which means making sure it's in the "same" condition it was when we got it. Filling all the holes, wiping all the walls, cleaning all the mold that's grown in the windows (I did say it's base housing, right?), etc. etc. etc.
So far, so good. I've taken down all the things hanging on the walls upstairs and I've filled all the holes. I have designated two closets: one will be a 'No Touch' area that will be the boxes we'll be taking, and the other will be the items I don't mind if the movers pack for us. My goal this week is to touch up the paint and go through the last remaining rooms that need to be organized and purged (the room my 6- and 8-year-old share and my husband's office). Once those two rooms are purged and the walls are touched up, the upstairs will be done, and I can work on the downstairs.
Why does my daughter need so many stuffies?
Seriously? I don't even know where these four came from. She finds random stuffed animals and brings them home like a hobbit with a precious.
It's a process though. I have to keep reminding myself to take it one baby step at a time. I have a MAJOR problem of looking at an entire project that needs to be done and, well, having a panic attack at how monstrous the task seems (even though I always get it done, no matter what it is). Anxiety, panic, doing nothing to even get started because the entirety of the task is too overwhelming to even start. I was the same way in college with exams and final projects, which was 16 years ago so, clearly, I haven't developed as an adult in that area of my life.
Setting small goals is key. This week, while the kids are on Spring Break, my goal is to have the upstairs finished. The only holes I want left to deal with will be the ones from the curtain rods and wall mounted TV in our bedroom (all of those things will be taken down last minute and my husband can deal with those). All other holes will be spackled (already done) and painted over (to be done) and all rooms will have been organized and purged (only master bedroom left to go). Next week, I can do the landing area which has some pictures hanging, and after that, I can move to the downstairs.
I will be organized. I will be able to get ALL the things done before we move. And I will do all the things and I WILL. NOT. PANIC.
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