A Pensive Post

I’ve been in a moderate funk all day. The movers called this morning to give us the official dates they’re coming to pack all of our worldly belongings and send them to different places. Chris is stressed out about his last two tests before completing the Fleet Replacement Squadron training this week that has prepared him to fight pirates in the Indian Ocean. I just went downtown to the federal courthouse for the last time for one of my freelance jobs. This is my favorite job. Ever. The most reliable and well-paying, most steady, most interesting. And it’s gone and over after Friday because we’re moving to the other side of the world for Chris’ job. But without Chris’ job I would never have had this wonderful job anyway, so I should be thankful for the time I enjoyed working at it and getting paid, and trust that God has something for me to do in Japan, too, even if it’s not as wonderfully satisfying as this. Sigh. I will be excited and a little bummed until we leave. Then I’ll be naive and hopeful and excited, as usual. But for now, with Chris working late, home by myself and trying to finish off all the weird left over hodge podges of food in the pantry and ice box, I will content myself to finish off these margaritas and watch The Other Boleyn Girl. The beginning of living somewhere is the hardest. The end is the saddest. But it wouldn’t be sad if those middle months hadn’t been so wonderful, right? Praise God for the middle.

Organizationally, we have to divide our crap into six piles: 1. permanent storage—washer/dryer, stereo, anything that won’t fit in Japan; 2. regular shipment—this will arrive a few months after we find somewhere to live, which could be months from now; 3. express shipment—pots and pans and the essentials, which will be shipped to us as soon as we find a home; 4. stuff we’re giving to Goodwill; 5. stuff I need to mail or return to people, or take to my parents’ house in TX so it doesn’t get burnt to a crisp in three years of storage, like wine; 6. our carry-on bags. That’s a lot of sorting, considering we’re not even moving ourselves!! Who’s idea was it to go to Germany and Washington, D.C. next week???????