Laowai

We had one last visit with Grandpa and Grandma C. before heading off to Switzerland. We won’t get to see them again until the end of the summer. We will miss them – but the time will go by quickly I’m sure.

Here are some photos from our lovely walk at the Garfield Park Conservatory.

Well it’s really happened. Our move has really started. I can hardly believe it. A big truck pulled up at 8:00 this morning. Three guys did all the packing – a dad and a son and a nephew. They were so friendly and they worked so fast. 

Bea sat and watched Charlie and Lola for most of the morning while I showed the movers around and answered questions about what to pack and what not to pack.

Post-its labeled everything: things to pack (green) and things to leave for storage (pink):

Here’s the bedroom almost all boxed up:

Bea inspecting the wrapped up couch:

A rug, Bea’s mattress, a chair and our book shelf all ready to load into the truck:

This little guy and some accessories were found under the couch:

After the boxes were cleared out the sun came in the windows and Bea ran around. She was very interested in the empty closets. Also, if you’re wondering, yes we have pants for her – they weren’t packed up and sent to Zurich. For some reason she has a pants aversion lately. The first thing she does when we come home from an errand is ask me to help her take her pants off – annoying.

The walls and closets are empty except for some nails:

We kept our alarm clock – it looks lonely: 

By 2:00 the truck was pulling away. That shipping container is the very same one that will arrive at our apartment in Zurich. It’s amazing really. I’m going to be thinking of my precious things riding the waves on some big big boat in the middle of the ocean. 

The day was a relief really. I had been looking forward to it for so long. And I felt so scattered and exhausted leading up to it. I am so thankful that the people who arranged the move and did the packing were the most friendly group of guys. Now I’m going to take a breather before I think about all the studying I have to do for my German lessons (more on that later). 

I think Bea and I will take these last few days here to see some of the big sights in Chicago. Maybe we’ll spend a day at the Art Institute or the aquarium. That sounds nice. And we have a little visit from Grandpa and Grandma C to look forward to.

We ended our day with some comforting take-out food:

Here’s Bea riding the train on Thursday. We take the train to my doctor visits. It’s a short ride and she gets a little thrill. When my doctor put the doppler thingy on my belly to listen for the heartbeat the baby seemed to kick right at it and my doctor recoiled and laughed. So the baby seems to be doing great. I’m feeling more huge every day.

 

We’ve have had quite a weekend. We’ve been preparing for the movers to come on Tuesday. So lots of sorting. Sorting through every item we own in fact. Brian and I were constantly saying to each other “what do you want to do with item x?” The other would respond vaguely “it can go”. And then the frustrated response would come: “what specifically do you mean by go?” We both did it all weekend long. Did we want the item to go into storage or to be shipped to Zurich or to be packed in our luggage for the plane ride? This is not the most fun part of moving. I have little to really complain about because I am embarking on an exciting adventure… but all this going through stuff and getting rid of stuff makes me feel heavy. 

On Saturday we took a little break and went to a concert for kids. It’s part of series put on by Northwestern staff and students. This particular concert featured a choir and the big organ at a campus church. Bea was not on her best behavior or in the best mood. But at least I got to see these great modern stained glass windows that I always admire when driving by.

Here’s Brian sorting through our books. You can tell he’s so happy that I’m capturing the moment.

At the end of the day today, we were getting a little goofy. My head was spinning. And I had probably asked Brian to lift one too many boxes. He needed to blow of some steam. I suggested he take the cordless phone that has never worked properly and smash it like they smashed the printer in Office Space. We can’t use the phone in Zurich and as I said it was just slightly better than useless. So here it is – smashed up with a hammer on top of a pile of boxes. Good therapy. If only I had captured it in video.

Here’s the clip from Office Space:

 

 

This is the baby doll that she was earlier in the day pretending was her little sister. She told me “babies like pans” and later she rolled the rolling pin over the doll and said she was making a “cake baby”.

I’m about to go camping… in my own house. Next Tuesday they’re coming to take away my bed AND my couch – which is the only place I can seem to get my whale size belly comfortable. They’ll take my dishes and my linens and my books and most of my clothes and Bea’s toys. This should be interesting. It will take at the most six weeks for our stuff to travel by sea to Zurich. I’ll miss you couch.

Not much else going on other than me being preoccupied with sorting our stuff. Bea helped to undecorate the tree on Monday. She was a little pouty when I explained that we had to get rid of the tree. But when it came time to take the ornaments off she happily did it all.

Here she is trying on my new boots. Yes, that’s a diaper. Don’t ask about our potty training progress – we are completely frustrated. Grrrrr.

Here she is with a bowl on her head. No comment.

We had a sweet little family day on the last day of 2009. What a big year. Brian got a promotion, I got pregnant, we had some great vacations and we decided to move to Switzerland. I do feel blessed!

We had lunch at one of our favorite restaurants – Tapas Barcelona – here in Evanston. Later we went swimming. Then we made a little feast for ourselves. Fruit, veggies, dips, sausages, olives and to celebrate our move: cheese fondue. I gave Brian the fondue pot for Christmas. Mmmm – it actually turned out great. I could eat melted cheese on bread all day long. After dinner we had a little Wii Super Mario tournament and then Bea wanted to dance. Brian put some music on and we danced around the living room. While we danced it felt like a last celebration in and for this home. I thought about all that has happened and how quickly our last five years have passed here. I will be sad to leave and at the same time excited for our future in Zurich.

And now it’s time to bring on the chaos. I think it will be six weeks or more before we start to feel settled. A man from the moving company came today to review all the stuff that we will be shipping by sea and all the stuff we will be storing. Our sea shipment packing day will probably happen in about a week and a half. So I’ll be sorting things into piles for the sea shippment, storage and a few things to take on the plane with us. Basically I’ll be spending my time turning the house upside-down. While the man from the shipping company was here Bea followed us around and heard us telling him which items are going and which are staying. She started piping in that she wanted to pack her blankie and her Pinkie (a stuffed dog) and some other toys. I told her of course we would take those things. I felt bad for a moment because she can’t understand completely what is going on. I try to explain what is happening in terms that she can grasp, but I know the next few months will be somewhat stressful for her. 

Happy New Year to all our loved ones. May your 2010 be filled with good times.

Sorting through hand-me-down baby clothes at Jennifer’s. Bea says wow – how many onesies and pink outfits does one little girl need. Thanks for storing all those little outfits Jennifer.

Just a few more photos that I must post. First up – Bea and I having breakfast in our matching Team Piglet shirts. Oh you haven’t heard? Jenna is getting a boat for her birthday and I helped to design a logo for her boat (called Piglet). Apparently Chris is researching pink boat paint – who knew that pink boat paint would have to be special ordered? Ha ha. Jennifer and Chris made embroidered Piglet shirts for Christmas. So now we are officially part of Jenna’s sailing team. Next year she will get a pony for her birthday. Ha ha again.

Some shots from Christmas Eve at Grandma and Grandpa J.’s house. Jenna in her adorable Christmas dress that Jennifer made. Bea not in her Christmas skirt because she found Mom’s stash of dress up clothes and opted for a pink fairy skirt instead. Grrrr. Also Bea and Jenna playing Hungry Hungry Hippo.

Christmas morning at Grandma and Grandpa C.’s. I love how Brian’s Mom made the letters on his stocking. See how the sequins form the inside parts of the B, R and the A. Love it. A photo of opening presents and Bea wearing her new bee bike helmet.

All ready to go sledding – I posted lots of sledding pictures earlier but I didn’t show this one of Grandma pulling Brian.

And finally, Bea hamming it up with Grandpa C.

I love, love, love my Mom’s collection of Christmas ornaments. It’s something so simple but every year I take such pleasure in carefully looking over the tree with my mom and my sister. Looking for a particular one – remembering ones that were new last year. Finding my favorites from way way back when I was little. The collection leans towards sweet, cute and vintage looking ornaments with lots of animals dressed up in red and green. Many of them are old Hallmark ornaments (I think their old ones are much better than the ones they have today). And there are of course a few homemade creations scattered in the collection. 

I snapped a few photos of these:

I try to add to the collection every year. This year I had fun making these from a kit (the photos are from Rosy Little Things). I only managed to take a picture of the deer’s rump while I was making mine.