Now it's all gone!

We now have 3 lawn chairs, a TV, the DVR (that I refuse to return until the last possible moment), a desk (that's being tossed on our way out), and an aerobed in our house. Oh, and the rest of the stuff we have to somehow get in the truck and trailer.... The rest of our wordly possessions are sitting in a warehouse in Peabody, MA, waiting to be loaded into their very own semi for the trek to Washington by truck, and then to Kodiak by barge.
To answer Beth's comment - We have 12 crates with a few boxes left over that wouldn't fill another crate so they won't make the trip in one. I'm a little concerned about the "parts box" being one of those, but the packer assured me that he'll personally see that one get on the big truck because if pieces are missing, he has to foot the bill to come to Kodiak and put our stuff together for us. When the packers got here Tuesday, they estimated 14 crates, and I thought they were crazy - I mean, really, how can two people have that much stuff.... But we do. I don't know where we're going to put it all in our basement-less house in Kodiak, but I guess we'll figure it out! Maybe I won't be parking my car in the garage!
I should be cleaning and getting ready to actually leave on time tomorrow, so I'm going to keep this short. Besides, Jason might get mad if he realizes I'm doing this instead of helping him!

Next stop - Connecticut!

Half my house is gone!

The movers came today for Day 1. WOW. I couldn't be more impressed with these guys, which was a load off my mind! After hearing horror stories of government moves over the past 8 years, I started to wonder and worry what we were up against. We've always just moved ourselves so we wouldn't have to worry about the stress of what the movers did to our stuff. With giong to Kodiak, though, we really had no choice but to go this route this time. I am so pleasantly surprised with the movers - including the almost-88-year-old WWII veteran who stormed the beaches of Normandy, but is now an expert packer because he likes to keep busy!

I feel eerily calm about this whole thing, which could either be a function of being so far past the stress that I can't react to it anymore, or, maybe, just maybe, I'm actually ok with it all. Either way, Jason is predicting that I will blow at some point in the near future. It just doesn't seem natural for ME, of all people, to just be taking this in stride. I mean, instead of hovering over the packing, and seeing where and how everything is happening, I went outside to take pictures of my blossoming rhododendrons today... this is just not like me. But, I got great pics!

So they'll be back tomorrow for Day 2, and hopefully final. All they have left is to pack the kitchen stuff, pack the master bedroom, pack the basement, and then load all that and the spare bedroom that they packed today. They filled 4 overseas crates already today, and estimated somewhere between 6-10 more tomorrow. I don't think we'll have 14 total - but we'll see!!! I can't believe it's almost time to leave!

Who says I can't do technology?

The friends and family want us to keep them up to speed on our big trip out to Kodiak this summer, and then I suppose we'll use this to let them know how things are going once we get there, too! So here I am, walking a step further into the 21st century - past posting on regular discussion boards and into my (ok, our) own blog!

Why FlyingFish? What better way to combine the two things we'll be doing in Kodiak than that? Jason will be flying, and I'll be heading up the fisheries training center. We're both incredibly excited about the opportunity to make Kodiak our home, but as the time here on the East Coast is winding down, reality is starting to set in and we're - or at least, I am - starting to get a little emotional about leaving everyone and everything we know.

We signed the paperwork for our new (first!) house today, though, and officially close next Wednesday. That in itself makes me want to go! I can't wait to start decorating! Here's the place we'll call home for at least the next three years!!

Stay tuned for all the cross-country fun you can imagine, and even more from our new home in the Great White North!