Time sure flies when you're having fun ~just kidding~ when you're preparing to move!
I'm not one of the folks who complains about moving, or the process of it. I enjoy planning, making lists, and the chaotic feeling of staying busy. But most of all, I enjoy new surroundings. As lovely as Germany is and has been, I'm ready to go. Like yesterday.
An acquaintance of mine (who has a husband in the army) asked the other day if we have received official orders, as if we are dumb for prepping to move without them.
That answer is still a fat NO (they don't issue them here until 90 days out), but that hasn't stopped us from going forward with a moving mindset.
I kinda think of it as back to school shopping: Sure, you can wait until a teacher gives you an official class supply list to buy BTS materials, but you already know that BTS is coming, and you should already have some basic knowledge of what pick up; pencils, paper, glue, etc, just like the previous year.
Since we already know the drill (just like back to school season) we don't need to wait on orders to get things done. It's coming for us, regardless.
As for the friend, I don't think she quite understands that the army can't keep us here longer than necessary (unless my husband didn't reenlist and would have to wait out his enlistment term OR if he were fenced in for a deployment OR we requested to stay. None of that applies to us). Orders will come. It's just a matter of time.
So, we began weeding through the house, one room at a time.
My spare /office/ indoor storage room was first. I organized all of my craft/sewing materials, photos that were divided by randomness, put together all of our important documents, found my original "damages" sheet from when we signed the lease for our apartment (set it aside), and dumped a bunch of random junk into the trash.
We moved into our basement storage during a long four day weekend. Together, my husband and I sifted through pounds of stuff. Imagine your basement and garage combined into one heaping mountain of forgotten things. That's what our basement room is here. We don't have a garage, so not only do we have holiday decor, summer things and keepsake boxes down there, we have tools, my husband's army gear, sporting equipment, bikes, lawn tools, car care stuff, etc,.
We've cleaned the basement before, but it needed a complete overhaul and to be cleaned out, not just organized.
Here's the deal:
Whenever we have been in the depths of moving, my husband has been gone. I'm not in the business of throwing his shit out while he's away (because if he decided threw out any of my shit if I were gone, I'd be livid).
Before moving from AZ to WA: He was in WA.
Before moving from WA to KY: He was re-classing.
Before moving from KY(TN) to Germany: He went to ALC.
It never fails that he always shows up exactly TEN days (just enough time for clearing) before we final out, meaning the movers are scheduled to arrive within that time frame, so we've never had time to go through a basement or garage. Basically, the junk in my current basement accumulated over the course of 14 years. It needed a good cleansing.
Believe it or not, le husband parted with tools and other crap that I didn't think he'd be able to let go of. We got rid of at least 200lbs worth the stuff, just in the basement alone!
I'm in the mindset that we don't want to bring along what needs to be replaced due to its age, or things that we've outgrown, don't use, or don't require anymore.
When moving day arrives, we won't be bringing my kids' bikes (they've just about outgrown them), summer toys, and a lot of his gear will be turned into CIF, so we won't be hauling those things.
As for the rest of the house, we are slowly and steadily going through the lot of it all.
Whenever laundry comes out of the dryer, I look through it to see what needs to go (my kids are rough on clothes). Now that winter is over, we have also gone through all of our winter gear.
We cleaned out the kitchen cabinets, ditching cookware we haven't used in years. I even cleaned my oven, again, just so it's not a struggle when doing move-out cleaning. I usually clean it every six months, but it got a deep clean in December.
There are a few things we've acquired while in Germany that are in fabulous condition, but have no place in America because of their Euro specs: Microwave, espresso machine, portable AC unit, and small weird things; toaster, hair straightener, blow dryer, etc. All except the AC unit and microwave will be going up for sale on a local re-sale sight in the next week or two. *We kinda need the microwave and AC unit until we leave.
Doing all of these things in preparation for a move is not something new for me, but each time its like finding lost treasure, and it sure makes unpacking at our impending destination much easier. Nothing is worse than having an unorganized house when movers appear. They don't stand back for a moment and think "Oh, this misplaced hammer and remote control don't belong under the bathroom sink. I should put it where it belongs."
They seriously just stuff it into a box with everything else in the same room, and tape that shit up; leaving you to wonder where the heck your remote is when you attempt to set up your tv in your new place.
Aside from all of that jazz, I am steady watching homes for sale/rent in our future duty station. We do NOT want to live on post at the next place, nor ever again, so we are toying with the idea of home ownership, but at the same time looking at off post rentals.
I recommend anyone to do this, as soon as you know your assignment. Realtor, Zillow, AHRN, Craigslist, are all good places to start; just to get an idea of what's out there and how it compares to BAH for the area.
Even if you plan to live on-post, looking at rentals off-post is not a bad idea. You cannot be certain that you will be offered a home on post as soon as you arrive. That has NEVER been the case for us.
Fort Lewis: The wait was two months.
Fort Campbell: Four months.
Rose Barracks: One + month
In Campbell, we found an off post rental two days after our arrival, so we never lived on post there, though we did put ourselves on the advanced wait list before we arrived and visited the housing office the same day of our arrival. Here at Rose Barracks, we had no choice but to live on post.
Next place? No thanks.
We might take an on-post option if something is available ASAP, but with the intent to move off post when we buy a home or find a better rental. Even though on-post housing may be temporary for us, it is better than paying a ton of money per night to stay in a hotel for a month while house hunting. Otherwise, we'll be stuck in a hotel, steady looking for off post houses.
And in my down time, while I'm bored, not working or organizing, I like to look up what's around my soon-to-be city. I've discovered that we are not moving to a 'flat' area of Kansas (it's called "Flint Hills" for a reason) and that there are a few neato lakes within a minutes drive. There's just about everything, every restaurant, and every store that our family wants near by (except a Zaxby's).
Familiarizing myself with the area, the schools, the neighborhoods, the stores, and what's going on in the community is a great and useful way to pass time while waiting on the big moving truck to appear. My kids even find looking at houses online to be fun...who would'a thunk it?
Welp, unless something changes or new important moving news happens, I'll update about our impending move in a month, and we'll see what's changed since then!
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