Wednesday, August 17, 2011

What I Did Today

* I got up and fed my kids breakfast.

* I did a bunch of laundry and housecleaning. It never ends, but you all know how that goes.

* I rejoiced some more that our command sponsorship (it was supposed to take 6 months) got approved after only 2 weeks. That means we'll all be moving to Korea together in October. Yay!

* I finally faced reality and got on PlanMyMove (most fabulous site if you're doing a military move) to make a day-by-day plan of what needs to be done between now and when the movers come on September 26th.

* I grimaced that by putting it off this long I am already several weeks behind where the calendar thinks I should be in my preparations by now. Oh well.

* I noticed one of the to-do items is "Find Age Appropriate Books on New Locations Overseas." Sure, I can do that. To Amazon.com!

* I picked out several children's books on the Korean alphabet, picture books of Korean geography and culture, and a few Korean folk tales. I stopped to read the reviews about one book I wasn't sure I wanted- and read a review left by a mommy who said they lived in Korea for a year when her kids were small, and how much she loved how the book helped them to remember the experiences they had there.

* I started to cry, realizing that someday I will be that mommy, hoping to preserve the amazing experiences my kids will be almost too small to remember, and having it really, really set in for the first time that we are going to a whole new world for two whole years- new food, new customs, new culture, new language, not to mention new sights and new friends and neighbors that come with any move... and I cried some more. Happy tears, sad tears, excited tears, anxious tears.

* I bought the books and checked that one lonely item off my 3-month long To Do List.

* I blogged about it, sighed, took a deep breath and then got back to the laundry. Next on the list: the treadmill, groceries, passport photos.




Here's a waterfall on the island of Cheju, where I hope we get to spend our 10th anniversary next spring.



9 comments:

tiff snedaker said...

That is quite the list. I still can't believe that you are moving out of the country. I would feel completely overwhelmed, but you seem to have it under control, or at least you come off that way. :)

Marianne said...

Wow, Mel this is so crazy! What an adventure for your family. I wish I could help. It sounds like you are handling the stress as well as possible. I hope we can get together one more time before you go!

Karen said...

YEAH for staying together as a family! Now when you have a minute (wink) think about what fun you want to have on labor day.

Melissa Durtschi said...

I have tears reading this too....

*ribbit*ribbit*

Marianne said...

I think Vaughn and Tami have a photo of themselves at that very waterfall. You know Vaughn served a large chunk of his mission on Cheju, right?

I hope you've thoroughly exhausted that particular resource for advice on moving to Korea!! I'm sure you have...

Gotta start saving for a couple of plane tickets for me and Kate to come visit....

Oh, and by the way, I almost died from laughing at the birthday card you sent to Kate. Oh my goodness...

Marianne said...

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I just need to use a few more of those ellipses...

Unknown said...

What a package of emotions this must be for you -- but I don't know if there's a group of people I love more than the Korean people. You will have such an amazing experience!

(BTW, I've come over from D&D -- thx so much for commenting on my interview, and I'm glad the scripture clicked with you. I'm following you now because I can't wait to hear about your exciting adventures. Good luck in the next couple of months.

Amber said...

2 weeks instead of 6 months!! Obviously someone up above wants you to be together as a family now, and that is exciting. It must help a little, right?

I can't wait to read about all your adventures coming up!

Melinda said...

I'm sure you've already found that the food there is A.MAZE.ING. Cory and I are really hopeful that we can go over there Summer of 2013 when the international Special Olympics is hosted there to help with the Healthy Athletes Healthy Hearing booth.

In Pres. Hinckley's biography I read that the Koreans made him an honorary Korean (even though he never learned to like kimchi) and would joke that he would be resurrected Korean. Hope things are going well!