New Digs

With only a week before we were slated to fly to the States and an entire houseful of goods to pack, load, unload and unpack, my head was spinning.
I really didn't think it was possible to accumulate as much stuff (junk) in two years. I'd just gone through this process when we moved over here and thought we had done a pretty good job of keeping the junk to a minimum. Nope, not at all. As I packed up each and every thing, I often stopped and questioned, "What was I thinking? Did we really need to bring fourteen water bottles? How many bath and hand towels can one family actually use?" And the clothes, my God, the clothes. My ayi made out like a bandit. Each day I'd place unwanted items on the makeshift storage' ledge and the days she came, she'd load up her little scooter with EVERYTHING.

Larry and I agreed we could not handle another year on a rock-hard mattress. Unfortunately, the new landlord had already bought one bed. We moved it to what would be Katie's room and bought the mattress pad from the old landlord to soften it up. We bought a beautiful bedroom set and a 3 piece red leather living room set in Likou (furniture town). The existing furniture is, in one word, hideous. It's way too big and, did I mention, HIDEOUS. We've asked over and over for it to be removed, but as of today it is still in the spare room/office.

John, our faithful 'relocation guy', set up the movers and they showed up three hours early as they said the day was supposed to get really hot and they wanted to get as much done before the heat of the day. "No problem, let me just get dressed and wake up my kids since it's just after 7:30 and the start of their summer vacation".

What an experience. There were two flat bed trucks and eight guys. The leader of the pack asked what went and what stayed. I went through and pointed. I cringed as they basically slung the boxes on the backs or stacked them haphazardly. They hastily dismantled the twins' beds. They loaded things on in no apparant order and made no effort to consolidate space. I had initially been quoted a price of 150 RMB per truckload, but that changed to 200 due to 'summer rates'. Whatever.
Mr. Liu helped a great deal. He'd see me getting upset at how something was being handled and he'd yell at the movers. I about had a meltdown when one of the guys dropped my antique dollcase. I don't know what he said, but they slowed down and were a tad gentler with things.
With one truck loaded and the other truck driving in, I ased Mr. Liu to stay at the old house while I rode with movers. That was interesting and I received more than one glance from other drivers. Here I am, in the front seat of this rickety flat bed, with four Chinese men. No, we weren't all in the front seat. Two were hanging on to my worldly possessions in the back. This process was repeated four times, and by 1:00 they were done.

There were boxes and suitcases everywhere. As I started unpacking I had to be careful where I put things for fear I'd forget when we returned from our trip. (By the way, I did forget where I'd put the girls' ties and PE uniforms. I silently cursed the ayi thinking she'd put it somewhere. It wasn't until the second day of school when I finally remembered I'd put all these things under the twins' beds in one of the storage drawers.)

Rosie and Peanut were the last articles to be moved. I told the girls that if they could keep them off of the leather furniture then they could stay inside. Less than twenty four hours later, Rosie and Peanut became outside cats. They meowed and meowed, almost weakening my resolve. However, I saw what their claws could do to leather. Besides, there were a couple other felines roaming around. I figured they could be neighborly.

Even though I was not looking forward to the long flight, I was mighty happy when we boarded the plane. The garage and attic were in disarray, and the girls' rooms were cramped with clothes and toys. They don't have dressers, only closets. Katie utilized her nightstand drawer for socks and other delicates, while a couple of the twins' toy bins were converted into clothes' holders for the time being.
The hectic move drained me, but I truly believe we will be much happier in this house. Plus, how can we not love it with red leather furniture?