Well, you get the drift. On Monday our house was swarmed with husky men armed with boxes and tape to get us all packed up. They started at 9 and left at 5 and our house slowly disappeared into brown boxes or brown wrapping. It was amazing actually to think about how fast they are. So basically John and I just moved from room to room to outpace the packing of chairs and tried to stay out of the way. And at the days end 150 pounds of Johns stuff was all packed up to get to Tokyo before he does.
Then it all started again on Tuesday, except this time there was a huge shipping container backed into the driveway ready for loading. It took two hours for all our Japanese destination furnishings to be loaded up ready for the ship. Then they finished packing the stuff for storage and moved it all to the first floor. I still can't quite believe that the time is really here and we are doing this. But the furniture marked for storage gets one more day in the house. The guys said that it'll probably only take them 2 hours tomorrow to empty everything. I'm so sad to be leaving our house. Our first house together...very monumental. Now we all need to cross our fingers that all the stuff in that shipping container can fit into our apartment!!! John looked at all the closet necessities going and just shook his head. So, if there isn't enough room, pretty sure I'm going to be the one in trouble. What can I say...I'm not prepared to downsize my wardrobe.
Here are some pics from the last two days (with commentary from John, aka the husband).
On a personal note, my mom had surgery today, so please say a little prayer for her and my grandparents that haven't been in the best health lately.
C'est la vie.....Jenn
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Saturday, July 26, 2008
I've decided what this blog needs...
is more me. So here you go...
And I don't know what the hell is going on around here, but they're moving a lot of crap around, treating me really nice (like they feel guilty about something) and not telling me anything. Something's up. More later.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Furniture Frenzy
So, we are getting down to the wire here people....four days and counting before the Stanley household is no longer located in Dallas. Hard to believe even for me...the one that moved across the country as soon as the cap and gown came off just for a change of scenery.
John decided to take today and tomorrow off after much coercion and downright fit throwing done by yours truly. What is wrong with men? They have no concept that yes our house is going to be crawling with people eager to pack all of our belongings and no we don't want to be washing towels as this takes place...that has to be done already. AND while we love our dog, probably not the best idea to have him underfoot and growling at all the strangers in the house. I digress....so he took off and we have been going strong with the organization since 6:30 this morning. I know, impressive even if I do say so myself.
So to top off the day, we decided to figure out what furniture we would rent for our apartment in Tokyo. Surprisingly, most of my choices are Asian influenced. I must say, I've never really thought much about Asian decor. Not that I don't like it mind you, I have a friend that has some great stuff in her house and it's all Asian, just hasn't ever appealed to me before. But I'm so excited about all the stuff that we picked out. The one piece that I was really excited about was the crab chair...I know doesn't really sound all that appealing, but it'll be great. The foyer in our apartment and every apartment that we went to is fairly large since everyone has to stop and take off their shoes before coming any further. It'll be interesting getting used to it, but the crab seat is so that we'll have somewhere to sit down while our shoes come off.
Japanese lessons update: We are still racing through the survival skills class. I have to say that most of our classes I leave feeling like a Japanese rockstar, but Wednesday was a totally different story. Our sensai asked me something about my kohi (coffee), which is a noun that we learned our first lesson not to mention one of my favorite things and I'm pretty sure my face looked as blank as my mind felt. Oh well, there's always another lesson. Just hoping that it isn't a preview of how I'm going to feel when we get there.
Until next time......Jennifer desu
John decided to take today and tomorrow off after much coercion and downright fit throwing done by yours truly. What is wrong with men? They have no concept that yes our house is going to be crawling with people eager to pack all of our belongings and no we don't want to be washing towels as this takes place...that has to be done already. AND while we love our dog, probably not the best idea to have him underfoot and growling at all the strangers in the house. I digress....so he took off and we have been going strong with the organization since 6:30 this morning. I know, impressive even if I do say so myself.
So to top off the day, we decided to figure out what furniture we would rent for our apartment in Tokyo. Surprisingly, most of my choices are Asian influenced. I must say, I've never really thought much about Asian decor. Not that I don't like it mind you, I have a friend that has some great stuff in her house and it's all Asian, just hasn't ever appealed to me before. But I'm so excited about all the stuff that we picked out. The one piece that I was really excited about was the crab chair...I know doesn't really sound all that appealing, but it'll be great. The foyer in our apartment and every apartment that we went to is fairly large since everyone has to stop and take off their shoes before coming any further. It'll be interesting getting used to it, but the crab seat is so that we'll have somewhere to sit down while our shoes come off.
Japanese lessons update: We are still racing through the survival skills class. I have to say that most of our classes I leave feeling like a Japanese rockstar, but Wednesday was a totally different story. Our sensai asked me something about my kohi (coffee), which is a noun that we learned our first lesson not to mention one of my favorite things and I'm pretty sure my face looked as blank as my mind felt. Oh well, there's always another lesson. Just hoping that it isn't a preview of how I'm going to feel when we get there.
Until next time......Jennifer desu
Monday, July 14, 2008
Konnechiwa....Watachi wa Jennifer
So, that might not be how you spell it exactly, but you get the drift. John and I have had two Japanese lessons so far and we go again tonight. Our first lesson was last Thursday, we were both excited, but a little apprehensive. My last language lesson was in high school with Mrs. Haberli and one of the few words that I retained from that experience was cervesa, just to give you an idea.
We meet our sensai, Ti-san, do the traditional bowing and konnechiwa (hello). Then we sit down and he starts pointing to pictures of things in a book and we start repeating after him...no instruction beforehand, just like we were learning how to talk for the first time. It was an experience. After the class I was on cloud nine...I could talk in Japanese. Didn't matter that the only words I knew were inu (dog), nekko (cat), pen (pen...my personal favorite), hando baggue (hang bag - a must know) and a few others in the same vein....I had mastered some Japanese.
Our last lesson captured primary colors and how to tell people where we were from. Stanley-san wa Amerika-jin desu. But after all these words, my favorite is still Hai (yes), said in a clipped manner that lets you feel in charge of the situation.
Ultimate Japanese language victory is going to be ordering sushi in the restaurants with the sliding doors that have no prices on the menus which are in symbols. Good times.
Alas, there is more to do today.
Sayonara...Jenn
We meet our sensai, Ti-san, do the traditional bowing and konnechiwa (hello). Then we sit down and he starts pointing to pictures of things in a book and we start repeating after him...no instruction beforehand, just like we were learning how to talk for the first time. It was an experience. After the class I was on cloud nine...I could talk in Japanese. Didn't matter that the only words I knew were inu (dog), nekko (cat), pen (pen...my personal favorite), hando baggue (hang bag - a must know) and a few others in the same vein....I had mastered some Japanese.
Our last lesson captured primary colors and how to tell people where we were from. Stanley-san wa Amerika-jin desu. But after all these words, my favorite is still Hai (yes), said in a clipped manner that lets you feel in charge of the situation.
Ultimate Japanese language victory is going to be ordering sushi in the restaurants with the sliding doors that have no prices on the menus which are in symbols. Good times.
Alas, there is more to do today.
Sayonara...Jenn
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Packing my life away....literally
Okay, so the big inaugural post....very exciting. I still can't quite believe that my life as a "profit center" as my husband refers to my job status has come to an end if at least temporarily. So, this is my third day at home and I have to say...I miss work a bit. I know...I know...you can all take a collective gasp of disbelief. I don't miss the work itself or waking up early to get there, but the people that I worked with and talked to every day. Sadly my life has become more stressful now that I'm not working. I am in the throws of packing up our entire house...well, not packing exactly, but organizing if you will and downsizing where possible.
I have found that after day one I am far more liberal as to what ends up becoming part of our history. As all of you that will be reading this know....we are moving to Japan in a month or so. And therefore, our three bedroom house has to be compartmentalized into what will be making the journey with us and what will be going into storage to become "like new" in three years, which is the next time that we'll see it. So far...I have gotten up early each day and organized for most of the day...and I've just now gotten through my closet and other clothing locations about our bedroom. You can hardly notice I've done ANYTHING....it's very discouraging. So, I'm taking a break and starting my blog.
Other than my hours packing, Cosmo and I have been bonding. He follows me around the house everywhere and sleeps or watches while I pack. It's really cute. He's even started to forgo sleeping in his doggie bed so he can sleep on my side of our bed (on the floor of course - - he is a dog). I think that John's a little jealous.....although he'd never in a million years admit it. We've been taking daily walks around 4:30, but it's just so hot. But I always feel guilty for staying cooped up inside all day, so today I thought maybe Cosmo would like just hangin' in the yard while I packed. Just in case you were unaware, our dog is ridiculously spoiled and him being outside in the heat by himself lasted all of 2 minutes before he started barking his head off. So needless to say, we're enjoying the air conditioning for the afternoon.
Well, I realize this was pretty dry material here for you, but thought an update was in order and I'm procrastinating looking into the attic. My Christmas boxes have to be sorted.....I have no intention of going to Japan without some seasonal decor (insert John eye roll). And since we aren't allowed to pack anything ourselves that goes on the boat, I have to figure out what goes and unpack it...makes perfect sense, no?
Hopefully by the time I post again there will be some new Japanese words to educate you with. Our first Japanese lesson is tomorrow...from 6-9, just as my attention span is waning. Cross your fingers that I am capable of taking some of it in...I was never all that great with language retention, but I'm hoping this is the one thing that gets better with age rather than worse.
Until next time.....Jenn
I have found that after day one I am far more liberal as to what ends up becoming part of our history. As all of you that will be reading this know....we are moving to Japan in a month or so. And therefore, our three bedroom house has to be compartmentalized into what will be making the journey with us and what will be going into storage to become "like new" in three years, which is the next time that we'll see it. So far...I have gotten up early each day and organized for most of the day...and I've just now gotten through my closet and other clothing locations about our bedroom. You can hardly notice I've done ANYTHING....it's very discouraging. So, I'm taking a break and starting my blog.
Other than my hours packing, Cosmo and I have been bonding. He follows me around the house everywhere and sleeps or watches while I pack. It's really cute. He's even started to forgo sleeping in his doggie bed so he can sleep on my side of our bed (on the floor of course - - he is a dog). I think that John's a little jealous.....although he'd never in a million years admit it. We've been taking daily walks around 4:30, but it's just so hot. But I always feel guilty for staying cooped up inside all day, so today I thought maybe Cosmo would like just hangin' in the yard while I packed. Just in case you were unaware, our dog is ridiculously spoiled and him being outside in the heat by himself lasted all of 2 minutes before he started barking his head off. So needless to say, we're enjoying the air conditioning for the afternoon.
Well, I realize this was pretty dry material here for you, but thought an update was in order and I'm procrastinating looking into the attic. My Christmas boxes have to be sorted.....I have no intention of going to Japan without some seasonal decor (insert John eye roll). And since we aren't allowed to pack anything ourselves that goes on the boat, I have to figure out what goes and unpack it...makes perfect sense, no?
Hopefully by the time I post again there will be some new Japanese words to educate you with. Our first Japanese lesson is tomorrow...from 6-9, just as my attention span is waning. Cross your fingers that I am capable of taking some of it in...I was never all that great with language retention, but I'm hoping this is the one thing that gets better with age rather than worse.
Until next time.....Jenn
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