House-swap

Tomorrow is the big day! Since the Donnellys left Seth and I have been sending crates of books to store in his office (three large, full bookshelves-worth) and trying to pack as much stuff into our storage closet as efficiently as possible. We have also been eating non-stop, trying to clear out the fridge and freezer (we gave up on trying to empty the pantry a long time ago). The freezer was full of meat, but since the two of us usually only share about a pound of meat once a week or so, this has been quite a task. This past week alone we have had BBQ pulled chicken, homemade meat pizza, Teriyaki chicken, German potato salad with sausage, pepper steak yesterday, and with a pound and a half of turkey meatballs tonight, we should just about finish off the meat. Better eat meat now because if it is anything like Australia I doubt we will be able to afford it in Italy.

Besides packing we have also been catching up with a few people. It is a little strange and somewhat awkward, however, knowing that we will be back in a year; this will be the first time we move and actually return, so we are trying not to get too sentimental about taking off. However, Seth did say goodbye to some of the regulars up on Prospect Hill this morning...

Today is also my last day in the lab. Luckily things are pretty quiet these days so I have had a little time to catch up on trip preparations and give myself time away from thoughts of packing. Too bad the big Smart Balance experiment (the experiment I was originally hired to work on before they decided to do the soymilk experiment instead) will be conducted just after I leave. That would have been really fun to help design and coordinate!

Rebecca, an inspector (I think?) who works at the lab has been really wonderful in helping to make Lorenzo's trip easier. She gave us a nice shipping box, some nesting material, and gel packs for him to keep hydrated. She also offered herself as a registered veterinarian to give him a health check so he can go through customs. Unfortunately, the health inspection needs to be within 10 days of departure, so we will need to do this in NY before we leave.

Oh how I can't wait for this time tomorrow, when the packing should be done and we are on the road! Even better, Seth promised we will go to Mr. Twistees when we are in NY this time, AND Melissa made mention of baking a pie to send over for us tomorrow :o)

One good thing about moving is that it forces you to throw out things that probably should have been tossed long ago. Here is a bag of peanut butter kisses Seth mailed to me when I first moved to Australia. He actually sent a box of chocolates earlier but the hungry boxer dog that lived in the house busted into my room and ate it up, leaving me lonely and upset. Seth was really sweet and promptly mailed me another batch of goodies, including these, the bag marked "NO JAKE". It was so nice of him that I couldn't get myself to eat it. Nearly four years and a photo later, it is time they go.

Due to weight limitations, we may need to think up a better way to transport one year's supply of supplements (we are actually still short two bottles of fish oil). I feel like such a pill popper.

However, just like a bag of Doritos, here is an excellent example of a container that is far too large for it's contents: this bottle is unopened, yet it is probably filled only one-fifth of the way.