Moving Day: Part 1

Today was the first part of our actual move, which we are managing to drag out until mid-September. Today, August 1st, movers came and packed up our "Express Shipment" of clothing, bedding, and kitchenware that will be shipped to Spain and arrive almost the same time we do! At first, I though we would be staying in a hotel for a month, or more. So I planned to take only the barest essentials. But just a few days ago we learned that we will stay in "temporary housing," one of the small, older houses on base that is already vacant. We already started applying for base housing, but it will probably take 1-2 months until we can move into our permanent casa. So I had to switch gears and suddenly plan to bring towels, sheets, and cooking gear that a hotel would normally provide. I spent all day yesterday going through the kids' clothes and sorting out what they will need from now until September (which we will bring onto the plane with us), what they will need when we arrive in Spain (the rest of their summer clothes plus some cool weather stuff just in case), and what we can send on the later shipment (winter clothes and the next size up). Since there are 3 kids, all approaching the next clothing size soon, it was quite a process! But it took the movers much less time to pack it up. They were only here about 2 hours, and everything was boxed, wrapped, tagged, and cataloged for its long journey overseas.
Note: if you are doing a military move, you do need to follow some unusual rules for shipping supplies. My husband's gear was counted toward a separate weight limit, so his "professional gear" had to be separated and marked individually. If you pack things in clear storage containers, they will leave the container intact and just wrap it with packing paper and tape. If you have anything in a solid container or box however, they will unload it and repack it. You cannot ship anything liquid, so no cleaning supplies, toiletries, markers, paint, etc. And... no batteries or light bulbs can be shipped, so they need to be painstakingly removed from every blinking/talking/musical children's toy before being packed! But overall, the process was pretty painless, so now we just have to prepare for the big move in exactly 2 weeks! EEEEK!