Our Stuff

The last of our stuff was packed up on October 31st - and (hooray!), renters moved in to our house on November 1st.

1) our "Unaccompanied Baggage", which is the shipment that goes by plane and theoretically should get here in a few weeks or more.  We were allowed up to 1000 lbs for this shipment, which we neatly piled in the playroom back in Woodbury.  It has bath towels, kitchen towels, TOYS, TOYS, TOYS, the new cute bed linens I got for the girls, our own bed linens, and some kitchen stuff.  I also asked Julie last minute to throw in a few Christmas decorations, since not having any seemed pretty damn depressing.  We were also allowed a separate add-on to this shipment for "professional gear", which includes work stuff like my extra computer monitor, printer, binders, etc. 

2)  all the rest of our stuff fit into "Household Goods", which ships by boat and may get here sometime in 2014, just before we're ready to move back to Minnesota.  Ok, so I'm exaggerating but I just have a feeling it's going to take two months longer than I hope for.  We didn't really have a weight limit on this.  We weren't going to ship any furniture, but after seeing the "stock" couches and chairs that are currently in our living room, I made a prompt request to get our nice comfy (clean) leather couches on the boat.  Oh, and man, I cannot wait for our bed to get here.

3) and remember, we left our SUV in St. Louis on September 24.  Still no clue as to when to expect that...

Our first month in Croatia has, for the most part, been pretty glorious...however not having our stuff and knowing we're still not getting it for a long time, has probably been the most frustrating part of the move.  The "Welcome Kit" that was provided to us certainly couldn't have been intended to be used for longer than a week or so.  We have 4 dinner plates, 4 small plates, 4 bowls and 3 glasses (because I dropped one on Day 3).  We have a few plastic mixing bowls.  A loaf pan.  2 pots and 2 pans.  3 knives that couldn't cut through a loaf of bread. Measuring cups that leave my fingers black because the ink keeps rubbing off with each rinsing.  4 bath towels, a few hand towels, a few washcloths (all paper thin, white, hotel style).  Paper thin sheets on all 3 beds with one starchy blanket each.  4 flat pillows.  You get the idea.  Fine for a week or two.  After that, it's like that can't-wait-to-go-home-from-vacation-so-you-can-have-all-your-stuff-back feeling.  So, I've purchased quite a few things to fill in the gaps, but all of our stuff (nice stuff) is coming relatively soon, so I don't want to buy it all in duplicate, you know?  Bleh.  I know I sound whiney and I hate that because I know many people would like to be in our shoes...but you know, whine I must.  :-)  For the love of God, just get me a can opener that works.

*And probably no one is more happier that our stuff is on its way than Julie.  She was a complete and utter angel to supervise all 3 moves over several days in October.  Don't know what we would have done without her!