We did it! We sorted, donated, sold, packed and/or stored all of our belongings and moved the family to Singapore. I found it shocking that the process can be done very quickly, with the help of family and friends. It seriously takes a village to move overseas. I am calling it "The Great Purge of 2013", I don't own a car anymore, I donated all those cocktail dresses and shoes I hadn't worn in years, and said goodbye to my DVD collection I never watched. I had to choose and pack all I deem important in two 50 lb bags. At first I thought 100 lbs is a lot, but when you have children your bags are their bags too. All too quickly I was trying to cram as many of my son's favorite books (all of his books) into my bags or carry on luggage. I also tried to stock up on clothes, since I had heard shopping in Singapore is super expensive. So I bought clothes and shoes for both my 3.5 year old son and my quickly growing 14 month old daughter for the next year. I also bought over the counter medications such as Children's Tylenol and Advil in bulk at my ever dear Costco because you need a prescription for those items in Singapore. Linens are also pricey, so I felt it necessary to pack at least one of our nicer sheet sets and I had to bring my son's pirate themed bedding that he loves so much. Needless to say, our luggage maxed out on weight quickly. Luckily we have a few family members and friends that are visiting soon and they were happy to bring the remaining items when they come. We would ship some items, but we have no address! We are currently homeless, not on the streets of course, but in a hotel until we find our next home. Our lives are kind of up in the air for a time.
Plane ride was eventful of course. I am now a seasoned mom of two and am quite shocked if nothing goes wrong with any type of travel, even a 45 minute drive to San Francisco could make one age faster than a tanning bed. Don't get me wrong, I love and adore my children, but it takes a lot of patience to be their parent, not one of my stronger qualities. My son, who is always running circles around us, suddenly announced "my stomach hurts" as we were boarding our first flight from Houston to Moscow, a simple 11 hour first leg. Ever been in a plane where a kid is screaming his head off and yelling for his mom to help him go to the potty? So after hearing jeers from not so patient passengers, aka people without children, the flight attendants decided I could take him to the restroom. So there I am running my kid to the little closet of a restroom while the plane was taking off. I was actually preparing myself for the flight attendants to show us the exit and say "Come again when you are all ready. Ten minutes later and in our first spare outfit we returned to our seats only to run back to the restroom once again. So now after only being on the plane for 30 minutes, my son and I are both in our spare clothes. Definitely a rocky start, but after that it was alright. We all made it safely and unharmed, minus a 2 degree burn my husband got from our 14 month old spilling his coffee in his lap, his quick reflexes were dulled from sleep deprivation. Bottom line is we made it and if we could do it anyone can. So no regrets yet and I am so looking forward to the rest of our adventures here... the good, the bad, and the absurd!
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