So today, I left my happy little place called denial, and began the process of preparing the house to move overseas.
I really miss my happy little place.
Bryan has been gently prodding me to take part in what is called a "home inventory". Apparently the freight company estimates the weight of our freight container based on our inventory. So Bryan lured me to the task with a bottle of wine and a clipboard. Woooohoooo....let the romantic evening begin. It started out easy enough with our living room that has no furniture and is filled with one of everything they sell at Toys R Us. No Problem! Bring 5 boxes of toys. Next!
Then we did the dining room. Still, no major issues. Minor snafu determining what table linens will be needed in Switzerland. Then I realized we don't know a soul in the country and have no one to speak to, much less entertain. So we nixed the table linens and moved on to the kitchen.
This is where the wine came in very handy. Seriously? They have a line for cake plates and not wine glasses? And what exactly would you consider a baking pan? Prior to this inventory, I would have said I have 2 baking pan, but after our 20 minute debate about what is considered a baking pan, we now proudly own 27. My observant husband noted that each time we made reference to Switzerland, I took a big swig of Chardonnay. He then voiced his concern that he may have an alcoholic wife once we hit Swiss soil. I assured him they must have good rehab centers in Switzerland. I was mostly kidding.
He questioned why we needed our turkey roasting pan and with an exasperated look I replied, "Uh, Thanksgiving?!?!?!". He gently reminded me they don't give a rat's ass about the pilgrims and informed me that we'd be lucky to find a 3 lb. turkey since all their poultry is a fraction the size of our good old American KFC worthy poultry. As you might have guessed, I refilled my wine glass.
After wisely suggesting we call it quits for the night, Bryan listed the other rooms we still had left to inventory. He found it amusing that I would need to count how many shirts I am bringing. I found it even more amusing that he was excited they had a category for lingerie. Silly man.
So a little bit of reality faced me today and luckily, despite feeling totally overwhelmed by the process, we were able to have a sense of humor about it. I'm guessing a sense of humor will be key to our new life in Switzerland. Fortunately, we both find each other pretty amusing and more importantly, we really enjoy making fun of each other. So imagine the material we will provide each other as we flounder our way through swiss life. Hopefully my friends in rehab will have a sense of humor too.
