26 September 2005

The Return - Stage 1

With such a big process involved in moving house across countries, we have planned it all in stages. We are limited to 14 bags plus some on board baggage. Although we came here with 9 bags we have accumulated a bit of "really cool stuff". So we had to sort through EVERYTHING, deciding what was to stay and what was to go. Our friends purchased a large portion of the best furniture and equipment and we had a less than successful garage sale for the rest.
We gave away the rest. Our friends had a bonus of much of it and the Thrift stores (called Opportunity shops in Australia) had a huge bonus of clothing.
Friday night was our last night in our beds. I couldn't sleep thinking about what needed to be done so got up at 3:00am and cleaned up my home office, the kitchen and lounge room. It was worth the effort when Lana awoke and gave me a sleepy smile!
Once everyone was up we started packing the beds. I couldn't detach the bed head/head board as we had already given away our tools! Luckily Donald - the first of our friends to arrive - had a set.
By the afternoon all of upstairs and most of the house was done, we only had to pack the last 4 bags. Aaargh! A massive cull was required. Another of our friends, David F, was on hand and we kept giving him more treasures as a gift. Finally we did what we could. It was only stuff. The critical bits were all loaded, but it was a lot of bags. I'll post a photo later.
We stayed overnight at David F's home. We met David F when Ariel and I visited the US in July 2002 on our exploratory visit. Our host stopped by the city park and mentioned that she noticed a homeschooling Dad at the playground so we stopped. Whilst Ariel played we talked and had an enjoyable time discussing faith, life and the universe. This was the only time David F had actually been at the park on his own. Coincidence or Providence? You decide.
After a lovely dinner, the children played, I fixed up David F's computer and then we all finally slept our last night in our US home town.

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