17 days and counting

Headless chicken mode continues, as you all might have suspected. Per our previous post, we have decided to ship some stuff to the Land of the Long White Cloud. As we pack boxes with toys, books, clothes, art supplies and other random items, I find myself wondering what it will be like to open those boxes filled with the remnants of our life in Portland. Will we be happy with the stuff we have sent on a boat across the Pacific Ocean? Or will it be more of a "what the hell were we thinking" kind of moment? George Carlin's routine on "Stuff" comes to mind. One thing I know we will be happy to see is our new bike trailer. Our plan all along has been to become a family of bikers. Funny to think that it takes moving to the other side of the world (from one of the most bike friendly cities) for us to "get our bike on".

Miss M is a bit panicked about her beloved books, wooden kitchen and doll house disappearing into a cardboard box. Mr W doesn't seem to notice or care and proceeds to poop his pants.

There are still many things to wrap up here- canceling utilities, address changes, selling our car, transferring money, opening a kiwi bank account, setting up accommodations, burning CDs on to our I-pod. And there is the packing, some more packing...and ....did I mention that we need to pack?

Otherwise, we are savouring (note the use of the NZ spelling! Gotta start practising!) time spent with friends and family as much as we can. I wish I had more time for more hugs and well wishes with those who I haven't seen in a while but we will soon be on that plane and headed to our new life in New Zealand.