Moving Madness
>>Hey all. Been a while (again). Life has been craaaazy lately. Moving stinks. >_< (My sentences seem to be extra short today...) Sittin in SeaTac with several hours before my flight, so I thought I'd record my recent escapades.
>>I finished my last day of classes on the 17th of March. The last day was fun, because I got to teach about Easter, and use the dye sets Bob sent me to dye Easter eggs with them! They were impressed you could actually eat them. Saying goodbye to my schools was really hard, but not as hard as I dread it would be. (I think I got most of my tears out just thinking about it, so the actual day wasn't as bad. ^_^') I got tons of letters, autograph boards, origami, drawings...even a couple of panda plushies! ^_^
>>After school finished, I started slowly working on packing. Jarrad took the last week (I had at home/Japan) off of work so we could play...but I STILL spent the whole time packing! >_< It was super frustrating. I kept feeling that I was almost done...but it still took longer. I'm still super frustrated and angry at myself for seemingly wasting my time...but I'm still having a hard time seeing what I coulda done differently. Perhaps instead of easing myself into it with small goals, I should have hammered it all out right away.
>>I also didn't finish Final Fantasy XIII like I needed/intended. Why is that bad? Well, with these new fangled gaming consoles you don't use a memory card to save your game, it's saved on the console itself. Super convenient unless you're planning to play your game on a different console. So, when Jarrad comes back, and we buy a new PS3 here in the States...all of my game information will be lost and I'll have to start all over again. >_< Stink. I was nearly done, too. I DID finish playing Shadow of the Colossus with Kim, though! :D That was great fun! I doubt I ever would have played that game again without her, so it was good that I was able to finish.
>>We also got to eat at our favorite udon restaurant several times before I left. Good food... Said goodbye to our yakitori restaurant too. >So...craziness with cat carriers. I realized about 2 weeks ago that our cat carriers weren't going to be big enough for the plane requirements. They were the right size as far as a cat's needs go on a normal trip, but Delta/ASPCA wanted carriers big enough that they could sit and stand upright without touching the top of the kennel. :p So, I went crazy one day on Amazon.co.jp to find the right sized kennels that could get shipped to us on time. Not as easy as it sounds because they need to meet certain requirements to be airplane safe and the earthquake has slowed shipping times waaaay down for some sellers. We finally found a couple, and ordered them. When we got back from Joe and Maki's wedding on Sunday, Jarrad found an email in his inbox that was the seller apologizing that they couldn't fill the order. It was supposed to arrive Monday. I left on Tuesday. Yeah. Fun. Sooo...along with all the other last minute crud I was running around doing, making a mad dash to Maizuru made it to the list of things to do. (45 minute drive each way...) But luckily, we were able to find one carrier that was the right size (funnily enough, it was the same carrier we had ordered!), meaning, only one kitty could come with me today...er...yesterday...whatever. So, Spork stayed with Jarrad. He'll send him along by Delta Cargo when Megan goes to send her babies. (He would just bring him along when he moves home, like we first planned, but there's a travel embargo for pets during the hot summer months.) So, we got back from Maizuru, feeling pretty victorious in our quest. Ran upstairs to start wrapping up my packing aaaaand...Megan knocks on the door to take us to the airport. O_O Yeeeeaaaah...SO not ready! >_< After a frantic speed packing of my bags, Jarrad called Elizabeth to ask if she could take us the next day (Tuesday). Luckily, she said "yes," and I had one more evening to try and get my sh*t in order. >_< Megan, Kim, and Maggie stuck around to help pack/lighten the mood. We also got yakitori for the last time together. I suggested to Jarrad that we polish off one of the bottles of alcohol we've never had the occasion to open. Whee! Packing while tipsy is...fun, but difficult to concentrate or take the situation seriously.
>>I left Jarrad, Kim, and Megan a f*ck-ton of boxes to label and ship off for me. >_< I had no IDEA that I had accumulated so much stuff! I honestly thought that all I had was a ton of manga/books, my dolls, stuffed toys and clothes. Well, 10 or so boxes later...I found I was wrong. O_o I really wish I had had/taken the time to go threw it all one more time to consolidate and chuck stuff. I mighta taken more pictures of the notes kids gave me rather than packing them...I mighta tossed out more... Bad thing is, now that Kim is helping, she says she'll send me stuff she thinks I need that I had left behind. >_<
>>Elizabeth came Tuesday morning...we packed up, and shipped off. Spork wouldn't say goodbye to me because he was afraid I'd shove him in a kennel too. :p Poop. I'll see him soon, though. The drive was nice enough. Mikei wasn't too pleased with it, though. :p She finally started settling down towards the end while I had her in my lap. It was a very good thing that we got there so early! It was crazy running back and forth trying to get everything taken care of! I needed to get Mikei through quarantine, check in to the plane, cancel my cell phone, pay my phone bill, change my address and mail a letter at the post office...and get some food/omiyage. Turned out...I had to leave most of that to Jarrad. >_< FYI to all you Japan people...you can't cancel your AU phone at KIX. I was able to do it at Narita 5 years ago, so call ahead to check. >_< Luckily, I was able to sign it over to Jarrad to do. GODS! I feel SOOO horrible for all the stuff that I've left for Jarrad to do!! ,>_<, I feel flaky even though I started out the break with SUCH good intentions and motivation! I really don't know how it all blew apart in my face! I hope I can make it up to him...
>>Well, I've got 2 hours before my flight now. I think I need to find some more coffee, food, and a bathroom before it gets crazy. Need to fight this headache somehow too. >_< I'll get to Phoenix at about 8:30pm. My plan after that: meet-up my grandparents, get a litter box & food for Mikei, get home, hug my family and collapse into bed! Xp
>>I finished my last day of classes on the 17th of March. The last day was fun, because I got to teach about Easter, and use the dye sets Bob sent me to dye Easter eggs with them! They were impressed you could actually eat them. Saying goodbye to my schools was really hard, but not as hard as I dread it would be. (I think I got most of my tears out just thinking about it, so the actual day wasn't as bad. ^_^') I got tons of letters, autograph boards, origami, drawings...even a couple of panda plushies! ^_^
>>After school finished, I started slowly working on packing. Jarrad took the last week (I had at home/Japan) off of work so we could play...but I STILL spent the whole time packing! >_< It was super frustrating. I kept feeling that I was almost done...but it still took longer. I'm still super frustrated and angry at myself for seemingly wasting my time...but I'm still having a hard time seeing what I coulda done differently. Perhaps instead of easing myself into it with small goals, I should have hammered it all out right away.
>>I also didn't finish Final Fantasy XIII like I needed/intended. Why is that bad? Well, with these new fangled gaming consoles you don't use a memory card to save your game, it's saved on the console itself. Super convenient unless you're planning to play your game on a different console. So, when Jarrad comes back, and we buy a new PS3 here in the States...all of my game information will be lost and I'll have to start all over again. >_< Stink. I was nearly done, too. I DID finish playing Shadow of the Colossus with Kim, though! :D That was great fun! I doubt I ever would have played that game again without her, so it was good that I was able to finish.
>>We also got to eat at our favorite udon restaurant several times before I left. Good food... Said goodbye to our yakitori restaurant too. >So...craziness with cat carriers. I realized about 2 weeks ago that our cat carriers weren't going to be big enough for the plane requirements. They were the right size as far as a cat's needs go on a normal trip, but Delta/ASPCA wanted carriers big enough that they could sit and stand upright without touching the top of the kennel. :p So, I went crazy one day on Amazon.co.jp to find the right sized kennels that could get shipped to us on time. Not as easy as it sounds because they need to meet certain requirements to be airplane safe and the earthquake has slowed shipping times waaaay down for some sellers. We finally found a couple, and ordered them. When we got back from Joe and Maki's wedding on Sunday, Jarrad found an email in his inbox that was the seller apologizing that they couldn't fill the order. It was supposed to arrive Monday. I left on Tuesday. Yeah. Fun. Sooo...along with all the other last minute crud I was running around doing, making a mad dash to Maizuru made it to the list of things to do. (45 minute drive each way...) But luckily, we were able to find one carrier that was the right size (funnily enough, it was the same carrier we had ordered!), meaning, only one kitty could come with me today...er...yesterday...whatever. So, Spork stayed with Jarrad. He'll send him along by Delta Cargo when Megan goes to send her babies. (He would just bring him along when he moves home, like we first planned, but there's a travel embargo for pets during the hot summer months.) So, we got back from Maizuru, feeling pretty victorious in our quest. Ran upstairs to start wrapping up my packing aaaaand...Megan knocks on the door to take us to the airport. O_O Yeeeeaaaah...SO not ready! >_< After a frantic speed packing of my bags, Jarrad called Elizabeth to ask if she could take us the next day (Tuesday). Luckily, she said "yes," and I had one more evening to try and get my sh*t in order. >_< Megan, Kim, and Maggie stuck around to help pack/lighten the mood. We also got yakitori for the last time together. I suggested to Jarrad that we polish off one of the bottles of alcohol we've never had the occasion to open. Whee! Packing while tipsy is...fun, but difficult to concentrate or take the situation seriously.
>>I left Jarrad, Kim, and Megan a f*ck-ton of boxes to label and ship off for me. >_< I had no IDEA that I had accumulated so much stuff! I honestly thought that all I had was a ton of manga/books, my dolls, stuffed toys and clothes. Well, 10 or so boxes later...I found I was wrong. O_o I really wish I had had/taken the time to go threw it all one more time to consolidate and chuck stuff. I mighta taken more pictures of the notes kids gave me rather than packing them...I mighta tossed out more... Bad thing is, now that Kim is helping, she says she'll send me stuff she thinks I need that I had left behind. >_<
>>Elizabeth came Tuesday morning...we packed up, and shipped off. Spork wouldn't say goodbye to me because he was afraid I'd shove him in a kennel too. :p Poop. I'll see him soon, though. The drive was nice enough. Mikei wasn't too pleased with it, though. :p She finally started settling down towards the end while I had her in my lap. It was a very good thing that we got there so early! It was crazy running back and forth trying to get everything taken care of! I needed to get Mikei through quarantine, check in to the plane, cancel my cell phone, pay my phone bill, change my address and mail a letter at the post office...and get some food/omiyage. Turned out...I had to leave most of that to Jarrad. >_< FYI to all you Japan people...you can't cancel your AU phone at KIX. I was able to do it at Narita 5 years ago, so call ahead to check. >_< Luckily, I was able to sign it over to Jarrad to do. GODS! I feel SOOO horrible for all the stuff that I've left for Jarrad to do!! ,>_<, I feel flaky even though I started out the break with SUCH good intentions and motivation! I really don't know how it all blew apart in my face! I hope I can make it up to him...
>>Well, I've got 2 hours before my flight now. I think I need to find some more coffee, food, and a bathroom before it gets crazy. Need to fight this headache somehow too. >_< I'll get to Phoenix at about 8:30pm. My plan after that: meet-up my grandparents, get a litter box & food for Mikei, get home, hug my family and collapse into bed! Xp