The Madness Begins...

Once we got home from our Spring Break trip to Germany, and the move decision was final, utter chaos took over my life. I was faced with 2 1/2 months of total lunacy trying to organize the move and my "to-do" list was growing by leaps and bounds everyday.

I broke down the master list into copies to make (such as passports, drivers licenses, diplomas, marriage license, etc.) and copies to get (such as health & dental records, driving records, insurance information, a US IKEA catalog - so I could interpret what's in the German one, college recommendations for my 16-year-old daughter from teachers at her present school, and a confirmation from the State of IL that we don't receive kinder geld in the US so we can get it in Germany - still don't know who to ask for that one). I listed things to buy in the US (jeans, paperback romances and mysteries for me to read while in Germany, shoes for myself in wides and for my 13-year-old daughter in size 11, over-the-counter medicines and special cosmetics, transformers for converting German currency for US appliances, etc.) and things to buy in Germany (wardrobes since most of the bedrooms don't have closets, guest bedroom furniture, washer & dryer, extra refrigerator and maybe separate freezer, lamps, etc.). I made a list of things to sell, on ebay, at the garage sale, and locally through the paper or elsewhere, including our 3 tvs, the piano, 2 couches and 2 recliners, some exercise equipment, and the trampoline. The list also includes calls to make, research to do (on cars to buy in Germany, bank accounts, using VOIP sservice in Germany, and cellphone companies), things to sort and pack, and paperwork to be done (such as withdrawing my daughters from schools here, sending immunization records and photos to school in Germany, changing my Girl Scout & Destination Imagination bank accounts over to new people, and opening a Post Office box in New York in order to forward our mail there).

In addition to the master list, I had a weekly list of specific details, which first and foremost involved hiring a property manager to rent our home and manage the rentals while we're gone. I researched several, emailed a bunch, interviewed three and finally chose one. She came out and took pictures inside and out and went over our repairs list with me. Then I had to hire a handyman to start the repairs. I emailed everyone I know locally for suggestions, called several, interviewed three and hired one. Between touring the house with the prospective property managers and prospective handymen, I'm surprised I didn't just burn the place down, since so many of them thought it was a lost cause and no one would ever want to live there. True, our house in Elmhurst is 100 years old, has no central air conditioning, and needs some work. But, it's got great character, is huge, is on a great street in a nice neighborhood, in a great town and convenient to everything. We love this house and plan to come back and live here when our years in Germany are over, so it got discouraging to hear how little anyone else would like it.

Once the handyman was hired, then I needed to find people to do the things he wasn't going to do, such as replace the 6 cracked windows, paint the outside of the garage, paint all of the upstairs bedrooms, and refinish our staircase. Let me just say, it's a mystery to me why the house-owning public accepts as fact that no floor finishing company will refinish the risers of a set of hardwood stairs. I've interviewed six different refinishers and none of them would touch the risers. They'll refinish the runners, but suggest I get someone (else) to paint the risers. I don't want painted risers - I want them to match the runners. No go - unless I do it myself. I'm a housewife, a mother, a Girl Scout leader, active volunteer and licensed attorney - not a floor finisher. I have a million things to do between now and when I move my family of five to Germany for 3 years. So, we're getting carpet for the stairs & will worrying about refinishing them when we get back to the US.

Coordinating the logistics of getting all this work done on the house should qualify me for an important corporate position with a huge salary. The outside of the garage can't be painted until the handyman fixes the soffits on the garage. There's places on the outside of the house where the paint needs touch ups, but that can't be done until the cracked windows have been replaced, because the replacement of our picture window requires the removal of the outside sill and it will need repainting once the work is completed. The windows can't be washed until the new ones are installed. And the upstairs bedrooms shouldn't be painted until we move out and the rooms are empty. So, first we start with the handyman and the new carpet and we go from there.

Meanwhile, it takes 5-6 weeks for our furniture and belongings to arrive in Frankfurt after they are boxed and loaded here in Elmhurst, so we need somewhere to live in between. Fortunately, I always take our daughters to our family cottages in Upstate New York for the month of July, so this year, we plan to extend our stay from June 25 through August 6. I feel guilty about using up more than my fair share of weeks in our cottage, since my sisters & I usually rent out the empty weeks to help cover the cost of owning the cottages. But, I also want the girls and I to be able to spend time with the family before our move and hate the thought of living in a hotel longer than necessary. As it is, when we fly to Germany on August 6, we'll probably have to stay in a hotel there for a week or so until our furniture arrives.

In addition to all of this, our oldest daughter needs to take social studies in summer school in Elmhurst, because she wasn't able to fit it in her schedule during the school year and, therefore, has only taken 1 semester of social studies so far in her 2 years of high school. The International school in Germany wasn't impressed with this. So, she needs to stay in Elmhurst through July 21 to finish summer school. My husband has to be in Germany (and Sweden) on business the first week in June, the third week in June (yes, that's when the movers are coming), and the third week in July, although he has to be in Chicago (but not Elmhurst) the second week in July. So, we had to arrange with one of my daughter's friends and her parents to have our daughter stay with them during most of July when my dh is not in Elmhurst, although she can stay in a hotel with my dh the last week in June. And, of course, we have to have a back-up in case something happens with the friend or her family, so our daughter can move in with someone else if necessary.

Add into this mix that the International school in Frankfurt requires all of our daughters to take placement exams. The younger two only need to take English and math and can do that in August after we move to Germany. However, our oldest daughter needs to take exams in English, math, Spanish, Chemistry, Biology and social studies. Since she's taking social studies in summer school, she doesn't have to take that exam until August. The other five need to be taken as soon as possible, so they know where to place here for next year. The school has a 2-year program for sophomores and juniors that culminates at the end of the junior year in taking British exams - the IGCSE. Because our daughter is entering the school half-way through this 2-year program, they are very concerned about how to place her and prepare her for those exams. So, we tried to find a time that our daughter and one of her parents could fly back to Frankfurt, have a day or two to adjust to the time zone, take 2 days of exams and fly home. Not an easy task under the best of circumstances, but especially difficult with my husband's travel schedule, my daughter's exam and summer school schedule and my own schedule with our other 2 daughters and preparing for the move. Finally, the school agreed to fax the exams to a sister school in Minneapolis, so now we can fly up there at the end of her finals here in Elmhurst, take 2 days of tests in Minneapolis, maybe fit in a quick visit to the Mall of America, and then fly home before she begins her summer school course.

Meanwhile, it's the regular chaos of spring for most parents of school-aged kids in the US. My oldest is the manager of the sophomore baseball team, of which her boyfriend is a member, and has 3-4 games a week. My middle daughter is in softball, with 2 games and 1 practice every week, as well as track, which has a practice or meet everyday after school. My youngest daughter is in softball, again 2 games and 1 practice every week, and still has band, Girl Scouts, and other events meeting regularly. Add to that schedule that every group they've been in all year, including Girl Scouts, choir, band, etc., has an end-of-the-year something in May - concerts, campouts, parties, farewells, etc. Last, but certainly not least, the girls need a chance to say good-bye to their friends here, so we're having my oldest's sweet 16 party here with 45 of her closest friends, and my other two daughters have friends arranging parties for them, that we just have to fit into the schedule somewhere. I don't think the schedule has an inch to spare, but during my "down times," I'm still trying to sort out what gets moved, what gets stored, what gets sold and what goes in the trash. I'm thinking of running away to join the circus!