Decisions, Decisions!

The past couple of days have been nothing but decisions! Big and small...I've made them all!  Monday was the move of all the things we MIGHT need IF we find a place to live before our main shipment arrives...things like pots, pans, dishes, linens, clothes, shoes, etc.  I mean how do you prepare for something like that?  I tried to think outside the box and I thought of things like a cheese grater, some Tupperware and even a set of measuring cups and spoons.  But I must say, I had a moment of panic when I realized I didn't ship an ice cream scoop!  What will my family do without that???  Then you have to realize that you will be living without those items on THIS side of the move.  I hope my littlest doesn't have a potty accident in the night, because he'll have no spare sheets!  I'm even typing this blogpost on my Mother In Law's tiny mini computer that is slower than the Navy travel office!  :)

Then if that isn't stressful enough, Tuesday was the Long Term Storage shipment.  Yes, in 24 hours I had to decide what I can't live without to what I can live without.  Do I take all the kids artwork accumulated over 8 or so years because I think I will have time to put together crafty books with them?  Or do I store that extra bookcase - and what about all the tools in the garage?  Will I need a shovel in Italy?  We don't know if we will be in a 900 sq ft "flat" or  2000 sq ft "villa".  Will my very extensive (and expensive) cooking appliances even work with the power converters?  Will I have a garage or a yard?  It is almost impossible to plan for the unknowns!

I had to decide to take some things and store others.  Also, knowing that burglary is a real possibility, I chose to leave behind some very valuable items along the lines of silver flatware and china, and my irreplaceable Christmas dishes (sniff!).  Also most of my holiday decor I decided to leave behind.  So hard...but I think we made some good trade offs in order to stay flexible and not be tied down.  We want to be able to make the most of the experience and travel as much as possible.

I'm also running some odd errands...I decided to have my vacuum overhauled and tuned up, looking into some camera maintenance, and other things that may be difficult to do in Italy, at least right away.  I have so many things running through my mind that my brain has been hurting daily, my face is breaking out like a teenager, and my waistline is quickly outgrowing all my waistbands because I haven't been exercising or eating well. 

Speaking of eating, there are also decisions on how to eat down the fridge and the pantry.  I'm pretty much down to only having things to bake.  I think I could make a batch of cookies every night until the day we leave.  But I can't make much else...much of the good food is gone, and it seems a shame to buy much more.  Pasta is the meal of the week, as you can prepare it with so many pantry goods and meats from the freezer.  Tonight the kids made a dump cake (Can of cherries, box of cake mix and a stick of butter).  It's a wonderful cobbler and you eat it piping hot with ice cream on top.  Oh, that's one way to eat down the pantry!  Tomorrow night it's peanut butter kiss cookies. I have so much peanut butter to get rid of!  Any good recipes to share?

But in the midst of all my decisions, the doorbell rang this afternoon, and I received a much unexpected delivery.  Beautiful Mother's Day flowers from my Husband!  Now, you have to understand.  We've been married nearly 11 years, and I always receive flowers, and they always come to my office.  It was a tradition that early in the week of a celebratory event, my flowers would come to the lobby in the main building of my work, and I would have to walk to that building, collect my bounty and walk back to my building and my desk.  Everyone would ogle them along the way and I would explain that I had the best Husband in the world.  Especially when he's overseas or in the middle of the ocean, he never misses a holiday!  But this Mother's Day, for the first time, the flowers were delivered to my NEW office!  HOME!  He called them my Stay At Home Mother's Day flowers.  They sure brightened my day and helped me to put all the decisions into perspective, in that each decision may not be perfect, but in the end, it will be, as it's all part of our story!

Stay At Home Mother's Day Flowers!