It's Moving Week!

This week has been exhausting.  Have I mentioned before that I really don't like moving?  And moving with a child versus without child are two different stories.  Simply put, the move to Germany was a little easier than this one.  I didn't have a 2.5 year old running around.  However, life with Caden is a lot more fun and entertaining than without him. 

The packers and movers came Monday and Tuesday.  They were at our house most of the day.  There were four men and they packed and moved everything out and onto a huge truck and trailor.  Wednesday, Collin and I spent ALL day cleaning and throwing empty boxes and trash away (or recycling them).  We worked our tails off preparing our house for the walk-thru with our landlord today.

We are so blessed to have many wonderful friends in Germany.  They have been true lifesavers at times.  Monday our friends Kailin and Rober watched Caden for us (it was a long day!).  This allowed the packers to pack all of Caden's room and the majority of things he would get into or upset about.  Tuesday my friend Nicole was going to watch him but her daughter got the flu, which was sad, but she's doing better thankfully.  Wednesday, our friend, Jane, watched him from noon until 8pm, thanks, Jane!!  She put him to bed at 6pm and called and said for Collin and I to go grab dinner alone before getting him.  What a wonderful treat!

Originally the movers told us they would take until Wednesday to finish.  I really wanted to hire someone to do a final clean.  I'm all about saving money but lets face it, my stress levels are high, I'm tired, and cleaning a 4-story house is hard work.  Yesterday I was at my wits end.  When I took Caden to Jane's house at noon, she could see I needed a break.  So I called Collin and he encouraged me to go to lunch with her.  Her babysitter/maid was over so she watched our kids.  It was such a nice break.  I can count on one hand the number of meals I've had without Caden since he's been born and it's not many.  Collin and I stopped cleaning around 6:30pm and headed to one of our favorite restaurants in Eppelheim.  Jane only lives 5 minutes away so thankfully she was close by.  Poor Collin!  He was allergic to a spice in his food and started throwing up.  It was awful!  He had such a horrible nothing of a lunch and couldn't keep any dinner down.  Thankfully the window to the pharmacy across the street from the restaurant was open so he walked over there and got some medicine.

Today we were reminded how cheap and unfair our landlord is.  I'm not sure how much of our 3200 Euro deposit he's going to take but we're guessing anywhere from 500-700 Euros ($645-$905).  I'm too tired and mad to type all the details right now.  But basically a hair line crack in the sink that was there when we moved in 3 years ago, he is blaming us for and said we need to pay for a new sink which includes labor.  Also to re-grout the shower which was nasty when we moved in which he told us would cost 300 Euros.  Even though we got rid of all the lime deposits and the whole house looks a lot better than it ever did when we moved in.  Collin and I were both very dilligent when we cleaned to make sure it was spotless.

On a big positive note--God has blessed us with wonderful weather this week which made packing and moving a lot easier.  It has not snowed or rained on us until today.  It was rainy today.  And, we even got sunshine on Monday and Tuesday.  Sunshine in Germany is not very common in the winter.  It's usually rainy or snowy.

Tomorrow we're driving to Ramstein (an hour away) to sell Collin's car.  We have to meet our landlord at 3pm to hand over the keys.  Then Collin's farewell dinner is at 6pm.  Things are quickly wrapping up in Germany.  Caden has been doing pretty well with it all.  He's had a lot of sad moments though.  He cried when we sold his rug and his shrunk (closet).  He was sad when his toys were packed away.  I told him they are going on a big truck then a big ship to Texas and we will see them in a new house.  He does seem to be excited to go to America and live in Texas. 

Last Sunday our church family had a going away party for us.  We are truly blessed to have such wonderful friends at church.  This is the smallest church I have ever attended.  We are going to miss our church family in Heidelberg.

We moved into the hotel on Monday and will be here until we fly out.  We will miss all our wonderful friends in Germany but are looking forward to seeing all of our wonderful friends and family in Texas.  Hopefully we will keep in touch with many of the good friends we met while living here these past 3.5 years.