what a bunch of crap

Wow time is winding down so fast now.  Tomorrow we leave for NYC for the weekend, then when we get back I only have five days here until I head home for Christmas.  Then its ten days at home, fly back here on the 26th, pack out on the 27th and leave on the 28th.   AAAAAGHHHHHHH!

We have been so busy with getting everything ready- and I really think we're going to use every last minute to do so.  We probably shouldn't go to New York this weekend, but we planned it back during our delusional phase, and now I think it will be kind of nice to not have to deal with it for the weekend.  A week from now when I'm up all night getting everything packed I'll probably be kicking myself in the ass, but I suppose that once I get to Abuja I'll won't regret spending one of my last weekends in the bustling, holiday fabulousness that is NYC.

Our cart - Costco visit #2

It feels like we've been doing nothing but shopping lately.  And not the fun kind.  Do you think I have any cute new outfits to wear to New York?  No.  Why?  Because all of our money is being spent on shampoo and ziplocs and giant boxes of instant oatmeal.  And because what is the point of getting some cute new sweater when you can't wear it again for two years and by then will probably be out of style.  Yesterday I spent all day shopping online for stuff for the move.  All day.  I really don't know how it took so long but I had a headache by the time I picked Joey up from work.  Heartworm and flea/tick prevention for the dogs, airline kits for the dogs, vitamins and supplements for us - none of this is fun stuff.  I did end up buying two new pairs of shoes...but they were only $15 dollars each so I'd hardly call it a splurge.  They're called Footzy Rolls and they roll up into a teeny little ball and you can store them in your purse for when you can't take your high heels any more.  I bought a pair of black ballet flats and black flip flops.  I think they'll come in handy quite frequently, even in Abuja.  Maybe in Abuja.  I digress... 

So before we started buying all of our consumables for two years (started - definitely have another trip or two to Costco, a trip to Target, a trip to Trader Joe's, Giant and hopefully then we're done....hmm looks like we're going to Costco tonight...) we hardly had room for everything in our house.  Actually we didn't have room for everything in our house.  A quarter of our guest room was boxes.  Well now its about three quarters.  Joey's poor friend, Bill, is coming the weekend I head to Des Moines and unfortunately he's going to have to camp out on our couch because half of the guest bed has turned into our moving staging area.  Here are some pictures: 

What was once a bed is now storage.  In the foreground is Joey's dresser which he now shares with the chocolate stash.  In the background you can see our new suitcases.

More food, sandwiched between the dresser and bed.  Now Joey and I can start that bean shelf, Mom!

The other corner of the room includes Christmas decorations that wasted weight in our UAB as well as dog kennels that are not airline approved.

More of that side of the room - our new TV, a multi-system or multi-region or something like that; several bags of coffee, dog bones, and the stack of boxes on the left is all of the new transformers Joey bought.

Just to give you a sense of the room - this was taken from the door.  Pretty full.