What's the plan, Phil?

Several people have been asking about our moving ‘schedule’, and I generally just stare blankly at them with a dumbstruck look on my face. With Forest being so young, I still feel like I’m a bit in crisis mode. The word ‘schedule’ in my mind only refers to his next feeding or naptime. Planning an international move a month in the future just seems incredibly daunting. 

But….. we do have a few things on the calendar and we’ve started slowly organizing our stuff into the old categories of: keep, trash, donate.  When you move every 2 years, you want to travel light. There is no room for sentimentality which is super hard when you're casually tossing newborn baby items into the 'donate' pile. 

So here is a rough guide to our moving plans: 

February 20: The dogs will be picked up by our transport company. Jonathan will have his ‘leaving-do’ for work. 

They sure will miss Scotland!

February 21: The dogs will begin their journey to Houston where my parents will pick them up. My parents have graciously offered to dog-sit for a few weeks until we get settled and I have never been more grateful for anything in my life! 

February 24&25: The movers will pack up all of our belonging for our air and sea shipments. 

February 26: At 6 AM we take off for San Francisco, via Paris. Because it’s a super long flight, Jon’s company is flying us business class. This includes a ticket for little Forest which just tickles me to no end. His first flight will be in style! Our little frequent flier will have quite an unrealistic introduction into world travel. We will arrive in San Ramon that afternoon and hit the ground running the next morning.

The first order of business when we land is to square away car purchases and a house. I think I’ve decided on a Toyota Highlander for myself though I will also probably give the GMC Acadia a test drive as well. 

We already have a realtor who has been sending us listings. We’ve decided to rent rather than buy since our stint in California is estimated to be under 2 years. My priority is finding a place with a great outdoor space. One of the huge draws of California is the great weather, so I definitely want to capitalize on that, especially after being in Scotland for two years. Bring on the sun! There are also tons of nature reserves and parks with running trails that I would love to have easy access to, so neighborhood location is a big factor too. 

But real estate in San Ramon is EXPENSIVE so we will just see what we can find in our price range. Well, that’s the jist of our moving 'schedule' so far. Wish us luck!