If you thought there was a lot of admin involved in moving house, try moving to another continent! We are meant to live in a world where we think globally and it should be easy to move around that world without barriers. But try telling almost any online form that the new address doesn’t conform to the UK format and you’re stumped. Computer says no!
It’s not just in the UK that we’re finding this with either. We are renting a house in the States and need to get quotes for Renter’s insurance (a bit like home/contents insurance in the UK but with added cover in case the mailman falls and sues you!). Most companies ask for your current address when getting a quote but only US postcodes are valid for their online forms. If I could spare the time to stand still right now, I’d be smashing my head off the metaphorical brick wall so hard it would put a hole in it! The wall, not my head…
I’m really feeling the enormity of what we are doing now. At first it just seemed like this hypothetical adventure but now it is very real and it is a mammoth undertaking to move our whole family across the Atlantic. Are we mad? Will it be worth it? I really hope so because the admin involved is getting to us.
Usually I am the organiser in our family. Hubby and I share decisions about what we are doing but more often than not I sort out the detail and book everything. I’m not afraid to say I like being in control. However, with this move so much of it is organised through his work that he has to deal with a lot of the detail this time. So basically, he is out of his comfort zone organising all of this and I’m out of my comfort zone because I’m not in control of it or even have the full picture of what still needs to be done. Talk about a strain….
Until we actually fly out, we have a week or so staying with my in-laws. This gives us a chance to say proper goodbyes to the whole family and for the kids to spend some quality time with Granny and Granda before we go. It also buys us a little time to do the rest of the admin on our ever increasing to-do list.
This list is huge and expands every time we look at it or even think about it. When I get into bed at night, my brain processes the day and thinks through the progress with the important things going on. What this basically means is that I spend about half an hour saying to Hubby, ‘Oh, we need to remember to…have we done?…we also need to think about…’ until he eventually pleads for me to let him go to sleep. It seems he just wants to sleep when he gets into bed. Weird… Maybe once we’ve settled into our new house I’ll get a bit of sleep too… maybe.
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Military Spouse New House 