Update on our move

Things have been happening so fast the last three weeks that I have not had a chance to journal or blog about everything. After getting our plane tickets last night I feel like a big to-do-item is off my list and I am a lot more calm and able to give up a few minutes to let everyone know what's going on.
Well, the day after I cancelled a good-bye party due to the prospect of hanging around possibly longer than we had hoped and because I felt like it was simply too early, we got a surprise offer on our house. The offer - on March 15th - came with the condition to sell within 30 days!!! After some serious three part breaths (to avoid a serious panic attack/hyperventilation/black out) and talking to Sue (my friend and realtor) and Peter we slept over it and counteroffered after much deliberation. For a day or two the situation was hanging in the air, mainly because of some minor details like what furniture would be staying or leaving. The fear of the potential buyers walking away from it was robbing me of my good nights sleep for a few days, ha, ha.
But after several reassuring phonecalls and negotiations (thanks Sue) we had a deal!!!!
Of course we had to go lower on the price than we had hoped for but the timing was so ideal that we couldn't let it go. But with that said, we also got ourselves a logistic nightmare of moving ourselves (physically and emotionally), the cat and the few belongings to the other side of the earth.
You would think that nowadays with the internet, that all you have to do is google "how to move a family of four with all their stuff overseas" but things didn't turn out that easy. There is so much information out there and nothing seemed to fit our situation, as we are not in the military, didn't want to move furniture, didn't have a job related transfer where the company takes care of everything and not the least we have to do it on a tight budget.
Pretty soon it dawned on me that this is the time to let go of clutter, unnecessary belongings and all those things that I hold on to, even though they have neither value nor meaning. This sorting our and clearing of the house has been a true revelation for me. With every piece of clothing or shoes, that doesn't make it to the "happy pile", being gone, I feel liberated and to see that my girls are eagerly parting from favorite toys from years ago, makes me realize on one size how much they have grown in their interests but also in their ability to handle change. No temper tantrums or drama, just matter of fact comments on "how they don't need this or that anymore". Of course the fact that they made over $ 10 each on last weeks yardsale selling Dora and Barbie stuff didn't hurt :)
To finish up my timeline that I started earlier, by March 18th we had a preliminary contract together with the buyers, and all the details of closing costs etc. was figured out the week after that, around March 23rd. The next thing that had to be done was get a house and termite inspection, which we just successfully got done. Yipppie!! Honestly the termite inspection got me a little worried, considering that we lived here 10 years and never spent a penny on any termite protection, well not including Peters fire ant treatments.
I don't even want to know how much hassle it would have been if we had and infestation.....
So now that all that is done we can focus on getting our plans together, as we still wanted to keep the option open, of changing our mind, in case there was some serious repairs on the house that would have been to expensive for us to fix and the deal might have not went through. 
Last Saturday was a first attempt of selling all those things that somehow accumulated over the last ten years. I still can't believe that we came to this country with nothing but  a suitcase a big army duffle bug stuffed with clothing. Wouldn't it be cool if we could just leave with the same amount!!!
Well, that is not going to happen, we had to give the girls a promise, that they would be able to take most if not all of their favorite things. The way it looks right now, their most favorite things consist of about 100 stuffed animals and a bunch of ziplock bags with little plastic animals and things. Not too bad to move!!!
Most of our big furniture is already sold but our dear friends let us keep them till the time comes. Thanks!
Last night we finally ordered our planetickets, at least the ones for Laura, Natalie and me, as Peter (and Smokey) wants to stick around just a few more days, to visit family and long lost friends in Long Island.
Originally we had planned to leave from Myrtle Beach a few days before closing, but plane tickets out here are way above our price range so why not take a last road trip up north to see grandpa "Popo" in New York and then fly much cheaper from JFK?
This way I can stay for closing and sign all the papers with Peter on Friday April 15th while the kids are in school (or that afternoon, if anyone is willing to watch the girls that afternoon?), we will sleep at my brother in laws a night, then head up north and leave from there on April 18th!
The plane ride leaving that Monday evening will take us to Dublin/Ireland first and then after another short stop over in London around lunchtime on the 19th will bring us to Stuttgart around late afternoon.
It will be the Monday before Easter, which means that the kids will have two weeks Easter/Spring vacation ahead of them and hopefully some time to adjust a little to timechange, language and the whole culture and location shock.
Knowing all that now, I can tackle the planning of shipping of our belonging over the course of the next few days. Right now we are considering renting/buying a big moving crate, which is practically a huge wooden box that we can fill any way we want and that will be delivered curbside right at our new house at
Reiserstrasse 28, 88512 Mengen, Germany!!!
Haven't had too much peace and quiet to listen to my heart and my emotions, but I can't deny that I have shed an occational tear just thinking about how much I will miss people that have grown so dear to me.
I am extremely grateful for having had the best of times the last ten years and to leave with a feeling of accomplishment and fullfillment. In the years to come I will always look back with a smile on my face!