They Almost Packed Me Too

Friday morning, with the kids at school and my husband at work, I was sitting in bed drinking my coffee, still in my pajamas. I was planning out my Friday and the coming weekend. Suddenly the doorbell rang. It was 8:00 am and I wondered to myself who could be at the door. I grabbed a hoodie as I went to answer it. Imagine my surprise when I opened the door and there were five men staring at me with packing tape and boxes in their hands. I was suddenly very grateful I had thrown that hoodie on. We stood there staring at each other for probably 30 seconds without anyone saying anything. Finally, I broke the silence: "I guess you are here to pack us?"

I was shocked because it was Friday. I wasn't expecting them until Monday. They were supposed to start packing on Monday and finish on Wednesday. Then Wednesday, we were supposed to move into the hotel for 30 days while my kids finish school and we close out contracts. Most of our household goods are going into storage in America. We are only taking suitcases full of necessities to Bali. I still had last minute items to pack for my husband and kids, and I had not packed one thing for myself.

Now, if you have ever experienced a military or government move, you understand the panic that ran through my body when I saw five movers standing in front of me and I wasn’t ready. If you have never had the pleasure of such fun, I'll quickly explain. The moment the movers come into your house, they start packing and they move fast. Everything and anything goes into a box. Typically, I would have everything set aside in one room and just tell them not to pack that room. Since I wasn't expecting them until Monday, I had not done that yet, and these five men divided themselves throughout my house and just started packing. Then they were all calling me from different rooms to ask me questions. I ran to the bathroom to get dressed and quickly called my husband to come home NOW. I began throwing my clothes onto my bed, hoping that what I was grabbing was going to be sufficient. I was making my way through the rooms to take things they shouldn't pack, and well, I was only one person. At one point I went to my son's room, and they had packed his tuxedo for Prom in a couple of weeks, so I started digging in the boxes for it. After my daughter's room was packed, I realized they had packed her school computer. I had to open three boxes before I found it. All four of us had something, or several things, that we wished they had not packed, from track shoes and school textbooks to hoodies and favorite stuffed animals. By the end of the day Friday, they had packed almost the entire house. If I had sat still long enough, they probably would have packed me in a box. They even packed my son's bed, even though I told them not to leave the beds over the weekend. So, with nothing for my son to sleep on all weekend and all of the dishes packed, we decided to just move into the hotel Friday. Luckily, they had space to take us a couple of days early.

Friday evening, as I explained to the kids how the day unfolded and apologized for the missing items, my son said, "It sounds like the scene from Home Alone, where they wake up late for the airport and they are running around." I laughed because I know that's exactly what it felt like, and probably what it looked like.

If you know me, then you know this is NOT how I run my life. I am a very organized person, and I have a plan for everything and back up plans for my back up plans. So, running around Friday morning instead of finishing my coffee in bed was not at all in the plans. However, this is a perfect example of how life throws you challenges, and you just have to go with it while doing your best. Almost nothing in life goes the way we plan or imagine. On Friday, I could have gotten angry and demanded the movers come back on Monday, which probably wouldn't have worked. I could have yelled at my husband for the miscommunication between him and the moving company, but it was an honest mistake. I could have locked myself in the bathroom to cry and scream, and while that option was more appealing, it wouldn't have solved the problem or really helped anything. What works is staying patient and being flexible. You can't control everything and every outcome in life, so you work with what you have.

When you travel, when you move down the street or to the other side of the world, things will happen, and challenges will occur. But so will some of the most beautiful moments. How you handle the hard moments is the story you end up telling later. I like to think of the challenges as just that: a challenge. And if I can pass the challenge successfully, I am rewarded with a beautiful moment and a story to laugh about later.

Were my kids disappointed that some of the items they wanted were on the way to America instead of Bali? Of course, we all were. We were probably most disappointed about having to leave the house a couple of days early, so we didn't get the closure we typically have when leaving a place we built into a home. Leaving a house where you have made so many memories, is for me, the hardest part of moving every time. But I was so proud of the kids for being understanding and pivoting quickly. Was I stressed on Friday when the movers showed up? Oh yes! But I chose to use that stress to drive me to a version of success I could be proud of. We are already laughing at the experience. Even as I write this story, I’m laughing because this blog is about living fully, messily, and on purpose. And this was just a perfect example of that life.

Remember, when things happen in life, you can only control your reactions, and usually those reactions have a ripple effect that you can sometimes see and sometimes can't. I choose to think that one challenge on Friday was just a bump in the road, on the way to all of the beautiful memories we will make in Bali.