Truckin'

Sorry for the huge gap in post! Last week was total chaos. The final stages of packing had me in tears. It's so amazing how much stuff you can accumulate! This was only compounded by the fact that I was sick. I attended our going away party doped up on cold medicine and cough drops. Thankfully by the final day in Raleigh I had turned the corner.

Loading up the Uhaul in Raleigh.

Thank goodness because I was about to get behind the wheel of a 14 foot Uhaul truck for 12 hours. Adam had spent his last 48 hours in Raleigh finalizing things at his lab and I don't think he slept at all during that time. Therefore, I was the one charged with driving the truck. I was nervous at first behind the wheel, but eased up quickly after a few miles on the highway. I am happy to report we arrived in Florida safely and on schedule. We spent several hours unloading the truck into a large storage unit we are sharing with my parents.

Truckin'

Roger and Adam unloading the truck.

Inside of our storage unit.

In Florida we only had one full day with my family which seems sad, but I think it helped us to not linger over the difficult parts of moving away. I am finding it hard to believe that I didn't even shed a tear. It seems odd, but I guess at that point we were still so dizzy with all that had transpired in the days prior, and excited about the journey ahead that tears really had no place.

So we boarded a plane on Friday afternoon finally on our way to Ireland after all these many months of anticipation. Even at JFK while waiting to board the plane, making final goodbye phone calls, it hadn't hit me that we were actually moving to Ireland. In fact 48 hours after our arrival it still hasn't hit me. I feel as if I'm on vacation.

So...bear with me as I let this all sink in. More post to come as soon as I get more settled in. Stay tuned!

Yo Ho, Yo Ho, 13 Boxes and a Bottle of Rum!

OK, so there is no bottle of rum, and there is probably no pirate ship (sigh!), but our boxes left yesterday on a high seas adventure!  So I guess it's official, we really are moving to Ireland, or at least our things are.  Now lets address the non pirate related part of that title... yes, that says 13 BOXES!  As they say you can't take it all with you.  Of course that's a reference to death, and no one is dying here!  But that cliche does hold true with this move.  We simply can't take it all with us, nor would we want to.   So somehow we manged to narrow it down to the essentials and it came out to be only 13 boxes.  Pretty impressive right?

So what exactly is in those 13 boxes?  They consist mostly of clothing, and shoes, but there are also some personal items like photo albums, and small paintings.  Additionally I found space for my good knives, measuring cups and spoons (in case I want to use an American recipe) and my slap chop, yes I have, use, and love, a gadget from an infomercial, check it out here!

One little trick that helped to  fit  cram it all in was taking advantage of our resources.  Working in the food science building has it's pay offs, chocolate milk anytime being one of them, but what I'm talking about here is the industrial sized vacuum sealer!  Typically this bad boy is used to seal large blocks of cheese that weigh more than most 2 year olds, but we put it to work in a slightly different way. Taking a hint from yet another infomercial  (should I be charging for this free advertising?) space bags  inspired us.  Check this out:

I apologize for not having the forethought to take a before picture.

So much better than you could ever do with your at home vacuum, no offense space bags.  We mostly sucked the air out of things we wouldn't care if they were wrinkled much, like socks, athletic gear, etc.

Here are a few pictures of our moving mess, and sending off our boxes.

Adam packing up his bike

 inside of the bike case

some of Adam's boxes

the boxes on the right are the boxes headed to Ireland

Adam in the truck saying good bye to his bike!

There is one more thing I want to address here.  If all of my clothes and shoes are on a boat for the next 4-6 weeks (oh yea, did I mention that it's 4-6 weeks!?) what am I going to wear between now and our reunion?
I did my best, and I think I'm down to one suitcase!  It's a big suitcase, but still that's just crazy for a gal like me!  While I was sorting through what was going to be shipped and what I would leave behind to wear for the next month and a half I recalled a story I had seen on the today show called closet diet, living with only six items of clothing.  While I certainly have more than 6 items of clothing packed, I tried to take into account some of the basic principles they discussed.  So I have mostly black, white and grey, and only a few colorful tops and scarves that don't take up too much room.  I also only have three pairs of shoes!  Tennis shoes, black boots, and neutral flats.  Wish me luck!

Have to get back to packing up the kitchen now!  I think the worst is over, with the exception of the horrible flu that has taken over my body.  I'm feeling a little better today, but not great.  However, as they say... the show must go on!

Living the Good Life!

Taking a break from the seemingly never ending chore of packing to reflect on something incredibly important to me.  In fact I can't believe it has taken me this long to mention it, but I miss my dog.  No he's not up in that big back yard in the sky.  Quite the opposite actually, he has retired to Naples Florida.  He's living the good life; sunshine, big backyard, and a new best friend in my mother.  Here's a picture of them bonding, aren't they cute!?

So why is he in Florida with my parents instead of here helping me pack you may ask?  Well, the quarantine laws in Ireland are quite strict for anyone outside of the EU.  They require a 6 month stay in a designated quarantine facility at the owners expense.  Check out the list of other requirements here:  Ireland department of agriculture  The thought of putting our baby in puppy prison for six months was beyond comprehension, not to mention putting him in the belly of a plane for six hours!   It would take one giant xanax to keep  him  me calm.

So it was a fairly easy decision, albeit a sad one, to not take Parker with us to Ireland.  However, where to leave him here in the US was an entirely different story!  You see my parents did not step up to the plate right away and offer their dog sitting services.  In fact I think my mother flat out said NO when first asked if she would like to have her grand-dog come to live with her.  Many people said they would love to take him, but just couldn't.  I don't blame them. While Parker is no longer a puppy; and therefore not a threat to indoor bathroom breaks, and using your shoes as a chew toy, he is not without responsibility.  A dog at any age is a huge responsibility, and Parker is no exception.  So when all our friend options for Parker adoption fell through my parents took pity and begrudgingly offered to shelter our pup.

What a huge relief it has been.  I would like to take this opportunity to publicly thank them for doing this for us, and for Parker.  They even went so far as to install an electric fence in their yard.  Because we have always lived in a condo with common property Parker has never know his own yard and what it is like to run free without a leash!  So, while I miss my dog to pieces right now, I take comfort in knowing that he is living out his senior years in style with the rest of the retirees down in Naples!

And now the most exciting part of this blog post... A parker picture montage!  Here is a look back at our baby over the years.  Feel free to oooh and awww over each of these pictures, I did!

Baby Parker

 The day we brought him home.

Just Chillin'

There is a theme at work here:

All dressed up and no where to go

OUCH!

Hanging with Lizzie Lu

Family Photo!

Good Dog.

Why, What, Where, and When?

It has recently come to my attention that not everyone knows exactly why we are moving to Ireland, what my husband will be doing, where exactly will we hang our hats when we get there, and when do we actually leave.  I am not upset with those of you who have asked me these questions in the last few days and weeks, but it is really starting to get old.  Even though I know without a doubt that I will have to endure these questions a few more times in the weeks ahead, going to do my best to answer them now.  Maybe next time someone asks I will just direct them to my blog.

1.  WHY?
Most of you know my husband Adam the food scientist.  He has been steadily working his way through the long and laborious process of obtaining a PhD.  Most of his graduate work has been on the study of dairy and dairy flavor.  Most recently and specifically on the study of off-flavorings in whey.  I'm not going to pretend to know much more than that, because it's complicated and makes my head hurt.

On a recent business trip to Ireland his professor, who is one of the worlds authorities on dairy flavor, was approached about the possibility of any qualified PhD students ready to graduate from her lab.  Within a week the Irish Dairy Board  had contacted Adam, and the rest as they say is history!

So that's the story of why we are going to Ireland. But what is the Irish Dairy Board you ask?

2. WHAT?
Basically they market, produce, and export Irish dairy products all over the world.  You can check out their website here www.idb.ie  Some of you may already be familiar with some of their products.  Have you ever seen this logo in your grocery's cooler?

Kerrygold is the retail brand of The Irish Dairy Board, and their products are imported all over the US.  In fact, our Costco usually has a small selection of their Irish Cheddars.  In addition to cheese the Irish are very well known for their butter, which you are more likely to find at specialty groceries such as Fresh Market and Whole Foods.  If you feel so inclined to support my husband's new career or your curiosity gets the best of you, I feel it is my duty to warn you about a new taste experience.   These are the Kerrygold cows.

Cute right?!  These cows like most cattle in Ireland do not spend their days in a feed lot munching on corn like US cows.  They are pasture fed, meaning... duh, they eat grass.  So as you might expect the flavor of the products derived from their milk can be very grassy and hay like.  This can be a pleasant flavor and aroma, but there are other Irish cheeses that are a bit more barn like.  OK, I'm just going to come out and say it, they taste like cow ass.  No, I don't actually know what cow ass taste like, but if I had to guess many of the cheeses I've tried are what I imagine it to be like.

Maybe it's an acquired taste.  I'll let you know in a year or two if the taste of cow ass gets any better the more you consume it!  So now don't you just want to run out and get some Irish cheddar?!  In all fairness, most of their products are quite wonderful, but this ain't no Velveta or Kraft, so just be prepared.

3. WHERE?
The Irish Dairy board is headquartered in Dublin, but we will actually be living in Cork.  Check it out on the Map here:

Cork is the largest of Ireland's counties with approximately 420,000 people in County Cork.  About 130,000 of those people live in Cork City, which is where we will be.  I find it hard to believe with only 130,000 people Cork City is the second largest city in Ireland behind Dublin.

I'm sure I'll have plenty more fun Irish facts for you in the near future.  For now I'm still doing my homework, so you will just have to wait!

4. WHEN?
Now that you have a few more details on the Why, What, and Where, the last question is when.  I've made reference to the next few weeks in this post and earlier post, but to be more specific we are leaving the US on February 11th.
For our Raleigh friends we are packing up and leaving town February 8th.  Just prior to that we will sell both our cars (Sob :( no more blue jeep!) and drive a U-Haul to Florida to put our furniture and things into a shared storage unit by my parents house.

I guess that concludes this post.  Don't hesitate to ask me questions, just know that I can't promise an answer, because there are some things even I don't know!  Hard to believe right! ;)