Boxes and Tape

 I have been procrastinating.  Specifically, buying boxes.  Boxes mean you have to put things in them.  Putting things in boxes means you have to put the boxes in storage.  Putting things in storage means we won't be here to use those things.  Not being here means we are in Nebraska.  And although my heart is truly happiest in Nebraska, us being in Nebraska means we are not in Alaska, and Justin is not in this hemisphere.  Can you see why I put off buying boxes?

Surprisingly, me not buying boxes won't make Oct 24th come any slower, nor will it keep Justin from deploying.  The only thing it would do is make my last weekend in Alaska very stressful.  So, off to Lowes we went.  And again, and again, and again.  On my fourth trip I decided to try out Home Depot.  Little tidbit for your Tuesday, they are about half the price.  Now you know.

Now I had boxes, where was the motivation to fill them?  That motivation arrived on an Alaskan Airlines Flight Tuesday morning.

A few weeks ago Lisa gave me a shout out from Juneau and offered her assistance.  She had to take a week off work, had just read my blog about us moving home, and apparently missed Jenssen.  So, before I knew it, she was letting me know her flight time.  I wanted to get through my clothes while Lisa was here to watch the boys and figure out what I was taking and what I was storing.  If that got accomplished, I'd be a happy camper.

However, by the time she left, I had a house with a packed kitchen, mostly packed little boy room, packed crafts, packed living room, packed closet, and half empty crawl space.  Not to mention my packages I have been meaning to send for weeks found their way to a post office.  I am an elated camper.

With Lisa keeping me on task anything was possible.  As Justin called her, a "saint".  She volunteered her vacation week to fly to Anchorage, rock my baby, play with my 2 year old, pack my kitchen, and do every and anything in between, including whipping Rowan up a spiffy football hat.

She was even more appreciated when a cold brought me down Thursday evening.  Friday was a bit of a break day for me to try and recover from the cold, but I was so happy with the progress that I didn't care if a single box didn't get packed.  Saturday Lisa had to leave, but not before one more trip to the base to bring Justin some food as he had to work, AND, a moose sighting along the Glen.  I can now say I KNOW moose use those wildlife gates surrounding Fort Richardson.  At least the two we saw were contemplating using it.  And, it was my first wild moose sighting with antlers! 

So, the next two weeks were spent walking around the piles of boxes, eating from paper plates, random suppers made of what is left in the cupboard and freezer, and trying to make the packing and move as easy as it can be on all 4 of us, not to mention saying goodbye to so many good friends.   I have already made 9 loaves of banana bread (who knew I had been saving so many loan bananas in my freezer!)

 Once the toys got packed away, I realized just how little I needed them, and how many more boxes I needed since Jenssen turned each and every box into his new fort.  Most of the boxes now have back hoes, robots, space ships, and various other drawings on and in them.  Adds character.

 

I'm trying to make this easiest on all of us.  Top of my list is Jenssen.  At nearly 3 years old, he is really starting to pick up on things that are happening around him.  He woke up the morning after I packed the decorations on the mantel, pointed at it, and said "mommy!  uh oh!  Mommy!!!" I never thought he would notice something like that.  Justin and I decided it would be best to just tell him what was going on and involve him in the process.  So we talk about us taking all our stuff and putting it away so we can go visit Papa and Grandma while daddy goes to work for a while.  Each trip to the storage unit we have him bring one toy or one thing from his room to put in there.  This time was his reading chair.  Future furniture mover right there!

So far it has been working pretty well, and he even tells our friends that we are getting on a plane to see papa and we are packing.  I know kids are more resilient than you think, but I still hope and pray that this is as easy on him as it can be. 

Last night was our last in the duplex, from now on we are staying in On Post Lodging on Fort Richardson.  Justin and I decided it was becoming near impossible to live in a house with two children that we were trying to pack (the house, not the children...)  Tomorrow I can come back over and know that everything I see here needs to get packed.  Friday is check out with the landlord, Saturday is saying goodbye to dear friends, and Sunday night is head to the airport.

Me being me, I am constantly trying to find the positive in this all.  There is always a good, so you might as well find it and dwell on that instead of the bad.  As I was wrapping up my muffin tins (yes, muffin tins brought me to this) I found myself getting sad, thinking that I wouldn't be able to make muffins for Justin anymore in this kitchen.  .  Why be negative?  Will dwelling on my packed muffin tins keep him from deploying?  Nope.  So, instead, I started to get excited about when and where I would unpack this box and make my little family a breakfast of muffins!  Justin would be home, Jenssen would be carrying on a conversation with Rowan (or fighting...), and I would look back on this day packing my kitchen in Alaska and smile.  I'm thinking I'll make blueberry muffins.  After all, I love blueberries now!

So when I find myself packing a box, or taking something off a shelf, and I am filling up with sadness as quickly as my box is filling up with memories, I try to think of blueberry muffins.  It doesn't always cheer me up or take my mind off of everything right away, but life will go on, and these things are really just things.  We won't stop being a family even if we aren't together, our family picture doesn't hang above a mantel, or my muffin tins aren't in the cupboard.

That is the beauty that is family, it is always there.  It just is; even when everything is packed away in boxes and tape.