Jetlagged

We made it and so did our luggage. It took forever at baggage claim but all was well. We got checked into our short-stay apartment, then headed out to the local pet store to buy supplies for Brian and Kitty who arrive tomorrow. We’re exhausted and a bit overwhelmed.

I’d say this is one of the harder days we’ve had both emotionally and physically. We had a few tough times leading up to the move. Depersonalizing our house to get it on the rental market was hard because it didn’t feel like ours any more but we still had several months before the big move. Waiting (and waiting….) for our visas to clear while we had to keep all the other things in motion (signing the lease to rent out our house for 2 years, enrolling and paying for James’s Wilson’s school tuition, shipping all our stuff to Amsterdam, all before our visas came in) was incredibly stressful .

James Wilson has been so excited about this move and ready for a change but when he got home from summer camp and saw our empty house it really hit him and it was hard to see him grappling with all those emotions. It felt so abstract to him up until that point. His buddy Mason came over to play on one of our final days and when he left James Wilson stood in the doorway watching Mason leave I could see all the emotions James Wilson was feeling flash across his face and I totally teared up.

He’s struggling today, too. We all are. Our short-stay apartment isn’t exactly as advertised — it’s shabbier than it should be and there’s no AC and it’s record heat in Amsterdam. Our broker told us all of Europe is sold out of fans. It’s also up 3 incredibly steep, narrow, and winding sets of stairs and I’m worried about Brian using them. Being so tired and jet-lagged make even the little things seem worse than they are.