Friday, May 20, 2011

No, ma'am, this isn't a dog, it's just a furry carry-on.

                                                          Photo by Mark Gesinger
We are never getting another dog. I'm not going to bore you with the details, but it's going to cost about 3 bazillion dollars to ship Seamus to Brazil in the middle of summer. In fact, it might be cheaper to just charter him a private jet. We are using Club Pet to handle the two (or eight? twelve? depending on the heat) week boarding, vet checks and shots, final groom (we want him to look good for the Brazilian bitches), and international health certificate, and they seem pretty good. They have been extremely helpful so far, and if he gets there alive they'll get a double thumbs-up from me. And if he doesn't make it, well, then, I've saved a bazillion dollars on the next post. I kid! I only wish I could just buy him a seat on the airplane. He's a much better traveller than Madame Barfsalot and Sir Arewethereyet. Maybe we can ship the kids as cargo.

The house looks like a badly-played game of Tetris. Boxes, luggage, purchases, and mountains of sunblock and laundry soap are everywhere.  I won't be able to live like this for five weeks due to my control-freak nature, so my plan is to sort it into organized piles for the five destinations (long-term storage-like my boots *whimper, our snowshoes and most of the furniture, air freight-like my kitchen stuff and extra clothes, stuff that will be put on a boat and take a while to get there-like our bed and not my boots *whimper, stuff we are bringing to Seattle/Spokane-just our clothes for two weeks, and finally, stuff we are going to store and bring with us on the plane from DC to Brazil. We each get two 50 lb bags and a carry-on, and I intend to use every ounce I can on my own sheets and towels, shoes, and kitchen stuff. But no boots, because boots are dumb and I hate them.

I have little color-coded dots for everything so the movers don't get confused. All this organizing has really put a damper on my relaxing in bed all day. It's so irritating. Plus, I've had to get up every day this week and make my own coffee since Mitch is off learning to shoot automatic weapons and crash through roadblocks at what my teenager calls "Jason Bourne Preschool" (said teenager also thinks this is much cooler than finding out Nirvana once opened for his dad's college band).

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Seriously, you need to write a book about this adventure. Not just for the kids to look back on, but for our entertainment :) Love Katie Schmid

Jill said...

OUr dog cost $1700 to ship via Cargo to our first post. And $300 to fly with us back ...

I've spent more $%#*^&%@!!!! money on our darn dog ... oh the things we do.

BTW - used Club Pet for a 2 week stay and they were pretty good. Just be sure to follow up with them prior to your departure to get all your USDA forms signed and ready to take with you. You don't want to have to do what I did ... which is take the signed vet health cert and drive your a** all the way to Anapolis to have it signed / stamped by USDA the day OF your departure...

Anonymous said...

Anonymous is right! Your blog is better than any novel I am reading! Good luck on all your packing and organizing!
Rosalie from Leavenworth

Simonetta said...

Love the picture. Too funny. The Jason Bourne Preschool sounds awesome. Good luck to you guys.

Heather Dray said...

We are super lucky, because our dog truly will be a carry-on (he fits in the airline-approved bag, all 13 lbs of him) in a diaper with a leetle bit o' benadryl to help him go nighty-night. Cairo has no quarantine law, so he's my purse on this adventure...

Carla @ I Run, You Run said...

I'm a newish reader and though I know you're going to Brazil, I can't figure out where. I'm a FSO wife, currently posted in Manila, but originally from Brazil -- let me know if you have any questions! (I'm from Rio but have lived in Brasilia as well, though that was YEARS ago.)

And I got lucky, our puppy is still growing, but looks like she'll remain carry-on size!

Kate said...

@Carla, we're going to Brasilia!

Bfiles said...

i hope we never get an animal...

5 weeks!! omg!

Jennifer said...

I'm sure Mitch is loving Jason Bourne Preschool.

I feel your pain about shipping animals. When we moved, we had 3! And 2 of them (chihuahuas) came on to the plane with us as a carry on, but they still cost $250 each. What a scam! The third was in cargo and she did just fine.
Your idea of color-coded dots is an inspiration!

Unknown said...

I feel ya on the dog shipping. Have you tried to fly out at night. I didn't dawn on me that the weather is cooler at night.

I'll let you know if it works for us. I was planning on paying a lot of money and may have to if I can't get the airline to take our dog. But we are flying in the evening and the weather seems to be below 85 degrees.

The later in the evening the better. I think and I hope.