99% complete and empty

Our planning efforts for the Big Move are starting to make the Normandy Invasion look like the Annual Poortugaal Boy Scout field day  and after last weekend and Monday we can now safely say that the biggest part is behind us. 

The Saturday Send off  (See-you-later-this-is not-goodbye) party started with Gil picking up the 020 family from Roffa CS and giving them a short tour of the hood he grew up in (Zuidhoek re.pre.sent) before arriving in Poortugaal. Soon enough everyone, including 5 kids, which is sort of a record for our house, was there and we had a big cake-eating fest and snackorama. Fortunately, most people also took something home with them or at least reserved it for future delivery. As with all good parties, we finished late and ate Chinese food, which is about as good as it gets when partying in Poortguaal.

Sunday was all about getting rid off most of the big pieces of furniture to Gil's Sister's twice-removed cousin's cleaning lady's poker buddy's stripper's friend from Oostvoorne (of all places). When her brother showed up with just a flat bed trailer one and a half hour later than agreed, we thought....well, never mind what we thought, but it turned out that the guy had some serious stacking skills and more binders than you'd think possible, so in just under two hours with four cars, three drives and a little help from her friends, neighbors and random Hoogvliet strangers, the lady was set up with our stuff and our house was 75% empty.

Before

After

On Monday we lugged the another 22% downstairs (the other 2% is in the suitcases), which is the stuff we planned to take with us to Oz from the start. The move guy and Gil both agreed that it would amount to about 3m3 or 20 boxes and old hands as they are at estimating the exact number of nearly everything, it turned out that we had 22 boxes, 2 bicycles, 2 paintings, 2 toolboxes and 2 diving kits. Because the power of the number two started to freak Asperger Gil out, we included 1 box full of clothes hangers (about 64, which is 2x2x2x2x2x2). Needless to say there were 2 movers and it took them 2 hours to get it all packed and ready. 

Right now there's nothing left to do than to pay some bills, watch a few movies, write some thank you cards (finding the right words takes a lot more time than you'd think), buy some last minute essentials (because OMG we will soooo die if we do not have these really important things, like international power plug adapters...,) cleaning the house (hahahahah....no), eat the remaining food ( oh yeah!) and wait for Friday to arrive so we can leave Poortugaal once and for all and check in at the Stamet Hotel in Huissen. On Monday we'll migrate the circus to the Kruidenier Rhoon Residence, where Hester (a.k.a.Die-hard-early-riser- supermom-BFF) picks us up to take us and Gil's dad and sister to Schiphol on Tuesday morning where we'll be greeted and amazed by some more family and friends with banners, fireworks, ponies and clowns around 07:30'ish. Expect another update in a week, unless we crash, than it might be a little later. (finding good free WiFi can be such a pain :-)).