Seven months since my last post, I have decided to update my blog name and continue posting. In November 2011, we moved from Mexico City to New Jersey, just over the George Washington Bridge from New York City. We are about 15 minutes away from midtown Manhattan and trying to take advantage of living on the East coast!
Before I get into life in New Jersey and New York City, I should go back to the end of our time in Mexico City...
Our time in Mexico went very quick and was hectic at the end. We kept Annabelle in school until the day before we left. Seven months later, Annabelle still says "I miss Pao" - her teacher at Mi Montessori in Polanco!
Mike made two separate week long business trips to New Jersey in October. Then, my sister came to visit. We celebrated Halloween with our playgroup and by trick-or-treating with the families from Mi Montessori. And, we had to sell mattresses, rugs, furniture, as well as return our rental furniture. All the while coordinating everything with the date the movers were coming to pack us up. It was a bit crazy, as the movers weren't confirmed until two days before our packing date.
Then, when the movers arrived, they started packing boxes...but didn't bring a scale to weigh anything. I was told we could bring back 40 pounds more than what we arrived in Mexico with. However, with our language barrier and lack of scale, we came home with much less. A woman from the relocation company called to make sure the movers had arrived...but she was calling from London and wasn't able to help or do anything. Once the movers had finished, a woman from their office in Mexico called to tell me my shipment would be taken back to their warehouse, where it would then be weighed. At that point they would call me to tell me if I was over or under my weight allowance. Not surprisingly, I never received that phone call.
The other small issue we had was our satellite service... When we moved in, we signed a one year contract with SKY. They wouldn't allow us to break our contract and were going to continue charging our credit card monthly. Luckily, we were able to transfer the service...not to the U.S. but to one of Mike's co-workers in Mexico. Mike's co-worker added our remaining 6 months to his contract and took over the payment. Thank you Carlos!!!
Two days before our flight back to Chicago, we took Molly to the vet. She got her shots and documents for flying. It was all very easy and cost about $40 USD. Super cheap.
On the morning of our flight, we sold of our last mattress, paid our last utility bills, had our apartment walk thru with our relocation lady, and cleared out...taking our 8 checked bags, 6 carry on bags, car seat, stroller, dog crate, dog and child to the airport!
Checking our bags was relatively easy and painless as Mike is an American Airlines gold member...which also meant we got three checked bags per person for free, since we were also flying business class.
What was painful was checking Molly. At first, the woman checking Molly in said she couldn't fly because it was 42 degrees in Chicago and it had to be at least 45 degrees. So, I found our original vet document from April, when Molly flew from Chicago to Mexico. On that document, the vet had checked the box stating that Molly COULD fly in lower temperatures. She didn't want to accept the document, since it was from 6+ months before, but after debating it with her co-workers and photo copying the document, she said Molly could fly. Phew!!!
My joy only lasted for a minute...until the woman came around the ticket counter with her tape measure. She looked at Molly's crate and said "no, this crate is too big. She can't fly". I was livid and freaking out. I must have said five times "But, this is the crate that she flew down to Mexico in." The woman said "but that was a different flight". To which I replied "No, it was the SAME flight. Every day, this same plane goes from Chicago to Mexico City, then straight back to Chicago. If it fit then, it will fit now". To which SHE replied "well, it would fit IF you were going to Chicago." To which I yelled "I AM GOING TO CHICAGO". The woman then checked with her co-worker, who was checking our bags TO CHICAGO, verifying that yes, Chicago was our destination.
So, at that point, Molly was allowed to be checked. Oy vey! And by this time...the temperature had reached the 45 degrees normally required for a pet to be checked...So, had we checked in a bit later, I may have had a bit more patience for the crate situation!!
Once we got on the plane, in our business class seats, Annie fell asleep, and Mike and I de-stressed with a beer and glass of wine! The business class seats were nice! Much nicer than coach! More leg room and better food!
In Chicago, we spent two nights. During this time, we had dentist and doctor appointments, and had to get our large shipment packed for the move to New Jersey. We didn't do the best job of packing up our house when we left Chicago for Mexico, so the moving company had to load our storage unit and also pack boxes at my parents house. Plus, they had to take our car and load that in the back of their truck.
The next day, Mike and I left Annie and Molly with my parents and we flew out to New Jersey.
On one of Mike's business trips in October, he had found us an apartment and signed a lease. He only spent a few minutes in the apartment. So, when I asked "is there recessed lighting?" "ceiling fans?" "a microwave?" "closet space?" ...His answers were all "I don't know. I don't remember."
He did a good job though! We like our apartment and the location. We spent a lot of time in Mexico debating whether to live in NYC and get a one bedroom apartment with NO space. Or to live further out. In the end, we have a three bedroom, two bath apartment that is about 3 miles from Mike's work! We are pretty happy with it. I'll blog more about it later!
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