Packout is this Wednesday, and as much as I've read I still feel underprepared. Maybe that owes to my spending my time reading blogs instead of actually packing.
I've taken the initiative and listed tons of stuff on ebay and Amazon, which was great because it allowed me to sit and read while my wife worked hard packing. I even built a nifty little picture-taking soft box, which ostensibly allowed me to get top dollar for the odds and ends I don't want to haul across an ocean, but also allowed me to (gasp!) read about how to build one on the internet then run to Hobby Lobby to pick stuff up while (gasp!) my wife continued packing.
That's not to say that I do nothing, however. I've booked pre-departure hotels, sorted out a route to D.C, filled out a truly prodigious amount of paperwork, and made a mess of the kitchen.
Correct, that is a kitchen counter covered with computer parts, photography gear, Rosetta Stone discs and burnable CDs. Yes, also, all of it is mine. Yes, everything else looks pretty good. That is because my wife cleaned it.
Honestly, I have no idea how you single FSOs do it. Wives are the best.
Even with all the work done to get to this point, there's plenty more to be done before the Packers/Movers come on Wednesday (in two days omg). Everything is here in one place, and much of it is sorted into HHE or UAB piles (and a small pile that will travel in the car with us to D.C., but I'm convinced that like items should be grouped with like items, in the interest of keeping an accurate inventory. As it stands, things are pretty well strewn. Should I sort them by room? By type? (i.e. electronics, cutlery, things for my tiny dog...)? I'm a little in the dark here. A full inventory seems unfathomable, and yet that is exactly what most folks evidently have. Baffling.
Meanwhile, this is my sorting system: 
Yep. "Put things on chairs (that also need to be moved)". it is, in a word, inspired. Since all my chairs are covered in furry hats and spatulas, however, I am typing this post perched atop an ottoman (procrastinating cleaning the kitchen). This very Ottoman, in fact.
So, if any of you vets have advice, I'm up for it. I'd love to keep this all together like a pro, but for the moment it's about all I can do to file my receipts, write some blog posts, and say goodbye to everyone for the time being. Well, everyone except for this tiny dog, who your tax dollars have allowed me to bring around the world.
Also on the list? Pick up suits from the tailor, get some proper grown up sunglasses, sell a car (omg) and cut my hair.
Cutting my hair will be the worst of all, I suspect, as I've grown rather fond of hair that might be unbecoming of a diplomat. But, in the interest of commemorating my delightful youth on the eve of adulthood (and to encourage me to be a little less anonymous) I give you: The various Hairstyles of Valdysses.
And, finally, Present Day:
So here's looking at you, readers. Thanks for sticking it out with me, and keep those packout tips coming!
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