It has been a few days since I started telling this story. Hopefully I can get it down now without crying or tearing my hear out!

So, on Friday, 2/16, we closed on our house. That was the simple part of the day. When we were done there, we went immediately to the UPS store on Vista, where Elisabeth got on the phone, once again, with the Boise hub manager. A few minutes later, he came in person.

The short version of the story is that someone at UPS screwed up and never should have told us they could ship our things. And, because of the strict rules about shipping to Mexico, the best case option would be to downsize even more and donate the rest. The hub manager even offered one of his trucks to deliver all of our things to whatever charity we chose.

With no other options, Lyn and I began methodically going through each of the 30 boxes. Anything made in China was an immediate no-go, meaning that any electronic devices (like my Bose Soundlink), some of my favorite designer shoes and clothes, and gifts that had been brought to us from China by friends, were not allowed and went directly into the donate pile. Since whatever was left was going “expedited,” i.e., air freight, we needed to be brutal in what we kept.

Ultimately, we got it down to nine boxes. We had to keep things like our diplomas and my tennis rackets, and we dutifully went through our remaining clothes and worldly possessions to ensure that whatever we kept would meet customers restrictions.

The entire ordeal took eight hours — an entire day! Every item in every box was cataloged so there would be no confusion. Copies of our passports, drivers licenses and a letter stating why we were shipping the items was included in each box. When it was all done, the remaining boxes were weighed and measured, Cost to ship — $2700. Of course, with the way things are between the US and Mexico, we may never see any of it.

After spending the day at the UPS store, I felt like I had made a new friend of Elisabeth. She was so kind in letting us camp out in her shop all day and use her supplies. I know it was a major inconvenience. At the end of it all, though, we are 21 boxes lighter and leaner.

We did, however, have to buy two extra suitcases so we could accommodate some additional shoes and things that we wanted and knew wouldn’t otherwise make it. Together we had five checked suitcases and two carryons. Oh, and two pets.

Poodles!

I haven’t written about the poodles in a long time. The good news is that they have both arrived safe and sound in Queretaro. Sophie travelled two days to get here, but arrive she did, as did Jack the cat. We were quite relieved to see them and to once again have all of our “children” with us.

Here are a few pics for you. Izzy and Mocha went with us in the cabin while Sophie and Jack went Cargo. Izzy enjoyed the food in first class, as well as being let out of the crate. Despite giving her veterinarian prescribed Xanax (thank you Dawn!), she whined considerably. She may have slept about an hour, as did I. The flight attendant was very accommodating, despite federal regulations to the contrary. I think it understood it was better for all involved and on the plane if she was loose and calm rather than crated and crazy.

Mocha stayed very quiet in her kennel under the seat. We put a blanket over her, which helped. She, too, was medicated, although the meds worked much better on her than on Izzy. She was pretty stressed after arrival. Hence the clingy photo at the bottom. She’s better now.

Jack didn’t seem phased at all. Here he is rolling around on the windowsill in our new temporary digs.