July 23, 2011 by Sarah
Travis was unexpectedly off today (due to a transformer blowout or some such thing) and we were super happy about it as it meant an extra day with Papa! (Do you ever do that thing where you refer to your husband by his name to his kids?) Weird, I know. I’ve actually thought about calling him “Mr. Green” just for the fun of it.
What to do? The temperature was supposed to be really high, so a bike ride was ruled out. And as we had been planning a trip to Annapolis to eat crab cakes and check out the sites there this weekend, we just bumped that up a day. We had a great time sweating down the sidewalks and we REALLY enjoyed our ice cream treats.
Travis wisely didn’t check the temperature until we returned home. Turns out it was 100 with a heat index of 117. Now remember that we’re from Houston and so we are accustomed to some heat and really we were fine enough to eat outdoors (while everyone looked at us like we were crazy) but it did feel hot. And it explains why little Helen got pink cheeks after we’d only been there for 4 minutes and kept them until well after we were home.
A highlight of the little shopping we did there was spotting these cute cowgirl rainboots but the fit wasn’t right so I didn’t get them. But look at how cute they are! I know I would’ve been something unique walking through the Moscow spring slush in them, don’t you agree?
Looking at the picture really makes me want them all over again.
I didn’t have to wait long for the thrill of new stuff, though, because when we came home our Lands End boxes were waiting for us. This makes my third major LE purchase since I found out we are headed to Moscow. I estimate I have spent a couple thousand dollars on wardrobe requirements. Remember, we hail from Texas where you barely need a sweater, let alone a parka, or snow boots or long underwear, or even gloves for the most part. Case in point: when Travis and I were touring Europe PK (pre-kids) we picked up some beautiful wool sweaters in Norway. We have worn them maybe 2 times and were sweating like pigs the whole time.
In addition to all the clothing gaps that need to be filled, I’ve been buying things like sheets and towels and shower curtains (folks, did I tell you we will have 3 bathrooms!!!! That’s 3 really fun rooms to decorate!) and basic stuff like that.
Our 2 bedroom apartment is getting a little full.
But no matter! I can always make room for another LE box, I mean, we don’t want those boxes feeling unloved.
That was the box as it came to us. But we poured out its contents and the children dutifully divided them into piles according to the happy recipient. Just like Christmas!
In addition to figuring out what clothing items everyone needs and how I can get those items for the lowest price possible, I have also been figuring out how I can get as much stuff with us on the airplane as possible. Because I want to be able to dress in more than a week’s worth of clothing while waiting for our shipments to arrive. Same goes for using fresh new towels and sheets that I picked out, maybe more so.
Our answer is to board the plane with 4 large checked suitcases and 6 large duffels, thereby maxing out our 10 bag allowance. So just for the fun of it, we put all the clothes into the duffel just to see how much those duffels will hold. They hold a lot. In fact, one duffel held that whole box from Lands End.
Oh, and the duffel was on sale at LE for only $30. Score!
I’m not sure about how waterproof they are, but mom is buying a bunch of those plastic bags like what sheet sets come in from her dollar store to send me.
Soon I will be packing up our luggage and it will dutifully wait for us to take it to the airport… and cooler temps.
In just over 7 weeks.
