I am not claiming that everyday life in the US is necessarily easier, compared to France. However, life in a familiar environment, wherever that is, is definitely easier.

I am slowly re-adjusting to France, and getting used to the way things are here. However, right now, I am not exactly familiar with my environment. As a result, the simplest things become a challenge. 

Shopping for a pasta dinner should be a five minute stop at Leclerc. Alas! everything is different here. The brands, the packaging, the size of things, the way they're organized in the store... Tomato sauce does not come in a can! Instead, you have to track tiny cardboard boxes of 200 ml. that ressemble juice containers for children, so you'll need about two to a 15 oz. can. Parmesan does not come shevelled! Instead you'll need to track small opaque bags of powdered cheese (again, at least two are needed to match a 2 cup bag). All this converting is exhausting. I should know, it was the same story when I first set foot in a Safeway but that was so long ago!

Shopping bags in hand, going home should be easy. But the smallest wrong turn at the wrong time of day easily adds 45 minutes to a 3-minute commute. No kidding. This daily travel time russian roulette is exhausting. And nothing prepared me to that, not even rainy days on Old Georgetown road.

The cherry on top of the cringe cake is wanting to bake muffins - but the muffin pan is in the shipment. Wanting to watch a good old episode of Gilmore Girls for comfort after an exhausting day - but the DVDs are in the shipment. Wanting to put some bigger socks on my son's growing feet - but the larger baby clothes are in the shipment. Wanting to use our winter comforter because it sometimes gets cold at night - but our linens are in the shipment. You get the drift. Everything we thought we could do without for 6 to 8 weeks is in a shipment that has been somewhere between Maryland and France for a solid 9 weeks. There is no getting a firm answer as to when we'll finally see our stuff again. "Likely next week, or the week after" has been heard so many times that it will eventually come true. And when it does, perhaps we'll be back on the path of day-to-day routine being easier again.

If you're moving overseas - or any place where storing left-over gear in Grandma's attic is not an option, really, you may want to consider the following: 

1. Whatever you think you're going to pack, up that by 50% and that is likely still a low estimation of what you will end up packing

2. Reconsider saving best for last. Even if it seems to make sense to hold off packing the items you use the most on an every day basis, and/or the items you like the most until the end so that you can enjoy them longer before the move, don't. Just pack it all, the sooner the better. Because otherwise you will end up with all these prized items that need to be packed at the 11th hour when suitcases are already bursting and over the airline-approved weight limit. So chances are, around 4 am, some will get packed poorly and suffer during the trip, and some won't even make the trip because you're just too weary of shifting stuff around for the gazillionth time. 

In about two months, we're hightailing it outta here. The days when I was religiously listening to Clare FM to make sure I woudn't catch a local accent are long gone. As a matter of fact, I'be been walking the walk probably more than talking the talk because there's no taking the French out of my accent anyway. Regardless, now that moving is getting more imminent than ever, I'm starting to inventorize all the things I'm going to miss, from right turns on red to mani-pedis at the Venus Spa salon. All of it should result in a busy to-do list adding to the pile of moving duties...

- shopping at TJ-max and Loehman's
- shopping at Trousseau and Lion's Lair (what will I ever do without them?)
- eating sushi - recent experience seems to indicate that Paris sushi suck!
- amazon free delivery of books and DVDs without subtitles to my door
- watching favorite shows on Hulu
- eggs benedict for brunch
- friendly service and good food at Rumba cafe

... but in the end we're essentially talking about shopping and dinning, just what one needs to take away the stress of packing!