Stress

Wow, things have been moving fast around here, my head is kind of spinning! We have already had movers to the house to look at all of our furniture and estimate how big our container will need to be. (Answer: very big. We need to get rid of a lot more than a box of rocks to be able to squash our stuff into a smaller container!) All the people from this particular moving company have been really nice and accomodating--I don't foresee any unsanctioned bonfires in our yard this time around! But really, I don't care that much about our belongings getting back safely--they're just things which can be replaced if necessary. I am freaking out about the animals, though! It's ridiculous, I know, they all made it to Norway safely, and they'll make it back to the U.S. safely. No one seemed to suffer any long term psychological issues from the first voyage--the cats haven't developed catnip dependency problems, their catnaps seem undisturbed by airplane nightmares, the dogs continue to chase sticks and woodland creatures, their appetites are insatiable as always. We are using Continental Airlines--their cargo area is kept at the same temperature and pressure as the passenger cabin, and they have a direct flight from Oslo to Newark. We are using a pet moving company to arrange all the details for us, and they will pick the animals up and get them through customs in Newark, and then drive them up to Syracuse. (The dogs' carriers are too big to fit onto the small jets which fly up to Syracuse, and also, I just feel better knowing that there will be no issues with them trying to make a connecting flight.) It was insanely hard to get the animals into Norway (a non-rabies country), but it should be much easier to get them back to the U.S. All they need is proof of a current rabies vaccine, a letter from our Norwegian vet stating that they have resided in Norway for at least 6 months, and a health certificate issued by our Norwegian vet within 10 days of their flight. Importing animals into the U.S. is only slightly overwhelming, versus the mind-melting difficulty of getting them to Norway. I can handle this, right? I keep reminding myself that at least for the animals, there is only one terrifying day of travel that they must get through. They don't have to go through all the anxiety and worry in the weeks leading up to the move--that mental distress is all mine!