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What I Didn't Pack

I want to come clean about my packing whoopsies and missed opportunities. Not because I feel guilty, because I really don't. Not at all. I did my best. And I'm feeling pretty proud of getting us here.

But, as we've been unpacking and making this beautiful, old apartment ours, I keep finding things that (DOH!) I really should have packed. Or things I just plain overlooked.

Things That I Forgot:
My family enjoyed making fun of me for moving only a small selection of our silverware. Specifically the four, only four, forks that made the move. But, I remember specifically putting a bunch of silverware in the dishwasher the night before the movers arrived and that's where they stayed. Whoops! We picked up a set at IKEA. It's fine.

I also didn't pack enough towels for the entire family. Nor did I pack enough of the girls' socks. And, while I did pack the fancy wine bottle opener we have, we didn't pack up a bottle opener. (We used a wrench from the tool box until we found one.)

Honestly, as we discovered these items missing, we laughed and worked around it. And we just bought new ones here. Though, some items are proving to be a bit trickier to find.

Missed Opportunity:
This is certainly a case of hindsight, but there are a few opportunities I missed, not knowing what I'd have trouble finding here. Such as ... Command strip hooks. GUYS, you know I love my hooks. But in a rental with 100-year-old plaster walls, it's risky to put holes everywhere. So it seems obvious to have these removable hooks ... except they're hard to find here in Paris. (Except on Amazon, which they DO have here.) Yo, 3M, this is a perfect market for your hooks!

Paper Goods. This was a very big missed opportunity. I totally should have bought a bulk order of toilet paper, paper towels and Kleenex and just shipped it to France with everything else. I've transitioned from shopping at Costco with a car, to small markets with a hand cart. So, yeah, we're buying some paper goods each week. It would be much preferred to have a stockpile.

I also should have brought more craft supplies, games and puzzles. I didn't know we'd spend so much of the horrible winter hiding out inside the apartment.

There you go. My conscience is clear.

I'm sure I'll do it better next time. (Though, probably not.)

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