This week I was granted my residence and work visa. I am wrapping up my last few papers here in Chapel Hill and planning (as best as one can) for what’s ahead. But moving over the holidays comes at a cost.

I love fall. I love Thanksgiving. But I LOVE Christmas. Living in the southern US, I have fallen in love with the crispness in the air and the changing leaves. Then the season-long celebration of the release from Summer’s hellish grip culminates in feast of fall flavors (aka Thanksgiving). Amazing.

Christmas is something else entirely. It is the hope and magic and generally happiness that I look forward to all year. To be perfectly honest, I am not sure why I love it holiday so much. Christmas day has brought loss and sadness. It can be a reminder of how different things could be in our family if any one of a number of things were different. Despite all of that-I love it. The lights. The music. The shinny packages. The baking. The excuse to wish everyone happiness no matter WHERE you are. It is a truly special time.

By now you may be asking- why are you talking about Christmas? It is November 22nd for goodness sakes. Well…. apparently, planning an international move right before major holidays sucks all of the joy out of the holidays.

Here’s how this is playing out so far:

1. Can’t buy gifts- need to save for move.
2. Can’t receive gifts- can only take two suitcases on plane
3. Can’t cook/bake- technically homeless
4. Can’t decorate- driving cross country and own no property (see #3)
5. Can’t write Christmas cards yet- want to include a forwarding address in Denmark…
6. Can still wish people “happy holidays” but that is generally frowned upon before December.

It has gotten to the point where I will just walk around the decoration displays in the stores in the hopes that some of the glittery, shinny,  Christmas-y will rub off on me.  It seems to be working. I will just keep drinking bad coffee out of solid red cups and hope for the best.