Purging excess so we can stock up...does that even make sense??

Those who know me know that I am an organizer, a planner, and a list-maker. When it comes to our household, I am the one who keeps things on track, so naturally when it's time to PCS (or move, in civilian speak) much of the planning falls to me. Friends and family will not be surprised at all to learn that, 48 hours after learning of our new locale, I have already researched the necessities:

-What our monthly allowances will be (housing, cost of living)

-Potential sources of rental homes

-Preschools for Little Man

-Elementary schools (!!!) for Princess A

-An indoor ice rink and swimming pool (hooray) so the kids can keep up with their favorite activities

-A Starbucks in the local grocery store for when we need a little taste of the "real world"

-The daily catch limit on halibut (2 per person per day, or enough to feed a small army)

It is so nice to be going somewhere that we have visited before; we are familiar enough with the town to feel like we don't have to do much legwork ahead of time. But now that all of that is taken care of, I need something to do right-this-instant to get this show on the road. We still have about 3 more months here, about half of which will involve The LT being away at training for his new job...and there is a TON that needs to be done. Of course, I have a list:

Things to do

1. Apply for Alaskan Airlines mileage credit card and start using it ASAP to rack up the miles, making trips back to Florida (where all of our family lives) as cheap as possible.

2. Get passports for the kids. We will be going through Canada and it will be much easier if they have passports.

3. Get rid of everything we don't need.

4. Acquire all of the stuff we will need in Alaska.

Of course, there are sub-lists. Purging the house of all the extra stuff is going to be a big job. When we moved from NC to CT, we up-sized our house by about 1200 square feet. That means we bought new furniture without getting rid of any old furniture (and ended up with more house than we can clean or use). We also have 4 years worth of toddler toys that we have outgrown, and boxes and bags of clothing that didn't make the cut for resale at the consignment shop. Today it is all going on Craigslist or being boxed up for Goodwill. I am just SO thankful that a house is not of the list of things that need to be sold this time!

The basement in its current state...ALL of this needs to go.

There are also several things that need to be purchased in advance of the move, as things in Alaska are much more expensive than in the Lower 48 (although CT has proven to be a pricey place to live, so we may not experience as much sticker-shock as others).

-A car-top box for the 2-4 week road trip. We contemplated a pop-up camper instead, but I decided that my sanity would be in jeopardy if I had to be in the same car all day with the little people and then have to share an equally-tiny space with them at night, not to mention the thought of campground showers for 3 weeks.

-A "big boy bed" for Little Man (Thinking about the one here so that our future visitors will have the rare opportunity to share a room with a restless 3-year-old)

-Possibly a new television, since the one we have now is the "old-fashioned" non-flatscreen type from 2003

- A two-year supply of dog food

- A digital SLR camera, as my old-fashioned Canon Rebel that uses real film is now slightly outdated and in need of servicing. Recommendations welcome...I don't need anything fancy but do need to be able to take great photos of our journey.

-An entire pallet of Trader Joe's peanut butter

-As many K-Cups as we can stockpile, especially Island Coconut

I'm sure there is more...hopefully we can sell some of the old to fund some of the new. Off to Craigslist...