The wikipedia page for Administration refers to Management of Organizations.  The page further defines “management” as “the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal”.  After 30 years of managing others in a variety of professional roles and eight months of “managing” this relocation, I find that definition to be technically accurate yet emotionally and psychologically imprecise.  A more appropriate definition might be “a collection of attempts involving considerable effort (physical and mental), time and skill made with a variety of resources (human, technological, capital, entrepreneurial and sometime pious) in order to orchestrate a desired outcome”.

Sometime around Thanksgiving 2018, while camping near Death Valley, CA, the three of us decided to make a change.  We ruminated over the details of the change for a week or so until we finally ironed out a goal.  We would move to Europe for a period of not less than one year and not more than three years.   Perhaps Germany – the Hamburg area has mild(ish) weather and we have never lived so far north.   The city is large and populated with diversity.  At least two of us speak German.  Perhaps not fluently, but certainly better than we speak any other non-English language.  Perhaps Switzerland – we visited the Bodensee in 2017 and had a lovely time with family friends who live nearby.  We can understand Swiss although it is neither German nor French.  Perhaps Spain.  Ah yes.  Spain.  Barcelona?  Yes.  Perfect.  For so many reasons: some related to nostalgic memories from my own youthful adventures in Barcelona, some related to my mother’s memories of touring Spain with my father over the years, and, finally, some related to the practicality of living in Spain and the desire to experience Barcelona sensationally.

Each of us has a role in the realization of our goal.  My mother’s role is to pack.  She is the queen of down-sizing.  She has honed this skill for decades.  Her expertise in this area is renown to the point that I am amazed she has yet to offer a Ted Talk on the topic.  Since we have three households that require downsizing and packing, hers is not a minor role.  She throws herself into this position with the single-minded dedication I have come to expect from my mother.  When she becomes focused on something, she is cat-like in her determination to achieve success.  Yes.  It can, at times, be scary.  Indeed terrifying.  Once, she packed enough clothes and toiletries for my daughter and I to spend the Thanksgiving holiday and weekend in San Fransisco into a tiny backpack.  Every business trip my father ever took in his 42-year career with IBM was carefully assembled and packed by my mother.  This is why she is the perfect person for this role.  Ideal really.

My daughter’s role is to procrastinate.  As a pre-teen, she excels in this position with nearly the same aplomb as my mother does her own.  Her excuses are artistically creative.  She can defer, temporize and vacillate better than most junior congressmen.  She abhors downsizing.  She havers about storing minutia and personal detritus in order to engage my mother and I in verbal sparring designed only to facilitate further delay.   It is a circular ballet that, I am certain, would be entertaining were it part of a reality tv show instead of my own reality.  She excels in her capacity to the point that we have recently entitled her “The Hoarder”.  She is, at all times, challenging and we humor her far more than we should.  Primarily because we are weary from the dance and unable to battle further.  Thus, we have an entire storage unit full of items that will surely be outgrown by the time we return to unpack it.

My role, as you can imagine, is to manage.  I now refer you back to the beginning of this post.  I am managing the paperwork and administration associated with our three households, visas, passports, identification cards, property managers, repair and maintenance personnel, financial managers, lawyers (YES!), downsizing (because my mother has subcontracted the bureaucracy of her responsibilities – such as organizing donation pick-up or drop-off, online sales on Facebook Marketplace, etc. to me), taxes, rentals (cars, hotels, apartments), travel, Consulates, storage (see “The Hoarder”), overseas shippers, customs and the cat.  These items are not listed in the order of significance or complexity.  This is only a sample of the various resources involved in this process.  A short list of the tasks to be accomplished in order to achieve the goal.  In fact, I have lists of lists.  However, I am tenacious.  I will succeed.  We will relocate.  Just you watch!