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TODAY!

{Look for the next post around September 9!}

Think of it as "An Adventure"

So the more people we tell about this vacation, the more we realize that perhaps "vacation" is the wrong word to use.  I guess in our culture, this word elicits images of sunsets, white sand beaches, perhaps a massage or spa treatment...so when we rush to the store to buy, say, Pepto Bismol and Imodium AD in preparation, it occurs to us that we should use perhaps another word.

When we describe our travel plans to people, we notice that they don't say things like, "OMG, that's so cool!" or "I'm so jealous!"

Instead, their eyes widen a bit, they inhale slowly to buy time, and then come out with, "Oh, how nice...for you guys." or "Well, I hope you guys manage to have a good time."

When we mention things like tranquilizer guns, they ask, "For the animals...or for you?  Because, I think I would need to be tranquilized to do something like that."

.........

So we're goin with "adventure."

Here's what to pack for an adventure of this type:

*All requisite ID & shot records - in something you can keep on you at all times.

*Small bills for guards and entry ports that only accept exact change when crossing borders.

*All your meds - keep on you at all times if possible.  This is fun when you have a kidney stone.  I sound like a maraca walking around.

*Pepto Bismol pills - take two every day in order to calm your stomach.

*Malaria pills - we start taking these today.

*Imodium AD - in case the Pepto Bismol doesn't work.

*Special antibiotics - in case none of the aforementioned works and you need to break out the big guns.

*First aid supplies.

*Sun screen - lots.

*Lip balm - lots.

*Bug spray for your body and for your clothes - lots.

*Entertainment for the plane ride - lots.

I feel the need to elaborate here and explain that I am experiencing a miracle.  Not only am I not nervous (at all!) about the upcoming flights, but I actually look forward to 20 hours of inactivity!  Twenty whole hours of nothing to do, no one to call, no work to do, no cleaning, no packing, no bickering on our way to some store to pick something up.  Just...well, nothing.

G was telling our travel agent about this and she shrugged.  She said, "Just remind B that she said this when you guys are about 10 hours into the flight."

I might be singin' a different tune later, but right now, just let me look forward to it...

*CLIF bars

*Binoculars

*Layers, layers, layers of clothes.

*Cameras, batteries, memory cards, chargers, adaptors.

*Extra ziplock bags.

We have spent most of the day buying last minute digestive aids and the like, doing laundry, and packing.  Tomorrow morning we board Orca and then head to the airport.

At which point I plan to get on a plane and then sit on my butt for like, 24 hours or so.

TGIF people!

Slap on a fanny pack and let's just go already.

What is the worst part about getting up at 5:20 A.M. in order to make it to a 6:00 A.M. appointment with a personal trainer?

...I'll give you a minute to ponder this as there are multiple answers...

When the trainer oversleeps and doesn't show up!  ARGHHHHHHH.  Not what I need right now.  I heart Trainer Ben, and he apologized profusely on the phone, but I was like, I'm gonna remember this the next time the training gets hard and I want a break.  That's all I'm sayin.  Ben, this is what we call the moral highground.  I'm standing on it and you are not, my friend.

I say all of this to say that I'm really ready for a vacation.  Like, really.

We've spent the last, oh I don't know, six months under the impression that we fly out on Saturday.  Turns out we fly out on Sunday.  I cannot even tell you how excited we were to find out that this gives us one more day to, (1) sleep, (2) plan, (3) pack.

We still need to pick up some essentials (read: digestive aids and protectants) and find some dorky passport/ID holders to wear under our clothes, as we expect to be accosted in the Jberg airport from everything we hear.  G is all, let's pick something sturdy and stylish - I'll look around, maybe we can go to REI again.  I'm all, just give me an old lady fanny pack already and let's hit the road.  If anyone messes with me, in the condition I'm in right now, I will unload some Krav Maga on them and pray about it afterwards or something.  I'm so NOT IN THE MOOD to put up with stuff right now.

That's the good Christian attitude, right?

Random

I wish I had enough coherent thoughts to string together for a halfway entertaining post, but alas, I do not.

*I saw a license plate today that said LUVGZUZ.  Hilarious!

*I have gone from having my own office to sharing it with two people who I am training.  This means that I get no time to myself, ever, during the day and my introvert hackles are raised at all times.  On the outside I am patient (thanks to all those years of being a college academic advisor!) but on the inside I am one big rubber band ball of stress and anxiety.

*Combine this with living in someone else's home - out of a suitcase - and you get a very ON-EDGE PERSON.

*Combine that with my frantic efforts to use up all the training sessions I have already purchased with Ben and you get a very TIRED, SORE AND CRANKY ON-EDGE person.

*I am just now getting around to reading up on South Africa and Zimbabwe - you know, since I'll be there in, like, 5 days.  Turns out that English is the most-spoken language.  I knew that about SA but not Z, so thank God for that one.

*And I am washing the clothes we bought for the trip - lots of light layers that can be combined together if there is a chill in the air (it's the southern hemisphere, so these are the winter months there).

*In REI, I was tempted to buy some safari-style neck scarves, but I refrained.  Not so much out of fashion sense as out of being-completely-broke-before-we-even-go sense.
 
*The crazy thing for me is that the move to Denver, as thankful as I am for it, has pretty much eclipsed the anticipation of the Africa trip.  This is great because it has made time fly.  But this is also disconcerting because the Type A's are already living in a state of What Did We Forget Because I Know We Must Have Forgotten Something, and our recent daily chaos has only exacerbated this.
(Sp?  Oh who knows...)

*I just have this feeling that we're going to get off the plane in Africa and be led, like docile sheep, all over the land, to and fro, and that we will be completely fine with that.  Anything that does not have to do with renting or cleaning houses, or paying any type of rent or mortgage, we will gladly participate in at this point.  Great White Sharks?  No problem!  Walking with lions?  Oh, that's easy!  Animals don't care about hygiene or money!

That's enough randomness for one day!

Week 8 - Running on Empty

The last picture taken at our house, yesterday:

I'm too tired to type, so this will be more of the pictures and less of the words, I'm thinking.  Remember a week ago when we were in Denver?  That was like, a high.  This past week?  It was like, a low.

This week can be summed up in three words:  Cleaning, cleaning, cleaning.  I was going to include an itemized list, but then I can think of nothing more boring to read about (other than math, or taxes) so I'll spare you.

Going...

Going...

Gone.

Week 8 - the LAST WEEK! - of the Move Prep included:

**Um, cleaning.  I could elaborate.  But I won't.

**G mowed the lawn for the last time.

**We said goodbye to our neighbors.

**Orca supervised.

**My brother celebrated a birthday.

**We moved in with G's parents.

**B's replacement started at work - the transition has begun!

**This UHaul is just a shuttle.  The semi truck would not fit in our driveway.

**Orca is enjoying her new digs.

**B started up training sessions at the gym with Ben today.  It was a significant emotional event.

**We bought our clothes for Africa.  T minus 5 days.  And counting.

That about sums it up.  We said goodbye to manual labor (for a few weeks, anyways) and hello to communal living.

Five days between us and the Dark Continent.  We just might make it.

Giving Thanks.

During the middle of yesterday's pack-up, the movers disconnected our wireless internet router and never were able to get it up and running.  Because of some important things that needed to be done at my job, this meant that G and I were sitting in my office from 10:00 p.m. to midnight last night.

Once we got home, G FIXED THE ROUTER!  Even though it was late and he had to get up early AND give an important presentation at work today.  I'm telling you, people.  Grateful am I.  Our marriage just might make it.

So now I'm sitting and waiting for the shipping company to get here and pack everything on the truck, and send it to the Mile High City.  Last night was our last night in this house.

As we sunk into bed, about three seconds before we were both snoring, G mumbled, "Well...this is it."

In general, I try to make it a point to like, breathe every now and then, and reflect on things.  That has gone soooooo by the wayside the past few weeks, as my life has alternated between moving at the speed of light, and konking out on the couch for hours at a time.  I have tried to capture a lot in this blog, but then I realize that not only is moving hard, it's boring to read about.

So, as we prepare to move out of our very first (and maybe only?) house, here are some observations, and also some things I am thankful for:

**Almost all of my friends have had all of their children during the time we have lived in this house.  (Rapper L, you are the exception!)

**My brother has graduated high school and almost finished his undergraduate degree.  He has fallen in love, and completed a very rigorous internship.

**All of our international trips have been taken from this home base.

**We have had some of the cutest little bun buns ever.

**I worked for the worst boss I have ever had for three years, and summoned the courage to leave.  He would actually yell things like, "I KNOW YOU DON'T KNOW HOW TO DO THIS!  BUT DO IT BY 4:00!  DO NOT GO HOME UNTIL IT IS DONE!"  I wish him all the best, but I feel for the poor schmucks who still work with him.

**I am currently in one of the hardest, yet one of the best jobs I have ever had.

**G has managed to stay out of the hospital in the past few years.  Thanks to the kidney stone, I took over the hospital trips for him.

**G has attended many a nerd conference.

**And many a civil war battlefield.

**And many nerd games at nerd stores on Friday nights.

**B enjoyed LOST and Battlestar Galactica and The Good Wife and Mad Men and Vampire Diaries.

**B enjoyed some great and much-needed quality time with her BFJ.

**B's papa died.

**A few months later, G's grandfather died.

**Then began the hardest time thus far in B's life - which is now a memory and not a current reality.

**In this house, we have replaced siding, replaced a roof, cursed squirrels who have chewed holes in the new roof, waded through a water-clogged basement after the water heater broke, watched baby foxes grow up on our back deck, watched lots of deer, lots of neighborhood cats who slink around, lots of birds, some carpenter bees, and some woodpeckers who had a taste for our siding at one point.

**We have seen historical monuments, ancient documents, world-renowned authors, the lighting of the National Christmas tree.  We have experienced the chilly San Francisco summer and the brutal German winter and the breathtaking Irish fall and - soon - the dry season in South Africa.  We have done shark cages and paddleboarding and wine with friends and late night fights and tearful walks through the neighborhood and quick runs down the road for custard and fitful nights with rabbits in the vet's office and leisurely strolls through Dupont Circle at sunset.

**We have missed friends and spent time with friends and then missed them again.

I am thankful for all of these things, in one way or another.

I am thankful for the life I was blessed with in this area, and for the opportunity to leave it behind and start new in a place that is a much better fit.

I am thankful that God brought me through the rough times and taught me lessons and sat with me in the midst of the pain.  Actually, He held me up in the midst of it.

I am thankful for each of you who are reading this, and the unique relationship that we have.

I am thankful that I didn't know how quickly - how very quickly - I would be allowed to leave this area.

I am thankful that our Africa trip turned out to be a reality.  After all those years, and all those conversations and daydreams during all those hikes.

I am thankful for the G.  And the marriage.  And the friendship.  And the bun bun(s).

Here's to the next chapter.

(((Panic and complaining will resume in the next post.)))

Living out of my car

I'm working from home today, sitting here waiting for the movers to show up.  They will pack up all of our stuff today, and ship it out tomorrow.  As you know from my constant complaining, we have spent the past few weeks packing up various things in order to stage the house, so I would say a good 50% of what we are taking is already packed.

They will pack up all the furniture - and God bless them for it - as well as the dishes, etc.  At some point today I will empty out the fridge, freezer (after helping myself to the remaining Haagen Dazs) and the pantry.

Starting tomorrow night, we will live with G's parents.  This is a "full circle" event for us, because we lived with them for a few weeks when we moved to this area years ago.  For all of my sarcasm - which flows like the Niagara Falls - it is extremely nice and gracious of them to let us live with them.  It's just that the introverts really need their own space in which to konk out and occasionally sing undignified songs about the rabbit.

But sacrifices must be made.

So I'm keeping my eyes on the prize.

The upshot to watching my precious Keurig get packed away today is knowing that I have an entire month of guilt-free Starbucks in my future!  Oh, who am I kidding?  I never feel guilt about SB.

Here's to several weeks of living out of my car.  It's a good thing I'm already used to it.  And speaking of, my days of the hellish commute are numbered, people.

Numbered.

Week 7 - Some Resolution

After this past week, I have put down the paper bag and started to breathe normally.  Actually, it is impossible to breathe normally in CO because there is like no oxygen, but now that we are back in VA, my lungs are functioning once more.

Week 7 turned out to be the culmination of a lot of manual labor and logistics - it turned out to be the beginning of the end of VA, and a defined beginning to life in CO.

Week 7 of the Move Prep included:

*B's trip to Denver for work meetings.  She got to meet her entire new team and they are awesome.

*One team member brought in fresh produce from his garden.  Another brought in homemade cookies from his girlfriend who is a chef and food stylist.  Oh, this new office is going to rock my face off.

*G worked with the movers to solidify a date for them to pack our stuff and ship us out.

*G visited Denver, too, and had breathing problems, too.

*G pulled out the new camera and started practicing in preparation for the Africa trip.

*We celebrated B's bday in style.  It feels good to be 29.  Again.

*B fell in love with the mountains.

*G spent a lot of time saying, "See?  I knew you would love it!"

*B spent a lot of time drinking water.  And alcohol.  And Jamba Juice.  And water again.

*We had an amazing time with friends.

*And we traveled back to the land of humidity.

*We reunited with the old lady bun bun.

*And we are continuing to pack in preparation for the movers this week.

*B said goodbye to the ivy plant that has seen her through years of quiet times, prayers, tears, and endless cups of coffee.  It is going to the MIL who has a green thumb and can care for it.

*We are going to spend a couple of hours at work today to try (in vain but still) to get ahead for the week.  And we will do lots of laundry.  And lots of making fun of the bun bun.

I want to thank you for praying for us.  The renters and the new apartment are major loads off.  If you are looking for other specifics (A-peep!) please pray for sanity as we pack out and move in w/G's parents, and for God to delight us in Africa.

More to come, peeps!

We have an address. Time to go back.

We signed the paperwork yesterday for our new home!
Incidentally, we are going to be poor forever!
If you are thinking of early Christmas ideas, please contact us about paying either our mortgage or our rent - and thanks!

In front of our new digs.

Our place is very close to a park - but I'm learning that, um, everything in Denver is close to a park.  It is also within walking distance of not one but two bookstores!  It's a sign that we are meant to move here immediately!

It is also close to:

I think we're gonna do just.  fine.  here.

That's a major load off.  Now all we have to do is fly back today, go back to work, and move out of the house by this Friday.  It is very odd to think that we are paying for two residences but are essentially homeless until October.

Last night we had dinner with some local pals:

It was the best.  That gal on the left is BFJ's lil sister - and because I don't use names on this blog, I'm very tempted to call her Nat King Cole because of the sounds of her real name, but I won't do it.  I'll just call her N.  Her husband F is an amazing cook and prepared quite a spread for us.  I was like, "Did I mention we're about to live here?  You can cook for us like all the time then!"  I don't think they were as thrilled about that prospect as we were but whatever.

Another thing about this area?

FREE BEER FRIDAYS!

When we sat down for lunch and the waiter mentioned that it was Free Beer Friday, I was like, "as in, you don't have to pay for it?!"  Why doesn't everyone in the world live in this area?  Am I revealing secrets here or something?  Am I supposed to sign some kind of residential contract that will forbid me to talk about how totally awesome this area is?

OK, time to pack and head to the airport pretty soon.  I have a feeling when we land, my body will soak up all the moisture in the air and I'll balloon up like a sea cow.  At this point, I won't even mind.  It will be nice not to feel like I slept with a ball of cotton in my mouth.

See you peeps on the other side!  That would be the temporary side!