Re-inventing Lori... How I am re-inventing my life post divorce.
Well the movers came today (are here actually) and are packing the surface shipment.
I have to say that this week has been kind of hard. Whittling down your personal possessions and seeing values put on everything. I imagine that things are going to feel real strange when the storage shipment leaves tomorrow.
I have never had to put a value on "things" like this, so that part was a bit odd.
This is feeling a bit surreal in the whole experience.
Wow, I can hardly believe how fast time has gone. It seems like just yesterday that I was finishing my last day at work and preparing for this crazy adventure. Now we are down to 7 days until we leave. That means that in 3 days the movers come... yikes!
On Christmas, Doug and I spent the greater part of the day sorting and deciding what was going to the local thrift store. I wasn't really all that surprised by how much we had to give away. When they came yesterday to do a pick up, we completely filled the truck. The sad thing is... we need to get rid of more stuff.
Doug and I have made a promise to each other to try to stay clutter free. I know it is going to be a challenge, but I think we can do it.
We listed the house yesterday with our realtor Marcus. I hope he does a good job for us. I believe he will. The pressure is on for him since his mom is one of Doug's tech leads and a very good friend of ours.
Marcus was saying he actually has 2 couples that he wants to show the house to on Monday. I guess both are very interested.
This has been a great house. We are only the 3rd family to live in it. It was the builders house and his kids grew up in it, then his son bought the house and his kids partially grew up in it. Our son spent most of his life here. The neighborhood is great. There is a very nice balance of neighbors, both LDS and not. Everyone seems to get along well. The kids play well together and the neighborhood is clean and safe. We have great schools in the area, and are close to shopping.
In a way I will be sad to see our house sell. But, in another way I am exited. This is the beginning on a new adventure for us.
Well, I had better go get busy with cleaning an "stuff". There is so much to do still.
The last couple of days have been interesting to say the least...
I have been cleaning out the basement and, well some of the stuff is just weird what I have found in boxes. Things that I thought at the time I saved them were important.
Being a pack-rat, I know why I saved them, but it is sure making it hard to de-clutter. All of the stuff is good stuff.
This move and forced de-cluttering is making me reevaluate my choices on what is important to me.
I am continually asking myself, do I really need it. Could I buy something that will be more efficient for this, do I really want to store this and (if it is a technology type item) will better technology be out there in a couple years? Most of the time I am answering "no I don't really want to store it" and "yes, something better will be out there in 2 years".
On the other hand, it is difficult to part with some things. That is where I am finding favorite websites are coming into play. Freecycle and Craigslist are becoming increasingly valuable in this purging process.
Craigslist is a place you can post stuff you have for sale and trade, barter... give away... whatever. Freecycle is a place you can post free stuff you have to give away. Both of them are awesome. I have been able to get rid of so much. And I know that the stuff will be appreciated in their new homes.
Untill later... Lori
I knew that airline tickets to Dubai (we are flying in to Dubai since it is "cheaper") were expensive... but I just saw the cost of the tickets for January 3rd. Now keep in mind that these have to be round trip since we don't have the visas yet... The company is working on them still. Almost 10,000. for round trip tickets. Yikes!!!
This just boggles my mind. I do realize that this is on the other side of the world, but 10K? Woah!
It is starting to sink in that I have very little time left to get things done.
I still have so much to do and so little time left to do it in. I must be ready to leave on the 3rd regardless if everything is done. The pressure is on and it seems that the more I do, the more I find that needs done.
I know it will all work out in the end.
Part of it has to be the fact that I am ADHD, but I am going nuts...
I can't seem to focus on just one thing. I work on one room for a while, then move to another to take something there, and find myself working there for a while. This is driving me nuts.
I keep finding stuff to get rid of and I am starting to get in a bad mood because of it. Not the giving away part... the part where I still can't believe how much crap we have. I mean... we are not the typical pack rats... we are major pack rats. That is what is frustrating me.
Well, I need to gather some things up for a friend for tomorrow. We will see how distracted I can get with this simple task.
The guy from the moving company was here today. It is starting to sink in about moving now...
I still have tons of stuff to get rid of. Thank goodness for freecycle and craigs list. I am posting like crazy on there. I don't know how many boxes of garage sale reject stuff I have gotten rid of.
And then there is the garbage lol... I felt sorry for the garbage men today. I had over 20 bags for them to take. And have already started on a pile for next week.
Well, things wont sort themselves (it would be nice if they did lol) so I had better get back to work.
Ugh... I feel like I am at a standstill... I know I am making progress n cleaning and donating things, however when I look at how much more I have to go... I still feel overwhelmed. I know I am making progress since I have 9 (yes nine) garbage bags and 2 full garbage cans ready to go to the trash on Tuesday.
I just have so much more to do. I pretty much have one storage closet in the basement done... I just have boxes to move out to the trash. I have 1 more storage closet to go, then there is all of the junk in the basement. I can see that I am making headway on that since I can now see the floor in several places and the boxes are not as high any more.
I think once I get that level done, I will feel better about the possibility of getting done by Christmas.
The moving company is coming on Tuesday to do a walk through. I guess at that time they will see what needs to be packed and shipped and what needs to be stored.
I am not anticipating taking a lot of things. Since our apartment there will be furnished, Most things we take are going to be ones we can't live without. Of course we will take personal items and stuff, but there is a lot I am not taking.
Well I am off to sort stuff some more. I am finding little breaks seem to help a lot.
Actually I think I am going to try to fix the vacuum... the rotator thingey seems to be stuck.
Yesterday was my last day at work and it was a very strange feeling. Saying goodbye to everyone and all of the customers who I have seen on a daily basis for almost a year was a very strange feeling.
I am going to miss them all...
Another weird thing was on Saturday I picke out furniture for our apartment in UAE on the internet...
Doug was able to email me pictures and a list of what we can have. I then took the list and matched what I like. It was a bit difficult since the pictures were sooooooo small.
For some reason I was thinking things would be ultra modern and real streamlined... almost minimalistic. However the sofas and tables ended up being a lot more traditional.
Doug said he got to go look at the apartment at lunch (his) today ( our middle of night). He said it is really nice.
The view is of another building, and we don't have any out door space (rats), but we have marble floors, and the layout is very nice. This is a poor picture, but it gives you an idea of the layout. Since it is blurry... along the top is Living room/ dining room space (26.7 x 12.6), kitchen (17.1 x 7.3), Bedroom 1 (16.1 x 11), bedroom 2 (15.4 x 11.9). The bathroom is directly opposite the bedroom 1, (now moving left) entry, laundry, utility room (10 x 12.1) and bathroom with just a shower. I think typically the utility room and shower would be for a maids quarters... hmmm (probably not, well maybe once a week). However I think we are going to use it for an office space.
Stay tuned for more on this wild adventure.
Doug hit the ground running in AD and has been settling in and learning new things every day. He has been busy working. I didn't know this, but, they work a 6 day work week over there. With the time difference it does make sense. If I am posting this at around 12:00 noon, it is about 11:00pm over there. Fridays are the weekends... interesting.
He just got the offer package and everything seems to be pretty reasonable. There are a few tweaks that he wanted to make, but not much.
It sounds like he will sign on to the project before the end of the year, which workd out great. When he was talking to the tax specialists, they told him that it would be to his advantage to sign on early. Evidently there is some"rule" that stated we could only be back in the states for 31 days per year if he signs on after the new year starts.
This means my time line has gotten moved up. So... I guess I will now be tentatively be going back with him on the 4th of January, instead of the end of January.
All that means if more stress in getting the house ready for sale and everything sold. ARGH!!!!
I have a notebook full of lists of things that need done.
I am ruthlessly purging "stuff" from the closets and my crafts.
I am exhausted and frustrated that it seems that I have not made any hea way... but I know I have. The garbage pile has to be some ndicator of how things are going as well as how many boxes of "stuff" have been freecycled.
Well, I am off to purge my closets...
I still can't believe how much "stuff" a person can accumulate in such a short while.
I am feeling totally overwhelmed at getting rid of "stuff".
Today i donated 2 boxes of stuff and got rid of a huge bag of stuff and there is still more stuff. Argh!!!
It is interesting how when you start to go through things you soon realize that emotional and sentimental attachments are unjustified. The things you think are so precious are really just stuff.
Doug and I had a talk before he left, and the general conclusion is that if we had a fire and lost everything, we really could start over.
You know, I don't think it is so much the "thing" it is the clutter that is driving me nuts.
When we have gone on vacation, I don't miss all the stuff we have. I kind of relish the living in a minimalistic environment. There is a sort of freedom to it. You loose the attachment to thing.
when we come back from UAE, am I still going to have an emotional attachment to the things that I put in storage? Some things, yes, others definitely not. that will be very interesting.
Well, Doug leaves Sunday for Abu Dhabi. Since he is meeting up with the Company VP in Denver his flight is longer than my B-I-L Jim's flight. I think it ends up being 27 hours or something, including layovers.
Doug will be gone for 4 weeks, back through the 4th of January and then in AD for the next 4 weeks. At that point he will come back and (I think) help with the rest of the moving stuff.
Today he got the POA and Living will done (ack!) Now I have real power (semi evil laugh). Just kidding... This is mainly so I am able to sell the house and anything I need to while he is gone.
I have already started to get rid of a lot of things. I am amazed at how much junk a person can accumulate when you have a basement. I have gotten rid of a bunch of junk, but I have so much more to go through... then there are all of those "precious memory things".
Monday I am renting a storage unit and starting to put things I want to keep in there.
You know, of all the times Doug and I have "tried" to move, for a better job opportunity, nothing ever fell into place. This time I am so convinced that that this is the right move. It seems every time we have mentioned that something is going to be for sale, people have just come oput of the wood work and said "I want it"
Just a little while ago, we had people come over to look at the shopsmith and he wants it (just needs to convince his wife), and we just sold the pool table, exercise bike and power washer. My assistant manager wants to buy my car when it is time to sell. Every door seems to be opening up for us.
Oh... the OUch... I got my first shot today. It was the Hep A/B combo. It stung like crazy when I got it and then my arm went kind of numb for about a half hour. Surprisingly, it isn't as sore as I thought it would be.
When Doug gets back in December I go for the rest... That one I know hurts.
Every once in a while a wind will blow in and totally throw you for a loop.
That happened to me about 10 days ago. Hubby came home and asked "So how does the United Arab Emirates sound?"
Not totally thinking he was serious, I said "interesting".
First I must say, we had talked about moving... we want to downsize our house. It is just way to big for us. With a son who is 19 and getting ready to go into the Army, it will seem huge.
We had talked about moving into a condo (locally) or moving to another state here in the US.
However, nothing prepared me for the roller coasted ride that I have embarked upon.
Last Friday, he had an interview with the gentleman who is the "regional Director" (or something like that). That interview went extremely well. Since hubby comes highly recommended for this project, it seems like this was just a formality. Monday he had a call from someone state side (I forget how he is connected- I think upper management). Yesterday he had a visit from the head of security for his company. This gentleman told him that he had heard it was a "done deal" and was there to offer assistance in any way he needed it.
So the long and short of it is this... Early next year we will be moving to Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
At this point I have only told the important people in my life. This move went over like a lead balloon with my Dad and Step-Mom. My sister, I think is a bit apprehensive for me. My best friend is in shock and my other 2 good friends are... well 1 is excited and the other is mad at me. When I told my boss at work, he was like... "Oh Wow", My assistant manager is excited since her husband is from Egypt. They are going to Egypt for 3 weeks in April and, and she said she will definitely come visit me since his uncle lives in Abu Dhabi.
Being a planner I have already joined many expatriate forums and groups on-line. I need to know what I am in for.
To be honest with you, I am looking forward to this. I love adventure, and this is certainly that.
So what do I feel the biggest challenges will be for me?
I thought it would be fun to add some more pictures.
This is the new resort Cabo Azul that is in the Monarch Grand family of resorts. We own with Monarch so this is one we could go to. We went on an owners tour and we were impressed. It isn't quite finished. there was some kind of change needed to the way the entrance was laid out.
The picture on the top right is of the infinity pool. To the right this is looking out from the chapel.
The picture of the bedroom is the typical master from a 2 bedroom unit.
The whole resort is so peaceful and serene. It has a Mediterranean feel to it. This is where I want to stay when we go back.
To the right are the Arches.
Some sea lions,
and boats.
Wow, it has been a while since I have updated. Life has been hectic and a bit crazy lately.
I started working for a new company in November of last year.
I took a pay cut, but it was worth it to get away from the politics and garbage that is still going on with my last job. It also didn't help that there were hard feelings about my work comp claim from hurting my back and needing surgery. You would think that a large company like that would take care of it's employees. However the whole time that I was out only 3 people called to find out how things were going. One was my best friend, another was the HR person and the last was my immediate supervisor and she only called after people kept asking her how I was (she even told me that). No cards, no nothing. Hows them beans from the largest retailer in the US?
Anyway my new company is awesome. People care about you there. I also just got a promotion and am now the Operations Manager of the store. For a while I struggles with it, since this is different than anything I have done before. However, I think I am finally getting the hang of it. My goal is to be a Store Director in the next year.
My Store Director is absolutely awesome. He knows exactly how to run the store efficiently. I am hoping to retain all of the information I glean from him. If I can manage that, I know I will be a good Store Director when the time comes.
We just got back from a vacation to Mexico. We went to Cabo. WOW... it was fun. We went to help a friend celebrate his 50'th birthday. We had so much fun. I was wishing I would have taken a pedometer because it would have been interesting to see how much we walked each day. Our resort was located on top of a hill... so you walked down to town, and then at the end of the day... you had to climb up to it again. This picture is of the resort we stayed at. 
I know we will be going back. The people are just wonderful. They are so generous and warm. A lot of Americans diss on the Mexican people. I think they just have not tried to understand them. One of the things I was impressed by was the emphasis they put on family. Their lives revolve around their families. If the family is strong, the community is strong. This is so different from here in America.
Unfortunately I did see some "Ugly Americans" being ignorant and rude. We had taken the bus (think American city bus) up to San Jose for the day, just to look around. We had an awesome time, ate fantastic tacos at a family owned restaurant where they spoke little English and I had my language book out a lot. We had ice cream at Baskin Robbins (it was different and very good). On the way back on another buss a mother and 3 girls got on the buss. Mom had a big sling bag and it kept flipping around. This wouldn't normally be a problem, but she was standing up because the buss was full. She ended up hitting 2 different girls in the face, all the while the 3 girls were sitting and complaining that things were so dirty and filthy and they had to touch things after the dirty Mexicans had touched them. That exchange I had not witnessed, or I would have said something. People like that should not travel outside the US. they should stay home and not give us a bad name.
I am so glad we went. I can't wait to go back. I guess for now I will be dreaming of sand and sun.
Lori
I am not big on making New Years resolutions, because I always find myself breaking them by the first part of February. However I think I have come up with one that is one I might have some success with.
I resolve to weigh each crochet project that I contemplate making with the questions "Is this a project that I want to make, or do I somehow feel compelled to make it? Will I finish the project, or will it languish with the other UFO's that I have? Most importantly, is this a project that I will enjoy making?"
I realized after much contemplation, why I put crochet aside for several years. It was because I felt that I needed to produce things. Things I didn't really want to make, that I knew would be liked, but not fully appreciated for the time and effort that went into the making of them. I literally burned out after making way to many afghans and doilies and only getting several acknowledgments of their receipt. One was particularly disappointing, in that I was criticized in the color choices for her afghan. But enough of that. I only make for people who will appreciate the gift now.
As for projects that I wish to learn or complete this year...
I will write down the patterns for my reversible potholder, and the 24 point afghan. I plan on selling both of those patterns.
Things to learn, do or finish:
