More Good Byes

This is a very odd time in our journey. We are literally overwhelmed with logistics and the To Do lists of getting the heck out of here. At the same time, we are saying lots of good byes.
Husband and I had lunch with work colleagues and friends. Really lovely men that we enjoy so much. You chat, talk, exchange hugs and say "see ya next year" - it is surreal.

We have dinner with friends made through our children. Really relaxing and fun to sit and talk, chat and there is always the good bye of "see ya next year ..." We will miss these amazing relationships and the kinship of like souls.

When I was pregnant, I knew this huge life changing event was about to happen. I knew it in my brain and in my heart. But, I could not possibly know what it would be like until that precious child arrived. I feel a similar anticipation. I know this is huge. I know it is life changing. I know it is the opportunity of a life time. But, I can not possibly know what it is like till I get there.

Ready to be there . Really ready. And scared too by the way.

The Real Low Down

So I would like to write that the process of getting ready to Move to Mexico has been smooth, easy, no problemo.

However, I am blogging as a journal to tell the truth and nothing but the truth. Pretty much anyway.

Getting ready to go has been way more stressful than we anticipated. Wrapping up your entire life and all your possessions takes allot of work.

We have 3 weeks before we leave. Here is what is left to do: paint inside of 3000 square foot home (2 rooms done so far), find place and move all possessions to storage, final doctor and dentist visits, finalize health insurance, finalize auto insurance, get pool repaired, get painter to finish outside of house, rent house - okay that is all I can stand to write.

Did you see the part about rent house? Not done yet. Add financial stress to the equation.

Looking forward to writing about the fun part when in Mexico!

To Go or Not to Go?

Life Questions:

Work on vacation so you can go?

OR

Don't go on vacation because you have to work?

(Assume not working is not an option.)

24 Hour Drive

The chaos and living of life continues. Before the Move to Mexico decision, we planned a beach vacation with special friends for 1st week of June. It seemed like a great idea at the time.

The problems became too expensive air fare, the abundance of American House tasks and work being crazy. But. I am not one to be daunted when a wonderful life experience presents itself.

So the solutions became:

Drive: After careful gas cost analysis, decided to drive. It is just a 24 hour drive. Yeah.

American House Tasks: Husband stayed home to paint inside of house.

New Problem - the Drive: I am a Can Do person but driving with two young boys for 24 hours is a bit much for even me. So Very Spontaneous Neighbor and her child agree to go with us with 40 hours notice. Very Spontaneous Neighbor did not quite understand a 24 hour drive was involved but that is just in the details ...

Work Being Crazy: Take my 2 computers, iPhone and on the beach wireless! Not ideal but work and play are a way of life.

We are here! It is an amazing 15 room+ house with private pool on the beach. We have 11 children and 9 adults.

P.S.
And yes, we did drive 24 hours straight with 2 determined mommies and 3 children under the age of 8 with no less than 20 potty stops

Finally

Finally - we have a lock box on the front door and ready to rent!

Great Friends

Really, really, really nice mother of one of Oldest Son's friend hosted an Adios Amigos Swim Party for Oldest Son and "Other Family Moving to Mexico's" Oldest Son.

A perfect way to end 2nd Grade for Oldest Son. There were 20+ boys swimming and playing basketball. Many parents also hung around and visited.

Another mother of Oldest Son's friend made me a necklace with beads she made herself. This mother truly has a "heart of gold" - she is so loving and sweet. The beads are the colors of Mexico. I am so touched. And I LOVE the necklace!

Husband's Brother arrived for visit today and got to enjoy the festivities. He commented on how nice our friends are and how well behaved the boys were at party. His comment made me happy and sad (notice how often I have conflicting emotions.) Happy that Yes we do have friends that are are genuinely nice people who are raising really good kids. Sad to leave them all.

Okay, it is only 1 Year. Remember this ...

No TV ...

Question: Why so many wires when no TV?

This has been an eventful week!

Moving Sale - Finally, we had our Moving Sale (garage sale.) We cleared over $1,200 so you can only imagine how much stuff we had to move outta here! Husband and I feel like we are 60! All the lifting and moving stuff has been a wee bit hard on our 40+ year old bodies.

NO TV - Yes, we sold all 3 TVs. We will be without any TV until July 1st when we move to Mexico. We do have the portable DVD player so the kids can watch some DVDs. Frankly, I think this will be hardest on me. I have fallen into the really, really bad habit of zoning out into front of the TV after kids in bed. What will I do now to relax?

Mexican Villa - We decided on the more expensive, on the beach, nicer Mexican Villa to be our home for the next year. Like many decisions these days - I am both excited and nervous. Excited about the great living accommodations and nervous about the expense.

House Painted - The outside-of-house painters arrived Monday (of course just when Husband in Mexico). They are pretty much done. There is still some carpentry work but the house does look spiffy.

American Home - Property Manager (also Best Friend from College) meets with us this Thursday to list American Home for rental. Between now and then, we have to be "show ready." I am going to need a year in Mexico to recover from the Move to Mexico ...

Mexico Housing Update

Husband has found another unit in same complex!

The Good News: better furnishings & layout and 30 feet from beach :)

The Bad News: costs more :(

The Okay News: we can manage it - we think

AND the painters for the outside of our house arrived today.

The roller coaster is headed up again. For those of you who have seen Parenthood - the scene at the end with the grandmother is such a profound statement of life - although some people like merry-go-rounds, she says she has always preferred the roller coaster. Me too apparently.

Husband in Mexico

Due to our switch in roles this past year, I have not been with kids while Husband travels in long time. Before Husband would travel on average once or twice a month. Now I have been traveling a bit and Husband with boys.

It felt nice to be "primary caregiver Mommy" this morning. I do miss it. Not complaining. Just stating.

Frankly, our family is incredibly fortunate to be able to vary our approach in family structure. We made a very conscious decision in 2003 for "less income" when we first gave up 2 full-time consulting salaries. I created a business that allows me to be part-time or full-time according to family needs. Husband and I have revolved in and out of primary breadwinner and primary caregiver roles ever since. It does not always work perfectly and it is more unpredictable but so far so good for our family. We just adapt to the life scenario presented each year.

Mexican Realtor Contact Made! - OH NO!

Well, we got smart and called the general office of Mexican Realtor versus his mobile or direct line. And guess what? He was there. The good news is we still have the townhouse we opted for weeks ago.

The story is that Out-of-Country Owner has been difficult but is expected in Mexico this week. Husband is set to meet with Mexican Realtor on Monday. Sigh of relief. We were really getting nervous.

Hopefully, this time next week we will have signed lease.

UPDATE - Just got email that we may not get the property - we are back to Panic Mode.

Happy Mother's Day

What a really wonderful day!

We have Camping Friends who I will now call Sailing Friends. We have known them for over 6 years and have had many, many camping excursions with them. The amazing memories we have going on trips with them are too numerous to count. They have two boys also. We truly love hanging out with these guys.

We went out to the lake today with these Sailing Friends who have a new sailboat - it "flew" its sails for the first time today! What fun!

First we did a bike ride around the lake (9 miles), then we picnicked on the Sail Club deck (home smoked chicken, pasta salad, fresh pineapple), then we played catch (baseball) and then we went sailing. Are you picturing that classic All American Day? Norman Rockwell come to mind?

Well it was a perfect day for me, American Mommy in Mexico who just still happens to be in America.

Panic Gets the Best of Us

Mexican Realtor just will not get back to us. We booked flight to Mexico for Husband for May 18 to May 21. The goal is he will secure living accommodations including a signed lease.

Oh Joy - Moving Boxes!

We are celebrating every step. Husband went and got these really cool boxes with a hanging bar insert. We do not need many of our clothes during our year away but we will want them when we get back. Thus, these clothes go into the Store category. Husband has made great progress sorting his own clothes into Donate, Store and Go to Mexico! Yippee!

Husband also Sold some of our Stuff this week as well. $500 from the Pawn Shop and another $70 from Half Price Books. Stuff. Stuff. Stuff. Just ridiculous. We have too much Stuff. I want to write this down to remember later ... I will not accumulate too much Stuff ever again. I will not accumulate too much Stuff ever again. I will not accumulate too much Stuff ever again.

So Cool - Post-it in Spanish

Our Spanish Teacher for Oldest Son gave us the coolest gift yesterday. It is a Post-it package with the English Word on Green and the Spanish Word on Yellow. The kids and I posted them all over the house!

Oldest Son made his own surprise one for me: "La M a m' a"

Be still my heart. We posted it to his infant picture with me.

May 5th - The List So Far

The past week or so has been a little too much. I was out of town working for 5 days and that always throws life a bit out of whack. I just reduced my personal email from 350 emails to 55 and my work email from 390 emails to 72. If I can keep each to double digits, I feel some illusion of control.

So where are we in the Move to Mexico. We are still inching along.

House - Ultimate Goal is to Get Ready to RENT!

• Roof - DONE
• Outside Painting - Next week
• Pool Repair - Getting bids
• Inside Repairs - Most done
• Inside Painting - TBD

Stuff

• Go to Mexico - Started a very small area of movables
• Store - Still need to rent storage place
• Try to sell - Put some items on Craig's List - NO LUCK
• Give away - I gave away 4 boxes of art supplies and moved a flatbed full of stuff out
• House at friend's - We did get the Sukkah to friends this weekend
• Yard Sale/Donate - I have turned our dining room into the "holding tank" for all things we are getting rid of - so far we have toys, furniture, books, costumes, kitchen items

Mexico

• Mexican Rental Home - Still no lease ... getting a bit nervous ... may have to send Husband to Mexico
• Mexican School - We have almost all paperwork in and a visit scheduled with kids on July 1st
• Health Insurance, Auto Insurance, Immigration Papers, etc - Husband says he has it all under control. Hope so.
• Shots - In annual check ups today for Oldest and Youngest Sons, we raised the question of what medications (malaria, etc.) and immunizations (hepatitis, etc.) do we need? Research in progress - stay tuned.

Oh man - that is all the "listing" I can stand today - more later.

Sidenote: Just read Fat Doctor's blog - I too was very, very, very blue last weekend - on the up swing now. I accept that this happens to me. It is okay. Thank God for understanding Husband.