House Pictures!!

Andrew sent quite a few pictures of the house over the weekend. He's finally settling in a bit. He has a TV and cable and he may have found a car to purchase. More on that later. But for now! Here's a better look at the house:

family room:

from master bedroom balcony:

one of the guest bedrooms:

living room:

master bedroom:

master bath:

office:

Once our stuff arrives and we hang things on the wall, it will certainly give the house more personality and feel more like our home.

Andrew is back in Pretoria

I can't believe it's the end of October already. Andrew was home (well in the US) for about a month. He spent a week of that time in Atlanta and another week in DC. He came back to California for a few days before heading to New York to spend a couple of nights with his parents. And late Friday night (California time), he arrived back in South Africa.

He's really racking up frequent flyer miles...that's for sure!

Anyway, I have received a few text messages about the amazing house we have there. He is in and hopefully our stuff will arrive around the middle of November. Pictures to come, I hope!

Otherwise, I am busy working and going back and forth between Hemet (weekdays) and LA (weekends).

It's been a week

Got back to SoCal a week ago yesterday. We had to deal with a variety of issues--not the least of which was Andrew's inadvertent termination from his job! Fortunately, it appears he has been reinstated and his back pay coming soon...hopefully Monday.

Otherwise we are doing well...and trying to settle in here even though we are homeless. :-) It's all very unsettling, but we're managing.

Andrew leaves for Atlanta (and then later DC) on Monday. And he'll be back for a few days in a couple of weeks before going back to South Africa.

I have some pictures from our drive that hopefully I'll get around to posting soon!

And it's confirmed!

The house is ours!! I'm so excited.

Andrew will be in Chicago tomorrow morning and we begin our drive to California.

Description of Our Home

From Andrew: It is at the top of a ridge, e blocks from Adam and Glenn's place, it has a good size yard and a pool.  Adam said they just voted today on it.  3 bed room, 2 bath, have not been inside, but from where it sits, the views of the valley from the second floor should be breathtaking.

Our New Home in Pretoria (Hopefully)

I guess it's not totally for sure yet. But this apparently is the house they have identified for us! Okay, so I have to say, I am excited now. The pictures are a little blurry because Andrew took them with his cell phone. But you get the idea!

Phase I Complete

Now that the bulk of the stuff going to South Africa is gone, I can see a bit more clearly what's left. As much as I hate splitting up all of our stuff, it's a relief that it's gone. After all, most of it is just stuff...at least that's what I keep telling myself!

The movers coming to get all the things going into storage in LA are on their way now. I thinkI  have more boxes marked for drop off at Jeff and Kim's in Claremont than is necessary, but it's too late to reconsider now without driving myself completely insane. :-)

The big concern is the 250 pounds we're allowed for the air shipment tomorrow. I think I'm going to be very, very close. So I'm trying to minimize things going in the car just in case I have to pull a few things out and put them in the car. We can mail any leftover items through the diplomatic pouch...which we are planning to do for two boxes of Andrew's books that I know will take me over the 250 pound limit.

Anyway...we're getting there!

Let the Moves Begin

Waiting for the first of three movers right now. I can't believe the day is here. It's a bit unsettling as all of our stuff gets divided and separated. The international sea shipment is today for the bulk of the stuff going to South Africa. I have changed my mind so many times about what is going and what is not, I can't even remember what we are taking! Ultimately, I tried to simplify and reduce the amount we're taking--sticking to necessities whenever possible...with the exception of small picture frames of family and friends and some decorative stuff. After all, it does have to feel like home there!

Anyway. That's all for now.

Schedule Update

Andrew is back in South Africa and comes back to Chicago on September 24. His flight arrives in the morning...and I will be picking him up and then we begin the drive to California!

I can't believe how quickly the time has gone and I still have tons of packing to do. So I have to get back to work, but here are the new dates:

• Sept 21--movers come to pick up all goods getting shipped by sea to Pretoria
• Sept 22--movers come to pick up all goods going to storage in LA
• Sept 23--movers come to pick up all goods getting shipped by air to Pretoria

Anyway...I'm going to be busy over the next two weeks! Wish me luck.

Punk is in California

Punk is now making his home in Hemet. As you can see, he's settling in pretty well. He was a trooper on the flight, too.

Embassy Housing!

Kind of looks like something you would see in Moreno Valley! :-) Andrew took some pictures of the interior; the kitchen wasn't bad. I would have posted, but it was a bit blurry. We may take a little more of our own furniture than expected. But, otherwise, we'll take what they give us!

Meet a zonkey!

Andrew went hiking today about 30 minutes outside Pretoria. I was shocked he actually went (I could never get him to go hiking in California), but then I couldn't promise running across a zonkey either. I think he also enjoyed the pulley across the river.

Anyway, he says the landscape does remind him of California...mountainous and arid. So that should make me feel more at home!

Next week he'll get a tour of embassy housing so hopefully we'll have a better idea of what our place will look like.

The Schedule

For those of you trying to keep track of where we are and where we'll be, here it is****:

Now through August 12: Andrew is in South Africa.

August 13-20: We are both in Chicago!!!

August 21-24: Andrew is in Atlanta

August 25-31: We are both in California

September: 3-16: Andrew is in South Africa

September 23-25: One of these days we leave Chicago to move back to LA. Not exactly sure of the date.

****LEGAL DISCLOSURE: Dates are subject to change!! :-)

October and beyond, things get fuzzy. So I won't confuse anyone with those details just yet.

No Netflix from South Africa!

I guess we'll be getting rid of Netflix when we leave Chicago. Andrew says that streaming movies from there isn't possible. Oh well, that will save us $16/month! :-)

Otherwise, so far his trip is going well. He's staying at the Sheraton Pretoria. His room overlooks parliament building with its famous Jacaranda trees and gardens.

Today was his first official day though. More on that later.

Andrew's first trip to South Africa

Andrew left Chicago yesterday at about 1 pm and just arrived in Johannesburg at 5 pm local time there (10 am here in Chicago). We haven't yet spoken, but I've received a few text messages. He's excited and now that he is there, the reality of our move to South Africa is sinking in.

I'll have more details on his first trip later as well as a schedule of our comings and goings in the next few posts!

Where has the time gone already?

I thought I would have had more updates over the last month, but I didn't. Maybe there isn't much to report?

Let's see where we are.

Packing: It has begun...mainly books and picture frames at this point. I am trying to do one or two boxes per day so things are starting to pile up in the apartment. Alongside the packing, we have also made decisions about what is getting sold, etc. We have ads up on Craigslist for our futon couch/frame, a bookcase and a kitchen table and chairs. We've given countless of things away already including the oversized sofa chair, which Punk was in the process of destroying. 1800GotJunk took that away.

As part of the packing process, I got delayed with two related projects: getting all of our music into iTunes and scanning old pictures for posterity. It's extremely time consuming. The pictures are mostly scanned, but the CDs are only partially complete. I have to wait for Andrew to take a look at his CD books and let me know what he wants imported.

The calendar: Andrew has been in Atlanta for the past two weeks. He returns to Chicago on July 27, but then he leaves for South Africa for his first short-term assignment on July 29. He gets back on August 12 and is home for a day or two before returning to Atlanta for a week or so. Then he comes back on August 23 and we leave for LA on August 25. The schedule makes me dizzy just thinking about it.

CDC paperwork: I think we're caught up at least for now. We both had our physicals. Punk gets his in August before we fly with him to LA. I continue to work on the home inventory as I pack up boxes.

Punk: Of course, we really want our boy to come with us to South Africa. But I also want to do what's best for him. My parents have offered to keep him for a little while which is sounding like a better option for him....and us. The thought of flying him (Lufthansa allows pets in the cabin. I will NOT check him with cargo) for 10.5 hours from LA to Frankfurt and then another 10.5 hours from Frankfurt to Johannesburg just sounds like cruel punishment. Plus since we plan to do a lot of traveling while there, we will need reliable pet sitting services. But I'm torn. He's my boy and I know we will miss him terribly if he doesn't come with us. But I think he'll be happier in California. Right now, he's sitting/sleeping on my desk right next to my laptop. He just loves to be right in the middle of everything.

The move back to CA: We've set the date. We're leaving Chicago on September 23 so that we can be at my parents before they leave for Florida at the end of the month.

I guess that about sums up things for now. I have a list of other things like getting the car serviced, arranging the moving truck, etc. But all in due time.

Learning to live with uncertainty and being patient.

If Andrew's job experiences over the last two years have taught me anything, it's that patience is key. That's a particularly troublesome life lesson for me because I am extremely impatient. I like things decided and known so I can plan my response. But that's not how this works. And by this, I mean the process of moving with the government...and life. It's all a good opportunity to practice dealing with uncertainty and unknowns and taking life as it presents itself to you.

Yesterday we learned in the morning that our move back to LA was not going to be covered (paid for) as we had been thinking and planning for all along. But by the afternoon, it was back on with guarantees that Andrew's old department was going to pick up the tab. That's just one example of the ups and downs of working through the process.

This morning Andrew has spent hours completing another form online. I'm not even sure what it's all about. But he's exasperated and it's not done.

The big decisions facing us now are related to the move back to LA and the subsequent move to SA. What do we keep? What do we sell? What is going into storage in LA? What is coming with us to SA? Can we lease a car in SA or get a loan? Or do we have to consider selling our Prius now to have cash to buy a good used car when we get there? How do we set up Vonage or some other VOIP to allow people to use a local LA number that will ring in South Africa?

You get the idea. Many of these things don't necessarily need to be decided today. So we are starting to pack up books. That's one thing we can do now.

It's officially official.

It's been a week now since Andrew's job offer for a position South Africa became officially official. I say 'officially official' because as we've been learning, nothing is really ever a done deal until you get more than two (or three) people to verify the story. It's kind of like being a reporter.

Anyway, last Monday was a blur of paperwork that had to be completed that day in order to kick start the entire process. Andrew has to get a new security clearance. We both have to get physicals. Punk has to get cleared from his vet. Inventory must be taken on anything and everything we plan to take with us to South Africa. Guess who is taking the lead on that? :-) Anyway, it all amounts to a huge pile of paperwork. Not to mention that we are first moving back to LA. There is so much to coordinate.

Now that we've had a week to let the news sink in that we will be living in South Africa, it's finally starting to feel more real...and overwhelming. But we are taking things in stages. That's all we can do.