T-minus 8 days

We're getting down to the wire!

Today I get to celebrate Christmas with my brother and my niece! Yay! Mom is cooking up another Christmas dinner and we have more presents to open. I am excited about spending as much time as possible with my family, particularly my niece, over the next week. She has been in Colorado for the past week but now she's back. Woohoo!

I think I have found a renter for my house. They are moving here from Chicago. I had hoped to find someone to move in early January, but it looks like they prefer February 1st. Oh well. I'm just happy to have found someone without having to pay a realtor or property management company.

I checked the status of my car online and it says it has arrived in Germany and is waiting for me. Hopefully, my furniture and stuff isn't too far behind. It would be nice to get it soon, since I'll be able to move into my house January 9th.

The week ahead will be a busy one, mostly with vet appointments and paperwork for the dogs. But there will be lots of time to spend with my family and friends. Obviously the most important thing on my to-do list. :)

Going-Away Party

My official Going-Away party was last night at the Walburg Restaurant. It was lovely to have so many of my favorite people all in the same room. We had some great food and deeeeelicious German beer. The best part was all of the great company!

I still have two weeks here and will manage to squeeze in visits, lunches, and dinners with folks before I head out, in between all of the holiday festivities!

I feel so loved, and so lucky to have such amazingly wonderful friends and family. Thank you, everyone!

T-minus 21 days

Whoa. I knew the holidays were going to be fast and furious, but this is crazy!

Not a whole lot of time left...

In other news, I signed the paperwork on my house and will be moving in January 9th. Not sure when my stuff will arrive, but it will be good to get in and start getting settled as soon as possible. I feel incredibly lucky to have found a house with such a quick move-in time. My new principal said that it was likely that I would be living in a hotel for at least 3 months. Looks like that will actually be a mere 3 days... YEEHAW!

I feel pretty good about setting up in the new place. I will need to buy a bedroom set for the guest bedroom. Maybe a wardrobe or two, depending on what I can borrow from the post. The house comes with an American-sized fridge, and I will be able to borrow a washer and dryer and microwave. Depending on how soon my furniture will be there, I will also be able to borrow essential furniture (like a bed) and dishes and stuff for the short term, if need be.

The biggest chore left on my plate at this point is getting all of the paperwork for the dogs in order. That means microchipping, at least another round of vet visits for shots and whatnot, and a trip to the USDA office downtown to have them sign off on the import paperwork. I got the shipping crates yesterday (Christmas present from my folks) and have them assembled and in my room so the pooches can start getting used to them. They are smaller than the wire cages they are accustomed to, but I think they'll be okay. I am definitely anxious about their travel. I know they will be terrified and barky and mad about all of it. I'm hoping for a zero-incident transport. (Unlike our last flight to Germany with dogs, where our lab Bailey decided she was done in the kennel and busted out during the flight. When they opened up the cargo door, there she was, loose as a goose.)

Three more weeks...

Pictures of the house are posted on my Facebook. Check it out! :)

One month!

Flying out one month from today...

I got my passport. Woot!

I think I also might have found a house to rent. It's 20-30 minutes away from my school, depending on traffic. It is three floors, 4 bedroom and 2.5 bath. The owners are German and American. (The wife is also a teacher at one of the post schools.) From what I can tell from the pictures, it looks like a real find and I am pretty sure I am going to go for it.

Empty house!

So the movers came yesterday and finished moving everything. The move went smoothly, at least on this end. I hope I manage to escape without a whole lot of damage.

Aside from my suitcases, I have a bed, card table and two folding chairs, all generously on loan from my parents. Linens and kitchen gear are also slim pickings, which will mean a lot of take-out. I wanted to make egg salad for lunch tomorrow but I don't have a bowl to mix it in. I guess I could just mix it in the pot?

The house is empty, and sad. :(

I think my passport tried to get here today, but I wasn't here to sign for the FedEx. Not sure how I'm going to pull that off since I will be at school all week. And I have stuff every night this week so I can't go in the evening. Maybe I can go by after work on Friday?

We're just over a month from flying out. I still have a lot to do, but mostly it involves the paperwork for importing the dogs. Since all my stuff is gone, there isn't really much to do here besides play on the computer. I got a couple of movies from Netflix today, so I guess I could go curl up in bed and watch one...

Progress

Haven't posted in a bit... things are definitely happening!

My travel arrangements have changed slightly. I am now leaving Dallas January 5th and will arrive in Stuttgart on the 6th. It didn't make any sense to go on the 31st, with the holiday and weekend right after. All of the offices on base will be closed and I wouldn't be able to do any of my in-processing. Might as well delay a few days and be able to spend New Year's here with friends and family. Unfortunately, I will miss the BCS Championship game on Jan. 7. SAD!

I have a pre-move walk through on Wednesday. Movers coming Friday and next Monday/Tuesday. I have already started cleaning stuff out and making piles for various shipments. Took everything off the walls. Did a ton of laundry today. The house is starting to look like a move is coming...

I found a kennel in Germany that will meet me at the airport to pick up the dogs and keep them until I find housing, which is one less thing to worry about.

I still have soooooooo much to do. Don't be overwhelmed, don't be overwhelmed, don't be overwhelmed... :)

Orders are in, dates are booked!

Got my orders first thing Monday morning. Am heading to San Antonio on Friday to have my Household Goods Shipment briefing and book my travel arrangements.

Dates for packing out/moving: unaccompanied/hold baggage (the basics I will need when I first get there) is November 27th. Household Goods (furniture and everything else) will go out November 30th and December 1st.

My dad is driving my car to Dallas on Friday and it will be on its merry way and will hopefully be there waiting for me when I get there. I will be driving my mom's CRV from Friday through the end of December when I ship out.

After December 1st, things will be pretty bare bones. I will be sleeping on a mattress on the floor, will be without a TV or my desktop computer and won't have any furniture in the house. Good thing my new laptop will be here next week. Most of my clothes will be gone and I will be living out of a suitcase. Fun fun fun!

Waiting for Orders

All paperwork has been completed, submitted, and received. I told my current principal and received the final document I needed, which was a recommendation from him. I broke the news to the cast of my One-Act play today and will tell my classes tomorrow. That part is definitely difficult. There were lots of hugs and a couple of tears, but in general, they took the news pretty well. I'm sure some of my students will be relieved. Heh heh.

So now I am waiting to receive my orders. Once I have those, I can get a date for my pack-out and move, ship my car, book my travel, etc.

I am still looking for a renter for the house, although I have someone coming by to check it out tonight. Fingers crossed!

For Rent

The sign is up and I've posted on Craigs List. I am also going to make up some flyers to take to the three schools around this neck of the woods. Maybe if I ask really nicely, they'll hang 'em up in the teachers' lounge.

Also on the agenda for today is making a thorough to-do list. Time to get a plan together, kiddies. ;-)

News?

So it looks like it is an official done deal, pending a physical examination.

I have sent in all of my paperwork. I have crossed the t's and dotted the i's.

Apparently, I will be receiving a FedEx package this week with all of the info on next steps, etc.

I have posted my house for rent on CL. Cross your fingers and your toes! I probably need to go buy a sign to stick in the front yard, as well.

I am afraid to make a to-do list. I don't even know where to begin... Whew!

Stuck in a holding pattern...

So not much has happened in the past week or so. I got an email from the principal last week. She apologized for the delay and said that she needed to start the paperwork approval process over again. Somehow HR screwed up and the process needed to be restarted. She said hopefully I should hear from HR in the next week or two... Waiting, waiting, waiting. There is so much I have to do, but nothing I can do until the paperwork goes through and I see an offer in writing. So we wait.

My roommates are all packed up and will be out in two weeks. Then it will be up to me to find renters, get everything packed up and put on a boat. I'm still not sure what to do with the dogs, or me, once I am homeless.

So many unknowns. My inner project manager is freaking out a little. But I always work best under pressure and am the High Queen of Procrastination. So it's all good.

Start Spreading the News...

So the cat is pretty much out of the bag, at this point. All of my family knows. The vast majority of my friends know, even those long-distance, thanks to Facebook. The worst, by far, was telling my beautiful, amazing, brilliant, fabulous 7 year old niece. That was very, very difficult but I am relieved it is done. She was very upset, as was I, but it's okay to be sad about it. Leaving is rarely easy.

The only one I haven't told yet is my current principal. I am waiting until I have had a chance to look over the actual offer paperwork, which I haven't received yet. Not really looking forward to that one, either. I love my school, love my kids, love my co-workers. They have been so welcoming and friendly. I hate to leave such a great place. But I can't pass this one up.

I have so much to do. Not even sure where to begin. I need to get a check-list going because I don't want to forget all of the millions of things I need to do in the next two months. UGH!!!

But for now, it's time for bed.

The Jennifer Connection

Good things happen to me when Jenni McShane is not at work.

I'm not sure why, but all of the crazy things that happen to me happen when she is on a cruise, out of town, or recovering from ACL.

I told her that she needs to take a week off so I can meet a wonderful man, get married and have babies. A week of vacation for her should do nicely. ;-)

She took Monday off and that's when I got my offer. I can't remember the other details of what happened when, but Jenni's absence at work means good things for me.

Jenni, tell me when your next day off is so I can go buy a lottery ticket. Seriously.

It begins.

Today is the first day of the rest of my life. Or something.

I sleep with my cell phone next to my bed. When the alarm went off at the wretched time of 5am, I sleepily reached over and glanced at my email. BAM. Instant awake. In my inbox was a message from the principal at Patch HS, telling me I was selected for the drama position I interviewed for last week.

Holy crap. That's all I could think.

Holy crap.

So it begins. New adventures await. The next two and a half years, at least, will involve teaching and a metric butt-load of epic European travel.

I plan to blog said adventures and include lots of pictures for you folks back home. Teh internets will make it seem like I am much closer than I will physically be. I plan to get a video camera so I can phone home and see and be seen. And I promise to take full advantage of this opportunity and tell you all about it. With pictures. Deal?