Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Packing

After 3 days of separating the house into 4 categories: Air, Sea, Storage and What We Can Carry... the packers are here. They are extremely pleasant and professional and from what I can tell - are doing an excellent job. After about 1 hour they are almost done with the study, dining room and family room. Since we are staying here until Thursday - I did ask them to leave the beds made for the time being. But we don't have anything in the family room to sit on ;-)
We also have 2 showings today, let's hope that they can see beyond the chaos what I've seen this whole time... My dream home.
I was anxious to get to this point - the thought of having all of my "stuff" packed and put on a cargo ship has been fairly unsettling. But now that the packers are here, there is a strange sense of calm that I feel - I am ready to get this show on the road and I think Saturday will come sooner than we all think.
And I get lunch today! My favorite dish - thanks C!!!

Thursday, May 22, 2008

Murphy's Law

You know Murphy's Law - the one that says it'll rain after you wash your car?
The last few days have been running fairly smoothly. We have most of our paperwork done, we have divided the house in to Sea shipment, Air shipment and storage, my dad helped us out immediately with a minor crisis and besides just being "busy", things seemed to be falling into place. Until yesterday...
We are planning to sell my car on Friday - and get a rental for the rest of the time we are here. As I was going out the door to run some errands - my car would not start. Mind you, this was the second time in 3 weeks. A sweet neighbor tried to help me jump start it to no avail - he even let me borrow his car to go get a new battery. Who does that??? After finding out that Wal-Mart does not carry a battery for my car, I called GMC roadside assistance. Another sweet man helped me get my car started long enough to drive it up to the dealership. He also gave me his personal cell phone number just in case I got stranded somewhere along the way. I finally get up to the dealer to find out that the other dealer where I normally get service did not fix a recall issue that they should have.

So THANK YOU to my neighbor who tried to help me start my car and let me borrow his, THANK YOU to the sweet man who helped me start my car, THANK YOU to the service department for fixing my car so quickly on last minute notice, THANK YOU to my dh who had to put up with my 500 phone calls, and lastly, THANK YOU to my beautiful friend who watched my children all afternoon.

Saturday, May 17, 2008

Home

With only 2 weeks to go, we are nearing the end of our stay here in Texas. I've come to feel as if this is home seeing as we have been here for 8 1/2 years. I will fondly think of this place that we will return to in 3-5 years.
I'll remember:
Dead armadillos on the road.
Love Bugs.
Mosquito Hawks.
Roaches the size of my big toe (and mine is BIG).
Seeing a copperhead in my yard (and freaking out, accidentally spilling the roundup and killing a 2ft by 2ft patch of grass).
Seeing our first lizard - IN our house.
Seeing more SUV's and trucks than anywhere else in the US.
Finally figuring out what a "kolache" was.
No zoning outside The Woodlands.
Billboards galore.
My beautiful home.
The best school we have ever attended.
Some of the best women I have ever met.

I really do LOVE it here - and even though I am truly grateful to be off on this amazing adventure - I will be PROUD to come back "home".

Monday, May 12, 2008

The best mother's day present

Present#1
What a great day it has been. My husband is out of the country and with today being mother's day and tomorrow being my birthday, I was feeling a little out of sorts since he was not here. Then my sweet sweet boys came down with homemade cards and presents. I was so proud that no one coached them or even had to remind them that today was mother's day.
Present #2
We have always had issues with the 7 year old eating fruits and veggies. Since he was a baby - he never liked fruits and ate only 2 veggies (even baby food). So we have been battling with him for a LONG time over this issue. In usual fashion, I put a few pieces of fruit on his plate for dinner - and Whadyaknow... he ate all of it! After I proceeded to tell him how PROUD I was of him, he looks up at me with the biggest doe eyes and says "Mommy, I just didn't want you to be frustrated with me on mother's day."

What more could you ask for...

Thursday, May 8, 2008

May flowers?

My friend and I were talking about what a busy month May normally is - at school, May is packed for us with Teacher Appreciation, 1st grade play, field days, 2 field trips and last minute projects. Not to mention that May also holds Mother's Day, my MIL's birthday, my birthday and our anniversary. And the fact that we are leaving the country on the 31st holds it's own deadline with the movers coming to pack and ship our things. Not exactly time to stop and smell the roses.

So I give thanks everyday for friends that steal me away from this craziness that I live in for a quick lunch or shopping spree.(I had a blast!) I don't know how I would survive with out you! You will just have to come to Singapore with me!

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Feeling a little wimpy

The kids had their full foreign travel physicals yesterday. They were little troopers. The little one had a royal meltdown at the sight of any needle - and of course the nurses wanted him to be the first to do all of the tests - so as to get it over with. Not good preparation for the 10 year old. He was already nervous as it was, then his brother proceeds to act a like a loon. I really felt bad for them - we were there from 9:00 to 2:00. Not a great way to spend your day.
Well, today it was my turn - and the kids were really lucky they didn't have to do all that was required of an adult. Stress test, EKG, chest xray, pulmonary test, TB test, typhoid and Hep shots, comprehensive blood work and urine tests. I think one of the shots has given me slight fever. I always feel really bad for the kids when they have any sort of medical procedure to go through - but today I really feel for what they went through yesterday. I at least am old enough to understand the reasoning behind all of this. To a 10 and 7 year old, they just think it's torture.
All in the call of duty for Mother Chevron...

Monday, May 5, 2008

It's true... I am crazy!

Moving overseas comes with responsibilities that can be at times overwhelming. Since the electrical current is different over in Singapore, we cannot take anything that plugs into the wall here in the States. So we are going through the process of dividing our belongings up so that we can put those items in storage. The good news is that we can take most of our stuff with us.

We are also having to coordinate getting physicals and any shots that we may be required to have before leaving. But, what we weren't aware of was that my husband and I had to have psychological evaluations in order to go. We went to a neuropsychologist who administered a personality test. The test was 587 questions long! After about #300, I was breezing through them so quickly that I'm sure I marked TRUE for the question that said "I hear voices that other people do not." Or maybe I marked TRUE to the one that asked "I have an overwhelming urge to urinate in public places." Or HEAVEN FORBID I marked TRUE to the one that said "The man SHOULD be the head of household."
So when the test results come back, I may be blogging here from the good ol' USA while the rest of my family is basking in the sunshine in Singapore...

A new venture...

I've never been very good at expressing my thoughts eloquently. But I've had so many people ask me whether I was starting a blog as soon as they heard we were moving to Singapore. I hope that this will be a great way to keep all of you updated on what's going on in our lives. Especially when it seems like these days the act of a phone call pushes my schedule over the edge! Let me know what you think.
SP