Thirty Days To Go

Thirty days from now Glen and I will be on our way to Sydney!  Yes, I'm counting, and to be honest, I starting counting with somewhere around 565 days to go.  Giving life in Australia a try was something we started discussing together about ten years ago.  We always said we'd do it in about ten years, when Glen's kids were grown up and independent.  It was fun to think about it back then, but ten years is a long time to wait, so we'd talk and come up with different variations of 'the dream', but while I waited, I was loving life in Breckenridge and the thought of leaving seemed very far off.

Then, about four years ago, our dream slowly started to become a plan.  Kenz was off at college.  We started saving money.  Glen became an American citizen.  Our sweet dog died at the ripe old age of fifteen, and as sad as it was, moving out of the country wasn't an option while he was alive.  We (meaning Glen) started fixing up the house. 

In the meantime, ski town life was starting to wear on me.  Maybe it was just that my mind was somewhere else, but the winters felt like they lasted forever.  I began to watch the sunrise on the Manly Beach Live Cam everyday.  I couldn't wait to get to Australia.   

In June of 2015 I sent my 26 page application for residency off to the Australian Government, complete with friend's written accounts of mine and Glen's relationship, bank statements, medical checks, FBI clearance and a very large check that is the cost of getting a spouse-sponsored visa.  Six months after I sent the application my approval came through, with a letter stating I must enter Australia no later than September 11.

Which leaves me here, with 30 days till we leave!  My last day of work was Friday, July 22 and that night, Glen and I got on a plane to Florida for my Grandfather's 95th birthday, giving us a great chance to say 'good bye for now' to cousins, aunts, uncles and of course, my recently turned 95 year old Grandpa.

Celebrating my Grandpa's 95th birthday - he's in the center! - with my parents, siblings, cousins, nieces, aunt and uncle.  I'm so glad we were able to get together.     

Today, my first day home and unemployed, was spent sorting through clothes and other belongings, and pulling pictures off the walls.  At times it felt like I wasn't getting anything done.  I'd start a task and run to another, the whole time thinking of all the other things that need to be done.  I need to get the bedroom curtains shortened, because our tenants may not be as tolerant as I was of them being 12 inches too long!  We need to open a new PO Box at the UPS Store, because they're absolutely fine if we don't check our mail for a year - they'll even forward our mail!  We need to update our banks and credit card companies of the new address we have not yet established!  The list goes on and on.  There's so much to do in the next 30 days...and I could not be more excited just to get there!