Hello From Australia!

As I write this it is Saturday, August 27, but Wednesday the 24^th until right now has felt like one long day.  Wednesday evening we had our friends Mark, Peyton and Dean over for a beer.  I opened a bottle of wine and poured myself a glass, only realizing afterwards what a foolish thing that was to do, as we were leaving in twelve hours and I now had a bottle of wine that was 90% full.  Because we had completely emptied our cupboards of all food, we all had dinner in town.  Not wanting the night to end, and not quite ready to say good bye, our friends Sarah and Jason joined us at home, Sarah selflessly helping me with my wine dilemma.

Before we knew it, it was midnight and there was only one thing left to do:  Open a bottle of champagne.  (It seemed like a really good idea at the time).  Eventually, the champagne bottle was empty and we had to be awake in less than five hours.  We said a teary good bye to Jason and Sarah.

Thursday morning Peyton generously took the day off to drive us to the airport.  Leaving the house was very hard.  Glen had lived there for seventeen years.  He raised his kids there.  We both love the house!  But we left, because we’ve been working towards this for years, and when we got to Denver, we had another teary good bye with Peyton. 

The trip from Denver to Los Angeles and the six hour layover in LA were all pretty weird, with a little bit of a hangover hanging over me (I just realized that's where the term hangover comes from) and a bit of sadness at leaving Breckenridge.

We had an 11pm flight, and as we flew, my excitement began to build.  Until this point, I’ve talked so much about leaving Breckenridge that I’m not sure I’ve ever fully explained how much I love Australia. 

Over the past ten years I’ve traveled to Australia with Glen three times (not counting this trip) and spent a total of 65 days of my life in Australia.  While I realize that doesn't even scratch the surface, I’ve absolutely loved every part of Australia I’ve been in.  It is a truly spectacular country, with the friendliest people I’ve ever encountered.

By the time we got off the plane, I was bouncing off the walls with excitement.  Glen and I went through the immigration line at the airport and the agent studied his passport first and stamped it.  After twenty years in Colorado, Glen was back home.  Then he took mine and said “Jennifer?  It looks like your emigrating to Australia today.”  This made me a little nervous.  After all that work, was there a problem with my visa?  But the agent gave me a huge smile and said “Congratulations and welcome to Australia.  We hope you stay long enough to become a citizen.”    

The awesome feeling that gave me could only be beat by the reunion we had a few minutes later with Glen’s son Zach, as well as his dad, brother and nephew.  We came back to Glen’s Mum’s house (they call her Mum, don't worry, I’m not speaking Australian after ten hours) and you could see how thrilled they were to have Glen back…along with the funny souvenir he brought from Colorado...me.

We spent a lot of today driving around with Zach.  To give some background, Zach was born here, grew up in Colorado and moved back to Sydney when he graduated high school six years ago.  Zach kept giving me tips about being an American in Australia, which were both funny and very helpful.  It was a beautiful late winter day in Australia and we walked and looked out over the ocean and sat in the sun.   It’s hard to believe we’re actually here and it’s weird to think that this time is not a vacation, but we’re going to be here for a long time.  I didn’t make an effort to feel ‘at-home’ wandering around today, because no matter what my immigration papers say, this is not home yet.  For now, I’m observing how beautiful everything is from the ocean views, to the trees and the people.  At the end of the day, which it almost is, I’m just happy that my 66^th day in Australia was another great one.

  

    

Saturday night was our Good Bye Party.  Four good friends decorated the neighborhood clubhouse with Australian flags, kangaroos, signs with Australian sayings and a giant Australian flag sheet cake.  It was such a special night and so good to have all of our friends in one place.  The night was full of surprises too. 

Glen and I with our giant Australian flag cake

One of my friends had lost her Mom in the last couple of days, and in the midst of making arrangements, she and her husband came to say good bye to us.  We were so touched that they came, and so happy to see them.

Another friend, Josie, left Breckenridge four years ago to move to Cody, Wyoming, a nine hour drive from Breckenridge.  You can imagine my shock when she, her boyfriend Mike and her sister Anne walked into the party!  I can easily say it was the nicest surprise I've ever had.    

It turned into a very late night, and Sunday began with Bloody Marys at brunch with Josie, Mike and Anne.  The weekend may have been unproductive as far as preparations go, but I wouldn't have traded it for anything.

We had an early night on Sunday, but at 3am I was half awake, with thoughts of what still needed to be done.  Suddenly,  I was wide awake, thinking "What the hell are we doing!?  Who gives up a perfectly good life to move nine thousand miles away?"  I'd been a little anxious about forwarding mail and getting the house ready, but this is the first time I was nervous about leaving and the fact that I really do not know what the next eighteen months will bring.

Even though I didn't get a lot of sleep, I woke up early Monday feeling great and once again excited at the thought of the unknown adventure ahead.  I went for a run and was a little sad as I looked at the beautiful views in Breckenridge.  Then I reminded myself that a week from today, I'll be running on the beach. 

Yesterday morning found me standing at the arrivals section of Denver International Airport, waiting for Glen.  I'd flown in from New York an hour earlier and he was arriving from Boston.

Glen and Kenz got in the Jeep in Breckenridge on Wednesday and drove for three days.  No sight seeing for these two, the mission was to get the Jeep to Boston and see a Red Sox game on Saturday, just in time to get Kenz to work and Glen to an early Sunday morning flight.

I'd spent the past three days in New York, visiting with family, including my nieces, Taylor and Natalie.  I love spending time with them, and this visit was no exception; we made Fairy Bread and watched Mean Girls.  We lit a candle, looked in the mirror and said "Bloody Mary" three times (nothing happened).  

I was thrilled when Natalie asked if I wanted to rent a ride-on stuffed animal from a mall kiosk, because I had every intention of doing it anyway.

When Glen and I saw each other in Denver, I could tell what we were both thinking: "This is it!"  It was only ten o'clock in the morning and we had every intention of arriving home and jumping right back into tasks.  But after early morning flights and a two hour drive, we brought our bags into the bedroom, collapsed into bed and fell asleep for three hours. 

Today we continued to check tasks off of a list that is getting oddly short, which is a good thing, because time until we leave is getting short too.   In the spirit of the countdown:  Ten days from now, we'll be making our connection to Sydney in Los Angeles.

Eighteen Days!

Lately, every time Glen and I do something or go somewhere, we look at each other and say "This will be the last time we (enter fun Colorado activity or location here)." 

Between packing and getting the house ready for our new tenants, I feel like we're right where we should be with eighteen days to go.  All of our belongings go into piles:  Donate/Trash, Storage, Coming to Australia. 

On Friday, we saw a show at Red Rocks with our friends Peyton and Dean.  While it was initially hard to leave our packing and all the progress we'd been making around the house, getting out of town for a night was so good for us and we had an awesome time.  We went out to dinner, went to the show, drank good beer and spent the night in Denver.

Glen and me at Red Rocks (for the last time)!

The next morning, we went to the airport to pick up Kenz.  She and Glen are driving the Jeep to Boston later this week, and she is spending the next few days going through her belongings and putting them into piles:  Donate/Trash, Storage, Going to Boston.  I wonder what it's like to clean out your childhood room at 22 years old, considering that at the age of 38 my old bedroom in Long Island is almost exactly as I left it.  But Kenz has been a trooper as usual and it's so nice to have her home....which gets me thinking about the things I will miss.

Somehow, in the excitement of heading to Australia, I have moments where I forget that this all means I'll no longer be in Colorado.  I think of all the great things that I'll miss in Breckenridge...and of course, I think of my friends and family.  On Wednesday, I'm going to New York to see my parents, sisters, nieces and brother in law to say good bye.  This will, without a doubt, be the hardest part of leaving.  Between skype, email and texting, the world is a very small place these days...at least, that's what people say.