We are finally on the down slope. Not yet unwound but unwinding as all the details come together and fall into place. As chores get wrapped up on this side and lined up at our destination. The odd Hiccup thwarting our progress. and... well... that's not even where this story needs to start... I digress.
I think it has been more than a month since I last posted..
We had a major yard sale and opened our home to Friends Neighbors and Gregs coworkers on a Friday Night and what little was left over we cleaned out publicly on Saturday. I sold to rid myself of stuff rather than make a buck and the process of clearing out was cleansing and left me feeling so much lighter.
The following weekend we had a grand 4th of July celebration. IN the morning I hung with my bestie Susan and we watched her son (my bass teacher) play his first big gig. And by big I mean they were playing to crowd of at least 1000 at the City of Monterey's 4th of July Celebration. The band was tight, Played a 45 minute set. And had a well selected playlist of covers. It like to say that Matt was smokin... but they all were.
That afternoon, we had a pot luck party at the house with our local friends and neighbors (including Nell!). We chatted and visited over a wonderful selection of dishes and drinks (We can't move our liquor to Germany so we thought it wise to drink it!)
Monday I drove Greg to SFO and off he went for two weeks to Germany. Tuesday the movers arrived to assess the contents of our move and when they left the kids and I followed suit. We enjoyed two weeks and 2100 miles on the road. Some may argue that that time counts as a vacation and there were some moments of rest and relaxation with far flung friends and family ( Elaine, Rebecca, Cat, Denise to name some) but by and large it a whirlwind of windshield time and central to the trip was our attendance at Uncle Dons funeral.
Meanwhile Greg was racking up his own mileage overseas as he attended to a company audit, made his introduction to vendors country wide and did a little house hunting.
At the end of that wonderfully full time I dropped the kids with the cousins, picked up Greg, and dove into the storm of prepping the house for the movers and cleaning it up for our landlord (who's new tenets were already beginning to unload their possessions in the driveway.) A huge shout out here to my friend Susan who was my support and assistant through it all.. I could not have done it without her.. I also sold the chub tub. It went to Kathleen "The Bunny Lady". In the midst was a night of Karaoke.. Believe it or not I actually sang. My first time ever. What did I sing.. Plush. There was a night of dining with the neighbors and a rousing game of "Cards Against Humanity" There was even a few games of Magik. The week was filled to the gills for Greg as well as he wrapped up his work at the plant as well accepting the emotional and deeply heartfelt goodbyes of his employees.
We turned in the keys and were on the road again to get the kids. Greg's car broke down in route ( feeling blessed that it was only 30 miles from our destination) and my cousin picked us up and towed us on into mom's on Sunday. I can't begin to say how grateful I am for everything my cousins did for us. Family is the best!
Which brings us to this week. Monday and Tuesday were dedicated to "Culture Sensitivity Training" Ultimately it boiled down to the Germans are extremely direct and don't take anything personally.Today we spent the day at Sand Harbor with my mom who just retired. We are finally in vacation mode.
Then after another hiccup or two, our next bout of travel arrangements have been planned out and prepped for. A loose end or two remain to be attended to. We fly out of SFO on the 8th and in between... nothing but vacation and good times. THose stories and pictures to come. In the meantime here is the Picture Album of Summer so Far
