It's not the last day we're in the United States, but it's Mike's last day of French class and my last day of work. There's no turning back now! We have to move to Burundi because that's where our jobs are.
I'm going to miss my job. I've been doing it for so many years now it's a daily habit. And a good one. I like my job. And I'm leaving it under such unusual circumstances. I'm not fired or quitting because I'm unhappy. I'm not outgrowing it and moving on to a bigger and better position. I'm not leaving to have kids. When I moved across the country they let me telecommute, so even when I left the city I didn't leave the job.
I'm ending the job now because, I guess, this particular job is an inconvenience for me to keep doing in Burundi. We won't have reliable internet in our house which makes the job impossible to do. Work is an inconvenience. What a crazy notion.
I think I'm going to feel like I'm just on vacation from my job until I wake up in Burundi to my new life. It hasn't quite hit me yet that tomorrow's going to be any different from any other Friday.
31 July 2008
29 July 2008
Fatigue and Good-byes
We're tired. Again last night we didn't sleep well, but that's just one small part of it.
We're tired of living transitionally. We're tired of waiting to move. We're tired of all our belongings being in storage. Living in D.C. has been fun but we're tired of taking advantage of the fun stuff. Our stomachs are tired of so much restaurant food.
We're tired of dealing with the airlines and the cats. Why is it so hard and why won't customer service actually serve customers?
We're tired of all the errands. We're tired of doctor and dentist and vet appointments. And they're not finished yet. We have something scheduled for nearly every day from now until we leave, either shopping or a visit to some sort of waiting room.
We haven't even started packing yet. That will be a different kind of tired next week.
I'm not tired of saying good-bye though. I still have a little glow leftover from our weekend in Rhode Island. A friend from high school was in D.C. visiting last weekend. Last night we had dinner with my aunt, my cousin, her husband, and their brand-new, two-weeks-old-tomorrow baby girl. The next time I see her she's going to look a lot different. Sometimes the actual travel is a chore and the time that visiting takes away from the moving preparations causes a tinge of anxiety, but actually making that connection with people has become important to me. I don't want to zoom out of town and say good-bye with a mass email. I want to say good-bye in person.
We're tired of living transitionally. We're tired of waiting to move. We're tired of all our belongings being in storage. Living in D.C. has been fun but we're tired of taking advantage of the fun stuff. Our stomachs are tired of so much restaurant food.
We're tired of dealing with the airlines and the cats. Why is it so hard and why won't customer service actually serve customers?
We're tired of all the errands. We're tired of doctor and dentist and vet appointments. And they're not finished yet. We have something scheduled for nearly every day from now until we leave, either shopping or a visit to some sort of waiting room.
We haven't even started packing yet. That will be a different kind of tired next week.
I'm not tired of saying good-bye though. I still have a little glow leftover from our weekend in Rhode Island. A friend from high school was in D.C. visiting last weekend. Last night we had dinner with my aunt, my cousin, her husband, and their brand-new, two-weeks-old-tomorrow baby girl. The next time I see her she's going to look a lot different. Sometimes the actual travel is a chore and the time that visiting takes away from the moving preparations causes a tinge of anxiety, but actually making that connection with people has become important to me. I don't want to zoom out of town and say good-bye with a mass email. I want to say good-bye in person.
28 July 2008
24 Hours on Mefloquine
Mike and I took our first malaria pills yesterday morning after breakfast. Despite all the horror stories we've heard about the side effects, neither of us suffered too much. I had a headache most of the day but there were several factors that could have contributed to it. The most annoying thing for me was that I was exhausted but couldn't fall asleep last night. (OMG anxiety and insomnia!) Finally after one o'clock I dozed off and stayed asleep until about six this morning. This morning Mike said he had the vivid, psychedelic dreams last night and didn't sleep well. (It makes sense: He has some pretty weird dreams to begin with and I rarely remember having any dreams at all.)
We both agree that our side effects haven't impaired our abilities to function normally. After all they hype, I'm relieved it's not so bad. But we'll see what happens next Sunday. Will the side effects continue throughout the week or are they strongest on the day you take the pill? Does the medicine build up over time, causing the side effects to get worse? Is this my anxiety taking over?
We both agree that our side effects haven't impaired our abilities to function normally. After all they hype, I'm relieved it's not so bad. But we'll see what happens next Sunday. Will the side effects continue throughout the week or are they strongest on the day you take the pill? Does the medicine build up over time, causing the side effects to get worse? Is this my anxiety taking over?
24 July 2008
The Last September You'll Ever See
The newest, albeit lame, James Bond flick? No. It's what Mike and I were discussing on an early run this morning (which we grudgingly dragged ourselves out of bed for). The heat and humidity have lifted in D.C.--temporarily at least. When we stepped outside I remarked that it kind of felt like September rather than the oppressive August weather we've been having. Mike said "Enjoy it while you can," and it dawned on me that soon we'll be leaving behind seasons as we know them. Instead of spring, summer, winter, and fall, we'll have steady temperatures with dry, less dry, wet, and wetter seasons. (When do I need to plant my pumpkin seeds in order to have jack o'lanterns for Halloween?)
We're still running around shopping like crazy.
This weekend we start our malaria pills, an affair that will last until four weeks after we finally leave Burundi.
Next week we're squeezing in as many "one last visits" with local friends as possible.
We tackled my family last weekend and will tackle Mike's on our last weekend.
Our last week is all scheduled with the cats' vet appointments and our packout dates. (Yesterday I was insane with panic because none of those dates were set yet; today it's all taken care of.)
It's about this time in the moving process that I've learned to turn on autopilot and just read my calendar and do what it tells me without thinking too much. Could it be I'm finally getting used to this?
We're still running around shopping like crazy.
This weekend we start our malaria pills, an affair that will last until four weeks after we finally leave Burundi.
Next week we're squeezing in as many "one last visits" with local friends as possible.
We tackled my family last weekend and will tackle Mike's on our last weekend.
Our last week is all scheduled with the cats' vet appointments and our packout dates. (Yesterday I was insane with panic because none of those dates were set yet; today it's all taken care of.)
It's about this time in the moving process that I've learned to turn on autopilot and just read my calendar and do what it tells me without thinking too much. Could it be I'm finally getting used to this?
21 July 2008
Home Again, Home Again...
Jiggity-jig.
We're home from our long weekend in Rhode Island. And our even longer train ride home. The weekend was great--sun, sand, surf, happy kids running around, happy grown-ups chatting and eating good food. We picked a good weekend to go. So many of my family members were in town for summer vacation that we got to have one last visit with a lot of people.
The train ride home was not the perfect ending to a perfect weekend though. We got on near the beginning of the line, in Kingston, Rhode Island (the train starts in Boston and I think there are 2 or 3 stops before Kingston), and the train was already 10 minutes late.
And crowded. The only two seats we found together were a table in the club car. We were okay with that. For a while it was so novel to be sitting at a table. Mike spread out his French stuff and studied. We could eat and drink without fear of spilling in our laps.
But the train kept getting later and later. It stopped to rescue some passengers from a local train that had broken down just north of New Haven. It proceeded to make the rest of the local stops until New Haven. Then in New York and Philadelphia the trains were single-tracked, so we were just sitting there not moving. We were supposed to get in around 9:30 last night. We got home at midnight.
Today we're exhausted from our 9 hours of sitting. Mike's at class this morning and I'll be working this afternoon but as far as our Burundi preparations go, we're on vacation for one more day.
We're home from our long weekend in Rhode Island. And our even longer train ride home. The weekend was great--sun, sand, surf, happy kids running around, happy grown-ups chatting and eating good food. We picked a good weekend to go. So many of my family members were in town for summer vacation that we got to have one last visit with a lot of people.
The train ride home was not the perfect ending to a perfect weekend though. We got on near the beginning of the line, in Kingston, Rhode Island (the train starts in Boston and I think there are 2 or 3 stops before Kingston), and the train was already 10 minutes late.
And crowded. The only two seats we found together were a table in the club car. We were okay with that. For a while it was so novel to be sitting at a table. Mike spread out his French stuff and studied. We could eat and drink without fear of spilling in our laps.
But the train kept getting later and later. It stopped to rescue some passengers from a local train that had broken down just north of New Haven. It proceeded to make the rest of the local stops until New Haven. Then in New York and Philadelphia the trains were single-tracked, so we were just sitting there not moving. We were supposed to get in around 9:30 last night. We got home at midnight.
Today we're exhausted from our 9 hours of sitting. Mike's at class this morning and I'll be working this afternoon but as far as our Burundi preparations go, we're on vacation for one more day.
15 July 2008
Bye-Bye NaBloPoMo
Well, there goes my NaBloPoMo streak. Sunday I posted at What I Eat but yesterday I didn't post anywhere. In the morning I was busy with errands (including getting my last vaccinations and my malaria pills). In the afternoon I was busy with working. Last night I was busy with going out to eat then going through piles of old papers and mail then reading a bit before bed. I'd rather break the streak than post just for the sake of posting. Plus I'm probably not bringing my laptop to Rhode Island this weekend so wouldn't have been posting anyway.
12 July 2008
Just a Quick Note
I debated not doing a NaBloPoMo post today and ruining my streak because some days there are more important things than blog posting. And I'm most likely going to be derailed when I go to Rhode Island later this week anyway. My brain did plenty of work today without crafting a post, thank you very much.
But I have a few minutes to kill while waiting for George's King of Falafel and Cheese Steak to deliver some totally yummy hummus and grape leaves and other tasty treats for dinner. Mike zipped out to find an ATM. I'm about 7 sips into a new gluten-free beer, Green's Endeavour. What else can I do but check out the online world for a bit?
We had another busy day of consumables shopping. We tackled wine and beer, cat stuff, the Asian grocery store, and a few toiletries that we couldn't find at Costco. Plus two trips to the storage unit. We are spent. Toward the end of the outing, as I was wilted and getting close to a meltdown, I reminded myself that in four weeks I'll be a million miles from any suburban shopping center and that will be a great reward if I can just get through it now. I perked up a bit and just kept shopping.
But I have a few minutes to kill while waiting for George's King of Falafel and Cheese Steak to deliver some totally yummy hummus and grape leaves and other tasty treats for dinner. Mike zipped out to find an ATM. I'm about 7 sips into a new gluten-free beer, Green's Endeavour. What else can I do but check out the online world for a bit?
We had another busy day of consumables shopping. We tackled wine and beer, cat stuff, the Asian grocery store, and a few toiletries that we couldn't find at Costco. Plus two trips to the storage unit. We are spent. Toward the end of the outing, as I was wilted and getting close to a meltdown, I reminded myself that in four weeks I'll be a million miles from any suburban shopping center and that will be a great reward if I can just get through it now. I perked up a bit and just kept shopping.
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