1 big move + 4 members of the family + 5 months = EEEEEEEEK!!! There’s about 145 days left for us here…in this home…in this town…in this state…in this COUNTRY!!!
My brain is still having a hard time digesting this (of course, it’s the stomach that’s supposed to do the digesting). It’s starting to sink in, though. There have been moments of sheer terror in the middle of the night when I wake up thinking, “Oh my GOD, what the heck are we doing!?!?” There are also moments of excitement when I think about all the new things we will see and do.
We found out about our flight arrangements today. We had the choice of 2 routes. Neither was ideal (are any routes ideal when your travel time will be 30+ hours?), but we decided it would be better for us to not have to leave our house for the last time at 3am. Therefore, we’ll be going from MSP to Chicago. We will have a very short stop there. We’ll have just 45 minutes to change planes — hopefully, there will be no delays from MSP! We will go from Chicago to London overnight. From London, we will fly into Bahrain. I’m so grateful we are working for a school that takes care of all travel arrangements, schedules, and payments. Not all programs and schools do. That alleviates a lot of stress on our end.
We have been able to connect with some of the other teachers that will be starting at Riffa Views in the fall. Some have overseas experience already. Some will be first-timers, too. Some are single. Some have children the same ages as ours (which is GREAT news!). Many of us have similar interests. There are other runners, those that enjoy sports, people who want to bar-be-que and sit by a campfire, one guy wants to play Trivial Pursuit (yes!!), and of course, most are avid travelers. I kind of feel like a college freshman going through the roommate selection process. We are getting to know our future “roomies” before we even meet. That certainly helps us feel more at ease.
There’s still so much to plan and so much to do. It’s hard to know where to begin. It’s kind of similar to planning a wedding. There’s a lot to do right away, then there’s that long-ish break where you time to do nothing but think and wonder (second-guess?), and then there’s the push at the end.
I’m not usually one to pay attention to countdowns, but I might have to make an exception this time. 145 days. 145 might be a big number for someone planning a wedding. It is a very small number for me as I’m planning to move my family across the world.
The New Griswolds 