T - One Second and Counting

One day before we leave! Today is our last day of work and finalizing everything we need to take with us. Never thought it would be this hard to walk away from our lives for a couple of months. We take for granted all the little details and nuances in our day to day lives. Simple stuff we feel we should communicate to our parents so their stay in our home will be easier. We created a reference sheet of everything we could think of to provide. We keep thinking up more every day. I thought of a few more items that we did not put on the reference sheet on my drive into work this morning. Small things; they should know the location of the dog towels and know to put them in the shower downstairs to wash the mud off of their feet when they come in.... and that the recycle bag for the newspapers that come daily is in the front closet.... and that there will be a Wall Street Journal delivered every morning and the Star Trib on Saturdays and Sundays so my Dad does not drive to the store every day to buy them. Really seems ridiculous to worry at this point and I need to let it go. These just won't make it on the reference list at this point. They will figure it out after mopping one too many times and the papers are falling out of the box up at the street. Just might take a couple of days.

Lara and I are working on taxes. We realized that this is due while we are gone. We hope to be back by April 16th, but who knows. Should be done with this painful task tonight when we get electronic confirmation that our taxes were personally accepted by George Walker Bush. I could not bare to write the check last night and asked Lara to do it. We cant make money fast enough right now (or should I say spend it fast enough?) to keep up with the cash demand. Enough rant.

Jane is flying in tonight. House sitter number one. Just in time to be met by a snow storm that is coming in today. Texans love snowstorms.... Looking forward to having her up. Lara is picking her up at the airport and they should be at the house by 7:00. A quick visit and then we need to start packing.

Everything that needs to be packed is staged at this point. It will be interesting to see if we have enough luggage to carry everything. I think that we'll pack for about 5 days worth of cloths. Once we get there, we'll hit the stores and buy some Ukrainian fashion so we don't stand out. They say to wear dark cloths. We'll leave the sneakers home. I can see a vision of Lara wearing something dead, like the character Lara in "Dr. Zhivago". She would be smok'n in that fur number. If you did not know, "Dr. Zhivago" is where she got her name.

We have an apartment now in Kyiv. Just receive confirmation from the agency. $70 per night, right by the main city center, and 10 minutes from the Adoption Center. Sounds centrally located. We have no idea what it looks like. It does have Internet access so for the time we are in Kyiv, we'll have a line to the outside world.

It will be strange to be gone and miss the rhythms of life on the lake. The ice houses are coming off now and then there will be ice out, open water, the waterfowl migration and the return of the white pelicans and loons (not referring to Clarke). We will be back just in time to push the dock in and get our boat out of storage. Then fishing opener, warmer weather, and a new family member will usher in the event of summer. Can't wait.

Up, Up and Away! The next post will be from the Ukraine.