This is really going to happen....

Hope to be checking this out very soon!

What a day, as of Wednesday the 19th I officially put in my notice at work.  It was crazy as this took me a couple of weeks to do.  I think I was still nervous on if I was really going to do this and move to Mexico.  Maybe I shouldn't say nervous as much as the unknowns in our future.  I look at it as an adventure in the next stage in our life as I never had the opportunity to travel much (out of country) when I was a young adult.  I was busy raising children, finishing college and then onto a career.

Now everything is starting to set in, all the things to do from tying up loose ends at work to the final preparation for leaving.  I technically have to give 4 weeks notice (I did a little more) but if I get everything finished up sooner I may use some vacation time at the end.  I had already started cleaning up stuff on the network and organizing my structure along with documenting workflows/processes so anyone could follow the steps or recreate if something happens, ie. someone messes up something :-).  Not everyone does this when they leave but I've had to cover for positions in the interim before and it sucks if you can't figure out what the heck they did.  I want to make it an easy transition for everyone.  

A couple of the road crew supervisor's teased me about only being around next week and then burning vacation and sick, LOL.  That vacation time will cover many months of living costs (I think I'll save most of it for the payout) as to sick we only get paid out for 1/4 of it but still.  They cracked me up because they are like "What are they going to do, make you get a doctor's excuse?"  I'm going to miss them and their sarcastic personalities.  Some people get scared off by the bluntness but they are really just Teddy Bears.  I love to flick the crap right back at them.

I'm not a good thumb twiddle person so if the last few days are going to be that way, I'm out of there! I would rather spend more time visiting family on the way south.

I should start posting more frequently as we get ready to go and as we move forward in our next phase of life....until later!

One Door Closes & Another Slowly Opens

As the saying goes as one door closes another opens but I added slowly for a reason.  Somethings just can't happen overnight even if you wish for it.  So many loose ends to deal with but one item is complete as everything came together and we officially sold the house as of Friday afternoon.  We have moved into an apartment in the interim.  Towards the end what was our home no longer felt that way, it was just a house.  I think as we got rid of furniture and packed all the tchotchke's our house wasn't so personal it was just walls.  I really feel it is what you make of it. I think the toughest part was all the memories we have of the time spent with the grandkids in this home.  By the time we built and moved in all the kids had moved out and had started their new adventures in life.

 

We are looking forward to the next phase with the kids and grandkids coming south and having lots of new adventures.

Well our next adventure comes this weekend as we head to my dad's side of the family's reunion.  It is large and loud, what do expect from big Italian family....the laughter, the catching up on what everyone has been doing, the food & drink along with the famous Boccie Ball Tournament. The gathering includes the descendants of my great-grandparents, so you can just imagine how many people.  Some years are smaller and other are much, much larger.  So enjoy these gatherings.....

Who has the biggest nose....two of my great-uncles, many years ago
and sadly no longer with us. 

Until later....Have a Great Week!!!

I need to learn patience on this...plus a little grazing going on!

Well,we had several showings right off with two offers (or almost offers).  The first offer was made then we countered but come to find out he wasn't even pre-approved.  Thank you to my fantastic Realtor for making sure from the start.  Then the second showing was between ours and a bigger home with less upgrades, they went with the square footage.  The next another couple came through twice and was in the middle of putting in a offer when they realized they would need to have their place listed within 5 days for a contingency and they felt they needed a little bit of time to prepare.

Since then, nothing and it has been stressing me out but the Realtor is like "it's too early to worry about lowering the price, look at how everyone has loved it, the right will come."  She is right but it is so hard to see almost everything in the area is under contract.  Also, it would be nice to not have to find a place for a month or so before head south.

Patience Lynne, patience....

So on another note, the gardening is producing and now we started grazing.  Might as well enjoy the until we move.

The melons are up but can't see very well plus third planting of radishes and some more lettuce.

Cucumbers and the second planting of radishes (almost ready to harvest)

Tomatoes and Peppers

More tomatoes, lettuce and some green beans

Hopefully, I'll have some other news on the next post....

Scary but Exciting Times

Here is my first post on the beginning of the next phase in our lives, Mexico.

Life is too short as I have seen over the last several years with the loss of family members at too young of an age.  So why not start enjoying now (not that I wasn't, but without the stress of the job, etc)?

My better half is from mainland Mexico but we (or shall I say me) want to be close enough to the border without being on the border so our family can easily and for a reasonable cost visit us, along with a mild year round climate so Baja, specifically the Ensenada region became our first choice.

I have been researching for the last two years for the time we prepare to move to Mexico, narrowing down the choices of where to land.  We plan to rent for a period of time to make sure this is the area we want as our home port, per many discussions on different forums they recommend for a newbie in Mexico.  We plan to spend time in the region exploring, enjoying the country and making sure this is the area for us.

The house is now listed which makes this phase so real, exciting and scary at the same time.  The time seems right with it being a sellers market, almost everything in the area is under contract in less than a month with very little available.  So we shall see....

Still have to time the move with things like the ACA, because I don't want any penalties tied to healthcare.  So we could be going anywhere's from September to January, just depends.

I have made a "To Do List" for us to get through before we go, since we have to make sure somethings are in place before we go, such as...documents, wills, storage, etc.  I'm probably a little over the top on this, I like to be ready but the goal is to enjoy life, de-stress and have fun, not let things get to me.

This is it for now......until later.