A sign of life

I'm not dead. I just haven't been able to blog over the past month. I've been working full time. The Husband has been working on his doctorate thesis. The boys have school off. Our friends had babies, and those babies got baptised. Other friends' children had birthday parties, and in general, we're trying to spend time with our friends, knowing we will miss them come September.

Most of all though, we're moving. We're lived in Belgium for 11 years, and although we never really intended on staying, we've accumulated enough things that moving is quite a bit of work. A lot of work, actually. Not only do we have to choose a small amount of our things that we can bring (and try to get rid of the rest), we also have to pack those things very well and put them all down on an inventory list (including a list of all our DVDs by title), following a complicated system that classifies everything by durables/consumables and container. Add all the paperwork and general arranging moving entails (passport renewals, supplier notifications, address change notifications, etc.), vaccinations, sorting and one million other things that I can't think of unless I check my 4 feet long list of things to do, and you have a very busy life. Happy and excited, but busy.

To top things off, I decided several months ago - BEFORE I realized what a lot of work this move was going to be - that now would be a good time to go visit family in Sweden for 2 weeks. So tomorrow we leave, the boys and I, on a 7 am flight to Copenhagen. When we get back, I have to go back to work for 2 weeks, and then we leave for Cairo.

By a stressed - happy and excited, but stressed - and busy Lovain

Relocating to Cairo, Egypt in 4 months; no reason to stress?

Seeing that 1 September really isn’t that far off, and seeing that I haven’t seen one single entire chapter of the husband’s thesis yet, I was getting ‘a bit’ worked up about our forthcoming relocation the other day; how’s the husband going to finish his thesis all the while I work full time, the kids are home during their summer break, and we have to arrange everything for the transfer; vaccinations, dentist visits, VISAs, passport renewals, packing and moving house, insurance, bank account transfers, etc.?! (OK, I was getting really worked up, almost to a level of hysteria.) “Honey, just calm down” the husband said with a cool voice “No matter what happens between now and then, on 1 September we’ll still be in Cairo. I’ve accepted the offer, and we’re going to Cairo.” Of course he’s right; everything will be taken care of, I know we simply have to do what it takes, and there’s no reason to stress, however knowing that I’ll have to plan and execute most of the practical arrangements (and think of everything from canceling our grocery store card to buying myself a hijab), all the while working full time, I’m still a bit worked up - but just a little.

By Lovain