Food, forests, frustration, and finally, Flights

Well, I've finally made it to this point.

I'm about to take 3 flights to get from New York to Kuwait!

Flying home for a whopping 4.5 days was always going to be a bit of a mad dash, but I'm glad I did it!  (And had to, sort of) 

I arrived Thursday afternoon into the blistering heat of Newark Airport in mid-August, bleary-eyed and exhausted, but Damn, it felt good to see some familiar sights.

(a view of the New York skyline from across the river) 

The next day was my only chance to catch up with friends, eat sushi, and uphold a trans-Atlantic tradition of cider-drinking with the Mortimers, and then Saturday was dedicated to nothing but NATURE!

My dad and his girlfriend took me out for a 12 Mile hike around the Mohonk Preserve in beautiful, verdant Upstate New York that included lunch under a waterfall,

And a swim in the clear, cold water of Lake Awosting

It was amazing!

The next day I was rewarded for all of that physical exertion with a plate of blueberry pancakes, bacon, and coffee (Cawwfee, for the Brits reading 😉)

Sunday was all about celebrating my niece's 10th birthday and getting to see my stepdad's family for the day.

And then, this morning, a few hours before flying to a new country to work in a New school and experience a whole new lifestyle, I spent THE ENTIRE morning sorting out my shipment of boxes to Kuwait!  Ugghhhh. Not how I was hoping to spend my last morning in the US. 

 Just in case anyone is thinking of shipping personal items, be aware!  UPS looks like the best option because its cheap and well-known, but they will not ship personal belongings anywhere except the US abd Puerto Rico. 

Boy, that was fun...

But you know what?  I'll figure it out.  Life is always full of unexpected things, sometimes they're mishaps, or upsets, and sometimes they just are what they are.  And you crack on regardless.

So now I'm about to board the first plane, sample some fab airline cuisine, and start a big adventure.

Thanks to the Mortimer clan for seeing me off from the airport!  Can't wait til our next cider-date!

 And of course thanks to my parents for putting up with my blink-and-you'll-miss-it visits and general cloud of stress that was hanging over my head for the past 4 days.

Here goes!

Packed and Partying!

This.

That's it, my entire life packed up into 2 massive suitcases, 5 cardboard boxes, 2 plastic Ikea tubs filled with music books, and a French horn.  

                                 (And a partridge in a pear tree...!)


Its a weird feeling to think that EVERYTHING that doesn't fit in this photo has been sold off or donated to charity. (Or thrown in the bin...)

And getting to this point was possibly THE MOST stressful thing I've done in a long time!  But, I got through it with the help of some sympathetic ears (Meghan) and compassionate friends (Vicky) and managed to sort, list, pack, and weigh everything by late Friday night.

Then, the REAL fun started!  A quick ::cough cough:: drive up to Birmingham to throw an epic hen do (bachelorette) for my bestie, a zip ::achem:: over to Wales for some castle viewing with RhiRhi, and lightning fast stop in The Cotswolds to catch up with Jo and Baby Jim before dropping my hire car off in Rugby to start the wedding festivities!




Tired yet?  Imagine how I feel!  I covered this distance in 4 days:

But, it was all worth it to spend time with friends, take in the beautiful English countryside, and celebrate the marriage of one of my bestest friends to a really top bloke.

And so here we are, 5:15am in Birmingham airport.

Tired, slightly delirious, and sad to be leaving so many amazing friends.  

But, tomorrow's a new day and a new adventure awaits!  And seriously, the modern world is so connected that I'll be able to keep in touch with everyone until the next time I come flying in like a bat out of hell!

No Sleep til Birmingham!

Well, dear readers, I haven't posted anything in the past few days because as you can imagine, it's all hands to the pump to get packed up and ready to go by NEXT Saturday!

Officially, I arrive in Kuwait on August 20th, but before then I have an action-packed week and a half that includes
- my best friend's hen do ("bachelorette party" to us Yanks) in Birmingham (wooo!)
- a quick trip to see some castles in Cardiff with one of my favourite Welshies
- a stopover in the Costwolds to for a visit and a pub walk with another friend (hopefully)
- setting up a church and a village hall
- a FREAKING WEDDING!!! of two fabulous, talented, amazing brass players

and then

- a 7am flight back home to NY (with a cheeky layover in Dusseldorf, hello breakfast beer!)
- 4 days at home to see the parents, grab lunch with a few old friends, hike, bike, sail, and stroll through beautiful Upstate NY.

**and FINALLY**

-  NY ~> PHIL ~> Doha ~> Kuwait!  Leaving at 5pm Eastern Standard Time and arriving THE NEXT DAY at 8pm Arabian Standard Time.

But before all of that, my life currently looks like this :

Why, yes, that is a whole bunch of bubble wrap drying on the washing line!  I drove up to Stockbridge just to pick it up from a lady that posted it on Freecycle!

A.  It was free
B. It's my tiny effort to keep useful things out of landfills.
C. yay, free!





If you're ever considering uprooting your entire life and moving halfway across the world (for the second time...) here's just a small sample of the things you'll need to do:

     

1. Sell car
2. Close bank account
3. Find a new bank
4. Cancel phone plan
5. Research shipping companies
6. Pack
7. Finally eat all of the random things in the back of your cupboard
8. Cancel gym
9. Turn off direct deposit on everything
10. Cancel broadband
11. Pack
12. Clean
13. Sort out post-car transportation
14. Use all of the gift cards you've been saving for a rainy day
15. Drop everything to meet friends for a drink
16. pack
17. Sell EVERYTHING ELSE

It's a blast, really.....



Anyway, that's life right now.  More pictures when I can actually see the floor of my flat....