Positivity

I'm trying to get over this negativity before it drags me under. Today, I will force myself into Happy by focusing on the positives.

So, instead of griping about the pain-in-the-neck process we are attempting, and the $700 we've shelled out before even buying tickets, some recent happy thoughts and happy moments!

A dear friend flew in from the East coast to visit for the weekend, and it was actually a very relaxing time together. She is going through some stress of her own, so she was grateful to sleep in and just hang out.

Saturday morning I made us scones and Turkish coffee and we sat on the balcony watching it rain.

We took a walk every day.

Giant Mushrooms!

Other happy things? I had ordered an early birthday present for Brett and it arrived on Tuesday. If you have a man in your life that you shop for, you should check out Man-Crates. I've done this for him twice - different each time, and it's so much fun. This time it was a crate of REAL ramen. He loves it. (Last time I did a bacon-themed crate.)

This is the card they put in the crate.

I also met a new friend who was passing through town. I made us a picnic breakfast and met her at the train station. That was pretty cool, too.

So good things are happening. Now I have to go talk to a friend about the possibilities India has to offer.

In the Home Stretch... Maybe

We may see the light at the end of the tunnel! Then again, it may be a mirage.

The last few weeks have been a jumble of hurdle-stumble-resolution-hurdle-stumble-resolution. So we've hit this turning point before. The "all clear" sounds and we think we're just waiting on One Thing. Only to have the rules changed on us. This is about every other week. 

Everyone promises that "after we get there" it will all make more sense, and we'll even start to embrace their system. Meanwhile, I'm wondering if my organized self will ever adapt to what seems to be a mess of disorganization. Can I survive?

...I wrote those top paragraphs yesterday.
Today, I received an email with documents to print out about our visas and found out that "This will only take 5 days" really means, "You can accomplish this in 5 days, IF YOU WANT TO PAY $320 EACH!"
The standard $218+ fee is 6-10 days.

Seriously. I'm just. Done.
I'm going to talk to a friend in India about getting a job there. I know the visas are cheaper, not sure about turnaround time. I'm so sick of this.
Every. Stinking. Day.

Misery loves company. Please, in lieu of commiserating, if you choose to comment, just let me know what is currently driving you insane!    

SUPER Bad Blogger!

Over a week between posts... AGAIN!

This time I have a more legitimate excuse. I have begun training my replacement at work, so can't really keep my personal pages open on my computer (she can see). I know, I shouldn't be anyway, but often that's how I catch up on you all!

Plus, we were away spending time with Brett's family and old friends last weekend. PLUS I've been trying to prepare for a friend's visit - arriving today! 

So I definitely had to post a quickie today, because I know I won't touch this blog again until after the weekend at the very earliest. (Trainee is at lunch.) If I remember, I will take pics this weekend to share our exciting doings.

My replacement will be awesome, and this is great to be able to personally train her, in a leisurely timeframe. Move prep is still the biggest hassle of my life. I think I'm gaining stress-weight. 

More next week!

Bad Blogger! (Delays, delays...)

Bad Blogger!

It's been over a week since I wrote! Shame on me. At least I have a good bad excuse: I've become addicted to online Mah-jongg. 

It's bad because I spend so much time playing a stupid game, but it is honestly helping me learn Mandarin! I have my little phrasebook/dictionary, and am learning to translate the characters on the tiles. I can even write my numbers now, and immediately recognize each individually for what it translates as, without having to run through the list 1-10. And the directions. I know my north, south, east and west, too, although I can't draw them all yet.

After a fairly stressful week finding out there were YET MORE documents we needed - and a near meltdown thinking "What have we gotten ourselves into?" - all of our paperwork went out on Monday. Now we wait. Could be 3 weeks before we have approval to apply for work visas. We're hoping they can rush it. On this end, the visas are just a 4 day process. So that's okay.

At my job, I hope to begin training my replacement on Monday. Things are moving along in every area, it seems. I've just not been writing about it. Well, I have... just not finalizing any posts, to be honest. I did so well posting during the A-to-Z Challenge. I think I just need to set up a schedule for writing/posting.