Preparing for Ireland

Toblerone Update

According to reports, Toblerone is faring well in Indiana. New Mommy (Andrea) and New Daddy (Kevin) are staying with Andrea's parents for a while, so Tob has lots of attention and at least three walks a day. She and baby Trevor are getting along, and should continue to do so as long as Trevor thinks getting hit in the face by a tail is hilarious.

We are so thankful to the Bockelmans (and their extended family) for taking in our old girl. (Some people have asked if we're going to take Toblerone back after she's become accustomed to Bockel-life. You mean, take the away the only dog Trevor has ever known? The answer: Yes!) We miss her, and apparently she's been observed missing us too. We better have a darn good time in Ireland, that's all I'm saying.

Toblerone, we did not sell your chair.

The tent and dog kennel aren't needed

Ronan offered us the use of his tent and/or dog kennel while we look for an apartment. Thankfully, they won't be needed. We'll be staying at the Crowne Plaza for a few days (very fancy, we've stayed there during both visits) and then we move on to a B&B in Clontarf, the Willowbrook. Looks like a nice place, and the reviews I've read are stellar. Clontarf and the surrounding neighborhoods of Raheny, Killester and Artane are where we're considering living.

Three people have viewed the house so far (one a realtor). Come on people! It's a nice house!

The Milk Window

We bought some milk tonight that expires after we leave for Ireland. We've entered the Milk Window. Also known as crunch time.

Garage Sale

We held our garage sale yesterday. 8:00am to 2:00pm. Well, make that 7:30am. People started lining up at 7:00am! I sold a couple things as I was pulling stuff out of the backyard, and then Sharon shooed the people out of the garage. We opened officially at 7:30, and traffic was steady for the next four hours. As far as we know, everyone who came found out about it from our signs. No one said they read about it on craigslist. Sharon put a lot of effort into the signs, and they looked great, so she was pleased.

We did about as well as one can from a garage sale. It's nearly impossible to collect the fair market value. People would ask the price of some little thing, and on hearing it was a quarter put it down! What, that candle isn't even worth a quarter?!? Even so, we sold a lot of stuff, although what we have left looks like what would normally comprise a garage sale. It was a bit creepy seeing all the stuff laid out in our living room and kitchen (we held the sale indoors). "All this stuff was in our house? Living with us? Watching us? *shudder*" Good riddance.

Also, we sold our older car to the younger daughter of a family at church. Leah paid us cash from her job at Ikea. I bought a car stereo from my first job, and Leah buys a whole car. Kids these days.

We leave in less than two weeks. There is still a ton of stuff to do. Pray for us. Please.

Happy Anniversary

Bill and I hit 12 years today.

Elisabeth and Frank gave us this card. I'm afraid it is probably true.

I'm Free!

They say the two best days at a job are the day you get the job and the day you quit the job. Actually, I think the saying is about boats, but it must be true for both. I'm so glad to be done with work because frankly, my ability to focus has been rapidly deteriorating. Yesterday, I accidentally sent my team lead an email intended for Bill. Luckily it just said, "I bought panther stamps."

As frustrating as D*ll is, I'm thankful for the eight months I spent there. (Hey, I worked eight months. In a row.) The commute was a breeze. I worked with some great folks. And I got to eat free, gourmet food every day (when I imagined I worked at Google). I'm looking forward to seeing my Dublin friends, but I will miss Linda mucho.

For the next 72 hours I will be Garage Sale Queen. Watch for reports. It is going to be amazing.

House for Sale

We finally put the house on the market. As of tomorrow it will have been listed for one week. So far we've had, oh, zero showings. I'm more annoyed about this than anything. People, we cleaned our house. We have clear surfaces and 400 less magazines. The office floor is fully navigable. We are making up the bed. I feel like I am living in a monastery. At least come look!

I put a candle in the shower thinking it would evoke relaxing bubble baths in the mind of the weary house shopper. Bill accidentally knocked it into the tub while showering and narrowly
escaped serious injury. Well, I guess he wasn't in real danger, but there was broken glass and nakedness and that is never a good combination.

Our new tub does look cool. Thanks, Bob and co.!

It's real

My work permit application has finally been submitted, so I made the plane reservations today. I haven't made many one-way reservations, and this is definitely my first for overseas travel. We leave October 5. We still have a ton of stuff to do with the house. Hopefully someone will want to view it soon.