Suddenly, I’m in Thailand 2 Feb 2020 11:15 AM (5 years ago)
Thanks to the novel corona virus(2019-nCoV) which has now spread from China and caused a global pandemic, I have relocated, as requested by my government. I went fast, to a nearby country with an open visa policy for Americans, and here I am in Thailand. And right after I land today several other countries including Indonesia (I considered Bali), Vietnam (I applied for a visa, but it takes 3 days), and the Philippines (where the first death outside of China occurred today) have all said they will not allow anyone in that has been in China during the past 2 weeks.
My world has been turned upside down. My job is on hold with the date of return yet to be decided. My cat is boarding at the vet hospital I rescued her from (they are playing with her and sending videos daily, it sure helps). I am afraid to go back to the U.S. and possibly infect my family or others. So I am under self-quarantine here in Thailand. You never know what can happen.
Arriving in China 21 Jan 2020 12:04 AM (5 years ago)
It was a long process, involving much paperwork, authentications, embassies, even a trip to Washington, D.C., a place I had never visited. But after considering the idea in February, deciding a couple of months later, starting interviews and moving out of our townhouse in September, accepting an offer in October, finishing the TEFL certification course in record time (what else did I have to do), and all of the running around to finish my visa/work permit application, I finally set off for California in mid-November.
After some important family visits, and finally receiving my visa in Los Angeles, I flew out for China on November 25th, arriving on the 27th (gotta love that time changeover). Someone from the kindergarten met me at the Hangzhou airport and escorted me to the school where I met my new work family, was shown my apartment, and started to get settled in.
The view from my apartment was dazzling, in a Las Vegas-sort-of-way, at first, and was one of the first photos I took in my new home away from home.
I Live In China 20 Jan 2020 7:19 AM (5 years ago)
Yes, I moved here at the end of November, so I’ve been here for almost 2 months now. It is amazing. This country and its people are beautiful. I’m living a dream. More to come soon.
Double Bennies 13 Apr 2018 12:03 PM (7 years ago)
We’ve moved since I last posted. Again. But this has been a mostly positive move, so far. The place is nicer, yet more affordable, and better located for most of us, except for my grand finale. But then she will be finishing school next month and then it will be better located for all of us.
I didn’t finish NaNoWriMo. The kids did, so I’m happy with that, but things just spun out of control for me for the rest of November and it just didn’t happen. And then we moved – that was a big part of the craziness.
Some things are better, some are more challenging, but we are all moving forward, in the right direction, and that is the most important thing.
One morning I even took myself out to breakfast to a place I’ve been meaning to try out for about a year. It. Was. Amazing. I had half of two of their different types of Eggs Benedict, one more traditional ‘Ham Benedict III” and the other the “Bella! Bella!” They were both awesome but the Bella! Bella! was a wonderful new take on the traditional specialty. I ate the whole plate!!! Well, everything on the plate, which is unusual for me. I can’t think of a time when I haven’t gone out to a sit-down meal and did not take home a take out box. Seriously. I can hardly ever eat everything on my plate, so the only time I may have ever not taken home leftovers was when I was with a man that ate the rest of my meal for me. However, I did order a sandwich to take home for Nikola. I got her a “Sandwich I am” to go and it looked marvelous – she enjoyed it.
So, here I am. I’ve gotten a promotion since I last wrote and I’m giving it my all, even though I have never truly thought I was cut out for the corporate world. I need to move forward more in the capacity of my career, and I’ve moved as far forward as I think I will in this company. My heart is that of an entrepreneur. I helped my youngest set up a web site the other day. It was just a little thing, but it was actually fun, exciting and fulfilling to me. I just have to figure out exactly what I want to do. I have a couple of ideas here and there, but I think the important thing is that I am always looking and considering and, therefore, I truly believe i will actually find it. I just hope it is soon. Before more of my soul is eaten alive. And when that happens it tastes nothing like Hollandaise Sauce.
You have no events scheduled today 5 Nov 2017 9:20 AM (7 years ago)
That’s a little bit of bliss. When, in the morning, I open up my email, and my Google Calendar Daily Agenda says, “You have no events scheduled today.” It doesn’t happen often, but when it does, it feels like freedom. Granted, we do have family dinner tonight, but that is a joy, flexible and home.
Tonight, since five of us that regularly attend family dinner have succumbed to the NaNoWriMo challenge, we will probably be doing some sprints, brain-storming and general encouragement. I’m behind already. I started off with a great beginning right after midnight on November 1st, which made me happy, because I thought the first sentences would be the hardest. And then when I woke up that day I helped a friend move. All day. And I was the most able of the three of us there, so I probably overdid it, because I was in a lot of pain when I finally got home that night and didn’t write another word that day. Then I had work the next few days that was crazy busy. I tried writing at lunch but drew blanks. I was too stressed and exhausted at night to write. But last night, I met Nikola and Nyx at a Subway where we did some writing sprints, after I found out that I hated the voice I was writing from and how I had started my story, so I sort of started over but not really. Then when we got home Nikola the Wicked pushed and pushed me to do another one, when I was probably the most exhausted, because I had moved to an early morning shift that day at work and was SO tired, but I managed to get where I should be by the first day, and this is on the fourth day. It was progress anyway.
So, after a fitful night of sleep, my novel invaded my dreams for awhile, and then the dreams returned to the normal, lucid, craziness. I’m hoping to knock out a day or two of writing today, since it is my day off and I finally am back to having two days off in a row instead of split days off. That is just wrong. Work takes up too much of your life when you work that way. Now, if I was doing work that inspired me and lifted me up and didn’t take so much out of me, that might be different. But then a lot of things would be different…
So, I’m going to try and take advantage of a cold, and rainy fall day and cuddle under my fuzzy blanket on the couch, turn on the fireplace, drink some cocoa, and hopefully get a lot of writing done.
NaNoWriMo 2017 31 Oct 2017 9:49 PM (7 years ago)
Yes, I’ve committed. I was challenged by my children, so I’m going to attempt this year’s National Novel Writing Month, wherein, I will hopefully complete the goal of writing 50,000 words during the month of November. Wish me luck!
Unfortunately, that probably means I won’t be writing much on here, but who knows, maybe, I might need to write something different to break a writing slump. And it would be fun to update how I’m doing as I go along.
I’m not able to sit still and knit much lately, reading puts me to sleep I’m so tired all of the time, and I’m just starting to try and get more physically active (yes, during the almost-winter, gofigure) so I might as well write!
Wish me luck and encourage me, please!
I need to write 26 Jun 2016 2:17 PM (9 years ago)
I need to write. I need to vent. I need to express myself.
Even if it’s to a dark void somewhere on the internet.
I’m fighting tooth and nail not to fall down into a deep hole that I’ll never come back up out of, and it is very difficult.
I want to focus on getting up, getting going, getting out, really living. I live in one of the most beautiful places in the world, yet I hardly leave my house and it may be slowly killing me. Seriously. I think the house I’m living in is affecting my health and allergies in a very bad way. So until I can move, I have to survive, and get better some how, some way.
I want to walk, hike, explore. I want to visit bodies of water, still or flowing, and watch grass and trees dance in the breeze. I need some peace and harmony.
I want to knit, spin, create. I have begun to read again, that has helped some. I missed it. Reading also makes me want to write more. I love both.
The longest winter and spring 12 Jun 2016 1:01 AM (9 years ago)
It’s been the longest winter and spring I can ever remember. Mostly because of how sad and stressful that it’s been. I’ve been told that breakdowns lead to breakthroughs, so here’s hoping that I am successful in this transition. So much change has happened, so many graduations have happened.
One child graduated college with honors in December and is headed to teach in Japan soon, another was inducted into the National Honor Society in high school, another graduated college in May & is headed to grad school, another graduated from Basic & AIT in the military and is now serving in the National Guard in California while working on finishing his college degree, and another graduated high school and is headed to college in the fall. I am blessed with such amazing children, they are what has motivated me to get through so much.
Oh, and I broke my foot 2 weeks ago. It’s horrible being so limited in mobility, and it is driving me bonkers. So I sit (a lot) and mostly do nothing, but I’m trying to focus on applying for jobs, that I sure hope overlook my broken foot when interviewing me, which makes it even harder on my confidence.
But I will prevail….
The anticipation of snow 10 Nov 2015 10:22 AM (9 years ago)
Since moving to ‘snow country’ we have actually been looking forward to the snow. Yes, we did enjoy the gorgeous end of summer and a beautiful fall, but now we are ready for our first winter – or so we think.
The anticipation of that first snow, and the snowy winter we are being told to expect, can be felt in the air. We are watching the temperatures dip lower and lower, watching the weather reports, and waiting for those first real flakes. We already experienced mountain flurries last week, briefly, which were definitely different from the ones in the midwest/south that we’ve experienced in recent years. But now we await the first real dusting/covering of the landscape in the pristine white bliss.
And now it’s on its way. First issued was a Blizzard Watch, which switched to a Winter Storm Warning. We are expecting rain late tonight, after dark, to turn quickly to snow and drop a few inches for us overnight, and to wake up to our first glimpse of the white stuff. And crazy as we are, we are excited, and looking forward to it.
Now, flash forward to February and we may very well be sick of the stuff, but first we will enjoy the beauty, the quiet, the cleanness, that is brought by the snow.