Ready, Set - Go!

Ready: Well, we certainly have been getting “ready” for this day for some time. Friday was Debbie’s last day of work, but good old Pat worked until late on Saturday night helping his company with their inventory. What a trooper!

Pat with luggage in Halifax

We scaled down our bags some more, taking out some things that we thought we could do without or purchase when we get to Nicaragua. We made arrangements to view our new house on Wednesday and it sounds like the internet might be installed for when we arrive. We confirmed our reservations for Tuesday and Wednesday nights….. so, everything seems to be in place!






Set: We took the suitcases to Pat’s work and weighed them on the commercial scales. After some re-sorting we were happy with the results – 49, 50, 50 & 50.  I don’t think we could have squeezed anything in for that last 1lb.

Go: We woke up this morning to a little snow storm and I am presently typing this update from Miami International Airport. So, it looks like we got the GO part down well.  We are waiting on our final flight at 5pm and then we will be in our new home country – NICARAGUA!

Halifax - Tuesday morning

Miami - Tuesday afternoon

We are on the lookout for one of our bags. While we were waiting to board in JFK Pat observed 3 of our bags be loaded into the plane.  We hope the 4th bag made it too! If not Pat will have to wear the clothes on his back tomorrow! yuck....

One Hand

Four fingers, one thumb – that’s how many days we have before take-off. Many people are surprised that we are both still working but I think that if we had finished work already we would be driving our hosts crazy – let alone having more time to dwell on any anxieties we might have. We are pretty much ready for our move. We have one suitcase that we haven’t weighed yet, so that is on the agenda for today. Other than some clothes that we don’t want to pack until the last minute we don’t have much to do.

We have really appreciated being able to stay with friends for this last month – It has helped us get our affairs in order.  Being able to close up the apartment and getting our deposits back early has been helpful and means that we won’t have to make any special banking arrangements.  I think that they will be glad to have the place to themselves though. It has been a tough month for them – there have been many kitchen casualties that they weren’t expecting – garlic press, pasta hook, and kitchen shears – what will be next? We are on kitchen duty tonight – so who knows…..

UPDATE: the suitcase has been weighed – it is a whopping 57lbs. So, since we haven’t packed all of the essential clothes the question is – What is going to get the boot?

Tick Tock, Tick Tock

Do you hear it? The clock is ticking…

I started up the computer this morning and our countdown timer read 17 days…… time sure seems to be moving quickly.  We have accomplished a lot in the past few weeks and are basically just counting the days. We’ve started “that’s the last time we will…..”

Some of our lasts:

  

•   I had my last Spanish talk in the Theocratic School a couple of weeks ago
•  We have moved out of the apartment on Larry Uteck and our security deposit is ready to be picked up and deposited. So that’s the last time we will be sleeping there.
•  A few weeks ago when the weather was mild we took a walk in Point Pleasant Park. It sure lived up to its name.
• One day in service we had to make a return visit out in Hubbards so we had a beautiful drive along the Lighthouse route. Definitely one of the “must sees” in Nova Scotia.
• Soon it will be our last day of work (hurray), our last meeting, our last dinner….. ok, you get the picture. 

Speaking of work, I had a nice surprise from one of the Suppliers we use – they sent me a beautiful bouquet of flowers. I was really touched by their kind thoughts.

This past week we have had some more contact with the brothers in the English congregation in León. There is a couple that are moving back to the States shortly after we get there and we have been able to purchase a few items from them. We are now the proud owners of a hand blender, a toaster oven and some contraption that regulates electricity (for our computer or other electronics).  They also have a Vespa for sale and we are thinking about buying that too.  It’s from 1993 so it’s a little older than we would like but it sure would make getting to the beach a lot easier.

We have been busy arranging our transportation from Managua to León.  We will need a van rather than a taxi so it will be a little more expensive. We will be staying at a Bed & Breakfast for the first couple of nights so that we can get some things for the house – like a bed.



Isla Robles, Granada, Nicaragua



 Needless to say, anxieties are starting to mount….. I think I need a vacation!

It was only a matter of time.....

Evey

Yes, it finally happened. We had a friendly chat with the folks at the alarm company. Someone, and I won't name names figured that a dog that has been lazing away all night must desperately need the bathroom and out of real concern for her bursting bladder hastily opened the door and next thing you knew there was piercing noise and lights flashing "intruder alert", intruder alert" - ok maybe that is a little dramatic but it sure wakes you up. I knew I should have had my coffee first.  ooops did I say me? 




Yesterday was a bit of a challenge, the stress must be getting to me. So, after the alarm affair I got ready for a morning of service (Pat was heading to work for some pre-inventory counts) and headed out to the arrangement.  I knew the night before that the car was running on empty but figured I had enough gas to get to the arrangement and then fill up afterwards.  I was relieved to see that I was a full 5 minutes early as I rang the bell to the apartment where we meet. I waited, and .... no answer. Hummm, what day is it? Why, it's the first Saturday of the month which means I should have gone to the Kingdom Hall instead.  Well, I definitely didn't have enough gas now to get all the way downtown Halifax so I headed to the gas station around the corner.  I quickly texted a sister to tell her I was on the way hoping that she had her phone set to silent.  I managed to get there just before the prayer and found out I was working with Leah the young sister that visited Nicaragua with us in September.  It was a real treat and we enjoyed the morning together and had a nice bible study with a young mom.


So - update on our apartment - we still haven't moved everything out!  We are finding this move far more challenging than just moving from one apartment to another.  After all, you usually only need to throw everything in boxes and sort it out when you get there.  This time we have to go through absolutely everything.  We are almost there.  Monday should see us finished and the apartment clean.  Then will be the really difficult part - we will have to weigh, cull and resort our 4 large suitcases to make sure we don't go over weight. 


Update on our Nica house - We were asked to send a deposit by bank transfer.  However, our bank doesn't do international transfers and emailing the money wouldn't work either.  So, we sent the money by Western Union.  It turned out to be a quick and easy solution.  The money was ready for them to pick up in 15 minutes. It's all really exciting and we are looking forward to seeing the house in person.  I guess we only have 23 days until we see it first hand.
Debbie