Saying Goodbye Part 1

Off he goes - John left this morning at 6am.  Saying goodbye was pretty difficult - we distracted ourselves with a family dinner.  Can I just say how much I love my  family? Parents, sisters, nephews, brother-in-law and kids showed up. Then a call from the oldest and youngest daughters who were both in New York.  It hit me when John's 2nd flight left San Francisco.  We might be able to talk tonight around 10pm, for sure we will talk tomorrow morning.  We haven't been separated for more than 2 weeks - 2 months will be interesting.

Clutter - will it ever end?

I hate clutter, but for the last several weeks I have been surrounded by it. Trying to pack off my husband, move out my son and sell off most of our lives means we have piles all over the house.  When I leave in the morning I feel like I have left something undone - when I return, I have so much left to do.

I know this will soon end, in 35 days anyway when I move from a house into a bedroom.  Everything will be sold, given away, stored away or packed for my move to Vietnam.  Some of the clutter ends much sooner - in 44 hours when I take John to the airport as he heads off, far away to start his job and our new life for the next 3 years.

Starting our new life adventure

The closer we get to retirement the more we wanted to do something that would/could make a difference. And then - the opportunity came our way.  In the next 5 days John will be leaving to Hai Phong, Viet Nam working for an NGO - Peace Winds America, Dawn will follow in a couple of months. This blog is to capture the highlights, and maybe medium-lights of our journey. Hopefully it will help us remember what we did during our time as Expats.  We are leaving behind our family, parents, children, grandchildren and Bubba (our aging Bulldog) as we move 6,812 miles across the Pacific and much closer to the equator.

Here we are taking some R&R at Cedarbrook Lodge in SeaTac.  Who would of thought that there was a hidden gem in the middle of town.  A great place for some quiet time.  Pluses - nice rooms, wonderful bathrobes, sustainable resort and a great  restaurant (pricey - but worth it). We brought our own bottle of wine and love that they don't charge a corkage fee for Washington wines.  We were gifted a bottle from Napa that we had saved for a special occasion so we couldn't take advantage of that perk. Minuses - no Sunday morning paper.