We have a move date! Pack 18 & 19 June; load the container 20 June; fly home 21 June!
Last week, Bill's company confirmed in writing that they would pay for our repatriation (move back to the states). They are also paying for our flights and maybe some storage since we'll be living in the trailer for the foreseeable future. They got the ball rolling by getting the removers to come out and give us an estimate for packing and door-to-door shipping. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately), we don't have home in in the states to move back to, so we're trying to pick the best/cheapest port of entry to stash our stuff. We'll have to pay for storage. We're thinking Houston.
Bill's been extremely cooperative about helping out until they find his replacement and seeing this project he's been working on through the completion. The final migration is this weekend, of course. But Easter doesn't seem to mean much to them, other than two days off - Good Friday and Easter Monday. Even they get more time off than America.
But, anyway - Bill gets three months of garden leave, in which he's not supposed to go into the office so that he can focus on finding another job, and then a severance that equals another three months-pay. However, Bill has been so great about saving that he's going to enjoy his paid time off and he's planning several trips for the summer, before Brendan has to be back for school on 27 August.
We are taking one more Med cruise that gives us a day in Egypt, which was one of our big things to do while we were here. We hadn't gone so far because every time we thought about it, another bomb exploded in a tourist spot. This way, we're in and out in one day, with armed guards, which only gives us the tiniest glimpse, but how many people can say that they've seen the pyramids and sphynx? It sounds a little paranoid, I know, but when you carry an American passport in countries that are not too keen on Americans, you consider these things.
When we get back to America, Bill's looking at another trip to Bermuda - a lovely beachy vacation that's not too hot in the summer. Our poor, white British-ized skin needs time to adapt to Carribean sun. But perhaps we'll brave the Florida heat to visit our friends who live there. We haven't asked yet if they're available.
It's all very exciting. After a year of feeling like I was on the edge of my seat, ready to leave at any moment, it is a relief. There's lots to do, of course, but at least I have a date to work toward and I don't feel like the human yo-yo anymore.
Happy Easter!
