Coming together. . .

We now have pack and load dates and plane tickets home!  We were able to get flexible fare tickets which meant Lyle was able to use a crapload of airline points and upgraded us all to Premium Economy seats.  This means 6-8 more inches of legroom-hooray!  So instead of sardines, we get to stretch a bit.  These compare to the First Class domestic seats where you have a console between seats.  Also means the kids can't sleep across my lap (scarcastic font -DARN) and will have to stay in their own space.  The fold down Business Class seats are a thing of beauty, but not happening for this many tickets!

Things are doing just what the blog title says, coming together.  There is plenty to be done, but now that we KNOW dates, everything can start to line up.  I compare it to a tsunami-the tide just keeps rolling back until it starts to come in.  Nothing can stop it at that point, you just have to ride it out!  Lyle thinks of it as falling dominoes.  Once they are all lined up you just hold your breath until the first one goes down and you just hope they all go in order with no surprises.  Of course, I prefer the tsunami!

Life continues to move despite big things happening.  We have all had the crud these last few weeks. Ian home Thursday and Friday last week, Alex sick all weekend, Annika home Monday and Tuesday with a doctor visit on Tuesday.  Lung infection and antibiotics for her.  The rest of us just have a nagging cough and sore throat.  I do hope we all get rid of this soon!

We went to a friend's house on Sunday for BBQ dinner.  They have the most precious little girl who is just now 3 months old!  I claimed her for most of the evening.  She is so much like Alex was at that age-wants to look OUT, not over the shoulder.  Might miss something!  She fed and took a really little nap, and was up and watching the rest of the time.  Finally passed out on her mommy during dinner and reported to have slept past 8 am!  Doubt it was through the night, but if she only did 1-2 feeds during the night, that was great for her mommy!  I now understand WHY all the ladies wanted to hold my babies.  They are wonderful, and a few diapers are no big deal either.  But it is so nice to have my sleep and my big snugglers!  Annika had bad dreams and was in bed with us at 4 am.  Cuddles!

Lyle is doing the Bridge to Brisbane run on Sunday morning this weekend.  Sunday is Father's Day here and what better way to celebrate it than by being healthy!  One of his work mates is a runner too and we invite him and his family to come stay the night with us so he doesn't have to leave the house at 3 am to get to the race start.  They have a 4 year old boy and an 8 month old girl.  Ian is excited to have friends sleep over because the boys get the air mattress in the upstairs lounge!  Alex goes to Ian's room (but may be at a friend's house this year) so the grown ups have a bed and room for the baby crib.  Dinner together, Di stays with the kids when I take the boys to the start drop off point, and breakfast done twice.  Once for the kids and when the boys get back about 930 or so we do second breakfast.  Dinner will be homemade pizzas, salad, fruit and breakfast will be pancakes/scones, bacon, eggs and fruit.  Simple and yummy.

We are going through the fun of sorting out the house prior to packing it all up again.  Closet cleaning, clothes that have been outgrown, school uniforms to pass on or sell, taking the BBQ apart and throwing it away-what a mess it is!  While we are coming back with less, we still won't make the 20 foot container.  Have to be 2/3 of a 40 footer.  The patio chairs don't stack or come apart and take up a cubic meter EACH!

Will be posting the car for sale this weekend.  Wish us luck on that one!  Hope we can find a private buyer, otherwise we have to sell to a dealer and will take a bath on it.  Also selling the moving boxes we had to get here as the movers will repack in their own cardboard.  Will get those listed as well-oh the fun!

Miss you all but see you again SOON!

The Beginning of the Return

First my apologies for taking a bit longer than usual to get this post going.  We spent 2 weeks on a whirlwind trip to the states and a week trying to recover from it!  Some good news that I bet you have already figured out from the title as well.  Read on for the details.

For those we have kept in the know, we have been looking for an opportunity to return to the states for the last year.  Lyle took a very quick trip to Elko, NV to interview for a job last October that was a good fit, but they pulled it at the last minute due to a company wide hiring freeze.  Major disappointment and we would have owed back 1/2 of the moving costs to get us out as it was less than 2 years.  But as the saying goes, for every door that closes, a window opens!  Very true in this case.

A few months ago Lyle saw an opening in New Mexico at a fertilizer producer that seemed to have been written with exactly him in mind.  Process experience, technical know how, supervision of hourly and technical staff, trouble shooting, capital projects, prioritizing projects, etc.  You name it, he has done at some point in his career.  At the same time, he linked up with a recruitment specialist online who had been contracted to find someone for this job.  Match made in heaven!  Garry presented Lyle's resume and information to them and the hook was set.  Early morning phone calls and Skype calls for us and the interest continued to be mutual.  Talk of a trip back to the states to interview in person that just happened to be about the same time frame as our already planned trip home.  So, for those we did not get a chance to see, this is why.  We arrived on a Friday afternoon, had the family BBQ on Saturday, and left early Sunday (without the kids) to get to New Mexico for a couple of days of interviews and looking over the area.  Since we were there, Lyle also got to do the physical and drug screenings.  Lots of fun!  And the interest continued to be mutual.

So, returning to Boise on Tuesday night after midnight and leaving Wednesday morning to visit family in Oregon.  Whirlwind there, then back to Boise, up to Grandjean for a mountain getaway (before the fires got going as it turns out) back to Boise on Thursday, massive laundry to get the campfire smell out and wash out the dirt Australian customs just LOVES to find, and out on Friday.  Travel 30+ hours, land, organize for the next day back to work and school, and get caught up on the information coming out of New Mexico.  Needless to say, this was not the most relaxing trip we have ever taken!  I think a week solid at Disney would have had more down time.  Just Sayin!

The first week back we had to organize Lyle's references so they could either be contacted in person or submit their vision of him via online surveys.  Very nice system by the way.  Once HR had spoken with them and received the information on the surveys, they made a very nice offer both for salary, benefits and relocation.  We sorted out the questions and concerns, and Lyle sent the signed forms back in yesterday.  Today he put in his 30 days notice and I notified my school as well.  Now the immigration countdown can begin!

The lists of things to do are a bit overwhelming, but not unforseen!  Nice to have done this before, but we know there will still be surprises.  There always are!  Selling the car, appliances, some of the furniture if we can, sorting the clothes to be packed vs. those that will be shipped, sorting out the kids' "stuff" so we only take back what we will really be using.  The goal is to fit it all into a 20 foot container, but a 40 foot may be more realistic!  The relocation company will deal with scheduling the pack and ship, but anticipating 2-3 months before we get our stuff.  The real fun will be getting a house in Carlsbad.  It is a sellers market, and there simply isn't much of what we are looking for up for sale!  4 Bedroom, 2 1/2 bath and 2000 sq ft really isn't that much, but they don't have much.

So, here is our hoped for schedule.  Finish school here for term 3 on Sept 20.  Hope the pack can be scheduled that last week of school and we will live on air mattresses, paper plates and plastic utensils.  Leave the big bags here and go to New Zealand and Sydney for a week, come back and sign out the house lease, get the fridge/washer/dryer out and get on a plane to get to Boise.  We have to get to NM to either start the buying house process or start building a house, then get back to Boise.  Buy 2 cars, rent a u-haul and clear the stuff out of the shed at Mom and Dad's place and take the furniture.  Organize school registration and school clothes shopping.  Alex is torn on the school clothes shopping bit-she likes not having to think about what to wear!  Temporary housing either in a hotel or a rental until the house is bought or built.  Lots of don't-know-yets, but also lots of flow chart thinking going on.  You know the kind-If A then go here, if B then go here.  We rock at that!

The first week back here was exhausting!  It didn't really hit until Wednesday, which was a public holiday.  A nearly whole family nap from 2-5 pm, dinner and baths, and back to bed at 8.  Thursday was much better and this week has started out much better.  Don't have kids getting up at 4 am ready for the day!  On the plus side, it is spring in Australia.  We have seen 2 wild koalas in the last 2 weeks and the magpies are starting their annual "attack anyone in their territory swooping at your head" antics.  Sunny days and brisk nights.  Very nice way to end BEFORE the heat and humidity of summer hit!  Did I mention that this part of NM doesn't get much snow?  Hooray!  We can drive to the mountains when we want to play in it.  You can KEEP the snowblower Dad!