Ahhhhhh, it's been an interesting couple of weeks. Has it really been that long since I blogged!?!?! I must be getting lazy again. We did get to watch coverage of the new President of the United States getting sworn in last Tuesday. (Okay, now it's the Tuesday before that....I started this blog over a week ago but I've been letting it sit in my blogger account to see if it would spontaneously morph into something more interesting. Clearly it hasn't.) It was definitely an exciting and momentous occasion to see (the swearing in of President Obama....not my blog chilling in my Blogger account.) And it's SO nice not to automatically cringe and wince in pain every time the President speaks now. Finally a little ray of hope for the future. Unfortunately we didn't hear much since our friend came over with her 16 month old son. Dubbed "the terrorist" by his own father, he is indeed quite a handful. Cute as the dickens no doubt, but not exactly conducive to being able to sit quietly and listen to Obama's speech. But none-the-less, we are excited for this much needed change and once again finally hopeful for the future. Please do not let us down Mr. Obama. We really don't want to look like jackasses four years down the road!
There has been some very interesting developments around here lately as well. You may have heard-it-through-the-grapevine that we are going to be making our exit from Israel a wee bit sooner than expected. Like pretty much anytime between now and June. Yes the economy is catching up with everyone these days and it seems that it is just too expensive to keep us over here any longer. So Phil and his co-workers are all looking for jobs within the company back home, and as soon as they find one and work out a start date with the new boss then it is time to pack up and move.....again. In fact some close friends of ours, Adam and Debbie, are going to be headed out of here and back to Arizona in the beginning of March! And some other fellow New Mexicans are headed back with their 6 year old triplets (kudos to them for moving all the way over here with three five year olds!!!) in just a couple of weeks. Talk about moving quickly. Amazing how fast a company can move when there is money to be saved! To say we were shocked by this news would be a great exaggeration. Although that's not to say that we expected it to happen, but the thought had crossed our minds once or twice.
So Phil and I have mostly been contemplating our future these past couple of weeks. Scary stuff. We didn't really expect to be thinking about these things for another year or so, so it's a little strange to be thinking about moving back home already. So it looks like either back to ABQ indefinitely or back to ABQ with a possible temporary move up to Portland for 6-8 months. Phil and I would both love to live in Portland for good, but unfortunately the opportunities there for him are quite slim and there is only a small chance that we would be able to settle down in Portland. So for now we are focusing on being back in NM permanently with a possible jaunt up to Portland and back. And even though I am sick of ABQ, there are many practical reasons to move back there. The fact that we still have some friends there is big draw of course. It's a lot closer to family in Florida and friends and family in Colorado. We want to buy a house, and in ABQ we could get much more for our money I am sure. And obviously my parents live nearby and since we are contemplating the idea of starting a family soon (as thirty approaches I can hear that biological clock a tickin' away), I can only imagine that my parents would be ecstatic to have us close by. But the idea of getting to spend some more time in rainy, organic, hippie Portland appeals to us both--except for all the extra moving that would be involved and the employment obstacles that would be involved for me not being in one place for more than a few months at a time. I'm horrible at making decisions though, so if everyone could just cast a vote and decide our fate, that would be most helpful indeed. Either way though, it looks like we will not have to endure another sweltering Tel Aviv summer. And for that, I am extremely grateful.
So I am in fact growing quite excited about this news as I get more used to it. (Even if that means an end to my pampered housewife days! Oh how I will miss being able to spend an entire day reading, or baking, or knitting, or staring at the wall.) Phil's a little more upset about being given the boot, especially after all the hard work he has done and I can't say that I blame him. And indeed we were set up pretty nicely here and doing quite well monetarily. Plus we may have to forgo some of our travels if we get shipped back home sooner rather than later. And it looks like it will be sooner judging by how things are moving along for other people. But we are definitely going on our Europe trip in February. Yikes! Is it February already!?!?! That means we leave in a mere 12 days! I guess there is no chance that we would be sent back home before then, so Paris here we come! Pass me some wine and a wedge of Brie please!
Other than that it has been very quiet around here. Friends are starting to leave, so I guess I would rather go too than be left behind. We'll keep you all updated on the situation and let you know our plans as we know them. Crazy times. Never a dull moment in the life of an expat I tell ya'.
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3 comments:
Good luck to you both finding gigs and accommodations Stateside! I can totally understand the tug of war between wanting to be close to family and wanting to be somewhere...well, a place that's a bit more progressive. As much as we both wish we were closer to the families, Greg and I both doubt anything could dislodge us from our happy rut here in Austin.
As for the "big" 3-0--don't sweat it. Life doesn't radically alter on the big day or the day after, and nothing starts immediately shutting down or conking out either. When I was fretting over turning 30 a few years back, a friend tried to assure me that the 30s are now a person's 20s and were full of excitement--and I prayed she was wrong. I'd had my fill of the "excitement" of my 20s, thank you, and I wasn't looking for a repeat. (Then again, my friend was in her mid-30s, unmarried, un-childed, un-mortgaged, etc., whereas I'd been married almost 8 years, had a house for 4 years, had a kid for 2.5 years and had already gone through a career change--or an attempt at one--before my big 3-0. What the hell did she know?)
The breath comes in, the breath goes out when you're 30 just the same as it did when you were 20, 25, 29. Enjoy each breath--that's all that matters. ;-)
Melissa...of course we have been aware of the possibility of your coming home sooner than originally planned, but I am surprised at how fast it's happening with your friends....P.S.....keep u sin mind for babysitters....Love, Sarasota Dad
Walker returns to the states! i vote Portland, there's a slim chance that Erika and I will move up there, but more likely that we'll stay in Vegas until moving back to NM to be close to family, because we too will be thinking about kids eventually.
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