Well, that title used to be my motto! When I lived in Atlanta, I never unpacked! Just went from one location to another. However, I think I am a little tired of never unpacking and wonder if this time, I will actually be the travelling obtacle course!
I started this blog while I was in a dormitory at Heriot Watt University, Edinburgh. It was lovely - a 2 day conference for the Citizens Advice Scotland. I do usually jump at the chance to go away and have some peace and quiet, time to myself. With 6 adults in one house, it is hard to find any "me time".
My son started a college course in Fitness! This would not really be newsworthy, but he is also beginning his Honors year at University of West Scotland in September. I will have a problem with translation with any Americans reading this blog though. I do not have the words to describe what Martin is doing: he is pursuing a Higher National Certificate in Fitness this year at a college in Glasgow, I do not remember the name. Concurrently, he is doing an extra year after gaining his Bachelor of Arts in Film Making and Script Writing at UWS. This year is called an Honours year. I don't understand it myself, I just think it would be comparable to getting the first year of a Master's degree.
My husband is going to retire on October 15!! This is very sudden to me, although he could have retired almost a year ago. No, he is not that old, only 52. But he has been in the Fire Service long enough and the time has come. He was in a bit of shock to begin with when the time came to make the decision, but I think he is coming around. The closer the day gets, the more I am not coming around though. I always thought it odd when the wives continued to work after husbands retired. Now I understand it is a matter of economics. I cannot retire! But I do not relish the thought of not being able to get dressed in the morning without someone still in bed in the same room! Why this did not bother me when Alan was on active duty and very often still in bed when I got up escapes me!
I think one of the problems with getting my head around Alan's retirement is the pressure of finding the "perfect" trip to mark the occasion. If only he was retiring earlier in the year, we would have no problems - we both really want to take a cruise to Alaska. However, October is not the right time to get close to the Arctic Circle! So we have had many discussions trying to pinpoint exactly what we want to do. (Actually, what Alan wants to do, it is his trip!)
Back to the obstacle course - it really is me! First of all, Alan decided just to go to the Orlando area, get a villa and relax, maybe catch a 4 day cruise to the Bahamas. Or maybe Niagara Falls. But we have done both of these ideas already. The time he chose was the busiest two weeks of my year - I had book club, the finale of our Girlguiding Centenary year, a Virgin Vie party and a lovely two day conference in Edinburgh, complete with a darling Bed and Breakfast. But I rescheduled and/or cancelled everything! Should have waited though, we did not book anything for this time!
Last weekend, Alan discovered a wonderful cruise that starts in Lisbon, Portugal and travels to the Canary Islands then on to Brazil. Now that was something worth cancelling things for. We duly went to the travel agent because he could not get any information on balcony cabins on the internet; only inside cabins were offered. Eureka! We could get a balcony! The trip sounded idyllic. And worth the extra expense of the balcony cabin. One little drawback - me again - as a US citizen, I require a visa to visit Brazil. AND have to go in person to London to get it. If I went to London to get the visa, I would not then have enough vacation days to go!
Back to the travel agents tomorrow to see if there is anything exciting that Alan and I can agree on, and that I will be able to do, without a lot of fuss getting visas and so on!
"Opportunities are usually disguised as hard work, so most people don't recognize them." Ann Landers
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