Trying to Unbury Myself

I know I have been a horrible blogger lately. And I feel really bad that I am so far behind on reading my favorite blogging buddies. I am trying to play catch up from being gone in Japan for a week and all the stuff that suddenly has been thrown my way.

Add on top of my stack of to-do items, Matt booked his ticket today and if his Visa comes back as we have been told, he leaves in **gulp** 21 days. He is booked on a 6 am flight on October 22. I am trying really hard to not think about that right now. The whole reason we are choosing to go at separate times is to help make the transition easier on the kids, and to be honest, me as well. Right now the anticipated departure date for the kids and myself is either January 20 or 27, giving us basically 3 months apart. I actually feel sorry for Matt. At least I will be back here surrounded by friends and family, especially during the holidays, and he will be alone in Japan.

So what do I need to get done before I am back in full-time action in bloggy land?

• Fill out and turn in expense reports to our relocation coordinator. This consists of scanning every receipt, documenting it on the proper expense sheet and then emailing it off. Right now I am anticipating this to take me about 2 - 3 hours.
• Revise a 50+ page document for my Caterpillar client. Oh did I mention by end of day Friday?
• Write at minimum six web site copy blurbs for a local client. Another 10-15 are due by the end of next week.
• Email and call a contact list of 12 people for another Caterpillar document that I just started Monday.
  
• Taking the whole family to get a dozen each passport photos made. No joke about the number we need either.
• Make an appointment for the kids passport authorization session. We have to do this through the post office, which means we are limited to times and days. This HAS to be done in the next week.
• Fill out the kids school application for Japan.
• Send out emails about Matt's going away party.
  
• Clean and organize my house for the Camp Family's visit! They will be here in FOUR days. I am ecstatic. Val has never been here and I cannot wait to show her everything. (Well and do some shopping)
• Go to Sam's Club and purchase all the stock up items before Matt leaves and before our membership expires in 18 days.
• Back up my laptop. I am having an issue with it and terrified that something is going to happen.
  
• Locate and call a rental company to help with our house here in NC.
• Get Matt's international drivers license.
• Figure out what keylogger is. It seems to be the buzz word of the week to learn.
  

I think this is it for this week. I have a whole new list for next one. (No joke.)

I promise I will be back soon. Thanks for being so understanding!

Drive-By Post

Sorry I have been so in and out the past month. Between our Thailand trip, watching my neighbors 3 kids for 6 days, going to Myrtle Beach the last weekend of April, then to Ohio this past weekend and now getting ready for a trip to Illinois this Wednesday I have been a bit scatterbrained, swamped and well a bit overwhelmed.

After this weekend I should be back in action... I hope. Matt leaves Sunday for the start of 4 weeks of traveling so I will have lots of time on my hands.

I have uploaded some pics from the past few weekends (Sorry still not my Thailand pics–– soon I promise. ) I apologize for funky lighting in some of them. We really are not in need of an acne treatment.

The Myrtle Beach pictures are from two weekends ago with Matt's best friend and his wife (Matt & Kate). They flew in from Ohio and we went for for my Matt's 33rd birthday and Kate's 30th birthday. It was fun getting to see them without all our kids and just spending some relaxing time together.
Matt and I on our balcony at the condo.

The Ohio pictures are from this past weekend when Sami and I flew to see my new niece and for my nephew's 5th b-day party. My parents also drove to Columbus to meet Sami and I. We walked with them all around Ohio State's campus showing Sami where Matt and I went to school. Sami got to spend some fun time with all of her cousins (Matt's side of the family) and meet our newest cousin, Alissa.

Sami and Alissa.