I'm sorry I haven't posted at all about my recent holidays in Nicaragua. I have written posts in my head and then never gotten around to actually typing them out and posting them. :) It's all been just so surreal and time seems to be flying. But in a good way, I promise! :)
Nicaragua was great. In some ways it was the best trip yet, and it others it was awful. :) But that seems to be the way it goes. The awful parts were really mostly just because I was sick a fair amount of the time. I went with the beginnings of a head cold and then ended up with the stomach flu, which was not fun at all. Let me just say, the stomach flu, with an outhouse, and in-laws who watch every move you make, is so not a comfortable way to spend Christmas Eve! :) But it was great having Davie with me while I was sick. Had I been at home in Tulsa, I would have been on my own, and I'm a terrible sick person! Davie was great about taking care of me and getting me anything he could to make me feel better. After last December / January when I was there and came home dehydrated, I was very careful to be sure to get as many fluids as I could. And while there aren't as many options in Nicaragua as there are here, Eduardo always came back with something that would help. (Eduardo was sent to the house down the road with a little store to get me anything I asked for - Sprite (which ended up being Fresca), Gatorade, water, club soda (which I had hoped would be ginger ale, but wasn't - I don't actually know if club soda helps a sick stomach or not, but Davie seemed to think it would!) - poor Eduardo, I don't think he really liked going on errands all the time, but he did with little complaint.) And Davie went to town twice to get me medicine. Which I'm sure was just because he wanted me to feel better and not at all because he looks for any excuse he can find to go to town since otherwise there's nothing to do but sit around the house all day! ;)
Most of what I felt the whole trip, though, was content. It was surprising, given the circumstances and the lack of comforts of home, but I was really able to appreciate the beauty of the area and relax and just not think about anything stressful as much as possible. (Even with the ice damage at the house that took out the electricity - not being in the country meant there really wasn't much I could do to help things and my house sitter ended up being great and, with Mom and Mandy's help, got the power back on in no time.) I realized before I left that I was actually really excited about this trip, for the first time over the past year. And that all was because I knew that this time when I left Davie, I would be seeing him again soon and for good that time. The move is scary and overwhelming, but we're also so looking forward to being together again that all of the stressful parts don't seem as bad. Of course, that's easy to say now, when I'm still 75 days out. I imagine I'll be a little more stressed out as the deadline approaches. :)
Which leads me to an update on "the plan". (Keep in mind, all of these plans are subject to change and very likely will be substantially different from what we end up doing, but this is what we're thinking as of right now.) Our current thought is that Davie will head to Costa Rica around March 2nd to start looking for a house for us. He has a cousin that lives there who has said he can stay with him while he is house hunting, so that will be nice. We talked about housing options when we were in Costa Rica and spent some time while we were in Managua the 31st - 2nd looking at houses on line, so Davie has an idea of what we (or should I say I? :)) want. I definitely trust him to find us a good place to live, but I do think we both would love to be able to house hunt together. I love looking at houses, and it would be great to make this decision together, but it just really doesn't work timing-wise. Since I'll be bringing the pets with me, it makes the most sense for us to have a home to go to when we land, not be in some temporary situation for weeks before we move to a more permanent place. So, it will work best for Davie to find us a place. At least for the first year, and then once we know more about the area, we can always move after a year. (All the lease options we saw were for a year and the realtor we spoke with when we were there over Thanksgiving said the typical lease term is a year, so I think that's what we'll end up having to do.) I'm tentatively considering having us buy something after the first year, but we'll just have to see how that goes.
Moving on. AAON will file their 10-K around March 14th, so my thought is to stay on another few days to wrap things up, with my last day then being around March 18th or so. Then take a day or two to do any last minute things in Tulsa before heading out on a road trip with the animals to Houston. (This is where I will ask my family for lots and lots and lots of favors. :)) Since the pets are going with, I tried to think of the best way to get them to Costa Rica with as little time spent on a plane / in an airport as possible. Since Houston has the most direct flight, with no layovers and United flies out of there direct (I could only find direct flights on American out of Dallas and a friend of mine who just moved her two cats to Rome said her research showed that United was the best with moving pets overseas), driving to Houston seemed like the best plan. And, that means I can spend a night or two or so in Dallas and College Station, visiting family before I head out (seeing where the favors come in? :)). Then I'll fly with the fur kids to Costa Rica on March 23rd. 75 days from now. Which in some ways sounds like a lot of days and in others sounds like none at all!
I did tell my boss on Friday about the move. Being my close friend who has been with me throughout this whole last year, she wasn't surprised and was supportive, which was nice. We didn't talk last days, but I told her I would stay through the K filing. The lawyer does have on last ditch effort he wants to try, but I don't think anything with come from it. But we're going to try it anyway, just because we should try everything. I also am going to make an appointment to talk with a congressman / senator to tell them our story. The lawyer said that Davie and my story wasn't "compelling" enough for a congressman / senator to take interest, but it's worth a shot! Mostly though, I'm just going to start working on getting things ready for the move. Because I do think that's where we're going to end up. And I've accepted that. More than that, I'm looking forward to it. Living in Costa Rica won't be like what I pictured Davie and my life, but I think that will be a good thing, not a bad thing. We'll be able to do all sorts of things together there that will be different from what we would do here. It'll be fun and an adventure. But best of all, we'll be together. Which is all we both want right now.
I've been applying for jobs. There are lots of options, but most of what I've found are looking to pay less than what I need / want / am qualified for. It's possible we might have to make the move before I find a good job, but we'll just have to play that by ear. I'm trying to save as much as I can before the move, and we'll find ways to make it work if we have to move before I have a job. I'm sure I should probably be worried about that, but I'm really not. :) We'll figure it out and I know I'll find something before too long (and Davie too, of course).
I've got someone interested in the car, who is fine with waiting until March to actually take possession of the car. Now I need to finish getting the house ready so it can officially go on the market! There's a lot to go through and I'm at the beginning of busy season for work. If nothing else, the next 75 days promise to be busy!
