Our waiting or "weight" update

Since my last post, we haven't done a thing that I'd planned on.  It's been a bit frustrating.  As the days went by and Jud was losing weight so quickly, we started realizing that we needed to get on with getting some things done around the house.  We need to paint and do the flooring upstairs.  So, we were back to clearing closets and getting rid of a bunch of junk.  Today was just about the end of that as both Ellie and Mae's closets are empty and Jethro made a huge dent in his closet as well.

So we didn't get school accomplished as I would have liked.  The kids did all take an achievement test to see how they stood in getting into private school once we have moved.  We should get the results of that in 4-6 weeks.

As far as Jud's weight is going, it's quite remarkable.  He has lost 26 lbs. this month.  Just incredible.  But when he weighed in, they measured him shorter.  His height is a wee bit over 5'11" and it always depends if they round up or round down in regards to his BMI requirement.  So, his goal has just become a lower weight than it was.  That was very discouraging news because he thought he only had 13 more lbs to go and now he has 21 lbs.  He has been dieting very hard (and for the most part, under a doctor's supervision) and is eager to move on to this new assignment and have this upheaval behind us.  Unless he hits a troublesome plateau, he still should be able to meet this goal by July 4th.

In the meantime, we will get the house spruced up and ready to be sold.  We're going to spend some time back in Pennsylvania to get the camper situated and we'll be ready when Jud meets his goal.

Thanks for sticking with us,

Joan

P.S., Friends who know me, please keep your comments anonymous.  I don't want to have to delete them.

Back to school

I think I may have forgotten to mention that we are a homeschooling family. When the news of this job opportunity came upon us, school just fell apart.  Now that we know we have more time, we need to get back to the books.  I've even recommended to our son Jethro that he get a job.  He's going to look into life guard training.

So, Monday we are hitting the books again.  I don't think the kids are going to like this to much.

Back from the Happiest Place on Earth and I have news

In the midst of the serious frustration and stress we have all been under as of late, we decided to run away from home for a week.  Last week, Jud and I surprised the kids with a trip to Disney World.  We were there for 5 days and just had the time of our lives.  It was so nice to have a mental break from the stress of home improvements, packing, selling, etc.

We were disappointed when we returned home to have *zero* news about our move.  The days since then have led to some depressive thoughts that Jud had lost this opportunity to work overseas.

But today, we finally have news!  Jud heard from someone from upper management that the job is still his, but they are sticking to their weight restrictions and if Jud can lose a little bit of weight, the job is still his.  It was clear that this suggestion is not coming from Jud's company here, but from the partnership company in Abu Dhabi.  Jud has already lost a 25% of the weight they need for him to lose, so he has a good start.

We have renewed encouragement and are going to take advantage of our extra time to do some of the home improvements on the house by ourselves.  We're going to paint and put down laminate flooring.  We're thinking of this extra time more as a blessing than a disappointment.

~~Joan

Holding on the runway

Jud went to Abu Dhabi several weeks ago and had his interview and his medical exam.  The interview was a smashing success with his Emirati interviewer zipping down the hall after it was over saying "Hire Him!"  But there were some concerns on his medical exam.  But after careful consideration, the doctor signed off on it.

But those concerns raised some red flags for an individual in the human resources department and he has put this entire process on hold as he considers the exceptions they have made to Jud's coming on and our move to Abu Dhabi.  The delay has been so frustrating for us and frustrating for the team wanting to bring Jud over that one of Jud's "big bosses" has flown over to Abu Dhabi to motivate this process along.

Jud has taken a few days of vacation this week to take a deep breath and walk away from the stress of the last several weeks.  But if all goes well with this big boss's visit over there, we should have much more information and can resume all the processes of visas, home improvements/sale by the end of this week.

The complete LACK of information has been more frustrating than anything we have experienced so far and to know that there is forward motion on some of these things has been a huge relief.

I'll keep you posted when we hear more.
~~Joan

Good neighbors are hard to find

Since our announcement of our move, we have often found ourselves sitting outside in the evenings with our current next door neighbors.  We've lived next door to them all the years we have lived in Texas and previously, from time to time, we'd sit outside and "shoot the breeze" and share memories of our kids and our own childhoods.  But those times were few and far between until now.

As we sat together this evening enjoying each other's company, I thought about the other neighbor's that we've had over the years.  A good neighbor is such a treasure.  There are a few of them that I still keep in contact with who have become lifelong friends.  I hope that after we leave, I can still keep in touch with these neighbor's.

I'm going to miss them.
~~Joan

Garage sale SUCCESS!

After weeks and weeks of cleaning closets and clearing out cabinets, we had our big and FINAL garage sale today and made **drumroll** over $700!  And we were priced very, very low.  We got rid of so much stuff.  It feels so incredibly liberating to have it all GONE!  The little bit that is left is going to go to Katy Christian Ministries for their resale shop.

It was a great day!

~~Joan

Wordless Wednesday