Stress, Sims, and Other Misadventures

Aaaaahhhh! We have one (1) day to finish everything before we leave for Taiwan and I'm freaking out! The house (my in-laws') looks like a tornado hit [Note to in-laws: everything is fine! Enjoy Europe!], we cleaned the Bonneville out and now there a ton more crap to box up--I feel like we're moving again, we have to re-pack some of our suitcases because we just got to the point where we threw whatever in so we could move out of our apartment, we still have bills to pay and services to cancel and AAAAAAAHHHHHHH! Paul also wants to go to a movie tomorrow morning. I think he is stark raving mad. Oh, and I took the GRE. I think I will have to retake it, but I won't know for sure until the third week of July when my in-laws open the letter and tell me. Talk about upping the ante. [Note to in-laws: Nothing personal, I just like to keep my more-public humiliations to a minimum.]

In attempt to alleviate my stress, I turned to the Sims2, which I have recently purchased along with many add-on discs. As it turned out, my Sims' fondest desire in the (virtual) world was to have a child. I figured, what the heck? It gives oodles of points (points=good). Unfortunately, actually caring for an infant drove both of my Sims to the brink of insanity and suicide. Even after hiring a maid and a nanny, my Sims were still whacked out because they didn't have enough time to eat, sleep, or shower, let alone socialize. [Insert your own joke about life with babies here.] In desparation, I handed my laptop to Paul to see if he could save my Sims. (He did. Turns out parent Sims get their fun and social interaction from playing with the baby instead of leaving it on the kitchen floor. Oops.) Mainly, I was depressed that even my destressing activity was stressful. How sad is that?

One Dead Deer and Grandpa (on a Living Man's Chest)

The reunion was okay; Monticello is surprising far away. The highlights (or lowlights) were hitting a deer and dedicating a headstone. Hitting the deer was awful. Luckily I was not the driver, one of Paul's cousins was. Unfortunately, he hit the deer too softly. I had not considered that one could hit a deer too softly, but indeed one can. The poor creature was very scared and trapped under the car. Another relative was able to get the car off the deer, but it was soon apparent that its back was broken near the hindquarters. This caused a serious dilemma, both morally and practically. Morally, it seemed wrong to let the deer die a slow and painful death. Pratically, a dead/dying deer is a real road hazard. Fortunately, a police officer stopped to help. He shot the deer and moved it off the road, thus ending the scene. (The car sustained no damage--don't asked me how--and no one was hurt, so everyone continued on their way.) The other highlight was the family program at the Monticello cemetary, where Paul's grandfather is buried. The family history was somewhat puzzling in nature (how does one appear on the 1930 census--twice, but that's another story--while on a mission?), but it was very nice to learn more about the Muhlestein family. Paul's grandmother also reminded to her children about the importance of walking the straight and narrow path.

Post-Training, Post-Move, Pre-Reunion

Well, Paul and I successfully completed our 24 hrs of training to teach. The first day was awful. I could not leave fast enough. Now I know why they put those heafty breach-of-contract penalties in our contact--I probably would have dropped out otherwise! Day two was geared for teaching older students (6-7 yr olds) and I felt better. Day three was for the oldest students (7-12 yr olds) and seemed the best age group to teach. At the end of the day was a culture lesson, which really hit home for me. We're moving to a foreign country. The word foreign is right there in the title. Why was I surprised? After training (both during the week and on Friday), we moved. Moving is awful. I probably threw away half of our possessions and we still have a TON of stuff. Unfortunately, most of our possessions were books (which can never, ever be thrown away; they must be passed on in the great book circle of life) and my Barbies (which I'm not going to throw away either). Sorry to stop in the middle, but we're rapidly moving out of the "pre-Reunion" phase into the "Reunion" phase and I have to drive.

P.S. I failed to mention Paul and I were two of the five teachers who received visas. Everyone else had been turned down at least once (some twice). A word to the wise: apply early and apply to the San Franciso TECO office. It was the only office that actually issued any visas. I also failed to mention that we moved in with my in-laws. So far, it's been quite pleasant.

Vis-a-Visa, Part Deux

Well, for all our worry, the visas came through just fine. In fact, TECO was so courteous as to send back the envelopes we forgot to stamp as well. Other preparations have been going well; we bought a set of luggage, glasses, and contacts. As it turns out, it is very, very good to have vision insurance--especially if your spouse is legally blind. I also signed up for the GRE and Paul's been packing. It's a bit frustrating; it seems like there are so many little things to do, but we can't actually FINISH anything until the 13th.