101 Days to Go

The days are going bay fast, and we still have a lot to do. Yesterday we spent time doing some Spring cleaning of the yard, and gutters. Sunday it is time to visit our storage rental to determine what to keep, and what to give away, but of course a lot of the stuff belongs to our older children. I have soccer all day today, and the one thing I will miss once we leave is the soccer team I coach. The boys are 8-10 yrs old, and are a great group to coach and mentor, and after my family, are the people I will miss being around the most. This morning I read an article on CNN about William Faulkner's niece who recently publish a book about growing up with Faulkner as an uncle, dad, and mentor. Our oldest son Ryan is a writer/poet, and attended Ole Miss (University of Mississippi) in Faulkner's hometown of Oxford. For years I have wanted to write a novel, and have even started several times, but never really finished. One of the things I hope to do in Cuenca is to write. Though I will never be a Faulkner, maybe I can write something to leave my children, and grandchildren. Well, time to leave for soccer, so more to come later.

Steve

Apostille

Progress is being made, and yesterday I mailed off Nick's birth certificate to the US Department of State to get an apostille, because he was born in England, and our marriage license to Texas to get the apostille. Also, I ordered Susan a new laptop, and we are asking the older three children (Courtney 28, Ryan 26, and Frank 20) to get their passports, so they can visit us this Christmas. We are anxious to see when Frank's ship (US Carl Vinson) returns from deployment to see if we have a chance to see him before we leave in July. He missed last Christmas with us due to the deployment, and currently the ship is in the Arabian Sea. Next up are the two passport photos for the three of us, and then mailing everything to our lawyer in Quito once we receive the documents back with the apostille.
-Steve

136 Days to Go

Susan and I have were sitting around this morning before she had to go to work, and discussed all the things that need to be done, so we can move to Ecuador as planned. We have 136 days left until our projected departure date, and we have a lot to do in a short time. This will be the second time in less than two years we are downsizing, and this time we hope to to do a more thorough job. Once our oldest daughter Courtney lets us know if she is moving here to be share an apartment with her sister Christina, or if she is staying in San Antonio, Texas where she has lived for the last three years. If our daughters share an apartment, then they will inherit most of our furnishings, and we would just have to sort through my books (a lot of books), knick-knacks, and other stuff we have accumulated. The plan is to take two suitcases, one carry-on, and a backpack each for Susan, Nickolas, and myself. There is no need to fill up a container with a bunch of stuff, because we both have moved several times during our life (military), and have each moved boxes from one city to another without ever opening the box. This weekend I have soccer (coaching) here in Atlanta, and Nick has a soccer tournament in Birmingham, Alabama, so all the task ahead must wait until Monday.