And here we are ...

I drove a car today.
First time in 6 years.
I remembered how to do everything, I didn't hit anyone and the car is unscathed.
My back aches, I sat so stiff and worried that I wouldn't remember how .. but you know what ? It's like riding a bike.. you get on and remember how to do it.
We won't discuss the inability to find the button that makes the door unlock ..

We looked at a house to rent while we look for a house to buy.
Unless you are staying at the Ritz in Paris or the Plaza in New York City, hotel living gets old really fast.
So we wandered into a realtors office, met a great guy named Barney and before you knew it, we were riding in his car to this house that is only maybe 200 years old or so and we went through it and loved it.
It is furnished .. everything brand new ... but no dishes etc .. so we will rent it but the owner has to buy a few things for the kitchen.
So in a couple of days, we will say goodbye to hotel living and hello to old house living. We might as well think of it as the introduction to life in This Old House.
I keep finding them in the real estate websites, ancient old houses that look so great and are probably crumbling.

It is cold.
The nights are frosty and the stars are out and it is beautiful.
I am taking too many photos of skies and clouds and trees.

We are so happy to be here.

On the Road Again !

We picked up our car, thanks to the lovely man who drove from the dealership to our hotel, took us to the dealership, where we found out the very confusing issue of "points" when showing ID.
Forgive us, we have been away, we missed the part about our passports being worth points , the drivers license worth different points and so on and so forth.
We also learned that my name and middle initial on one document is not the same as my full name on another.
We spent a long, torturous and upsetting time going through this and suddenly after the same wonderful man drove us back to the hotel and back to the dealership ( they are not close to each other)  we got the right numbers of points and we are both owners of a lovely car that we drove out of the dealership with huge sighs of relief.
The world can rest easy- we have the right number of points on our ID.

The car is lovely. Fast. Has that new car smell. Goes fast.
Very good with handling and being quiet .. our own little rocket which will take off tomorrow headed North.

Blogging will stop for a little bit I think.
Be prepared for stories in the future that will contain things like House hunting, Oohing and Aahing over big trees, fields, cows, stone walls, horses and small charming towns that have been there since the Revolutionary War.

Tonight is the good by for now dinner with our babies then off we go in the morning.
See you soon, from somewhere North .. in the woods ...

Prepare for Take-off

Today is Pick up the New Car day.
Yesterday was Go Shopping day, the Cosmetics department at Lord & Taylor is now my new best friend .
We are settled in nicely in our hotel, the maids are all at the point where we are worth small niceties like extra towels and soaps without asking for them .. we get big smiles and good mornings when they see us on our way out.
I say something goofy to make them laugh and I succeed ( we won't ponder the question .. do they shake their heads in pity at the poor woman who makes no sense when I leave?)
The people at the Diner know us now, they know I like their soup.
So as we are sort of settled in here, it is time to leave.
The children would prefer we stay longer but time is flying by and there is a little house in the woods, waiting for us.

I will not be posting for a little bit.
Perhaps upon arrival to our new home away from home, up in New York State, I will take a break from the non-stop fun of looking at homes that may or may not be our dream home... I will be able to check in and say Hello.

You can check and see, I will definitely have photos and stories to tell when I am able to share.
Lucky me that you are there , an appreciative audience.
Thank you for all the notes of encouragement and kind words .. I am most happy to read them.
So chau for now, Happy Holidays and see you in the woods !

Tuesday - Buy A Car Day

It is Tuesday, it must be Buy A Car Day !
Part of the plan was that we were to arrive here and almost immediately go find a car.
Buying a car would allow us to check out of the NYCity hotel and head north  and proceed to go on a nice House Hunt in real life .. rather than online using my favorite website these days .. Trulia.com
I  heart Trulia.

We had our car brands narrowed down to a couple.
We knew we had to actually be there and see them before deciding which car was going to be The One.

From the photos, I really liked one sort of car.
When we saw it, in person, it was a bit of a letdown .. it was not quite as .. maybe macho is the word .. but it still looked good.

The car was not what we had hoped for, we were disappointed .
Here were two cars, one we were sure we wanted, one I was sure I did not want.
There are days that deciding between a brown sweater and a blue sweater sends me into a tizzy, here we had to decide between colors, sizes, styles and things like Blue Tooth ... Teeth ? ... or fabric seats/leather and automatic or 5 speed.
So we went home after promising to Think About It.

Last night ... we decided ... today the salesman picked us up at the hotel.
We walked into the dealership and he got the keys and took us out to drive the car.
It was so .. so ... not as nice as the books and photos .
We took it for a drive .. stick shift .. awful.
What to do ? What to do ?!
We asked to drive the Other one.
We liked it. It drove nicely.
We bought it.

They are doing all that stuff dealerships do .. prepping, shining and polishing and the day after tomorrow we pick up and drive away in our new car .
The color ? Graphite.
Then they drove us home.

Dinner was Chinese food delivered to our room.
We forgot you need dishes and bowls for Chinese take out .. we ate out of the containers. It was sort of sloppy and fun and we are so happy to be back here, that slurping lo mein with a plastic fork out of a box was just right.

Tomorrow .. 5th Avenue and a few department stores ..
Say hello to the New York Public Library .. and maybe Barneys .

Thursday, if all goes according to plan, we will hop into our new car and head North. More on that later.

Hello, New York ! part 1

Catching up is hard to do ...
The flurry of goodbyes at the hotel in BA was difficult.
We were so excited, full of anticipation and at the same time, so sad to say goodbye to the city, the people, the friends and life as we knew it there.

The flight was fine.
We had excellent seats, we slept, we were not unhappy about anything other than not that much sleep, who can sleep when you are returning home after 6 years ??

The luggage was waiting for us, the Immigrations officer said Welcome Home and the car was clean, fast and got us to our sons home in record time.
You won't hear any complaints from me !

It is cold .
I knew it would be cold but knowing it and feeling it are two different things !
My toes are cold.
I am happy I have some wool things but there is going to be some serious shopping done in the next few days .. someone at Saks Fifth Avenue and Bloomingdales as well as Zara and Lord & Taylor is gonna be my new best friend.

So far , there is a car dealer here who is our new best friend, he  proceeded to promise us a car with all the things we want and it will be ours in a day or two. Tomorrow will be the day ..
I hope the car looks as good as it did online. . in black.
(why did they show it online in Orange ? orange ??)

It was my birthday a couple of days ago.
Our son and daughter in law took us out to dinner. I was asked what kind of food.
Italian.. NewYork Italian.
Everything and I mean every single thing was perfect.
The place, the service, the table , the music ( Sinatra, Tony Bennet ) , and the food.. calamari, mussels, eggplant, pasta with olives and seafood and gnocchi and fish with vegetables .. dessert aka birthday cake was a dense chocolate cake .
I missed this sort of food, this sort of selection, these choices.
I was given a gift that was so unexpected and so beautiful, I wept .. yes, at the table in front of everyone .. I weep when happy too .. I am weeping a little every day if you want to know the truth.

Breakfasts have been coffee at a nearby diner where everyone knows everyone and the second time we came in they knew our orders. I hope this does not mean we are predictable ?
I am on a Soup kick.
Probably due to the fact that I have not actually been warm since arriving.
I am trying out every small, hole in the wall type of greasy spoon place and delighting in homemade chicken rice soups and minestrone and the atmosphere.
This is New York.
Where we sat at a counter having our soup out of big bowls and 2 men who have seen better times were chatting with the owner .. when they left, he gave them soup to go and declined to take payment.

We have been taking walks where we see different areas, charming little "villages" in the midst of the huge borough .. areas with gardens, charming cafes and small town feeling shops and bakeries.
I have never been in this part of NY for more than a drive through and I am charmed by the ethnic mix and small town feel ..

Now it is time to meet our son and go have some soup.
And there is this little shop along the way that I might drop into .. you know, just to look.

Losing Track of Me

Somewhere between Recoleta, in Buenos Aires and New York City, I fear I am going to lose track of me.
I am not the same me I was when I lived in the US.
I was a wife ( still am), I was a Mom ( still am ) but here I am La Senora and it makes a girl feel different when you live in a country where people behave much like they must have back in the 1940s or 1950s ..

Men were gentlemen .. anyone remember that ?
They hold the doors for you here, they call you Senora, they step aside when there is not room on the sidewalks, they admire you but discreetly and never make noises or openly stare and make you uncomfortable.

You can smile at a stranger on the street and they will smile back .. normal.
Everyday sort of normal. No one thinks you are flirting.
Strangers strike up conversations in stores, on streets, remarking on this and that .. normal.
I grew up in the South.
I grew up with people who were "touchy feely" .. I still am a bit on the touchy feely side .. although my husband has his own ideas on that.
He thinks I should touch people less.
I don't listen to him.

We arrived here with Tate the Pup and from the day of arrival, we were smiled at, talked to, Pup was petted, baby talked and kissed.
We were kissed hello, goodby and although I don't remember anyone babytalking us ... it would not have surprised me.

I began to relax, to not stiffen up when a strange person in the street leaned in to kiss my cheeks.
I began to relax and give my own kisses, freely.

I dressed like the ladies here, I shop in their shops.
I wear my scarf the same way, the same sort of shoes, I let my hair grow long like the ladies here.
I became One of Them.
This is the New Me.
My husband always likes me .. now he likes the New Me too.
I like the New Me.

Will I become another me ?
I want to walk down the street with long hair like a girl and not think I should dress like everyone else or wear my hair like everyone else.
I want to stay Me....
I will have to watch out . I will have to remind myself .. the New Me is just fine.
There is no reason to become another me ... how many times can a person become a new me ?!
I will be in the country, not the city.
I will live in a house , not an apartment.
We will drive our own car, not take taxis.
But I will make sure to keep track and hang on to Me.

Fly Away Home

This will be my last post for a little while, as we will be leaving tomorrow night and you know how the last hours are before moving house, all those things still to be done, packed, people to be called, met and anxiety attacks to be had.

I must do some last minute shopping and take a walk to say goodbye to the streets and shops and places I have loved and visited daily for the past 6 years.

I must imprint these last sights in my memory .

I must remember how the  strangers here smile at you, how strangers are helpful and good natured and how the parrots fly in little squadrons overhead, screeching , on the way to their nests high in the palm trees in the parks .

I must remember how the pigeons and doves gather around the minute you enter the park with a scone in hand.... how do they know ?!

I must look around one more time and see the ghost of that dog that made my days so happy and comforted me when things were unsettled, he and my husband were the constants in my daily life... thankfully, my husband is still here with me. We both miss that pup each day.

I must concentrate on the new house, in the new town, in the woods that will be our next home.
I must concentrate on the new puppy and probably a kitten who will join us .

I must concentrate on the new baby that will be in the family as of July.
I must brush up on my grand mothering skills ..

I must remember that I only continue to blog because of the sweet readers who comment and send me emails and continue to encourage me , thank you for that !

It is time to go ... see you in North America at the end of the week.

besitos and abrazos and muchas gracias por todo .. ( see I do know some Espanol)

Looking Forward

Winter is arriving  fast in Buenos Aires.
We walked out the door of the hotel, thinking we would wander the neighborhood and take photos and stop at a cafe .. Sunday kinds of things.
It is windy and cold !

We scurried back to our room, got scarves and sweaters and went to a mall... typical Sunday all over the world, it seems.

Everyone was at the mall, I wanted to look at baby clothes.
After looking, I decided to wait until I was back in the USA, where I know the brands and sizing and what I want will be easy to find.

So we looked and wandered and came home.
To the hotel.
Our next home .. a hotel in NYC.
The home after that - a hotel in Upstate NY or Massachusettes.
After that, if all good things happen the way they are planned, we should have a real home by the beginning of summer.
Gardening will be my new pasttime, forget about the mall !

Decorating will continue to be my pasttime, forget about clothes !

Cooking in a new home with a big kitchen , forget about restaurants !
So much to look forward to ..and Warm Weather will arrive !

Last Days

I am writing this from a lovely suite in a brand new hotel about one block from our old home. We are close to everything familiar and see neighbors and shopkeepers who have become friends and acquaintances over the past years. This is a good way to ease onself out of living in one world and going to live back in another.

Leaving here is hard.
Most likely we will never see these people again and that breaks my heart.
Leaving here is leaving behind places that have become so familiar, I see them in my minds eye, more clearly than the streets and places where I lived prior to this move.
And leaving here is leaving behind 6 years of memories of Pup and his enjoyment of the place and the friends that he helped us make.
Things would have been quite different if we had come here without him.
I would be quite different if we had come here without him.

Last night I wrote goodbye notes to the neighbors who meant so much to us and helped us so much in our early days and who remained friends.
It is easier for me to write these things, I turn into a weepy mess and spoil everyones fun if I say goodbye in person.
Here only my poor husband and the computer have to witness my soggy attempts at thanking people for making our lives so much nicer than they might have been, for being so kind to us and for welcoming us to this place.

The hotel is great. The staff is eager to please and I pride myself as being pretty experienced in the world of hotel stays.
Back in another life, when I lived in California, I spent more time traveling and living in hotels than I did in my house. I used to say that I would be perfectly happy living as little Eloise lived in the Plaza Hotel in NYC.

Today is a day of sightseeing and saying goodbye, so off we go.
I have a nice stock of Kleenex in my bag and I am ready for the day.

Saying Good-by

I am writing to you from The Sileo Hotel, Buenos Aires.
A beautiful, brand new little boutique hotel that is on the street behind our old apartment building  .. "old " like we lived there until yesterday.

I am easily adjusting to living in a hotel again.
I always said I would be happy just living in a hotel.
People wait on you, act happy to see you everytime they see you, you leave the room, come back, the bed is made and there are lots of puffy white towels in the baño..
They serve tea every late afternoon, there is an indoor pool, our suite looks out over the old neighbors buildings with the gardens between them and our balcony .
The bed is huge and comfortable and there is a tiny kitchenette for anyone who needs to make their own cup of tea now and then.
Best of all, everything is brand new.
I have no fear of a pipe bursting while I am here, nor do the floors squeak and I cannot hear a sound.
I'm telling you, living in a hotel is not bad at all, I always thought it was a good idea.

Tomorrow is the closing.
Then we will visit our favorite spots and say goodbye to them.
It is too difficult to say goodbye to the people we love here, our neighbors and the shopkeepers who have treated us so well for the past 6 years.
If only they would listen and come with us back to the US !

Don't cry ...Argentina, the truth is I'll never leave you, through all the wild days , the mad existence, I always loved you ... I always love you.


Thank you Evita for the words that come straight from my heart ~

Movers- Buenos Aires : Day 1

They have arrived.
A nice little crew of young men with strong backs and ready smiles, quiet and efficient. Am I really still in Buenos Aires ?
The crew boss set them to work right away and I watched my sofa turn into a large package, the tables and chairs and everything else, in heavy duty boxes or wrapped in chair shaped , table shaped, lamp shaped boxes.
They won't be hard to figure out what is in that box when we see them again.

They are out to lunch now.
We are lucky, it is a sparkly sunny day with an occasional cloud and temperatures in the 70s. We have all the french doors open and so far only one fly came by, no little birds though and thankfully no cranky parrots.
We hear them but don't see them.

We will check into the hotel tomorrow, they will pack up the vestidor and  our bedroom and all the packing is  all supposed to be done by Thursday I think.

I plan on making the most of the hotel .. the quiet ( Please God) and the fact that someone else is cleaning, making the bed and cooking for the next few months.

Our hotel in NY is booked .
Our babies await the parents who had to go for that last fling somewhere exotic, to come back home.


I am not sure if I will be able to blog on any sort of regular basis after today.

My computer will be packed.
My husbands lap top is fine for email but I might not feel like blogging on it.
But then again, there is the idea that I might blog the rest of this phase of the journey Abroad, through photographs.
That might be easier and you can get a break from my (most likely constant) whining and whinging and grumbling in the course of months of travel, hotel rooms and house hunting.

We will see. I might just say to hell with it and make you all suffer with me.

Now it is time for coffee and a medialuna or two .. it is 12:50 and I have not had a bite to eat.
Pobrecito, no one fed her yet :)

There will be photos posted later, btw - featuring Argentine moving men.
Just what you have been waiting for ~

Monday-

 Monday Monday

No sleep followed by early rising for someone who didn't show up until maybe 3 hours later.
Emptying things like refrigerators, washing things ... like refrigerators, taking things out of the suitcase, putting other things into the suitcase, worrying no one will be able to pick up the suitcase.

The electrician came and took down 5 chandeliers.
I stayed here and cleaned them all.
All those tiny , itsy bitsy little pieces of crystal and brass and glass.
They are now on the dining room table , waiting for the movers, sparkling in anticipation of the next place they will be hanging around in.

Last minute banking issues, what is Argentina without a banking issue ?

Looking into car services, will stick with the most well recommended.
We only have 2 suitcases and a couple of carry-ons and my purse.
Of course, those 2 suitcases alone weigh as much as the car.

I am nervous about things that go into little zip lock bags, into bins  at the airport.
I want to be scanned, not frisked.
I will remember little socks so I don't walk on the filthy floor barefooted.

I have no idea what seats we have or where or anything except the plane is flying non-stop to New York City .
That is all one needs to know.

This is the part of traveling, moving, that I would like to take a nap through .. wake me up when I am there.

8 more days.

Fly Away Home

Today is a day of rest.
So I spent it packing.
And now there are few places to walk or get around and I have no memory of where the things   that I just packed are located .
And I am doing laundry, the curtains were so dirty from the french doors that I need to wash them before packing them. They will be clean when I finally get them out one day and hang them in the windows of the new house.
Wherever it is.
Please God let us find the perfect house fast, I am already tired of the sight of suitcases.

I have gone through a series of mental fits trying to remember where things are and trying to plan a wardrobe. My mind is not happy with all this Thinking that is suddenly required.
I don't know if the end result will be a sharper clearer mind or one that just gives up and stays blank.
Blank doesn't sound so bad at this moment.

Of course, the first thing you empty and clean out when you are moving is ......
the refrigerator.
So there are just a couple of bottles of soda and bottled water and a carton of milk in there.

I like this part ... no cooking.

There is no point in staying here longer than we have to ..
Why stay in an empty apartment full of boxes ? and no curtains on the windows ? and an empty fridge.

Blogging will be sporadic, I think.
I might go days even weeks without a post .
So you can imagine me , sleeping in a plush comfy seat on an airplane where everything is quiet and all the passengers are smiling and polite and quiet.
You can imagine me in a hotel in NY that is comfortable, quiet and posh, for very little money.
You can imagine me tasting food that I have not had in 6 years.

You can imagine me eating Tums every day.
You can imagine me sitting here grinning if you actually believe that the airplane will be plush and quiet.

We walked over to the hotel  and made sure that we have a Quiet room and let them know we will be there earlier than we thought.
The hotel is about a block from our apartment.
We will still see our neighbors and shop keepers and go to the same places for a few more days ..

Then we will fly away home ~

Before and After

Some people have asked about the apartment.

I have this "thing" about showing photos of my home, but since we are not going to be here but a few days more, I thought I would share some Before and After photos.

Our home here in Buenos Aires, is a 5 story building, that once was a private home. 

Little has changed, other than the modernisation that comes with the times and each apartment has been changed by the owners who came and went and some still live here. 

Some have lived here all their lives. 

They have been  more than neighbours, we were taken in and treated as if we had joined a large family. They left us alone, never intruded but always watched out for us. 

A million small kindnesses ... sending a translation of something we got in the mail, making   phone calls for us that were totally beyond our weak skills in Spanish, calling a plumber when the pipes upstairs broke ( for the 100th time) and advising us when there were things we needed to know and had no way of finding out. 

They mourned Tate's ( Pup) death as if he were their sweet pet.

We felt very much  a part of a large, warm and loving family. 

We will miss this city and these people every day, I am sure.

I think I will miss my bedroom too. You can't help but have sweet dreams in that bedroom !

DINING BEFORE

DINING AFTER

LIVING BEFORE

LIVING AFTER

FRONT DOOR 

KITCHEN BEFORE

KITCHEN AFTER

KITCHEN AFTER

BATH - BEFORE

BATH AFTER

  SMALL BEDROOM BEFORE

SMALL BEDROOM AFTER

SMALL BEDROOM AFTER

MASTER BEDROOM BEFORE

MASTER BED AFTER

Packing

The time has come.

We have to begin to throw things away and be prepared for Packing Days to begin.

I have started making lists in my head regarding what to pack, what I can live without, what I can just buy there and what will I need arriving in cold weather and eventually needing warm weather clothes.

I guess maybe we will have to find that new house really fast .  I looked online for ideas on packing. 

I get overwhelmed and find that what makes me feel better is that everything is ( in an anal sort of way) perfectly orderly. 

  I should own stock in Zip Loc bags because I use so many.

This photo is not mine. 

It is an example for me to use when I get bogged down in how and where and why can't I have 6 suitcases ???

Then I try to listen to my husband. 

He is wise. He is also the one who says he doesn't need anything but .. and he shows me a couple of shirts and one pair of pants. 

But we all know this is not true.

He needs as many clothes as I do.

Or I won't be seen in public with him.

Not really.

I envy any one who can go anywhere with only one bag , well two. 

This is more the way it looks when I travel. With only 2 people but the rest is my luggage.

This is the way everything else will look. 

Thank goodness for men who know what they are doing and  

and do it for you for a certain amount of money. 

Some things , in my opinion, are worth every single cent. 

Only problem here is they won't pack my clothes and shoes for me too. 

I will manage. I always do. Even if I have to get someone else to come sit with me on the suitcase.

The Saga of The Bag Lady

I like handbags.
I see no reason why I should not have as many as I want .
I use them, they don't just sit there ... although there are a couple who have been known to mutter now and then about having to stay home a lot.

I buy one when I see one that I like.
I do not have to Need a bag to buy it.
How many bags I already have has no bearing on my looking or shopping for a bag.

The only thing that really has any bearing on it is ... cost and color and how much do I love it .

I tried to do some pre-packing today.
It didn't go so well.
I ended up surrounded by hand bags that all begged  to come with me.
I tried to tell them about the big bad man that said I can only take maybe 2 or 3 .. he would be happy if I only took 1 , which is impossible and we won't even discuss this.
So instead of doing some preliminary packing or just getting my underwear into zip lock bags so I can be the most organised person who ever moved house ... I sat on the floor and looked at all my handbags.
I checked the pockets and made sure everything was empty and neat and ready to be packed, stored and shipped and stored some more.

And then I ran into a "bump" ... Which bag got to go with me?
Who gets to ride on the airplane with me ?
Who gets to come along in the suitcases when I want a change in bags ?
Who wants to be a Carry- on ??

All those little bag hands waving in the air, little voices calling, Me ! Me !

I think I was sitting on the floor , surrounded by handbags for hours.

Then the phone rang, someone wanted to come here for a minute, I screamed at my husband, ran around throwing a hissy fit and shoved all the bags into their cubbies and left them there to ponder ... who gets to go to New York with mama ?

to be continued :

In the Closet

Some people have been known to refer to people like me as "pack rats" ...
 I am not sure I appreciate that but some days when I am being especially truthful and unbiased, I agree.
I hate to throw things away.
I know I will need them someday.
I might gain weight, loose weight, get tall, who knows ? I hate to throw things away.

So we look at the situation ... everything we have is in our vestidor.. the beautiful dressing room we had built when we moved here.
It was a maids room/office.. now the walls are closets, cupboards from floor to ceiling, with a big window, a nice chest of drawers and a pretty rug on the floor.

But open the doors of the cupboards and be careful, you might be buried alive under an avalanche of clothes, folded, not folded, in bags, in boxes, just waiting for someone to release them from captivity.

They need to be gone through, put into Winter/Summer piles, folded and either put away for the movers to pack or put into a suitcase that I will pack.

Sounds easy .
Since we sold the apartment, I have gone into that room and looked at all that has to be done....
then walked out again.
I have done nothing.
Not a thing.
Nada.

So today, we will go buy a new suitcase, I want something that will neatly roll along with me, not require dragging like a dead animal through the airport.
I want something that will manage to hold everything I own and still be under the weight limit.
If it could pack and unpack itself  would be a treat but they probably don't sell those here.

So here I sit, time for a second cup of coffee, making plans for the day.. reading my emails, looking at houses for sale online ( thank you Trulia.com) and vaguely imagining what I need to pack for the next at least 3-4 months into 2 suitcases.

I think the key to all of this is knowing that IF I forgot to pack it, IF it all does not fit, I can buy it there.
My new mantra : If I didn't pack  it, I can buy it.

I like that.

Have a good day.
If you need me, just give a shout.
I will be in the closet.

BEFORE

AFTER

The Time is Getting Close

It is getting close to that time when I will not be blogging for a while.
Unless something remarkable happens and I actually have that many extra minutes when I can sit down and use my husbands laptop and send out little notes on how things are progressing.

But as for now- we spent the day getting papers signed, copied, notarised, copied and signed and never forget, lots of stamps on everything.

Then we had a nice coffee break with our friend and got to hear about his trip to New York, complete with photos of snow.
What is that white stuff all over the ground ? Snow ? They don't have that here.
I will have to get used to it all over again, won't I ?
I think I can manage that ~

Then off to the Airline office where we booked flights ..

Yep, we are going to fly away home in just a couple of weeks !

I will be home with family to celebrate my birthday that week.
I will be home to not only talk to my family but touch them, hug them, kiss them.

We have houses lined up from our daily searches on Trulia, we will be car shopping then house hunting then moving in ... then I will blog again.

If you will still remember me ~

So here is what the day looked like today .. how does it look where you are ?

Exhausting

Yesterday we took one of those long walks that had us thinking we might have walked too far, too much,  would we manage to stagger home?
It began with staircases  and parks and neighborhoods and house looking, and car looking , peeking into walled- in gardens and saying hello to neighborhood cats and avoiding unhappy looking neighborhood dogs.

I used to say if we could have afforded one of the homes in this particular neighborhood, I would not be so quick to leave, but that was before the phone call came ... you know the one .. a baby is coming.
In July. Good thing you are coming home.

So we walk and now I see the familiar sights and neighborhoods, smile and wave at familiar shop keepers and know that in a short time, we will leave here.
If we want to be exact about things, it will be in around 12 - 14 days from now.

There is so much to do that I try to think of what to do first, cannot figure out where to begin, so I go read a book, send an email, edit my photos.
I have become quite expert at Procrastination and Avoidance.

Someone else will pack for me.
This is both a treat and makes me uncomfortable.
I have finally figured out a way around  the uncomfortable.
Everything ... E V E R T H I N G ..goes into Ziplock bags.
No one is touching my undies or nighties or anything else.
I know, like they care ... but I am used to packing my own belongings.

Not handing them over to some strange men.

Who might like them ... What ? you never heard of .... never mind.

I have to pack our suitcases.
The suitcases that we will live out of for the next few months.
This thought sends me to the computer to check fashions and helps me avoid doing anymore packing preparation.

I also have to buy a new suitcase.
I might manage to do that this week. Maybe even tomorrow.
After we get documents translated and signed and see the realtor and find out about airline tickets and ....

I have to go lie down.
This is exhausting.

Friday Photo

I forgot it was Friday.
Days have lost meaning to me.
Every day is sort of the same .. although some have meaning only for a few ... the day fresh scones are at the bakery, the day the French Bakery is closed ( we don't want to walk that far to find them locked up) , the day the little market is closed so skip it and go straight to the bigger "Chinese market".
The Chinese market is great and has just about everything the supermarket has but with the addition of a baby that I am wishing I could bring home.
And their avocados are always good.
The countdown has begun, we leave Argentina in a matter of weeks rather than months ..
 So here is the Friday Photo ..

This was the sky yesterday. When we walked to the bakery. Past the huge wonderful park, down narrow little streets with beautiful old buildings ..