Oh my ….

It seems impossible that tomorrow morning, in exactly 12 hours from now, we leave home for a year.
We are nowhere near ready, it almost goes without saying! The last few days have been fun, stressy, hectic on a scale never before seen, frustrating and exciting beyond belief.
The list of things still to do is as long as my arm.
The list of things done is incredible.

Hopefully, with everything crossed and touching wood frantically, we have sold a house. That meant, in the last 3 days, filling in contracts, sellers information forms, clearing lofts and all our stuff out … trips to the dump and very nice evenings spent chatting over a bottle of wine with our prospective buyer!
Joe has tiled a shower. OK maybe the timing was a little skewed – he kept saying he shouldn’t be doing it, but he perservered so that those coming to stay would actually be able to get clean in decent surroundings!! Unfortunately, about half an hour ago, whilst doing the final bit of drilling for the shower attachment, he broke a tile … so its not going to be finished and now he’s cursing the wasted time. But hey, you’ve got to try these things …
We have cleaned, submitted tax returns, sorted out bills, the business, the accounts, said lovely goodbyes, had a party, packed, cut endless keys, opened safety deposit boxes, washed (OK only the clothes … not ourselves!!), confirmed first nights, watched with interest as the flight situation from the UK to the US changes daily, transferred money to China, offloaded fish and gerbils, copied documents, written house instructions, MOT the car – OK this list is getting very, very boring but its much longer than that and there is still much to do. Its going to be a late one

It feels incredibly surreal. I think both our heads are reeling – but more with how on earth to fit it all in in the few remaining hours – rather than what is coming. I can kind of picture the next couple of months, but a whole year?? How on earth is that going to feel?

For the first time this week, I’ve sensed how much I will miss home. We threw our first party ever in this house last Saturday and though very few people from outside Llandovery were able to come (Lorraine and Jon, Mum, Bron & Leo being the very notable and fantastic exceptions!) it was absolutely brilliant. We have made some brilliant friends over the past 6 years. I said goodbye to more of them tonight – “the girls” – and had to leave very quickly so as not to get all gushy. Just sitting around laughing, chatting, playing pool with this fab group of women is something I look forward to coming back to, and will miss, more than I thought possible.
We still have to say goodbye to our parents and oldest friends, so its going to an interesting 48 hours.

But hey, whatever happens, we fly on Saturday morning and the great adventure begins, ready or not, whether the washing is done and the letter box fixed, or not. The next time we write will be from the road. At last, and way too soon, it’s here!

Happy journeys, all.