Cross-world countdown day 8

Today began waking from dreams of unprepared last minute packing - a normal occurrence for Mom, and she's quite pleased this time such dreams are starting so late in the game.

And then, rather than spending the day packing or any such practical useful things, Mom and the kids instead hiked up Penang Hill, treated ourselves to a very filling lunch with desserts at the top, explored the Habitat, the kids spent angpao money in the souvenir shop, and opted out of hiking down the hill (a roughly 4 hour enterprise) and went down in the funicular train instead. A very satisfying last Penang hurrah, and a big one checked off our "before we leave" list.

Dad had a good bye meeting with another acquaintance and finished painting the walls. We still have a door to paint and some touch ups, but it was a good treat to come home to a job well moved along.

We got news our sale will go live today (but it didn't) so we're hoping it will be tomorrow first thing. Hope so - time is feeling very short now!

Cross-world countdown day 9

Breakfast and school in the mess

Girl date at Tesco for CNY shirts on sale, eye tests, glasses fixed, phone screen protectors replaced, etc. - and a final delicious Earl Grey bubble tea. Only they didn't have any boba left so it was grass jelly... still yummy.

Extra final lunch date with a friend for Mom

Final wall prepped for painting... hopefully Dad will do it while Mom and the kids hike Penang Hill for our last hurrah of Penang things to do (and the kids will spend their angpao money at the top).

Still no sale newsletter posted 😞but we ran into one of our small group members who offered to store and sell our stuff if it doesn't get sold this week. Beautiful! But we still pray for a sale posting soon so that doesn't have to happen.

Mom got another suitcase packed, discovered the zip broken and had to repack into another suitcase. 

A neighbour dropped by with some CNY cookies and treats.

Starting to feel the crunch, and yet, when people ask what they can help with... there doesn't seem much to ask for! How blessed we are!

Cross-world countdown day 10

Church with some of our favourite songs and snatches of chat with those who know us.

Praying freedom for a youth who asked Grace for help. 

Lunch out to stay out of our paint smelly house that bit longer. Aiden so eager to be home for his friends he left before the chicken wings arrived!

Long afternoon naps/rest while Aiden plays with his friends. Interrupted by a much delayed pick up of a few items.

Late bean curry supper because the beans wouldn't soften (why are beans so stubborn for Mom?).

One more day closer to leaving this life we love.

Cross-world countdown day 11

 Today started well and ended well but was a bit iffy in the middle (other than the neighbor who brought us wan tan mee for lunch in exchange for our shoes shelves).

We painted doors today. And we're well reminded why we dislike oil paint so much: Sticky, smelly, messy, unforgiving of mistakes, difficult to paint with! We managed 4 out of 5 doors and frames, but now have more wall touch ups and floors to scrub.  So we didn't finish all the painting in a week. Still got time though.

Mom really needed to get out of the sights and smells of house painting so we took the opportunity to go to the beach one last time. We burned the leftover bits of smashed cupboard and roasted potatoes and finished our s'more supplies. And God was gracious enough to hold off the threatening rain until we were done. That was a good way to end the day!

Cross-world countdown day 12

 We almost made a finish of painting the house today... We have one wall ( behind all the computers), touch ups, and the doors to do.

Mom didn't actually do any painting! Instead she managed everyone else painting and did other jobs like filling holes and cleaning paint off the floors.

Other than a brief flurry of Aiden and friends attempting to help, it was a pretty boring work day.

Cross-world countdown day 13

We think Mom has run out of steam... today only the living room got prepped for painting as the speed of work was puttering and the attention to work was scattered. No matter, tomorrow and Saturday everyone is helping...

And, at the end of the day the state of:

• packing is 5 and a half suitcases/tubs ready to go
• painting is 4 rooms complete and 2-3 to go (depends what you count as a room)
• travel planning is 6 out of 7 stages complete
• selling is confirmed pick up for a few more items on Saturday and confirmed advertising of the rest this weekend also.
• homeschooling is up to date
• the "before we leave we'd like to" list is 36 out of 50 done
• normal life is everyone fed well enough and in bed at the end of the day having schooled, played, and worked more or less as normal.

so, not bad at all in the end.

Cross-world countdown day 14

Two weeks exactly today! And the focus was hardly on leaving:

Today began with Aiden enthusiastically starting his schoolwork early so we could go to rock climbing early so he could get back for a friend's sister's birthday party on time. Despite friends off school coming to interrupt him regularly, he managed to finish over an hour early!

We waited for our grocery delivery until all of us impatient, Mom sent the kids off first. Then of course the delivery came and Mom followed to the gym.

Being a holiday still, the gym was much busier than usual and had an air of optimistic enthusiasm that fueled climbers to attempt more daring or difficult climbs. Nice! But it also meant it was an exhausting place to be for Mom and Jasmin who are more introverted...

We broke for a splurge snack of Moody Cow extravagant cheesecake: one slice is big enough to satisfy the 4 of us! But then, since we'd not had lunch and we have a gift card, we followed it up by having savory lunch items from Starbucks. All of us agree that, while decent food this time, it can't hold a candle to the local food🙃

Aiden left for home then to be in time for the birthday party. The girls stayed climbing for another hour since it is our last day pass, then we headed home quite tired after a 4 hour day of climbing. 

Leaving prep that did get done today? Dad met with the leadership of our church here to say proper goodbyes. And maybe Mom slipped an item or two into the still open suit case in the living room...

Cross-world countdown day 15

 Today started a little wembley as Mom had a hard time getting going. But going it did get and good progress was made - after a nap for Mom at 11 am 😬.

Aiden got to follow the dragon dance around our condo with a few of his friends and came back with excited telling of what it was like, pockets full of candy that the dragon threw, and a rough sketch of the legend behind the tradition.

A few items of furniture finally got picked up, freeing our tiny hallway... just in time for the wardrobe Mom had to move out of the bedroom to have room to paint.

Two bedrooms were painted today and put back together enough to sleep in.

Crockpot stew was a welcome meal at the end of this marathon afternoon of painting, especially since we are after a sudden storm cooled the day considerably.

Our pantry is slowly emptying as we use things up and don't restock. This evening Mom, looking for a food her body wanted, ended up trying cream crackers with butter, dates, and salt. The girls joined her and we all agree that it was a good combination. One that would not have been discovered in a well-stocked kitchen!

Tomorrow is a rest day ... Sort of. We'll go for our last (we think) rock climbing. Mom's looking forward to an afternoon not filled with cleaning, painting, packing, or sorting!

Cross-world countdown day 16

 Today,

- Friday's prepared room got painted and reset up as a makeshift office for Dad. He's pleased because he gets to use his big monitor for a week longer :)

- two bedrooms got prepped for painting tomorrow - walls washed, scraped, and filled. The girls helped with their room, and Aiden helped some with the other. It was a tight squeezing dance with two wardrobes and bunkbeds, ladders, buckets, and 3 workers in the girls' room!

- Grace finished one of her borrowed textbooks that must be returned next week.

- half a suitcase packed as piles of sorted things needed moving around yet again. And then, of course, something packed was needed and pulled out. Such is this "last days" living.

- this morning 2 different zoom calls happened in overlapping time frames, so we played a sort of switcheroo game with rooms, trying to keep zoom calls undisturbed and Dad and Aiden at computers for work at the right times. Juggling dismantled spaces with livable spaces is more of a challenge in a small apartment, but it is happening and no one's crabby yet.

- a needed after lunch nap for Mom with all the extra work of painting and the late nights/broken sleep since Thursday due to constant random bursts of CNY firecrackers and fireworks near and far until after midnight. Hopefully tonight will be quieter?

Cross world countdown day 17

 

Today

Grace and Mom celebrated Chinese New Year at church twice by attending the Chinese service before the English. We also all wore red along with everyone else, the kids received plenty of angpao, and we exchanged more Happy New Year greetings than at the beginning of January.

We had a peaceful rainy afternoon at home that included computer games and naps.

We had a taco supper and a hotly contested game of Catan with some newish friends before coming home to bed around 10.

Two leaving tasks happened also: dad arranged a goodbye meeting with the pastors and we bought from our friends a big suitcase that is both lighter and bigger than our big one.

Cross-world countdown day 18

                     The office is now painted and remade into a bedroom as per landlord's request. The former bedroom is empty and ready for painting on Monday. Everyone got fed, the laundry got done, and everyone else got their jobs done. But, despite all that/because of all that, the rest of the house looks like this disaster area.                                                                       That pile of wood in the middle? The remains of a cupboard too damaged for resale or gifting so Aiden and his friends had the joy of destroying it :) But the "new and improved" rules of our condo means we can't dispose of it without paying a fee. So, we'll just have to hang on to it until we have a free evening to burn it on the beach! ...after all, we do have some leftover s'mores materials...                                                                 We're in the middle of 3-4 jobs, we don't have places to put things any more, The floors are a mess from the shattered cupboard, and stirred up dust as we pull out stored things. Furniture prepped for buyers (who didn't show up today) is lining out tiny hallway and in the middle of our living room. A half-packed box of final giveaways is balanced precariously wherever it got left last. Painting supplies are sprawled over the floor by the door. Piles of things to pack left untouched because too many other jobs stole Mom's time. Too bad, so sad, we're off to bed and we'll deal with it Monday after a delicious rest tomorrow!

 

Cross-world countdown day 19

Mom made an unplanned trip to the market this morning, having realized that as it is Chinese New Year starting this weekend, the market may not be open on Tuesday when she usually goes. Now hopefully we have enough food in to make it past all the closures.

Aiden played a soccer game with his team this afternoon and came home very pleased as they won 4-1, and, as the goalie, he'd made quite a few good saves. He gets one more game after this before we leave. His team will miss their goalie for their last game unfortunately (it's a make up game that was missed early on).

4 more larger items thankfully left the house today for their new homes, giving us more wiggle room for painting maneuvers.

Painting supplies arrived today. Things are a little different... for example, instead of a bunch of 5 L cans, we have one gigantic bucket. Still, paint is paint and we've done lots of painting!

One room is now completely prepped for painting tomorrow: furniture reduced enough we can get at the walls, walls washed, flaking paint patches scraped, filled, and sanded. mom almost wanted to start cutting in, but refrained in order to start in daylight tomorrow. 

Cross-world countdown day 20

One Dad received home in the wee hours of the morning

So a parental after lunch nap was squeezed in.

Two walls washed ready for painting

...and still need holes filling...and so many more to go...

Three larger items left the house today

So our living room is rather echoey and empty. How much larger it looks!

Four rooms empty of "extra" furniture now

Thankfully all the beds and our dining table belong to the landlord now so we can live comfortably here right until we leave.

Five text messages sent reminding customers to come get what they agreed to buy

Now written on the board so no one will be forgotten

Six out of the 10 allowed suitcases estimated that we need (along with the five backpacks to carry on)

Dad confirmed a ride to the train station for our baggage! We needed to tell him how many bags/boxes/suitcases we had, so we estimated. 

Five rest breaks as per physiotherapist's suggestion for Mom

    Trying to avoid worsening her foot pain from all the extra sorting, packing, cleaning

Four (x2 or more) cockroaches exterminated as they evacuated the boxes we pulled out to use

The girls were highly unimpressed since it was in their bedroom! Hopefully we got them all...

Three chapters read aloud to finish off another book

Another one sorted into the give away box. And Dad verified the books we need to take with us.

Two travel plan hiccups discovered

 We have to book our komuter train tickets on the travel day... so our departure time to the train station just got moved forward!

The van ride we've been offered to get to the train station has only enough room for all our baggage. So now to find a ride for us people! But that is much easier.

One Mom is done with the day.

It's only 8:30 and she had a snooze after lunch, but the busy days and welcome home talk at 3am last night is enough to end the day early.

Cross-world countdown day 21

Today was a scrambly day. Somehow an awful lots of things got appointed to today so it was quite a scramble for Mom to meet all the commitments.

The morning was more or less business as usual (meaning fitting in odds and ends of moving jobs around getting school done)

The afternoon was supposed to go like this:
Mom drops the kids off at the climbing gym before 1pm and meets with a friend for lunch at 1. At 2:30 she'd go home to meet the friend coming to collect donations for charity resale at 3. At 4 she'd have an online meeting. At 5:30 she'd make supper for the kids who'd be home by then. At 7 she'd have another online meeting. And somewhere in there Dad would come home.

What actually happened:
On the way to the mall, Mom's gear shift broke on her bike, scratching the inside of her wrist and leaving he stuck in too easy of a gear so she fell behind the kids and they had to wait for her.  Mom's friend was a bit late and neither were all that hungry for lunch so Mom went to get soy milk and youtiao. Only she accidentally ordered the wrong set and got rice porridge and youtiao instead! Their talk was interrupted by phone calls from someone arranging pickup of our sofa (even though I told them tomorrow), the friend coming for donations at our house at 1:30 (even though we'd arranged for 3), and other texts that needed attention. Thankfully Mom still was able to laugh at all this, and they did get to have a good talk before Mom had to leave again.
Then, everything being a bit late, The sofa pickup and donation pick up happened more or less at the same time - and not totally finished until 3:59 - barly in time for Mom's Zoom meeting!
During the Zoom meeting (that went on longer than expected, of course), Mom fielded other texts about sale items being picked up this evening, questions from the kids who finally got home around 5, Aiden's friends coming looking for him multiple times, and news from Dad of when he'd get the bus.
After the meeting, Mom got to touch base with the kids and begin to make supper. Then Dad called while waiting at the bus station for his bus home (he'll get home after midnight at this rate) so the girls had to finish making supper. (Do you know they've eaten 21 eggs in the last three meals?!?)
Mom and Dad didn't get to finish their conversation before Mom had to join her evening meeting. 

Ugh. We all hope tomorrow will be different and we'll get to be a family better! But, it did all work out in the end, so we are glad also for what got accomplished.

Cross-world countdown day 22

One revamped photo inventory sent off for inclusion in a sale newsletter. 

(This weekend's letter we hope)

Two food items checked off our "before we leave" list. 

(fried sweet-potato sandwiched with kaya syrup, bakery meat pies for breakfast)

Three Chinese New Year gifts received :)

(Pineapple rolls, seaweed scrolls, angpao)

Four dental check ups done and no cavities found!

(Dad did his last week)

Five rooms emptied of give away items 

(Now Mom has sore feet)

Six "I wanna scream but I gotta finish this!" moments spread among 4.

(school projects, counting/sorting tasks, commission drawings...)

Seven admin tasks accomplished - or at least moved ahead. 

(Bank card renewed, bill payments attempted - the system has changed - emails and messages responded to, etc.)

Eight braids on two heads made just because its fun. 

(Mom likes something to do while we sing in the mornings)

Nine "pages" of ch-ch stories written for Dad. 

(It's a long time tradition he gets a new story when he goes away)

Ten o'clock came and went and we're not all in bed like we should be 

(tomorrow's really busy - at least for sure for Mom)

Cross-world countdown day 23

One more item sold and out of the house. 

One room completely emptied of for sale/give away items and another begun.

One Zoom call rediscovering where and what winter gear I packed away in Canada so we can be met at the airport with appropriate clothing to change into.

One Dad sent off on his goodbye trip to KL. It was a little iffy as he started later than he planned, couldn't get a Grab and had to take the bus, the ferry was delayed, etc. Mom was so sure he'd miss the train, but by God's grace he got on the train with mere seconds to spare!

One vital piece of information tracked down by Dad in the KL train station about our train trip to the border. Despite a tiny piece of text on a website that says we could be denied boarding with lots of luggage, the workers Dad talked with in KL said suitcases are fine, and we can pay a fee to take the other items that are not suitcases. For that trip we'll leave much more wiggle room for our connections!

One+ day of schoolwork completed despite the interrupted morning.

One afternoon soccer practice for Aiden

One more Zoom work call to end the day.

Cross-world countdown day 24

 Today a rest day full of belonging

I. Breakfast at church: 

    The slight elevator hiccup when the doors closed in mom's face - the shared laughter instead of awkward embarrassment on all sides.

    "Ham" sandwiches, teh, milo, sausage rolls, steamed coconut squares - all familiar and loved tastes for us now - even for breakfast!

    Mini conversations with those serving breakfast - we're known and welcome.

II. Worship service:

    During greeting time, meeting eyes with those around us as we sing - finding welcome acceptance in being known and knowing rather than the welcome of strangers.

    Grace and Aiden off in the corner dancing flags - being told they are watched and enjoyed for enthusiasm and full-bodied worship.

    A hand on the shoulder from a pastor passing down the isle.

    A sermon we can get behind and learn from also - made more poignant by knowing the speaker's back story.

III. Lunch on the go:

    We had to go fix our bikes - for the final time, hopefully! - as Grace's pedal shank came loose and the other two needed new break pads - we know where to go and how to get it done. And Aiden led the transactions at the store!

    Lunch at a Nasi Kandar place - the ease and familiarity of choosing food in this Asian way and having our own definite favorites. Also falling into the very Asian discussion of taste comparisons for 1/2 the meal or more :)

    Aiden antsy to get home so as soon as his bike was done he went off confidently by himself.

    Riding home midafternoon and not really minding the heat - even a year ago Mom would have been stopping in tree shade well before red traffic lights rather than waiting in full sun at the stop line.

IV. Afternoon down time:

    Aiden in and out with friends - their acceptance of us strong enough they come in and out with the ease of family.

    Grace passing a British English fun test online with flying colors - much vocabulary here matches British English better than North American English. 

    Jasmin writing and drawing.

    Dad sleeping.

    Mom resting and crocheting (and NOT thinking about packing and sorting!)

VI. Evening family game of Ticket to Ride

    The familiarity, almost nostalgia as we played it a lot during Covid lockdowns.

    Silly banter with lots of inhouse references - so well jelled as a family unit :)

    Mom won; such a shock that so very rarely happens! Aiden lost and held it together well, and sisters praised him for it.

Tomorrow much to juggle and tick off the list... but today the rest of belonging. Thank you God for this gem of a day!

     

Cross-world countdown day 25

 We hardly saw dad today; he's racing to get a project finished before leaving to KL on Monday.

Aiden was in and out playing and swimming with friends.

The girls had an unusually restful/empty Saturday and then out to a church Youth/YA Chinese New Year evening celebration.

And after waking up mulling over the conundrum of where in the house to start some serious dismantling of set up to get things sold off... so we'll have space to clean and paint the week of the 23rd...without disturbing life too much (computer setups for schoolwork, Dad's workspace, sleeping arrangements, etc.)

Mom spent

    -- the morning doing normal Saturday jobs (including a more than usual thoughtful meal plan trying to use up pantry items) and arranging the sale of a few items for Monday.

    -- the afternoon photo documenting our larger items for a more widely distributed but more picky newsletter. Unfortunately, the Google doc she created was not acceptable (it needs to be by email, photos must be better, etc.) so she has still not finished this task!

    -- the evening gathering and packing items for a donation pick up that suddenly got moved forward to this Wednesday because of Chinese New Year, which starts next weekend and goes for 15 days. For at least the first week, it is impossible to get anything done, and the second week, especially nearing the end of the 15 days, it is rather iffy, as it is a time to visit hometowns and other family far away.

Cross-world countdown day 26

A surprise morning gift of fun, that deserves some back story:

About 2 years ago Aiden and a friend came up with a board game. It was good enough that Grace and Jasmin joined in and helped iron out the rules and design some proper graphics.

Last year it became a school project for Jasmin to produce the digital art for the cards and game board and model the game pieces.

This year Mom finally got around to working out how to get it printed. The game board got made, the cards printed, the game pieces varnished, and the cards half laminated before we ran out of laminating film.  More was ordered, but in the mean time the game got very popular and well used. Aiden's friends would come to the door asking for the game if Aiden wasn't at home to play with!                                                                                                                             This morning Mom decided to finish laminating the game cards as the film arrived yesterday. Doing so reminded her she'd never taken any pictures of the finished game for Jasmin's school portfolio, so out came the game board and pieces as well. 

About the same time the girls got up and sat around the board eating breakfast. Mom asked Grace to set up a game for pictures....

And instead, we ended up playing a full game with lots of laughter for the rest of the morning! Oops for schoolwork, but yeay for family fun and a successful board game!

[Schoolwork did get done in the end, just after lunch :)]

Mom got some kitchen sorting done of what to sell, what to give away, what to (hopefully) use up.

Dad spent the whole day in back to back (or overlapping) meetings. At least one was social - some friends we hardly ever seem to connect with because either they or we are moving. We met them shortly before we left for Canada the last time. We arrived back just after they moved upcountry. And now they have moved back here just as we are leaving again!

Cross-world countdown day 27

Today was an ordinary catch-up-from-a-day-mom-was-sick day. In other words, strange meals using leftovers, lots of school catch up work and sorting out of what got done yesterday, and an attempt to smooth over any other household jobs not done yesterday.

Some sale items left the house to their new homes.

Jasmin said goodbye to Himalaya, her sugar glider, today also. That makes a bigger hole in the household, making our leaving seem that much closer and more personal.

Mom also started the research on buying the second lot of train tickets necessary. We have tickets from the border to Bangkok, but not yet from home to the border. What with "upgrades" to the train system and Covid aftermath, it is no longer a simple process... long gone are the days we could get on a train and get off at Bangkok, unfortunately. Not that big of a deal - except for the amount of luggage we'll be carrying with us.

We also took time for a 2 hour swim this afternoon in which the girls joined Aiden and friends in a predator vs prey game. They were Puppy and Deer - the predators, of course! Quite amusing to watch and listen to as it was all played out according to computer game rules :)

Cross-world countdown day 28

 Notice the time warp to day 28. Train tickets were bought for Feb 8.

The kids climbed the walls at Project Rock stone today as we still have passes to use up!

Dad was supposed to get his dental check up but missed it when emergency counselling came up .

Mom spent the day feeling horrible😬 so she was thankful her lunch meeting was cancelled and she could go home from Project Rock early. A very good thing she did too, as she walked in the door and immediately ran to the bathroom to throw up multiple times😳 she is very glad that didn't happen at the mall nor on the way home. Hopefully she will bounce back quickly for tomorrow. 

Two items actually sold and got picked up today, so that's progress.

Cross-world Countdown day 31

Today we discovered it is likely actually day 30 already... as our leave date is getting closer to being finalized, it is more likely we'll be leaving on the 9th of February.

Jasmin finished her science course for the year!

Our shell, sea glass, beach rock collection got sorted, and a very small portion of it got packed.  Mom made 2 last coasters with the tiles we've collected off the beach... and wants to take them with us, but the weight... we'll see.

Mom fielded a cluster of sale queries from the posted advertisement, got verbal agreement for a nice number of things. Hopefully they turn into true sales!

Dad got a tentative positive response from a possible PhD advisor. They will meet next week.

Dental check-up appointments were made.

We ended the day with our last hosting of our small group. Mom even fried bihoon - she doesn't usually brave serving her own Asian food to Asians...
It may be our last meeting altogether as we only meet every other week, and Chinese New Year is coming up so the next meeting would be in February, which we definitely won't be hosting! Hopefully we will get to gather one last time...

Cross-world countdown day 32

Today's moving accomplishments:

A small pile of workbooks rehomed - bonus because they were ones I thought no one would want

Document of sale items distributed to a few groups

Travel finalized for Dad's KL trip

Arrival arrangements zoom call

One vacuum-pack bag attempted - could we get out enough air without a vacuum to make it worth the effort? We think so. After a check in the morning we'll know so.

A new read aloud started - we're trying to read all the books we inherited from our many friends departures.

And in other news:

A full day of school - hard to come by these days. And even today, the full workload for Aiden got done only because he forgot it was Sunday yesterday and did some school when he got up and was waiting for Mom to make breakfast!

Another zoom meeting to inch along the process of finding a PhD advisor for Dad

A supper out because of a fogging for dengue mosquitos - we had roti, our usual. Unfortunately, there was a new roti prepper, and his roti was not so delicious as before...

Cross-world Countdown day 33

 Today a bunch of normal hiccups - 

Aiden forgot his church bag at home so didn't have his good clothes to change into

There was a church business meeting after service about a new lead pastor so we had a super quick lunch and then the kids went home first

We discovered that Aiden is allergic/intolerant to an additive in canned prepared tuna - uncomfortable tummy and then violent expulsions of the offending food all over the kitchen floor in the middle of the night. At least it wasn't in his bed!

And there were some moving hiccups - 

Counsel for two sore hearts in the family over moving issues

Work on a Sunday to get out the document of items for sale for an unexpected and bountiful advertisement opportunity

Pangs of "Ooo, I'll miss this!" moments for all of us

Cross-world Countdown day 34

Normal Saturday jobs - laundry, meal planning, check in times for the kids with Dad, house cleaning

A Mom crochet project finished - and on to a new, smaller one to use up the leftover yarn

Two Zoom calls - the girls with a friend now in the US, Mom with her mom

A long play with friends - Aiden taking every advantage of the weekend to play with local friends

All long-distance and work-related goodbye meetings set up - Dad with connections around the island and farther afield in KL

Schedule rearranging discussions to accommodate new criteria - the juggling of 5 people's "before we leave" goals and all the "we should" appointments: dentist, doctor, optometrist.

The lightweight bag 1/3 packed - a joy and a frustration to discover not much more can be packed yet.

School planning discussions - attempting the goal of not having to continue school all summer for Aiden to finish the year's work with an international move midsemester

Next week we must take the plunge into selling things as that is where the work is - as mom proved with packing today - even though it is the least favorite part of moving.

Cross-world Countdown day 35

Today was a full day. But not necessarily in getting things done for our cross-world move...

Three Zoom meetings for mom

along with house jobs

a market shop

trying to keep up with schoolwork happening

Numerous emails and other computer work for Dad

A violin lesson for Jasmin

School work for Aiden, some extra to catch up for the day off yesterday

Grace had a free-ish day!

But -- One lightweight, hopefully-sturdy-for-air-travel bag bought this morning to replace a very heavy suitcase that weighs 7kg empty!

Cross-world Countdown Day 36 - 3rd Christmas!

 

Our family Christmas present was a day at the biggest rock climbing gym here. It's nearly an hour away, so quite special to get there and have all day. We had the whole place to ourselves for most of the day even! So we got very personalized service :)

The kids had great fun showing Dad what they can do, and challenging and teaching him, so he learned quickly! 

It was good to be in a new place so the routes were all new to all of us - and there were lots of them. The kids started on the bouldering walls, methodically trying every route within their ability - and a few that were beyond. We like this gym as there are a lot of top wall routes.

We took a break over lunch and went to the IKEA cafeteria - this rock gym is in the IKEA building. Although we were not all that impressed with the famous Swedish meatballs there, the food was pretty good.

In the afternoon, the kids boldly tried out the Route of the Month challenge, but, while making significant progress, didn't make it to the top. Most likely because by the time they were trying seriously, their arms and legs were already pretty tired!

Mom got bolder as well, and attempted a few simple bouldering routes with success! She usually avoids bouldering as a missed grip or a slip is a fall to the mat which could all too easily mess up her back.

We all met major milestones: Mom made it up the top wall 3 times and did a few bouldering routes safely, Dad managed all the level 2 bouldering routes and most of the top wall level 2s, the kids all finished a level 4 route, and made decent progress of the Route of the Month. Aiden did all the level 2s on the top wall, and finished a few level 3s in bouldering.

By the end of the day we all had accomplished a major goal each- and we were all really tired with sore hands, arms, legs...Our final milestone we met was that we stayed climbing for 5 hours!

Thank you Imma, NiNi & YeaYea!

And, just to have something in preparations for leaving happen today, the landlord called and agreed to buy some of our furniture so we don't have to attempt to move it out!

Cross-world countdown day 37

 Today some shelves emptied and a few items found new homes. Aiden brought a friend's mom over to look through some give aways... along with a noisy explosion of boys! As they all left with something, it was happy success for all of us😊 

Mom also took her bike to get brakes fixed. It was a slow cautious ride there as her brakes basically were nonexistent!

School work got done for the day plus a little as we use our Christmas present: an indoor rock climbing day at the biggest rock wall gym here. The kids are looking forward to seeing their parents climb!

Mom took a look at doctor and dentist checkups for us all before we go. Could be quite a schedule juggle...

We had some interesting meals as we empty the fridge to defrost it...

And mom did an inventory of all the food items in the kitchen so she can try make meals to use up as much as possible before we leave. She was quite happy to discover that other than sauces and spices the task is not too daunting.

So, empty shelves and a fairly short food inventory are pleasing evidence that maybe we've planned ahead enough this time that the last week's won't be quite so overwhelmingly full of things and tasks...

Cross-World Countdown Day 38

 Mom woke feeling like this to start the day, and with a groan thought, "It's only Tuesday..." Not a brilliant start to the day, but it picked up.

We started school - sort of. Mom and Dad were out most of the day so, while a partial French lesson was squeezed in before they left, Jasmin and Aiden were left to themselves to do the rest of their school day.

We valiantly attempted to empty the fridge of leftovers and other perishables by eating so we can defrost it and hopefully nurse it back to working order until we leave.

Grace and Mom went out for a possibly final date on this side of the ocean, got caught out by a sudden intense rain storm, and so came home late and sopping wet.

Mom got struck by strong nostalgia when a friend offered her a piece of "true" gingerbread from England... the taste was strong remembrance without any accompanying memory of time, place, or happening.

Dad got a few more goodbye meetings arranged for later in the month. So something got done directly related to leaving preparations! Oh, and we have a verbal agreement for a sale on one piece of furniture.

Cross-World Countdown Day 39

 In terms of moving plans, today we hosted our landlord and talked through various arrangements such as 

    When and how we'll paint

    What furniture they'd be interested in buying from us

    The handover process of the sublet of the parking space

Now Mom has a target date to sell off what she can before we paint so we have enough room to live in and paint this place at the same time 😊

So, Mom started working on a google doc catalogue of things to be sold...

Dad also worked on plans for a trip to KL to say goodbye to friends there and return a borrowed game.

In "the rest of life," 

We started the day with a zoom call with far-flung family!

Aiden played away the last day of school break with all his friends; his biggest frustration being it was everyone's last day free so he wanted to be with them all, but they don't all get along with each other, so he was bouncing back and forth!

Grace worked her way through the orientation videos and exercises for her university that is starting next Monday.

Jasmin dove into her work in her online writers' communities and picked fonts for her new website, that is hopefully coming soon.

...and Mom tried to sort out the rest of the week, juggling things like 

    - fixing her bike that lost its braking ability on Sunday on the way home from church
    - defrosting the fridge without losing its current stock of perishables to restore its cooling properties (we know what's broken but, please, just last 39 more days?)
    - a likely all-day meeting for Mom and Dad tomorrow
    - various appointments and music lessons that are now restarting

Interesting life!

Cross-world Countdown in Reverse

 When we left Canada for our life here 5 years ago we did a 40 day countdown. As we draw near our return to Canada, we went back over those posts with amusement and enjoyment - and decided to do it again. We were somewhat startled to realize that our 40 day countdown actually begins today!  40 days (or there abouts since we don't have the date totally set) until we leave Penang, and a solid count of 51 days until we arrive in Canada ("On the way back," we will be spending some time in Bangkok to say goodbye to friends there, and then a week in Chiang Mai for a SAFE staff conference.).

As there is much in the whys of our return that we don't know yet, Grace's latest song release is now our theme song for the year.

To kick off the 40 day countdown, a reverse "we'll miss" and we're looking forward to" set of lists:

Things we'll miss about Penang

Church breakfast especially teh

Flagging in church

Jungle covered hill views

Watching clouds creep over the hills

Abundant and varied flora and fauna

Fogging - less mosquitoes, and a mandated supper out 

Cheap, abundant, delicious street food

Chinese church

Multilingual living

Abundant fresh fruit and vegetables

Impromptu evening beach walks

Night market dates

Simplicity of only slight variations of seasons

Playing free with friends all over the apartment complex

So many holidays celebrated with days off school so my friends are available

Youth Camps

Rain that doesn't make you too cold

Things we're looking forward to

Cheerios

Family reunions 

Snow and cold weather

Quieter streets

Sidewalks that are meant for walking on (clear of holes, poles, cars, trees)

A house instead of small apartment

A dog - I hope!

Four distinct seasons

Old friends

Libraries

Real milk

Yea Yea's food

Hot water in the taps