2 WEEKS TO DEPARTURE

Halloween already, I remember when we first told the boys about this big trip a few months ago - we said that were to leave a couple of weeks after Halloween... long way away, plenty of time. Not anymore!

Many many things to do, some troubleshooting with the new computer (our old hard drive is gone with all the data...) but we'll get through it. I met with my good friend who will handle the administrative tasks of Le Petit Atelier, and things are in very good hands. TheLittle Workshop admin will be taken care of by our sub letter, and there too things are in good hands so I feel confident that business will be running fairly smoothly.

Tim and I cleared some space in the garage, and we finally stored our bins of clothing (well sealed). Still some purging to do, last minute items like decorative objects, books, etc. We now have some of our friend's boxes as he is all set to move in, and it really feels like our departure is near.

These next two weeks will be the most intense, but as organise our bookings and review our itinerary the excitement of what's ahead of us is balancing things out.
First 3 day stop : http://www.allegroplayacar.com/
And then for the first month : http://www.casacaracola.com/

It will be amazing and filled with surprises!

3 WEEKS TO DEPARTURE

Our good friend who will sublet our home came for a quick meeting and tour of the house to plan his move. He seems happy, and that makes me feel very good. I tend to undertake way too much in situations like this, and if it was up to me I would have painted the house from top to bottom (and that's what I thought I would do about 4 months ago...) - but it will not be so, and it's fine. Phew! For us, the move begins tomorrow with sending our big couch to the garbage! Yé! On Friday, our friend will be delivering his couch, bed and a few things.

A couple of set backs in the last few days: our computer hard drive died. I had a bunch of business files backed-up, but unfortunately we lost a lot of amazing family pictures from the last four years. Tim also lost a bunch of original charts and recordings... ouch. It's so much work to write full arrangements! but at least he still has many of these pieces printed - so thank God for paper!
The other set back is that after 11 + years of parenthood, we have just entered the head lice club. Yes, thank you very much. Poor Dylan had a fair population on his head, and after checking a couple of times and not seeing anything - I misdiagnosed the itch problem and was treating him with psoriasis shampoo (ding dong!). Oh well, now I know what to look for (do I ever...) ! Leo had a very mild case, and I keep checking myself daily.

Business is doing just fine, I have to confirm schedules for the winter trimester and we're good to go.

Oh... I still have to prepare a little poster for my classes in Majahual and Xcalak - has to be in Spanish, better get to that!

I purchased 2 sturdy duffle bags with wheels, I measured our roof top carrier bag and found just the right size duffle bags to fit in with a little extra room. China Town is perfect for shopping for suitcases and bags, and prices are amazing. So we will travel with 2 duffle bags, 2 carry-ons, a banjo, a mando and a fiddle. We will buy a guitar there.

I can't believe we're a little less than 3 weeks away! What are we doing? Oh yeah... we're living fully!

4 weeks to departure

Still getting stuff out of the house - I can't believe how much old, useless and damaged items we were holding on to! This is one part of the plan that I had underestimated - not in terms of work but in terms of satisfaction! A very healthy exercise. Next week will be the time for furniture purging - making room for our sub-letter who will be moving in with some of his furniture. Time to get rid of our beat-up, ripped and dirty couch - yay! Then the futon in our bedroom - also at the end of its life, but this one is a little sad because Leo was born on it. Dylan's dresser is also a curb case, and I think that's pretty much all in the furniture department. We shall go shopping when we come back!

I did cancel our booking in the big beach house in Telchac Puerto after all, I decided to listen to my gut feeling and the discomfort I have with renting such a big property and occupy only one third of it. We will settle for a very nice two bedroom home with a pool. It's a bit more expensive, but we will rent it for about a week and also go spend about 5 days in Merida - and balance the cost with a camping excursion on Holbox Island. I've always wanted to go there, and camping will be an adventure. There is a camp ground called 'Ida Y Vuelta', they have everything we need, and the price is right. Should be fun!

When we will arrive in Mexico on November 14, we have planned on spending 2 or 3 days in Playa del Carmen to do some shopping - including groceries for our first month in remote Xcalak. I originally wanted to go to a little hotel that I've been to a few years ago, but as I was looking for a better last minute deal I came upon some great pricing on all inclusive resorts. So for $103 per day, the four of us will kick off our great adventure in a modest all inclusive resort - which is cheaper then the original hotel+restaurant scenario - and so convenient! The kids will love the big pool, the buffet meals, and the beach is gorgeous. http://www.allegroplayacar.com/
The resort is also at the edge of town (as opposed to out of town like most resorts), which makes it easy for us to do our shopping (some sports items, a guitar, cooler, beach towels, etc.).

Actually, it's less than 4 weeks away now... yippi!!!!!!

Tic Toc!

I accomplished a lot in the past month and on many fronts, we are on target. The two Petit Atelier teachers are trained and working alone in their respective daycares now, and they each lead an after school series in the neighbourhood. The next step is to prepare their schedules for the second trimester, and coordinate the January after school series.

The Little Workshop is fully booked, and all parents have been notified of Tim's absence - he has two great teachers replacing him. We are about to begin the second term, and I will take that opportunity to train our business coordinator with processing the term payments and making bank deposits.

I am looking into the boys schooling, and Leo's teacher was happy to announce that the school has accepted to lend us all the books we need to keep up with his class curriculum - great! I will be meeting with Dylan's teacher this week. Their tutor will come over for a first session here at home on Monday, working specifically with Leo for the time being. This will allow us to develop a stronger relationship and a routine before we get into the long distance 'Skipe' communication.

As for the house prep, we are still merrily purging and it is starting to show - finally! It feels great, getting rid of the useless things kicking around is a fantastic exercise. It brings great psychological satisfaction, and our home environment feels healthier.

After much consideration, we decided to not rent the big beach house on the Gulf of Mexico. We will probably spend some time in Merida, and go back to the Caribbean for the last bit of our journey. All good!

7 weeks to departure

If you are thinking about traveling with your family like we are, either far away or for a long period of time - don't forget to budget for medical and dental care taking place prior to your departure. Yes, September 2010 will be remembered as a heck of an expensive one. All very good investments of course, dental and medical care for the four of us. Only today's visit, the vaccinations cost us $750 - and that's not all of it. The other medication will be purchased in Mexico for much cheaper that what it costs here. I also need a small dental surgery, small procedure but big invoice... Ho-le-cow how I miss my medical and dental family coverage... but of course if I was still a corporate work horse we would never be able to do this beautiful crazy trip.

We are still purging the house, and put one purging day per week on our calendar until our departure - it works very well! Today Tim got rid of more clothes than what he has left in his closet... and I am delighted. It feels great!

Some hickups with Le Petit Atelier, one of the teachers I hired will not be able to work for me this fall - no work permit... (she is from France). The other two teachers are fully booked which is very good, but because of the one missing teacher I am in the unfortunate position to ask some clients to wait until March. They are small clients, but they are just as important in my view because it means that these kids will not get music classes while I'm away.

Next step is Passeport renewal for all of us, we will probably get our lovely 'no-smile' pictures taken this weekend.

And now I can almost hear the clock ticking...

More teaching?

I just heard back from the Telchac Education coordinator - she is supporting my teaching project and will be meeting with the principal of the Telchac school this coming Wednesday. I am crossing my fingers and my toes...

Telchac is a small fishing village on the Gulf of Mexico, simple, rustic and tranquil. There are two small schools in the village, one for G1 to G6, and the other for G7 and G8. If this works, we will book the big house since it is walking distance to the village. It is a huge property, but the owner is renting is to us for much less than her regular price and it ends up being the same price as a two bedroom house along the coast. So it looks like we're back to the original plan after all !

Here in Toronto the weather is cooling down and school begins tomorrow. I pulled out some fall clothes for the kids and myself, and realised that I will have to select the summer clothes that we will bring to Mexico instead of putting it all in our usual seasonal storage bins. I really want to keep our luggage to a minimum though, it makes it much more simple to travel although we have to do laundry more often.

Hey, this means that I am starting to pack the suitcases! Slowly but surely!

Oh my... I am feeling the anxiety and we're leaving in what... 10 weeks? TEN WEEKS !!!!!
Considering all the things we still have to do (which I take all on my own shoulders of course because I do have a big tendency to be my own worst enemy...), ten weeks is not very much time. I will have to manage the preparation of the house for the sub-let by asking for some help for a change... and everything else will be much easier.

I found a basic First Aid course with many dates available, it's a two day training and it will give us peace of mind. I also began to research the flora and fauna more thoroughly, and it reminded me that there are many creatures to be aware in the areas we will be visiting. I did come across some of them during my many trips there, like the barracudas, sharks, scorpions, crocodiles, and some spiders so big that I had to call for help to remove it from my apartment wall... But we will be further South, actually South of the Belize border which is just across the bay of Chetumal, and while the monkeys and parrots and toucans may be a delight, the tarantulas and the many types of snakes are not so good. I am now looking for a couple of good books to help us identify what we see...

Tim and I are now considering not booking the big beach property in Telchac Puerto for the third month. It seems that we might not have friends visiting us, and it is such a big place that it's becoming difficult to justify the commitment of renting it for one month only for the four of us (it accommodates 16 guests...) We are leaving our options open, and we will book it last minute if need be - the kids really want to go back and it would be nice to be in known territory, but only if we have company.

I have made contact to teach in Telchac Puerto through a local charity coordinated by two american women. They collect money and sponsor children's education in Telchac Puerto and Progreso (Yucatan state). They provide school uniforms, vairous supplies, and for older students they also cover tuition fees. They are very interested by my offer and I am waiting for their decision. If I do teach in Telchac, we may have to stick around that part of Yucatan a bit longer but it leaves many options open for housing in the area - maybe in a beach house, maybe in Merida, or we might stay at the ranch longer.

And the school year is about to begin, pushing us back into a very scheduled life.