The Who About Ren

Yes, I am behind in getting to this so shoot me! It's rather boring to read a blog if you don't know something about the people writing it, or in this case the main person who occasionally jots something down in it. I don't think my story is unlike so many stories I've come across thus far, making even more difficult to make myself sound the least bit interesting but I suppose somewhere along the line some bit may stand out or at least be relatable to someone.

When I was young I longed to travel and as soon as graduated high school I left home for California. I loved California but hated college so I returned home with my tail between my legs and went to work. When I was 21 I headed out again to California and stayed about 3.5 years. Next I moved to the South...I built a house and then married and then got sick. Soon after I got pregnant and gave birth to a son, Fishey.

I spent the next decade dealing with my illness, my disastrous marriage and my son's illness. I tell people I don't know how I ended up in the South a total of 20 years, but I know exactly how... and I left the second I could. I had to wait a dozen years (I was told) until the release of my ex who was in prison, so that I could get sole custody of Fishey. I prepared for over two years, dealt with the legal matters for almost a year and we were gone half a year later after selling off all of our belongings.

So now I feel freer than I have in two decades. I honestly tried to find a place to relocate to in the States but nothing seemed to be the right fit. I looked for three years. I asked friends for suggestions. Nothing. Along with the fact that Fishey's issues in school were compounding year after year and I couldn't stand by and watch him fall further and further behind finally caused me to make a decision to hit the road for a while and give him the opportunity to learn about the world by seeing it first hand. I never thought I would be able to teach him but it's working out just fine. Never mind the fact that I am getting to finally do what I wanted to do and I'm doing it with the person I love the most in the world.

A picture Fishey snapped of me by one of the fountains in front of St. Peter's Basilica.

August 28, 2012

What We've Been Doing - in a NUTSHELL

I know I haven't updated in a while but we've been a little preoccupied with getting out of town and getting moving on our travels! Let me do a brief synopsis of what's happened since I last blogged:

1. We sold off the rest of our belongings and quickly left Dodge! (If it hadn't been for the help of a stranger who became a friend it would have never happened! So a huge THANKS goes out to JW to coming through for us when we needed help!)

Just one shot of the huge garage sale that lasted a week!

2. Due to unforeseen family issues we opted to leave a week early and take our vacation in Virginia Beach, VA, which allowed us to visit one of my dear friends EF! He's a ton of fun if you like satirically humorous, beer drinking, cigar smoking, yummy food loving dudes who are too smart for their own good. Since I like that sort (in limited doses) it was greatness! We had the best food with him and he helped us escape "United-Hades" (a story for another entry).

View from the Hilton Oceanfront (NOT "United-Hades")!

3. We made it to Los Angeles without a hitch and had an absolute blast with my best friend of 22 years, NA! We stayed with her folks and she had her two wonderful kids with her! Big shout out to CA and LA! Y'all are the BEST and we miss you like crazy! Fishey mentions one of you at least once a day and so do I! CA, I almost bought you a skateboard in Berlin but I couldn't remember all the stuff you talked about in Venice Beach and then I remembered the gravel driveway! LOL You guys feel better and have fun in school tomorrow!

Me (left) and LA in Los Angeles!

4. We left LAX and did our first international flight to London Heathrow! I exchanged my first US currency for Euros, figured out how the Heathrow airport works and then headed to Berlin, Germany! Arrived in Berlin and we got our first passport stamps from the Tegel airport!

The rest of the story of Berlin etc. will be in another entry, but that at least catches me up until 09 Aug which is a month and now I'm only 10 days behind of today and that's not too shabby. We are having fun so far and finding loads of loveliness here in Germany!

Countdown Starts!

One month from right now we'll be over the Atlantic Ocean on our way to London and then pressing on to Berlin! I'm so excited I can hardly stand it! So much to do before that day arrives ~ especially since we leave 3 days prior to that for Los Angeles to see my best friend! So many plans to make and things to finish selling and wow, I guess I'd better get a move on, literally!

From Sad to Sadder...but Plans R Coming Together

I really hate to have a blog filled with sad news and planning details, but it seems that's all I have to report lately. Two weeks ago I reported the sad news that one dog was put to sleep and tonight I have the sadder job of reporting our other dog left us for a new home. We've only had her 14 months but I'm more heartbroken over losing her than I've been over the loss of any other dog. Maybe it's because of the five dogs I've had in my life, she's the only one I've let go of before they saw the end of their long happy lives. It seems like the ultimate betrayal to me, even though the couple that took her are super nice, seem more than equipped to deal with a dog who is as special as she is and have another dog with similar needs as hers who needs a playmate, plus our dog (cry ~ now their dog) was even nice to the husband which is miraculous for her because she normally tries to eat men. All of that hasn't lightened the load of guilt I feel though. She was given to me at a time when I needed her the most and she's attached to me like glue. The lost look on her face when she stared at me out the car window may never leave my mind ~ not unless I see some really happy video of her playing with her new dog friends. Let's hope that happens, and soon!

On a happier note, we have new and improved travel plans that include a Fourth of July trip to see relatives down south, a trip to Los Angeles, and a trip to Maui before we head to Europe! It looks like we're back to starting out in Frankfurt but still heading north from there then working our way back around through Berlin, Dresden, over to Bonn and then to Baden-Baden and who knows where from there.

Right now I'll be happy to get a good night's sleep and wake up feeling rested and ready to start a new day without any pets to take care of (which hasn't happened in over 40 years except for over a few short months of time).

A Sad Day Indeed

We said goodbye to our beloved Caesar today. He was a faithful, loving, canine companion for more than sixteen years and this happy picture was taken just this past spring. He enjoyed playing frisbee but had really grown too blind to catch it anymore, though he still tried his best at least twice before going inside to rest. The end is never easy but I believe only the selfish hang on, refusing to let go when it's obvious the time has come. So let go we did, though it made for a sad day, indeed. Caesar, we will hold you in our hearts as long as they still beat within us.

A Step Closer (or TEN)

This week was a week of pure grief! Our passports were due to arrive on Wednesday so our excitement was building, but on Saturday we weren't expecting my son's to arrive along with our birth certificates. It would have been even better had mine arrived (which was processed first according to the Dept. of State) but I kept my fingers crossed and hoped for the best. On Monday our passcards arrived, both of them this time and we were elated, except for the fact that my passport was not with them and the mailman told my son he hadn't seen it. The Dept. of State had the confirmation number so I waited. Finally on Tuesday I caught up with our regular mailman who had just delivered it to our box! At last a chance to be fully ecstatic now that we were a step closer to getting everything we needed for traveling!

Now I just need to sell off everything else we own (having very little luck there), deal with the dogs (new home for a doberman and put one to sleep), get plane tickets, insurance, places to stay while we travel, make an overnight trip to see relatives down south, finish cleaning out and throwing away all of the junk we can't sell (making good progress with that), learn some basic phrases in a few languages, pack up a few boxes of things we're keeping, buy one new computer and we're good to go. How many things is that? TEN. That's not too bad, right?

Memorial Day Fun!

We spent our Memorial weekend swimming! One of our favorite exercises is swimming, thus how fishey ended up with his nickname. Our summer tans have a good start despite liberally applying sunscreen once an hour or more and my freckles shine like the stars on a clear night!

I'm beginning to list some of the larger items for sale on Craigslist. Between that and juggling lessons for fishey, I'm wiped out! I do go back to the doctor tomorrow to make sure that my wrist is healing after the whole baseball/tennis debacle ~ I definitely will NOT be combining sports again! LOL Hopefully I'll get a clean bill of health.

Right now we're planning on heading to Germany first, most likely Berlin. Last year, fishey read Number the Stars by Lois Lowry and it was one of the few books he really enjoyed so we're going to study WWII history and then head to Copenhagen and maybe Sweden before returning to Germany and heading back south. Of course, we may start out in Denmark/Sweden and then hit Germany; it's hard to say at this point. Being in the prep stage affords us time to make many changes and even while there we have the opportunity to make changes as we go. I never was one to have a set schedule. I'm more of a fly by the seat of my pants type of person.

I'd love to hear about spots along the way that shouldn't be missed if anyone knows some. Please drop a line or comment and make sure we don't miss some little known about gem!

Math & Sprinklers

My head has been in some random state perpetual motion, causing it to nearly careen off my neck several times a day for months now. I wonder if it's possible to have self-inflicted whiplash from a spinning head? Maybe I can somehow turn my wrist brace thing into something to stabilize my head so I don't hurt myself...hmm...I don't have time to think about it because my head can't handle something else added to my list of things I'm already not getting checked off!

Today we did have a terrific time with baseball outside and then we practiced multiplication tables with the super-soaker and in the sprinklers. I created the Sprinkler of Joy and the Sprinkler of Shame. Now before anyone freaks out about shaming my son, it must be said that we laughed about this the entire time. My son, for being so far behind with his studies and not having the best social graces which means he was not Mr. Popularity with his classmates, has a very healthy self-esteem (almost too much some days). Every time he missed an answer he had to stand in the Sprinkler of Shame, bow his head and say in a silly voice, (something like) "Oh Sprinkler of Shame, I am so sorry that I didn't know 7 X 8 was 56 and I promise to practice harder and know it next time!" We never made it through a Sprinkler of Shame moment without laughing, especially at the end of the 7s because he has a tough time with them and vowed to try really really hard to get them memorized. On the upside, when he got an entire number set correct we got to dance around the Sprinkler of Joy and sing and well, if you've seen me in a swimsuit you'd be frightened and pleased all of this took place in the fenced backyard! We had a blast though and math was joyously accomplished plus the foundation of the house was thoroughly soaked by the time we finished, as were we!

Now if I could be as successful selling off the rest of the items in the house, booking flights, selling off the  SUV, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc...

More Preparations!

So today was luggage buying day! The Container Store is having a sale on luggage (save 25%) and I ordered our Thule crossover backpacks, which will be here next week! So now we each have an Eagle Creek 28" Hovercraft Suitcase (mine is black and fishey's is blue) and it saved me $120.00 over the Thule luggage and a trip to Austin, TX to look at the stuff to see if I even liked it. The only place in the entire southern part of the United States that had it was in Austin. I did order the backpacks from there since they had free shipping though. One more "to do" item ticked of the list. Soon we need to have some type of estate sale in order to sell off the majority of our large belongings and all of the smaller items, too. That will be a production I'm sure.

First things first though. I need to list quite a few things on Craigslist...televisions, stereo equipment, miscellaneous computer peripherals, tables, chairs, more tables and chairs, etc. Let the fun begin! Oh wait, it already has and I am so loving it! I can't wait until the party really gets going! Sign me up for some cookies and cake and punch!

Educational Planning

Planning is boring. Going is fun. Doing is fun. Unfortunately when you're going to go do something for as long as we're going to you MUST plan, no matter how boring. You simply cannot get around it. We are selling just about everything we own and taking two suitcases and two backpacks (not each, that's for both of us together). Being the mom, and being who I am, most of the planning is falling on my shoulders but Fishey was given an education planning assignment that turned out to be a great lesson. He researched the twenty regions of Italy to find out historical, educational and fun things to do. It was terrific because it kept him busy while I was wrapped up planning other things (like getting passport paperwork in order and making spreadsheets for collections of items I'm selling off) and he learned all about Italy which is definitely one of the places we want to visit the most. It also helped him with his computer skills, which are sorely lacking for the average 13-year-old. He loves his new MacBook Pro and I'm trying to cut him a little slack with playing on it because I remember how fun it was getting a new computer and how easy it was to get caught up playing on it. I do drag him off it though and monitor the sites he visits. Poor kid. Having a mom with a computer degree isn't going to be so easy. At least having a mom who is fun and willing to travel the world with him might make up for it!

Getting Started

I suppose I had better get something posted in this thing before someone wonders if any dreams are indeed in the fathoming process or if it's just a clever ruse. My son and I are deep into the planning stages of a lengthy European roadschool trip. Neither of us have ever been outside of the United States and I have only just started to homeschool him at the age of thirteen. The No Child Left Behind program was leaving my child behind and I was not okay with that in any way whatsoever.

The intention of this blog is to allow us to document our travels, share what we see/do/experience with our family, friends and whoever might stumble upon us, and to show other people who might have some desire to do something they put off doing that it's never too late to grab the reins and start fathoming your dreams! Stay tuned, more to come! ~Ren