Down to the Wire

Ahhh yes….the day has officially arrived. I’m sitting here at my empty desk…in my cold office…preparing to leave behind my legacy at my job. (I’m SO over it!) It doesn’t feel real yet but slowly people have started saying goodbye so here I go! This starts the beginning of a new adventure.

I have 10 days to pull it all together.

1. Say ‘see you soon’ to family

2. Get wasted with my girlfriends

3. Pack my entire life into 2 suitcases

4. Transfer my escape money…I mean 401k to an IRA

5. Pay off my car and donate it to my family

6. Cancel my rarely used gym membership…. dammit.

7. Shut down my cellphone service…so long iPhone 3G…HELLLOOOO Iphone 4G!!!

 8. Buy Saltines – Germany does not have these, who are these people?!?!

9. Find great black workout pants…obviously to go with my rarely used gym membership.

So thats the short list…there are 8 million little things that need to be done. Emotionally, I think I’m surviving ok and hope that it won’t be too hard on me. I’m leaving on a Tuesday afternoon so my mom will be the only one dropping me off that day. I just hope she holds it together. I have a long journey ahead of me and I can’t deal with the last vision of the US being my mom standing outside the airport with tears rolling down her face. I will curl up…crumble…and die. End Dramatics. I’m scared people…I am. But I’ve got a lot of things to keep me occupied and going! Cheers to that!

Entertain Me, Entertainment Center!

More and more things continue to be unpacked, arrived, etc at our house. I have 23 days left here in the states. I’m trying to put it in the back of my mind because I’m starting to have short and random break downs. Things are about to get interesting for my emotional state of mind!

 

However, on a good note, I can finally see the house becoming a home and I’m glad I’ll be arriving with most of it in order. Let the fun begin!

I know this is hard to picture but eventually there will be decorations, pictures, rug, and other such things to make it more inviting. I’ll be doing some rearranging once I get there!

In the pic you can see our new entertainment center that arrived. This came as a package with the “side bar” on the left hand side. It was delivered today and we got quite a deal on it! 700 Euro approximately for the whole set. Not too shabby!

On another good note, I found out this week that my best friend forever (hint: Check out her blog, it’s hilarious!) will be coming over for her Birthday in July for a world wind adventure with her boyfriend in Europe. It certainly gives me something to look forward to and keeps me from going insane and getting too homesick. Very happy about this! 🙂

 

I’m currently thinking about ideas to paint the office and guest bedrooms. Can’t WAIT! Although…painting the walls in the house are a serious nightmare!

Ticket is Purchased!!!Here comes the sadness…

I booked my one-way ticket last night and feeling a bit overwhelmed quite frankly. I didn’t realize that I’m into my last two weeks of work (praying my boss doesn’t ask me to stay longer.) I can’t believe it. I work two more weeks, and then two weeks to visit everyone I love and then I’m out.

I’m slightly concerned because I still don’t have that ping of sadness pulling on me just yet. I don’t want it to hit me the day I leave. I can’t handle being sad AND flying. That’s a recipe for disaster! Flying alone is terrifying enough…I don’t need to add in the fact that I won’t see my sweet mommy for god knows how long!

Slowly, I’m stressing out more and more. I can feel it. I’m not sleeping, I’m nervous, having a hard time remembering things. Malarkey! I’m holding on hard to the promises of friends and family who pledge to visit this year. I need that more than anything. I need my best friends and Americans around me until I get completely secure. Is that weird? I’m moving to a European country where life is incredibly simple and people are kind but all I want is Americans around me. Not being racist but it’s similar to Asians who come to America or are born in America, they always seem to be together in big groups. What is that? I guess I can relate now. I just want a piece of home with me. Trying to “Americanize” a German home with European furniture is quite difficult. Say goodbye to comfy cozy….and hello to straight modern lines.

It’s ARRIVED!!

Today was the big day for Toblerone. A big day indeed. The container arrived (pics below!) and although we had a million things packed in there and it’s somewhat intimidating to see all the mess, I’m getting really excited about going and unpacking everything and putting each thing in it’s rightful place. There’s a lot to go through but I think in this much bigger house, it all looks manageable compared to the small apartment we were confined to prior to this.

Thankfully Tobes had his thinking cap on and had the movers put everything in the rooms they belong in. (He’s not a master at moving…hasn’t done it nearly as much as I have!) I’m so proud of him for handling this all on his on…while having a high fever, poor guy. Finally the house is starting to look more like a home and will a little each day as we unravel our lives piece by piece!

Kitchen of course….looks insane to me!

Our table arrived even though this will eventually go down in the Pub (yes we’re building a pub in the house!) and buying a large table that will fit up to 14 people!! Oh and that ugly chair thing you see…those are going. Borrowed from his Aunt’s attic! lol.

The red Pinot Noir wall…TV is finally working and the Entertainment center should be arriving in the next week or two!! Takes up the whole wall basically!
OUR COUCHES!!! YES!!!!! We’re buying new ones though and these will end up in the pub more than likely!

Toblerone’s Dad (“Old Man” I call him) with the table and chairs.

So it’s coming along as planned. Just wish I could be there to go through it all!!! Only 3 more weeks!!

Ask and you Shall Receive

The funny thing about it is, a big part of me didn’t even want this to happen but here it is….right in my face….happening.

The big dogs in my corporate office in Germany have asked to set up an interview with me as soon as I arrive in good old Deutschland for a project purchasing position. Whatever that means. I agreed to the interview and first thing this morning I get an email from my potential boss and he said the Director of Purchasing happens to be traveling to our offices today in NY so he will meet with me today. Umm, whoa!

I’m not prepared and definitely haven’t had time to brush up on my German. GAH!!! The reason I say I didn’t want it to happen is because I was kinda – sorta hoping that I would atleast have several months off to get everything together at the house. The container shows up in two days and although Tobi is fully capable, I know that he will feel overwhelmed with getting things unpacked. Of course, I don’t want his parents doing the unpacking. I mean, it’s my house. I need to put things where I know they are! It’s just craziness.

I may not even get the job so I’m not sure why I’m blubbering about it to begin with! Get a grip, woman!!

I’m thankful that I didn’t do laundry this weekend so I had nothing left to wear than a suit jacket, pants, and cute top. I look somewhat professional today! Mamma Mia!!!

Just a Number

I’ve been trying to set up options for myself as far as work goes. I do have the option not to work, but without that, I have 3 months to stay in the country unless we get married. Through work I could get a work visa and we would obviously have more money to do the things we want. Sounds grand and all but harder than I thought. Our corporate is based out of Germany and it would be great if I could just get in there seeing that we live 1/4 mile from the place!

El Presidente of the company and I had a little chit-chat this morning to discuss what I’m doing. Obviously, Tobi left the company and everyone has nothing better to do than to follow our love life so he assumes I will be leaving. Up until this point, at work, I’ve kept “mum” about my situation and what I’m doing for a few reasons. One, I didn’t want people to know what I’m doing and Two, I’m eligible for a raise/promotion this year so I do not want them to keep me from that if I choose to stay. So I’ve been asked to give them a 3-4 month advance notice of my resignation and that 2 weeks just won’t do. Bite me.

I proposed the idea of transferring me to corporate in Deutschland but he had not one word to say about that. Just kept reiterating that I need to cover his ass and make sure there were no bumps in the road for our team. Ridiculous. So the light at the end of the tunnel just got brighter or dimmer depending on how I look at the situation. My direct boss is trying to do everything to keep me here and will propose a better position for me in hopes that I stay for another year. Again, Bite me. If the big boy at the top isn’t going to help me, then I will assume that it’s best if I just walk away from this and learn to live with what we got over there. Hopefully, Tobi will be eligible for a promotion/raise once he gets going in the new place and shows off his talents and insanely high work ethic.

It’s hard to succeed in a world that still has chauvinistic tendencies. As I mentioned to my supervisor, everyone can be bought. Give me the carrot and see what happens. But, can you keep a secret?…..I’m quitting anyways!