Countdown is On!

As I type this it's a little past midnight on Monday, June 23 morning. - As a side note, today would have been Maura deSouza's 28th birthday... here's to Maura, celebrating in Heaven angel-style with Jesus. - This is also significant because in two weeks from right now, Savannah, Dynamo and I will be at the Chennai International Airport waiting on our flight to Frankfurt, Germany and then onwards to Houston.  I know I said it last time, but there are an enormous variance of emotions running through us... I spent yesterday sorting my bedroom into piles - donate or share locally, pack in container for ocean transit, pack in suitcase for short term living.  Our apartment will be packed up and we will move to a hotel next Monday or Tuesday.  I will spend a few hours each day this week doing the same with the rest of our stuff, leaving Savannah to make decisions about her clothes.  Next weekend will be it - finality with decisions for ocean or air and saying goodbye to our little place in Padur.  As I was sorting yesterday I could not help but think back to my moving-Nazi, AKA BFF, Danielle (whose birthday is still today in the USA, by the way - June 22 - Happy Birthday, BFF!) and how she made me do this same type of exercise just a little over 2 years ago as we prepared for the move FROM Texas.  And it just seems like yesterday...  Yet, here we are, 24 months later, and preparing for the move TO Texas.  It just feels like the blink of an eye.  It is exciting to be heading back to our friends we left behind and the family, not to mention the fiancee.  But we have made some amazing friends here, too, which we will now leave behind.  And our church family.  And while I am thrilled to begin my new role in Houston with Safmarine, I am leaving my Maersk team over here, which is tough...  Quite the roller coaster of emotions.  As I sorted through my things I took some time to look through a book my team in Houston gave me before I left.  It was filled with laughs and smiles and great memories of recent years in and out of the Maersk office.  Not surprisingly, I cried a little bit as I thought of the great memories, laughs and smiles I'll be leaving behind from this Maersk office.  And then I told myself that was enough and time to get back to business.  Then a little while later I came across our entry ticket stubs for the Taj Mahal and sat down to reminisce about that trip that Savannah and I took.  What an experience of a lifetime and how vivid are the awesome memories we made - so fortunate and blessed to have been able to see such a beautiful wonder of the world and visit India outside Chennai!  Lots of smiles and maybe a few tears as I thought of the changes we have in front of us.  I am not scared of the change, and looking forward to starting our new life with Michael and his daughter, Haley, but a little sad to leave behind our Mommy/daughter time we became accustomed to over here.  I also spent some time thinking about the great friends we have made and know from all over the world, from our gulf coast in the US all across our great nation to the new friends we have in Canada, the UK, Turkey, Nepal, and of course India.  I am sure there are more places, but that's a good start. We could not have survived this great adventure without the love and support from a wonderful group of friends, near and far.  We are blessed beyond measure and, not surprisingly, I was moved to tears thinking of all the wonderful people in our lives.  Lots to think about...
Other than preparations to depart, I have been recovering pretty well.  Fortunately no more pain and only low energy.  Hoping that gets back to normal pretty quick - lots to do and not a lot of time to get it all done!  Savannah did complete her graduation, YAY, and has spent her time after school as an intern at a friend of a friend's new daycare/activity center she opened up in the city.  She has loved her first experience in the work force, although an unpaid gig, and she is learning a lot about what it takes to survive.  She comes home tired and complains that work is tough.  Duh.  haha  When we get back to Texas there is lots to do for her - enroll in community college, learn how to drive, help with my nieces a day or two a week, and job hunt.  She wants to save money so she can travel next year while taking online classes in the spring, since she will be on my mom's retirement flight benefits and have the luxury of no/low cost travel.  
We have more visitors in from the US for the Safmarine migration at work last week and this week, which is always nice.  They get to meet the team and impart some great knowledge with some "front office" style that will surely help make our team here stronger.  We joined them for a fancy brunch today, along with the Toms and Cherie (whose birthday was yesterday!), at the Leela Palace hotel.  Then we did a little shopping and they joined us at church.  After a little while at one of the nearby beaches and a lot of walking, we were pretty worn out and returned for a nice Indian dinner and called it a night.  Savannah is already sleeping (it's hard being a working girl - just ask her!) and I am winding down, myself.
Many thoughts and plans are running like a ticker tape in my brain which makes it hard to sleep lately.  I make a lot of notes on my phone and send emails to myself to remember to do this, check that, call here, pack this, remember that.  We are trying to fit an awful lot of social time with our Chennai friends into the calendar before we leave... there just don't seem to be enough meals or days to get it all in.  On that note, I just thought of a few things I need to jot down so I'll wrap this post up.  I'll ask for your prayers for us as we prepare for the journey home... peace, energy, emotional balance, as a start.  Throw in anything else you can think of; we'll sure take it :)  Thank you for your thoughts and prayers, as always!  We love you!

Manic May... came and went

Really?  May has already passed?  Is it seriously June, 2014?  This reality fills me with emotions - excitement, anxiety, fear, anticipation, disbelief, sadness, happiness, giddiness, nervousness, regret, and so many more I can't think of right now.  I'll try to explain them all a bit... 

• excitement - looking forward to the move back to Houston with a new role in the organization, a wedding in the not-so-distant future, and being around old friends and family again
• anxiety - only one month left here in Chennai and I feel like there is so much to do to prepare for the big move
• fear - what if reverse culture shock is worse than the original for Savannah? or me?  or both!?
• anticipation - so much to be getting ready for back in Texas
• disbelief - have we really come to the end of our two-year term here?
• sadness - we have THE most amazing church and church family here.  I have some awesome co-workers turned friends, too.  It will be very difficult to tell them goodbye.
• happiness - did I mention I get to be on the same continent as my fiancee?
• giddiness - did I also mention I am marrying said fiancee in October?
• nervousness - what if life back in Texas hasn't changed a bit?  And we have?
• regret - So much more to do and see over here in India and southeast Asia.  We began our travels so late...

So, working closely with Gideon (who else?) to get our affairs in order for the journey back to the other side of the world.  Dynamo papers and preparation, ending of the rental agreement on the flat, a month-long extension on my employment visa to get us through this month.  Also waiting on the global relocation company to have the local packing and moving company get in touch to do a survey and schedule packing dates.  Lots to do and think about.

Things have been very busy at work, as well.  We had visitors from North America, my new team, actually, come to help train the new Chennai team and get them ready for some transition of work so Savannah and I played hostesses on the weekends and showed them all around the area.  We had a great time and even fit in a couple senior portrait sessions for my girl.  Oh! Big news is that the SAT results came back Friday and Savannah will be a high school graduate THIS FRIDAY, June 6.  Amazing how all the stress and nerves around this graduation process wound up just as we knew it should... it was just getting to this point and going through the mud and the muck of it all to get confirmation and approval and so on that was such a headache.  So very thankful that is behind us and in about 45 hours my kiddo will be walking across the stage with her entire class.  All four of them.  Haha  Regardless, I am super proud of Savannah.  She put in a lot of hard work this year and over the summer to make sure she had good grades and enough credits to make this early graduation happen.  Hard work pays off!  

One last significant event in May... my parents came to see us one more time!  This was completely unplanned and unexpected, but wound up being necessary and I cannot begin to put into words the gratitude for my wonderful parents dropping everything to fly around the world when we needed them.  Is this a long blog?  Oops, it's about to get longer. 

Since about February or March my lap band port (you might or might now know I had gastric-banding surgery about 6 years ago) has moved a little bit and been uncomfortable at times and visible as a protrusion in my abdomen, but not an issue.  I was waiting until I got back to the US to address the issue and likely have it moved back into place.  About a week before I went to Copenhagen, though, it was red and causing a little bit of pain.  I sent a couple photos to Danielle's dad, and he said I needed to get into the doctor and it was likely infected.  Sure enough, I had an abscess that required draining (gross and painful!!) and some antibiotics.  No problem, though, travel still OK, so off I went.  Redness subsided within a few days, but then came back.  I went back to the doctor and he cleaned again and gave a stronger, longer round of antibiotics this time and advised to come back in 7-10 days for a follow up.  I went in 10 days later, still with a red spot in the area, for another cleaning, draining and discussion.  The discussion included two further treatment options: Option 1 - conservative approach that would be IV antibiotics to start with an exploration procedure to see if the port area and connector between port and band at the stomach both have infection around them.  With treatment, the infection would (should) go away and all would be well, but the likelihood of a subsequent infection in 3-6 months is high.  There was a high possibility I would need the lab band removed or the infection will keep coming back.  Option 2 - Aggressive approach - go ahead and surgically remove the lap band to avoid further complications.  Either way, the doctor would have to do a CT scan with some dye through an IV and ingestion of some sort to look around and see if there is inflammation all around the areas where the lap band, connection and that could show requirement for removal right away or possibility to treat the conservative manner.  Since I am a wimp, I don't want to do the IV unnecessarily. I decided to go ahead with the band removal but worried about the possibility to gain the weight I had lost back and all the unhealthy things that come with that.  He suggested replacing the band with a newer surgery, called gastric sleeve. He could do it at the same time so it's one surgery as opposed to one now to remove the band and then possibly another later... So, I did some research and scheduled the for last Tuesday.  I was admitted Monday for the IV/CT stuff, blood work and other pre-op testing with surgery Tuesday late morning. Obviously all went well, as I am writing this blog now.  But I won't lie.  This past week was HELL.  Lots of pain, lack of sleep due to pain, difficulty moving due to the pain, and not enough medicine to kill the pain.  The first night I was vomiting from the anesthesia wearing off, which hurt because my stomach was all inflamed from the surgery.  I got zero sleep.  During the day, the IV pain meds helped and I slept off and on.  The next night they were trying to wean me off the IV nutrition so I could being sipping liquids, but I could not get enough, so I was thirsty all night.  Another zero sleep night.  About 4 AM they hooked me back up and I slept for an hour or two.  Then they took the IV and pain meds away as they prepped me for hospital release.  The pain was brutal.  Mom stayed with me at the hospital while Dad stayed with Savannah so she could go to school and complete her exams.  Gideon helped coordinate every aspect, of course... and checked in often.  Friends from church stopped by and messaged Mom, although I don't remember a lot of that.  Savannah and Danielle gave lots of updates here and stateside.  I am thankful for such loving family and friends.  And I am thankful that a week and a day later the pain is less and the sleep is more, although I have seriously low energy and a mini-walk around the flat almost requires a nap.  A shower definitely requires a nap.  Hoping that changes quickly. I am going back to the doctor Saturday and crossing my fingers for enough energy and progress for a release back to work on Monday.  I would appreciate your prayers for continued lessening pain and increased energy along with patience of those around me (ahem, Savannah nearby and Danielle, Michael, Mom via text/phone/chat) to put up with my whiny-ness, as there is a lot of it.  I am a pretty bad patient.  But surviving.

So all in all, a busy May.  With a busy June catapulting us into JULY.  Countdowns are going on... emotions are high... we yearn for July while we want to drag out June.  Irony at its finest.  Here's hoping your June is filled with laughs and love and blessings.  Thanks for your prayers and love!