When you have fewer than 60 days before you make an international move you really gotta get on it - that is, the preparations for moving. I realize that I've written blog entry after blog entry on moving and I don't want to beat the dead horse, but if I thought I were doing that, I wouldn't continue to write on the topic. Writing allows me organize my thoughts, track my progress, and potentially help others out there who are experiencing the same transition that I am. And I'd say, after reading the topics that people search for and then are directed to my blog, that I'm not the only person interested in permanent residency in Brazil or being married to a Brazilian, or moving to (Brasilia) Brazil.
I did get a lot accomplished this week as far as taking care of business.
I posted about the little things a few months ago because when you're settling elsewhere there is much that you have to think about. For example, yesterday I called AT& T to change our plan, make sure that our service is going to be cancelled by the middle of next month, and then inquire about pre-paid service so I can pay for my phone service during our last month here before I use it. You can never trust a cell phone company in the U.S. and I don't want to get stuck with a bill I don't know about. This has happened before and I will not go through that again.
We also need to cancel our cable by next month since that service is paid a month in advance. We have decided to not take our flat screen TV with us and my husband is ready to sell it, though I am not sure I am. Not yet anyway. If everything else is gone, at least leave me with trashy TV, the news, and Family Feud. But if we do sell it by the end of next month, we don't need cable...but please, Internet until the day we leave.
Our PC is gone. This was a tough decision for me because the monitor was large and having a desktop is convenient. In addition, I thought about not having to back up all of our documents, close iTunes, transfer music and files and how nice that'd be to not have to worry about any of that. Also, if I'm going to get into translation in Brazil, then it'd be wonderful to have a PC and large screen monitor. However, there's only 2 of us in this house. Do we really need 3 computers? Seems a bit too much. Plus, the monitor would be a pain in the butt to transport, as would the heavy PC, it's keyboard, etc. AND, most importantly, I'm finished with graduate school (thank God!) so it's no necessary, right? Well, turns out we don't need it. Bye bye HP desktop, hello laptops forever. And anyway, backing up our files and restoring the system was not that big of a chore.
I did like writing my blog posts on that computer since the keyboard and screen were much larger than my 13" laptop that I bought for school, but ce la vie. It's not a big deal and I know that I'll get used to using this laptop for everything. It'll just take time. And really, it's not like they don't sell PCs and monitors in Brazil, even if they are more expensive that here. Hey, maybe we'll just buy one on a trip back to the U.S. in the future if we feel the need to. Regardless, that's not an issue we need to take care of at this moment.
My husband and I often talk about how there is so much to do in Brazil anyway, so I doubt we'll spend that much time in the house on the TV and/or computer. When it comes to the TV, I told E that he can make the decision to whether he wants to take it with us or sell it. I was never that into large, flat screen TVs, although I did appreciate it once I had it. We bought the TV that we have because he wanted it, so it's up to him. We were originally going to take it, but as E thinks about the shipping costs and all he has decided, as of now, to sell it. So I guess that's what is going to happen. Either way is fine with me.
Another aspect of moving that we need to think of, besides the kitty of course, is excess luggage. We'll need to buy new (super) large suitcases and take all of my books out of boxes, decide if there is anything in there that I don't need, and pack them into suitcases. I know I have done this (sort through my books) a hundred time, but each time I decide that I don't really need x book because frankly, if I haven't read it yet, or in a few years, than I'm not going to bother. That's what the Kindle is for anyway, aren't I correct? That task of sorting through the boxes won't be hard, but it'll take time. I'd say that moving abroad is more about taking time than hard work. You need to clean, throw away, call utility companies, sort out your bills, scan, organize, pack, buy, and shop around. I also spend time posting ads on-line, answering e-mails, arranging meeting times with potential buyers, and driving to complete our tasks.
Agenda for this weekend: more cleaning, more laundry, more organizing, unpacking boxes, and more phone calls to tie things up. The PC may be gone, but the speakers aren't. I'm glad that I have YouTube to keep me company. 90s hip hop music makes working on chores almost fun :). Check out Jaheim and one of my favorites by Lucy Pearl and turn your speakers up.
Time to get back to work....until later....
No comments:
Post a Comment