Countdown time

We leave the USA in 13 days. Wednesday, September 8 we fly to Brussels, Belgium where Friday Douglas will meet with local port authorities with whom he will be doing business from Tashkent. I get to roam around Antwerp while he's working! Doug's cousin, David, lives in Rotterdam so we're going to meet up with him Saturday. Sunday we'll fly to Tashkent overnight and land early Monday morning. Our local sponsor, Jennifer, will meet us at the airport to make sure all goes smoothly.



In the meantime it is quite exciting.



I had another medical scare. I had to have another biopsy - benign!!! I had a peace about this but that didn't stop the "what if" thoughts from invading my mind. Worst case scenario, my medical clearance would have changed and Doug would have to be reassigned. I've been praying for discernment the last few weeks since I'll be living in a primarily Muslim country and learnig alot. I say that I had a peace about this because, I believe, God was telling me to settle down and that everything would be okay. I recognized God's 'voice'. I did think through all possible scenarios so I'd be ready for anything - as ready as one can be.

It is hard to keep my thoughts in the present. Obviously, I'm excited to see Belgium and Uzbekistan so that is always on my mind. Doug and I already talk about where we'd like his next post to be (St. Petersburg, Russia). But I know that if my thoughts do not stay in the present that will affect my future. I need to focus on getting everything together that we'll need there or my time in Tashkent will be spent figuring out what to do without certain items. That's not how I want to spend my time there. I'm setting priorities for living abroad. First priority is to keep the foundation I've built here in D.C. strong. I'm speaking of my body, spirit and mind. Secondly, my marriage and relationship with Doug. I want to support him and make his new life as easy as possible. Third is to collect and share folk tales. This, I believe will be a wonderful way to relate to local people in Uzbekistan.



Now I am concentrating on buying two years worth of consumables. Our apartment is about to be stuffed to the rafters with cases of confectioners sugar, tissues, toilet paper, granola bars, peanut butter, canned tomatoes, chickn stock and more. The hardest part is seeing the amount of money we're speding. It's no more than we would spend in an ordinary year or two - it's just that it's all at once. Ouch.



Remember the inventory list I had to make before we left St. Paul? I thought that was so much work. Well, we have to have our things insured so now I have had to put a price on every item. What a job.



Doug is still in training. This week he is finishing his General Services Officer training. This is the training that is most specific to his actual job at the embassy. Next week, he has three more training days then two consultation days.

The packers arrive Thursday to pack three shipments from our apartment: consumables, household effects (kitchen items, electronics, and books we've recently purchased) and unaccompanied baggage (clothing and more personal items we've accumulated).



I am going to post one more entry on this blog then I'm going to retire it. My next blog will be called "Back to the Desert." As I was born and raised in Phoenix and will be living the next couple years in Tashkent (also desert), I like the "full circle" effect. I intend to make the next blog better than this one. This, you know, was my practice blog. I'm going to post pictures. We have purchased a digital recorder I plan to use to post sounds of Tashkent. Maybe I'll even get fancy and post a video. No promises there. You can find my new blog at:

http://morelaurastales.blogspot.com/

Give me at least a week or two after I close "If I can . . ." before looking for any posting at that sight, please.



We can keep in touch through this blog and your comments. You can e-mail me. You can set up a (free) Skype account and we can talk and see each other. There is an 11 hour time difference between here and Tashkent (they're ahead of us) so using Skype will take some planning.