Time

Time is slipping away daily. Things that I thought happened months ago just happened a few weeks ago. Halloween is coming, and we have one month left in our Gainesville house until our big December plan, whatever that is. So here's the update.

We finally secured a house in St. Kitts! It's a nice place, close to school. A bit pricey, but it is nice. We paid for that huge expense, first and last months rent. We have our plane tickets Dec 30th. We have most of the supplies we need, a car almost paid off we bought for 4k. The expenses are dizzying. We're lucky to be pulling this off. Some people on Jeanann's facebook who are supposed to be going in January are short on funds, and may have to drop out. We have been lucky to get this far, and we'll make it down there.

Everyone wants to know what our December plans are. So here's the thoughts going through our heads. Jeanann wants to drive back and forth across the country to see everyone, and get the kids together. I want to see everyone also, BUT the biggest problem is time. I don't finish school until Dec 8th, and that assumes I've done well enough in my classes to be able to skip finals week through the 16th or something. If I need to stay to take a final, I'm staying so I can graduate. That doesn't leave enough time to drive as much as we would need to.

Of course, funding. We've paid nearly every big expense left to get down there to the island other than shipping some things (about $100 per barrel from a sea freight co). It's questionable we'd have enough to afford all this travel just before going down to the island. I'm freaking out a little since I'd rather have some funds left when we arrive down there, than to spend every last dollar before getting on the plane. The tradeoff is our kids won't get to meet some of our family for a few years. Not sure which is worse.

We're thinking of alternative plans. (which we haven't discussed with anyone). Maybe we can drive to Texas and visit Larry and Erica, hoping Liz and Ryan can visit. Jeanann can fly to CA to drop off the bird and fly back, then we can drive to NC to see some friends, until finally driving down to Miami a few days early to ship stuff before flying out (stopping by Jeananns family on the way if time permits).

Getting to the island and settling in will be so nice after the hectic craziness we've been putting ourselves preparing for all this. Not to mention I have some demanding classes I absolutely must graduate from. If I don't graduate, I can't take my online Masters program. We'll need the few hundred a month extra I could get from Stafford loans to really afford living down there.

Another thing about all this is my income is not settled. I may be able to pull in some money, maybe not. Depending on a few factors (graduation, VA stuff, unlikely work opportunities down there).

So we're surfing this crazy turn of events, and hoping for the best. We've prepared better than anyone possibly could, but dealing with some of this uncertainty makes study time for my senior semester dizzying.

Happy Halloween! We have pics of the island trip, video, and all sorts of stuff. Just no time to upload edit and post them for all to see!