byootaful

On Saturday morning, I took Puddy to her new home.

She was pretty good in the car and didn’t whine much. She seemed to be calmer when I had music playing, and sort of rested her head against the speaker in the passenger’s door. She meowed a few times so I poked a couple of my fingers into her carrier through the gaps – she came over from the other side and grabbed hold of them with her paw. I, of course, burst into tears.

The drive took about an hour and a half. About half an hour before we got there, Puddy had a little accident. I don’t know if it was from fear, or she just really had to go, but my poor little cat did a number two in her carrier – something she has never done before. I had to pull over to get rid of  the mess since I didn’t want to hand over a cat covered in poop. It was quite funny, driving along trying not to breathe through my nose, begging Puddy to stay still and not stand on it, all the while searching for a safe place to pull over. I gave myself a mental high-five for putting two towels in the carrier – it meant I could just remove the top one and Puddy was left with a fresh one to sit on.

With the windows wound down, we continued on until we reached her new home. I must admit, I was holding myself together pretty well. It was almost surreal – you know, when you know what’s going to happen but it doesn’t seem like it’s real? It felt like I was just going to visit a friend except with my cat in tow. It hadn’t quite sunk in that I’d be driving home without her.

I brought Puddy in first and put her on the lounge room floor, still in her carrier, while I brought in all her supplies from the car. I didn’t realise how much cat-related things we’ve accumulated over the years. Wet food, dry food, mousies, scratching posts, water dishes, litter boxes – the list goes on! After ensuring all the doors were tightly closed, I let Puddy out. Immediately she started walking around, sniffing everything. She somehow looked comfortable, like she already owned the place. It made me feel a bit better, because it meant she would settle in a lot easier. We sat and had a drink while Puddy checked out the house. She ventured upstairs and I followed her out of curiosity. The first thing she did was head to the wardrobe in one of the boy’s rooms. It had been left ajar and she tried to squeeze her head through the gap, but she didn’t quite fit. Typical Puddy – she loves her wardrobes.

About an hour after we arrived, I suddenly felt it was time for me to go. I felt if I didn’t leave, I would stay there for the next two years. It’s hard to explain but it just felt like it was “time” for me to go. I scooped Puddy up and gave her a hug and a kiss and said goodbye. I told her I was going to miss her and I hope she’s very happy here with K and the boys. Let me tell you – it is very dissatisfying saying goodbye to an animal. While I was feeling all emotional and hugging her, Puddy was looking around at the house, completely disinterested in me or what I was saying. I could feel tears brimming, so I put her down, said my goodbyes and thankyous, and left. I got to the car, smiled and waved, backed out of the driveway, turned the corner… and burst into tears. Not delicate, sniffly tears, but heaving, horrendous, manic tears. I had to pull over because I couldn’t see through the blur. After a few minutes, I calmed down and drove off.

I spent most of the trip either crying or holding back tears (which would inevitably brim over anyway, so why was I bothering to try?). I think the thing that got me the most is that a) I won’t see her again for a long time and b) wondering about what she might be thinking – that I’ve abandoned her mostly. K is on Facebook and said she would post photos so we’d be able to see how she’s settling in, which is a really nice gesture and something I didn’t even think of. It will be nice knowing I can still see how she’s doing, even when I’m in Canada.

This week has been really hectic. Phill and I moved in with our friends on the same day I took Puddy to her new home, so I think it still hasn’t sunk in that she’s gone. I feel like we’re on holidays, that Puddy will be there when we get back – but we’re not actually going back to our old house at all. I’ve found myself missing her at night when she used to come and snuggle up to my side under the doona, even missing her cold little paws.

In two years, I’ll see her again.

I wonder if she will remember me.

So the server-relocation on the weekend didn’t exactly go to plan, with my blog dead for a few days… oops!

Looks like it’s fixed now, thank goodness! Watch out for a new post tonight. Have a great day everyone!

I’ve done a lot of packing in my time, mostly for holidays. Choosing what to take, what you’ll need, what can stay behind – that’s all part of the fun. Then, making it fit into the suitcase, worrying about the weight restriction and whether you’ll be able to lug it down the stairs and into the car. Wondering if you’ve packed enough underwear – don’t forget your bikini and of course, the sunscreen.

But this packing? The packing I’ve done today? That’s not holiday packing. It’s not even moving house packing. It’s moving country packing and that is something I’ve never, ever done before. If I’m being honest, it’s a little intimidating. I’ve got to think really long-term. This isn’t some short three-week holiday. This is two years.

We’re moving house this weekend. We still have the house for another two weeks, so it’s not essential that everything moves, but we’re pretty determined to get it all done, since we don’t want it dragging on. I’ve had Channel [V] pumping all afternoon as I pack away the plates, bowls and glasses in the kitchen. I forgot to put on the dishwasher this morning, so I’m currently having a little break while I wait for the pots to finish washing, so I can pack them. I’ve already done the clothes (Phill has about twice as much clothes as I do – that’s a little scary!), packing them all into our suitcases. We’ll repack before we leave Australia in September – right now, we’ve culled our clothes down to the essentials, already packing non-essentials in vacuum bags for storage.

Sounds organised, right?

We host this blog from home, so there might be a little down-time while we move, since we’ll need to move the tower. It shouldn’t be down for long, but just a heads up in case you try to visit and find the blog isn’t working. Hopefully we’ll be able to keep it at someone’s house while we’re gone, otherwise I might have to go over to blogger or something (and I’d rather not). I’ll add that to my “to-do-before-boarding-that-plane” list.

Tomorrow morning, at 11am is when I’m taking Puddy to her new family. It’s been on my mind a lot today, especially since Puddy’s been very clingy, trying to jump into the box I’m packing things into, or rubbing up against my legs while I’m trying to walk. It’s weird but I think she suspects something and is on her best behaviour. Tomorrow is going to be very, very hard and I’m not looking forward to it, but I know it has to happen, so I just need to get it over and done with. I’m going to miss Puddy like crazy.

I predict plenty of wine and chocolate tomorrow. And tissues. Plenty of tissues.

I can’t believe that this weekend, Phill and I will be moving out of our house in preparation of leaving the country! We’re not heading overseas straight away – we’re moving in with some friends of ours until our departure, since they offered and it will save us a bit of rent money. It also means we can do away with this townhouse in advance, giving us plenty of time to clean it until it sparkles, tend to the garden and fight to get the bond back (isn’t it always a fight? Sigh). So Phill and I have been spending our nights after work packing our lives into cereal boxes. It’s such a strange feeling.

I’m excited, but nervous. I’m happy, but sad. There’s such a mixture of emotions. A part of me can’t wait to leave Australia, but another part is absolutely terrified about what lies ahead. Making new friends, finding a new job, learning a new culture, learning how to tip (we generally don’t tip in Australia), finding where to buy Tim Tams and Vegemite – there’s a lot of changes coming and sometimes changes are scary.

Perhaps the biggest change (and the saddest for me) will be this Saturday, when I bundle Puddy into the car and drive her to her new home. I am not looking forward to it; in fact, I’m dreading it. It’s going to be incredibly hard to say goodbye and no doubt I will be driving home with a few tears on my cheeks. While I take Puddy, Phill is going to be moving our things out of our house and into our friends’. A part of me wonders whether he didn’t want to have to face giving Puddy away. I have to keep reminding myself that she’s going to a loving home with a family we know and that she’ll still be there when we get home.

Doesn’t make it easy, but it does help. A little.

We’ve still got plenty of things to pack and a few more dump-runs, but we’re getting there. The house is clearing out pretty quickly and we’ve only got a few large appliances left, and we know where most of those are going, it’s just a matter of moving them out. This weekend, our house will pretty much be empty and we’ll have moved out. In just over a month, we’ll be boarding the plane.

It’s all happening too fast! (Or not fast enough, I can’t decide!)

Things have been pretty quiet around here lately and it’s because I’ve been crazy busy with planning that thing I couldn’t tell you about. I couldn’t tell you because I didn’t want to end up in that awkward situation when your boss finds out you’re quitting your job via your blog, before you have a chance to give notice. Unfortunately, it happened anyway. Not via the blog, because obviously I haven’t written about it, but somehow my boss found out that I was planning on resigning and summoned me to the office to question me. I said yes, I’m leaving, and gave notice the next day. Originally, I was planning on giving three week’s notice (which is what is required) but now they are getting six week’s, because we’re not leaving until early September.

So… I’ve resigned from my job and we’re leaving in September… what is going on??

I can now share with you all, our next big adventure… Phill and I are moving to Canada!

We’re going on a two-year working holiday visa, something we’ve never done before. We’ve done a fair bit of traveling but we’ve never lived and worked overseas, so we’re really excited. We are going over with a bunch of our friends (some of whom have done this before). For our friends, it was their last chance before they hit the cut-off age; for us, it was a chance to get away, try something new and experience living and working in a completely different country, and going with friends was just an added bonus.

Are you wondering about Puddy? I feel terrible leaving her behind and I am going to miss her so much, but she is going to live with our friend’s sister while we are away, so she will be well cared for. Originally, Puddy was going to stay with our friend but she owns a dog and the first meeting didn’t go too well. Well, it went okay, but all it took was for Puddy to make a sudden move and they’d be at each other. I didn’t like seeing Puddy skulking around our friend’s house, obviously nervous and stressed. The stress on Puddy, and the dog, and our friend and her husband would just be too hard, so her staying with our friend’s sister is a happy solution for everyone. Puddy was starting to get confident in our friend’s house, so I think removing the stress of another animal in the house will mean she’ll settle in nicely. When we come back, we’ll take her back – I just couldn’t imagine giving her away permanently!

I’m planning on keeping this blog going while we’re away but it will turn into a travel blog, because obviously there will be no cat to obsess over (sad face). I’m saving up to buy an awesome camera when we leave because I know how beautiful Canada is and I want to be able to take photos that does it justice. It will also be good to have a way of connecting with my family and friends while we’re away. I hope you’ll stay with me and this blog while we’re away – I promise regular posts! It’s just been so hard getting on here and not being able to talk about our plans, but now it’s all out in the open, so I can!

So… exciting? Heck yes!

Scary? YUP!

But exciting. So very exciting!