China to Chile: July 2010

Thursday, July 29, 2010

Organized Chaos

This picture pretty much sums up my life right now. I'm not used to living like this. I like structure. Everything has a place...um, and it doesn't belong on the floor. Isn't it hard to look around one's house and realize that everything that's here needs to go somewhere else? Currently, I'm spending more time with the people I love than I am on these piles and that's ok, because when the piles are gone the real chaos begins!

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

10 Random Thoughts

I'm not in Chile yet but I am starting to feel like I'm not yet really here anymore either. I can't come up with anything concrete to write about pertaining to one topic so I guess I'll just try to formulate my thoughts into a list.

1. Kind of ironic that my first day of work in Chile will be exactly the same as it would have been had I kept my current teaching job. (Friday the 13th? Not sure how I feel about that either way)

2. I can't seem to stop eating avocados almost daily although they will still be a main staple in my diet very soon.

3. People are starting to ask me if I'm freaking out yet and I continue to say no. When will I say yes?

4. It's been so hot here this summer that for the first time in my life I think I might be excited about putting on a sweater in a few weeks.

5. I spent 500 bucks on a kitty cardiology appointment today and when good news accompanies it it's amazing how you just don't really care how much it costs.

6. I borrowed a luggage scale from a friend and just weighed my first suitcase with a whole lot of stuff in it and I'm only at 26.5 pounds so far. Score.

7. My cell phone is now a piece of crap. It doesn't ring anymore and when half of my friends call it restarts itself and goes straight to voicemail. I guess it's good practice for my future piece of crap Nokia.

8. At my house right now (where only one person is currently residing) there are 2 cars, 3 computers, 2 ipods, and 2 Kindles. I can rationalize some of this, but seriously, why bother? Ridiculous.

9. Perfect timing that I get to see my whole family at my brother's wedding right before I leave.

10. I really hope that living in Chile sparks my interest in cooking some more. I love foods that are good for me but love them so much more when someone else cooks them for me. This is so not a part of my gene pool...not sure what happened.

Sunday, July 11, 2010

Precious Pets

A perk of owning only one cat? By definition it makes one a cat OWNER, not a crazy cat lady. (or so I maintain...) I know I made the right decision many years ago when I opted for a cat rather than a dog. My family had dogs growing up, so I never considered that I would ever choose a cat. My main rationale at the time: my selfish lifestyle and me wanting to come and go as I pleased. In my opinion, a dog is a two-person job at the very least. I didn't want to have to plan my social life around my dog's schedule or feel guilty when I had to run home and let him out and then watch his sad eyes as I slowly tried to sneak out the door again. I soon learned that I would feel just as guilty about leaving my cat at home alone and that he would look at me with those same "What? You're leaving again?" eyes. I have to say that I sufficiently projected many dog-like qualities onto Cameron. He greets me at the door when I come in, he goes outside on a harness/leash thingy, he licks my face when I wake up in the morning, and he begs for anything fish or poultry related. He hasn't quite graduated to eating salad like Abby's cat, but he sure does sit and beg for treats out of the cabinet well.

Not to mention his human-like qualities...he texts?!?

Lately I'm just feeling really guilty about leaving my little guy behind. Well, he's not so little anymore, that's part of the problem since he is now 11! I know cats live a long time but I worry about him adjusting to life at my parent's house so much that he won't re-adjust well to living with me again, (I'm pretty sure he loves their place more than mine anyway) or that I won't come back to the US in a year and I'll have to ask them to keep him, or put him in a crate and ship him to Chile...

I think I'm getting a little ahead of myself, but I can't help but worry about the changes to his lifestyle. I'm not sure, how many people bring their pets with them to other countries when they permanently move? For those of you that have acquired pets in Chile and may return to the US at some point, do you just pack up the crate and say "Hold on to your fur, we're taking a little trip!?!"