From great to horrible in 24 hours

The last 24 hours have truly been an emotional roller-coaster. Last night me and Dave went and had a great dinner with my former GM of the last two years and his wife. Great food and great company. Afterwards we met up with whom ever wanted to join us for a beer. We are running out of time visiting with people individual, sucks i know, but we still wanted to see some of the amazing people we have gotten to know in these two and a half years here in the dessert. We went to a local watering hole and had a great time until closing. I will for sure miss some of them a bunch. Thanks to each and one of you because whether or not you might realize it, i have learned and grown because of you. It doesn't happen too often but i couldn't miss out on the opportunity to make lasting memories and stand in front of the camera with some amazing women!

Then, 12 hours after this picture was taken my smile turned upside-down as the realization of Casper's departure was happening today. By dinner time my best Buddy left for his new home. Crying for hours, my eyes, heart and face are still hurting from all the sobbing and great memories we shared. And the ache of the emptiness that he leaves behind. He was truly a great dog and i know that he is with great people, but it still doesn't make it any easier. I am just grateful that i will get updates and pictures of his future journey and can see that he is doing great. It will take time to adjust to not being bombarded as you walk in the door, or pestered while slicing cucumbers until i give in and give him his share, or being stepped on because he cant get close enough while getting loved....... 

The last 24 hours have truly been an emotional roller-coaster!....

Getting closer

The light is getting closer and closer. I have started my countdown and with that comes my very annoying new friend; mr Stress. 

I am down to seven shifts left to work. Seven shifts! Its so close i can almost touch it.

 Dave came with me today to pick up my passport and with that all our paperwork for our move home is complete. Yay! Its so nice to have it all done and not having to worry about it anymore. If he wasn't working tonight i am pretty sure we would have celebrated! 

The next two weeks will be hectic but i know that it will be all worth it in the end. So now on to; sorting through our last belongings, getting rid of all that is not going, selling two cars, renting a car for Colorado, cleaning through the house, getting the walk-through done, shipping the last things, having a get together with friends we will miss, and saying good bye to Casper. And this in only two weeks. Wish my luck!

Passport and shopping

Was hoping that today's trip up the the Swedish consulate in Scottsdale was going to be my last, but no. I did file my application for an emergency, or provisional, passport. Because mine expired and i am not feeling like making a trip to Washington DC, i am taking a shortcut and getting this kind of passport. It will serve the same purpose as a regular passport but will only be valid for six months. Oh well, thats long enough for me to get back and make a new passport in sweden this summer. Since the consulate is only blocks away from my favorite mall here in AZ, i figured i might as well go shopping. I am going to miss this mall and the fact that every store is not packed with people. I hate shopping when its busy but i guess i will have to get use to that again.....

Hopefully i will be able to pick up my passport in the middle of next week and with that in hand all our paperwork and endless applications and dealings with government agencies are over! So looking forward to that!

Its time to make lemonade.....

....because i have a shit ton of lemons! 

I think this country just want to milk every dollar out of me that they can get. Its like it knows we are leaving and it needs to capitalize on it. I re-chipped a tooth the other day at work, that i chipped a while back and today i had enough courage to go to the dentist. I hate that place. If i never have to step a foot in a dentist office ever again, i would die one happy camper! Well, thats not going to happen since i have already made my next appointment. But i guess on the flip side i will be on Valium for the first time ever so hopefully Dave doesn't have to drag me to the office. I chipped my darn tooth deep enough that i need a root canal done. Well, its going to be two first that day cause i have never had one of them either.... The lady was nice enough to warn me that i will need someone to drive me and pick me up because i should not be driving while hooped up on valium, so my wonderful hubby of mine took the day off of work so that he can care for me. Yay!.... 

Well hopefully tomorrow will be a better day!

Arrival

With the residence permit in the bag it was time to buy our tickets. Took us about five min to complete the transaction. We have had our eyes on the world of tickets for the last eight months and knew exactly the date, departure and route that we wanted. July 18th is the day we will once again walk on Swedish grounds. Kind of weird to only buy oneway tickets.... But its done! I am glad we did because Dave went online to just double check bag limits and weight limits etc and the same tickets an half hour later already went up over $70 per person....

Be ready, on the 18th us and our luggage of nearly 300lbs will touch down in Stockholm!