Empty houses look smaller . . .

. . . and much dirtier.

I am sitting on the floor of my empty house typing this. The last few days have been a mad rush of sorting, packing, organizing, cleaning and fretting.

But, as it always does, everything got done, and my stuff is now on it's way to Krakow (or at least it has left my house).

I hope it doesn't beat me there.

The consulate came through for me, and I now have my visa. But like everything else in this adventure, there's always one more thing before I can leave. Everything should be resolved in a few minutes and then I'll purchase my plane ticket.

I should be in Krakow on Monday!

In the meantime I am trying to figure out if I want to clean my dirty, empty house, or if I want to pay someone to do it for me . . .

It is really happening

It's 10:18 pm and I am exhausted.

I started the day at 6:00 am, wondering if my promise of employment would arrive, and what that meant I would need to do today. Since I couldn't sleep, I got up and started doing laundry, and organizing more of my stuff.

Good thing, cause 5 hours later, the Fedex man delivered the envelope I have been waiting nearly 5 months for. He must love his job - I saw him drive up from my office window, and was outside the door waiting for him before he was even out of the truck. I was literally dancing, and could hardly sign the weird electronic signature device.

A moment later I had the promise of employment in my hand, and was doing my version of the Lotto 649 happy dance in my kitchen.

When I finally opened the envelope, it was a bit anti-climatic. One sheet of paper. I've been waiting since February for one piece of paper. And I couldn't even read it.

It may be just one piece of paper, but apparently it is magic. I whipped off to the consulate in Toronto, and they took one look at it and said I would have my visa by Wednesday. Not really believing that it could happen that fast, I kept asking if there would be any problem getting it by Wednesday. I also asked three different people to double check my application. Finally, I asked them to call me if there were any problems, and the clerk just looked at me and said there wouldn't be any problems.

I think I have earned the right to be slightly skeptical.

When I got home, I started contacting my various coordinators to confirm the move could go ahead this week. I got a big shock when I realized that the movers were planning to come on Wednesday, instead of Thursday as I had planned.

So that prompted another mad rush of phone calls, and more mad organizing. I just gave up on that, and am planning to go to bed so I can get another early start tomorrow morning.

So much to do.

And I think I have gone through every emotion again today - anxiousness, euphoria, excitement, sadness - I realized again that I really am leaving, and it's harder than I thought.

And now I am just plain exhausted.

It's not black

Those of you who have been to my place in TO know that one of the most unique features in my unique home is my all black bathroom.

And when I say all black, I mean head to toe, floor to ceiling, black sink, black tub, black shower, black toilet black.

I've hated that bathroom since I bought the place, but figured my money could be spent better elsewhere. Oh, I and forgot to mention the other unique feature - the glass that runs all the way around the top of the bathroom, and allows guests to look down into the bathroom from the stairs. It's always been a great party trick.

Feast your eyes on my new bathroom in Krakow:

And no the bathtub is not in the living room . . .

I miss my sunroof

Spring finally reappeared yesterday in Toronto, after an all too brief showing in mid-March.

As a result, today was the first day I really missed my Subaru. I rolled down the windows on my rental, but it's just not the same as opening up the sunroof and feeling the spring breeze.

I also had my first top-down convertible sighting today, which made me realize what I really miss is my dad's Karmann Ghia convertible.

I can't remember what year the Ghia was, but it was from the early 1970s, and just like in the ad, ours was bright orange. My brothers and I got to drive it to school when we were each in our last years of high school. Boy, did I love driving that car into the high school parking lot . . .

I can't believe I said I didn't like orange a few days ago.

It just happened again!

I just called to cancel my subscription to the Globe and Mail, and when the guy asked me why, and I told him it was because I was moving out of the country, he cheerfully said " best of luck!"

Somedays it's good to be reminded of the essential good-naturedness of people.

The kindness of strangers

Today's been another rollercoaster day (see today's earlier post), but a random call just made me smile.

I am not often home when telemarketers call, and if I am, I can usually avoid them by not picking up calls from numbers I don't recognize.

However, sometimes I see numbers that I think are from my friends' cell phones (even though if I think about it, those usually display their names), and I pick up a call and get a telemarketer.

The telemarketer for the Globe and Mail just called offering me a special edition of the Sunday New York Times, which I would be interested in if I was staying in the country, and I told her so. She asked me where I was going, and when I told her, she seemed genuinely excited for me, and starting asking me more questions (which city was I going to, was I going for school, do I speak the language), and then she wished me a great trip, and good luck repeatedly.

It made me smile.

And it reminded me I have to cancel my subscription . . .

One step forward . . .

Today started on a high note when I found out that the Polish government had issued my paperwork.

My coordinators were hopeful that I would receive this last week, and as result my move was originally (re)scheduled for tomorrow. However, when it didn't come in last week, the movers were pushed back to next Thursday.

I still need to get the promise of employment in my hands and then take it to the consulate here to get the correct visa.

My euphoria quickly died when I called the consulate and asked how long it would take to get a visa (I was told no more than a few days earlier).

Voice mail: Visas take two to four weeks to process.
Me: tears

When I talked to an actual person, they said it would only take a week, and when I asked if it could be any faster, she said it's possible it could be done in 1 or 2 days.

I am keeping my fingers crossed, but at the same time, I don't want to get my hopes up again.

A quick recap:
- I found out about the possibility of the job at the end of August 2006
- I got the job in the 2nd week of Oct 2006
- I visited Krakow for the first time in the first week of Nov 2006
- I was told in Nov 2006 it would take 7-8 weeks to get the work permit
- The first official date was Feb 1st 2007
- The first official delay was Jan 25 2007
- I visited Krakow for the second time Feb 2007
- The next official date was April 1st 2007
- The next official delay was announced March 21st 2007
- The move was rescheduled last week (April 12th 2007)
- Paperwork released April 18th 2007

Who knows what's next