Moving Pictures

. Our last few days in Villa 3, Al Fardan Gardens 4 were a whirlwind of comings and goings, energy and exhaustion.  Tuesday the packers cleared out all that we were keeping and Wednesday thru Saturday was filled with people buying everything else and hauling it away.  At least my days were filled with that. Mike's days were filled with all it takes to close down life in the Gulf region.  Clearance letters on no debt. Selling cars and making sure all the paperwork is transferred correctly, OR if not selling ,then getting them put in someone's else's name to sell later.  This requires different paperwork and more trips to various government buildings.  In the midst of this we tried not to forget to pick up Robert from school and also feed him.  Sometimes we were successful.  

As of yesterday we are completely moved out of the villa and into our friends' home for the duration.   We have good friends who will house us for awhile, and then other friends who said if these friends kick us out we can go there. :)  A back up plan in case we are lousy house guests. We are blessed with some very generous friends.  

Now that we can take a breath, I find myself replaying the last few days in my head.  The last morning I woke Robert for school in his room on his bed, that was Sallie's in Abu Dhabi.  My friends giving their time and expertise to sort and organize for the indoor garage sale. All of us laughing as we tried to make sensible piles of this and that.  Finding my dad's company lapel pen from McKee, the company he was with for most of my life.  Then there were the repeat Filipino shoppers , smiling and giggling over every item and loving the low, low,prices!  Going away and coming back with more friends two and three times...for all three days of the sale!!  Then there were the kids from the compound...harrying to find the fun stuff and really loving it when I said I was having a discount. Everything for free. ( It hit me that these 8 or so kids could carry a lot out my door, and I wouldn't need to!!). Another picture in my head was Friday night dinner. Our Kuwaiti /Palestinian/ Canadian neighbors invited us to dinner.  Just to say goodbye.  It was a nice evening and I will miss all the friends we made in the compound.  I promised my next door neighbor I would pop over in warmer weather to catch up while,they enjoyed their evening shisha time.  Lots of pictures. Lots of memories.  

Mike is packed up.  Paperwork  basically finished.  48 hours and he heads out.  We will join him later.  More adventures to come... In Kazakhstan.  Or as our friend Joy calls it...Ka-froze-istan.  

Ruth, Mike, Joy and Curt...oh and Robert resting up for the next round. 

Happy Shoppers!!

Empty Room. Full heart.

It's 4 am.  I woke up nearly an hour ago.  No matter that I kept telling myself, "You need to go back to sleep." You know, sometimes that actually does work for me.  But not right now. Not in the middle of our worldly goods being packed, sold or  and moved out the door. Not in the middle of all the hard stuff my friends back in Dallas and Kansas are going through and we aren't there.  And certainly not in the middle of thinking about all that is about to happen..soon.  Nope. Sleep is not happening.

So I lit my candle(saved from the movers) and created a safe place in the corner of the sofa that is sold but not gone yet, and decided to have some quiet time ..to write, pray and probably cry a little.

Moving is physically hard but what was harder this past week was watching the things we sold go out the door.  We are keeping  little of what we collected over the last almost 9 years in the Gulf Region. Most we are selling and giving away to our friends here in Doha.  (Still have quite a bit to sell and give away, which may account for some of the insomnia.). But it's been hard to see it go. It's what it represents that I realized was grabbing me.  Our family nights at the patio table. The birthdays celebrated at the dining table purchased weeks after arriving in Abu Dhabi.  The friends who shared heart to heart conversations on the sofas and chairs.   Coffee time with those mugs.  Teenage laughter on that ikea chair or the wicker swing in the game room.  Ryan's comforter. Sallie's planter painted just for me. Russell's fishing pole when he decompressed from Kabul and visited all those times in Abu Dhabi. That table where I sat when I learned of my brother's death. And that corner of the couch where Talitha and Russell chose their diamond for her ring.    All the stuff that bears witness to us.. To the Hildebrands. The good and yes, the bad.  Because I have done this all my life and because I know God keeps his promises, I know new adventures await. I will sleep again.  The stuff may come and go but the memories are the real treasures...and all the people in our lives who make them. Now I think I'll take that cry time I mentioned.