House Sale

This weekend is our Moving to Ecuador sale.  We pulled everything out and put into boxes yesterday.  Even if it doesn't sell, at least it will be boxed up and ready for The Salvation Army.  The kitchen is completely done except for the food cupboards.  There are a few things I left for cooking, and of course the pans I am bringing with us.  The neighbors are also having a garage sale, so around 3:00 Mark decided to put signs up since we had everything ready for the most part.  We sold about $120 worth of stuff.  Hopefully today will be a good day.  Jill and her husband, Wayne, stopped over and bought a few things. 

Yesterday we went and looked at a cargo van for the drive to Miami.  Patrick is going to go with us and make the return drive himself.  I am worried about him driving that whole way alone.  The reason we are asking him to drive it back is because the drop-off fee is ridiculous.  If we drop it off in Miami it costs $1600 vs. $341 to bring it back.  I wish we could get the 15 seater so he could have someone go with him, but you need a major credit card and all of our cards are closed.  Plus, with all of our luggage I'm not sure they would fit in the 15 seater since the seats take up most of the room.

I got our marriage certificate in the mail to be apostilled by the state of Pennsylvania.  Our birth certificates are in the mail and the kid's birth certificates should be arriving today or Monday.  I was really surprised by how nice and helpful the woman at Vital Statistics was.  She pulled the birth certificates for us and expedited the process.  Customer service still lives in some government agencies.  :)

My last day of school was nice.  15 kids showed up.  They got the room cleaned up in no time.  At the end of the day the girls started crying because they were going to miss each other.  Cathy and I were in disbelief.  They tortured each other all year and now they are sobbing?  It was pretty funny.  Then they sat on the floor in a circle and each one told their favorite 4th grade moment.  Many of them picked Put-in-Bay.  Then they all turned into a row on the ground facing us and made Cathy and I tell our favorite 4th grade moment.  They followed that will a huge group hug around us. 
They were still looking through the window into our room on the way down the hall lamenting about how much they were going to miss being in 4th grade.  We just shook our heads.  Unbelievable.  LOL

After work I went out with Erin and Mollie for a last hoorah.  Deanna and Danelle showed up later.  We had a good time, but I was feeling bad about not being at home with Mark on our last day so I left early. 

Mark just did some calculations on the van rental and with everything added up including extra days for Patrick to drive back, gas, a hotel room for Pat, and paying him it ends up only being a difference of $350.  So, I am thinking we should just drop it off.  That will give us more room in the van for the kids and then Patrick won't have to drive it home by himself.  That would make me feel so much better.

We are still working on getting all of our stuff and ourselves from Quito to Cuenca.  I thought I had someone lined up, but I didn't realize that all he had was an SUV.  That will not cut it.  No way will all of our stuff fit.  But, James and Caroline Drummond are working really hard on finding someone to get us there.  They said that we don't have to worry.  They will find us a way to get our family there safe and sound.  The expat community is so nice and helpful.  It really is a great group of people.  I have seen time and time again expats already living in Ecuador come to the aid of people moving there or just visiting.  It is such a supportive group.  I am looking forward to joining them.