Goodbye, Sheila!

I sold the car today! The new owner will be picking "Sheila" up tomorrow after work. Sheila is what I named my car. Actually my friend Rachel named her and it just stuck.

My cousin Kate informed me the other day that "sheila" is actually slang in Australia/New Zealand for a female. I looked it up to get the details. Here is what I found out:

"Sheila"is a worshiping word for a beautiful mysterious woman that one of your mates knows on a first name basis, but you have never met. It is also a possessive term used for one's girl, lover, or CSP. I wasn't sure what a CSP was, so I looked it up. Casual Sex Partner. And now I am informed...

It's been a great two years, Sheila.

I'll be borrowing a car from my parents for the next month and a half. I can't believe how close it is to my departure! Still no visa though... I am calling tomorrow to check on whether or not it has been shipped to me yet. I really really want to have that in hand, so I can turn in my notice at work and push forward with my travel arrangements. Roundtrip tickets to Australia right now are running about $750 with taxes included. Not too shabby!

Selling the car takes care of one of my big accomplishments. Now I am down to just the one monster: the house. I am closer to finishing that monster day by day though. Today my brother and I framed in around the bathtub and I put up the rest of the sheetrock in the master bath. Next week, I have someone coming to lay the wood floors in my kitchen. Since the new wood is slightly different than the old wood, I am going to stain it really dark and it's going to look amazing! I am finally getting to a point for the finishing touches on most of the rooms, so I can finally clean out the junk and tools and have a real "home" to come to, although I will be leaving it soon!

This should be the week...

I should have my visa in the mail by the end of the week. Once I have that in hand, I am good as gone! Won't be leaving until mid June but it'll still be nice to have a solid visa in my possession so I am that much closer to departure.

Still have a lot to do on the house before I leave, but should make some major headway on my kitchen and master bath this week. I have a guy potentially coming this week to lay down my wood floors in the kitchen and I am working on the plumbing for the master bath this week. I have tile already for the floor and the only thing I am lacking to buy is a countertop and the tile for the shower surround.

I parked my car in the front yard today with a for sale sign on it. I plan to park it there everyday near the street until it's gone. I really need to get that thing sold. That'll be a big step.

So my focus for May is FINISHING THE HOUSE and SELLING THE CAR. I'm getting there.

First steps

I mailed my visa application last week and now I am waiting to hear back on its status. Not sure how long it will take. Hopefully not too long. Seven more weeks to my planned departure. Wow, that's not really that far off...