Getting ready to be ready

The accelerated purge continues briskly.  We had an online sale of furniture and big items, then a yard sale, then a "come by my house and take what you want for free" day and now we're into the next to last phase, where I call specific people I know who might want X and ask them to take it off my hands.  The last phase begins tomorrow, where I donate big boxes to people from church and put what's left outside by my trash after sending a curb alert to my compound Facebook group.  STUFF!  Why do I have so much stuff?!  So much for living lighter, huh?

In the meantime, we are packing sporadically. We are in a fight with the airlines regarding the husband's many frequent flier miles that they are now not letting him use to purchase extra baggage, even though in theory that's exactly what they should be for.  If they don't acquiesce, our shipment home will be a bit bigger than planned and I have to repack everything I have already packed as I reduce our checked luggage by half.  I love packing but I do not enjoy repacking!  So this has been a challenge for me to accept, making me move very...slowly...through these tasks as I try to convince myself I should just wait until it's all resolved.

And there is so much else to do that's so much more fun!  Like going away parties: we had one by the pool this weekend and another at a fabulous restaurant where we had more sushi than I could eat.  I've gotten so many unexpected gifts from my friends, both tangible and intangible, and lots of farewell emails, so I am starting to feel like perhaps we accomplished more than I thought we had here!  They boys have been able to see many of their friends, which has made them happy, and we've squeezed in visits to their favorite roller coaster in a mall, a UNESCO world heritage site fort we never got around to visiting, and a new park with a mini-zoo and a giant playground.  The husband even got to ride a camel finally, which is something I have avoided because camels (and MERS) give me the willies just a bit!

Ready for the roller coaster!

Glass from the Qatari archeological site.

Al Zubarah Fort, a UNESCO world heritage site.

Camel love. 

Camel riding.

You can't hear me telling E to avoid getting kicked in this picture.

3D sculpture wall.

Zebras!

Awesome climbing structure!

Amphitheater on one side, skateboard park on the other, mini-golf in the
distance, zip-line at the plaground, aviary...this place is awesome!
Too bad we're leaving....