Success!

After months and months of organizing and planning, I have finally moved myself and my dog Siena to Grand Cayman. As most of you know, Bob has been working here for Deloitte as a Senior Accountant since January. I think one word best sums up my feelings right now, "Phew". 

Preparation: The list of things I had to do to get here was enormous. Sell the house, sell the cars, pay off any debt, cancel any subscriptions or utilities, pack the house, move the house, store our stuff . . . the list seemed to go on and on. The biggest challenge was preparing the dog. There was a lot of red tape to get through with the Cayman government and the airline. Lots of restrictions and rules! I won't bore you with the details :)

Travel: Tuesday my dad drove Siena and I to Chicago. Pets cannot be on flights that last over 12 hours and that includes check in time and layovers.  So, we chose to do part of the trip in the car. The dog does well in the car and the 12 hour trip actually felt fast. We stayed the night at the Holiday Inn by the airport, which was interesting. It was a little weird being there with the dog, but she did a good job and didn't bark much or destroy anything. Wednesday was the big flight from Chicago to Cayman via Miami. I was SO worried that she didn't get on the plane or would get hurt or die on the plane that it wasn't a very pleasant flight for me. Luckily, everything must have gone alright for her because she made it here.

Arrival:  Siena looked so sad on the luggage carousel but perked up after a little food and fresh water. She had been drinking all day out of one of those hamster water things that is larger and made for dogs. I bet that was tedious for her.

A New Home: Today has been our first full day in Cayman. After handling some of important business (Bob's car inspection and registration that was a month overdue) the pup and I went to the beach for a quick intro to the ocean! The waves are very small and gentle, and Siena walked right in the water. She followed me until she reached the point that her torso would be in the water and swimming was necessary. She's never been in water like that before, so we will have to kinda teach her to swim. That is the project for saturday. I'm just getting her acquainted with the water now. Surprisingly, she didn't try to drink the water at all. She was much more interested in smelling the area under the trees were I put my towel. And chasing the wild chickens and stray dogs. Man, is she going to love it here!

The apartment was all nice and tidy when I arrived, but now is a total disaster. My plan this next week is to do some painting and organizing of the kitchen and bathroom. Right now they are both kinda gross and have lots of left over chemicals and pots and dishes from previous renters. 

I'm not looking for a job right now, I'm going to take some time to get things organized and situated first. Right now Bob likes the idea of Unemployed Christina. I'm like the super hero that does everything for the house and our life here. I don't think I would call myself a "homemaker" right now. I think I like the term "CEO and COO of Christina and Bob". Bob's the "CFO", for those of you that were wondering. Did I make up COO? 

I'm not sure how I will do with the whole "blogging" thing. Keep checking in, I hope to post at least once a week!