As regular readers know, I am not working outside the home anymore, but am "project managing" our move to Mexico. I am a very organized person and I really like to work efficiently....but project managing is harder than I thought!

The way I look at it is I need to work backwards from our desired result - which is to be moving to Mexico by September or October of this year. Pretty much all the work around the house needs to be completed by the time we put the house on the market, or early May.

We live in a rural area, on ten acres. Our house is about 30 years old. We have a vegetable garden with about 15 raised beds, a couple acres of grass, and numerous fruit trees, grape vines, and perennial beds. It rains a lot here so there is always painting, gutter cleaning and repairs to do. I'm sure once it stops raining for a few days and I can get started outside I will feel better about our progress.

So, here's my schedule:

March 1-15 - Get bids for painting. Hire handyman. Call landscapers. Call fence company. Get floor refinishing bids. Find a new home for our Maximillian Pionus, Maya. Get Nancy's new laptop all set up.

March 15-31 - Garage sale March 24/25. Have fence repairs done. Start landscaping cleanup. Turn the office back into a bedroom.

April 1-15 - Get handyman to make repairs here and there. Install tile in TV room. Paint master bedroom. Paint upstairs bathroom.

April 15-30 - Pump septic tank, test well water, have furnace & heat pump inspected. Have ceilings, basement room, and outside trim painted. Have wood floors refinished, install new carpet in basement. Interview realtors.

May 1-15 - Trip to Mazatlan to secure housing. Nancy appointment with new dentist. (that's a long story)

May 15 - List house with realtor. Paul gives three months notice at work.

July-August - Sell house! Hold second garage sale where we sell everything! See if it will all fit in the van. If not, see about options for movers. Assemble paperwork required for FM3. Sell Paul's car. Make arrangements for mail forwarding. Maybe a quick trip to Mazatlan for paperwork relating to housing. Set up Mexican bank account.

Couple weeks before we move: Have a party!

Week before we move: Get health certificates for the dogs and parrot.

September/October: Load the van & drive!

I know I'm downplaying a lot of the tasks - like "securing housing" in Mazatlan. That could be an easy task, or it could be hard. The place we like may need some remodeling or repairs. Selling our house here could drag out. There are a lot of variables.

In addition to this we still have our normal life going on - with meetings, volunteering, family get togethers, etc. We're not really "out" to everyone about our move - for example I haven't told the community newspaper where I volunteer doing their website yet. (I will this week) Paul's boss only knows it will be "before the end of the year."

Why is it that when you are excited with anticipation for something new to come that time moves so slowly?