How I Came to Play in the Sandbox

In 2009, I moved from my home and job to live closer to my mother whose health was deteriorating. The only teaching job I could find was 100 miles away from her house, but in my hometown. I took it. Two weeks after moving, it was Labor Day weekend. A weekend that I will never forget. Long story short, it was when we learned my mother had 3 tumors in her brain about the size of golf balls, and she had "weeks" to live. Which was exactly true. 
I stayed at the school for the rest of the year after she died. I thought I wanted to move back to San Antonio, and I searched for a job there. Finding a job when you have 15+ years experience isn't easy. So... I took a job I thought was my dream job only to have it turn into a nightmare along with a relationship ending. 
A bit in tatters, I took a job as a nanny, as the money wasn't an issue at this point. I had no debt, because I had sold my house and paid everything off while in my hometown. ... Skip ahead 6 months... 
When my "boss" wanted me to work on Mother's Day, after the original agreement was that I would have major holidays off, I was more than a bit peeved. 
When I reminded her I should have the day off as it was a holiday, she had the nerve to ask if I was going to spend it with my children, because if not, she would like me to watch HER CHILDREN while she did something with her husband (riding horses, practicing Polo). 

So... because I lived on the property, out on their ranch, I felt forced to leave for the day. I drove into town and sat at the Starbucks cruising the internet and having coffee. My children were not near by for me to spend the day with them. 
One of my friends had sent me an email, as a joke, with the Craigslist ad for Teachaway wanting teachers in Abu Dhabi. 

Remember how angry I was with my current situation? I decided to click on the link just to check it out. 
I filled out the online questions and submitted it with my email address. In less than an hour, I had a response asking for more information, and I submitted it with a bit of surprise. 
Shortly after that I left to return to the ranch for the rest of the day, that was MY HOLIDAY. 
The next day, when I checked my email, a request to call me on the NEXT day for a phone interview. 
I responded with some very keen interest. 

After the phone interview I was asked to an in person interview 3 hours away, on Friday, just 3 days later. 
Well, I dressed as professionally as I could with a black dress and a jacket and drove the 3 hours and when they interviewed me. I was dumbfounded that I was only asked 3 questions and were trying to send me home. I explained I didn't drive 3 hours one way to be asked only 3 questions and then drive home. With a smile, the interviewer said he would be happy to ask me more questions but I would be offered a job. I have since learned they rarely tell anyone in advance, but they hire most everyone too. 

I wanted to keep my current job as long as I could in order to get my life in order. You see, I had a great deal of time every day while the children were at school. My employers also allowed me to house all my worldly possessions in their garage and the one bedroom apt. I was living in on their property. 
So I started sorting the stuff in the garage and packing it in good boxes with content labels. 

Then I rented a storage unit in the nearby small town, as it was much cheaper than the ones in the larger city. I paid a year in advance. As I put things in the storage, I created a map so if anything happened to me and my children had to deal with the storage, they would be able to tell what was in it and where to find things. 
To help with the cost of gas to and from the storage, I answered an ad on Craigslist to pet sit two wonderful bulldogs. I went to see them twice a day, once right before I went to drop off a load and in the evening when I was dropping of another load. It more than paid for the gas and helped with the cost of the boxes. 
When my bosses noticed the garage was emptying, I said I sold a good deal of it, which was true as far as school materials went. I had way too many materials for teaching Kindergarten. 
The woman in the next small town who ran a child care center bought them and actually paid me twice as much as I asked for, due to the three pickup loads she hauled away. 
One of my best friends needed a bed and I offered to give him my bedroom suite if I could stay at his house the last week or so before I would fly out. It was a very sweet deal, as I always have a place to stay when I am in the big city. 
I gave my two weeks notice, which was the 1st of June, and started making my plans for what I would do with my car and how to spend some time with my friends who were more like my family than my real family. 
The last week of June I took off trip across Route 66 

all the way to the Santa Monica Pier... so now I have had the pleasure of traveling and enjoying the sights of Route 66 from Amarillo, Texas to the end of the line in California. 

Then it was up Highway One to the top of California. I love the beach, if you haven't figured that out by now. 

Enjoyed more than a few interesting signs and people, along the way. 

 The best thing about Oregon was the fact they still pump your gas for your there. Plus I drove my car through a tree... literally, it is a roadside attraction and I marveled at the trees and knew I needed wide open spaces. 

One week was just the drive from Texas to California. The second one was Highway 101 and then once in Seattle I spent a week with my son before flying back to Texas. 

Once I returned to the Alamo City, my best friends and (now neighbors) "adopted" family came to enjoy the local sights. I love this picture of their son and his buddies at Sea World. 

We spent a week at a very nice hotel hanging out and seeing the other local sights, and then they had to return their world in my hometown. By this time it is the end of the 3rd week of July. 
Time to pack, download all cd's to my computer, and wait for the email. 
Spent the days at Jose's house, downloading all my music, reading posts on Facebook and packing (and repacking) my cases. Finally, others were posting they were receiving their itineraries and tickets but still nothing for me. I wasn't in the first group. Then around the 8th of August, I received the email I would be leaving on the 12th. 
Several teachers from Texas were planning on tying a yellow bandanna on their luggage, so I did too. The other wonderful woman who was leaving from San Antonio at the same time had a different flight at a different time. 
After finally leaving more at Jose's than I wanted to, having my hair done for the last time in quite a while, putting my cd's in storage and packing for the final time, it was time to go to the airport. 
I flew out of San Antonio to Chicago. There I changed from a domestic flight to an international flight on Royal Jordanian. While waiting for the plane I saw several teachers waiting for the same flight. The flight was not comfortable, there was an issue with the AC and it was very hot on the flight. The flight attendants would not do anything and avoided our section like the plague. I knew I would not fly them again and I haven't. 
The rest is history and the coming days will give you more insight as to what happened when the final flight landed.