30 Days.

It is official that I am moving to Bundang, South Korea in one month! I received my e-ticket a couple of days ago and as of July 26th, I will leave this place referred to as the dirty south and head to the "sparkling" soko. Southern comfort goes global.

My 30 day checklist has been slowly dwindling....

I have a renter for my house that I own here in Atlanta, she is a friend who will technically be my roommate, but I won't be there until Christmas and in the summer. Essentially I will live in the guest bedroom of my house when I return to the states and the house is all hers. Given this economic climate and the number of foreclosures and for sale homes in my complex, I feel very blessed to still keep my home and have someone helping with the cost...even though my taxes went up and has increased my payment by almost 30 percent. That "American Dream" is a fallacy. It ain't for everyone. I miss apartment living.

I hired a moving company. They are the same movers who moved me into my first home. I was so excited THEN! They were reasonable and didn't complain like my previous moving company about their job..Two Men and a Truck...you suck! I was excited to find out that their rates actually were less than before. Thank goodness. If you ever need a mover and want to support black business, call B & B movers in Decatur, GA.

My other dilemma was storage. It is freaking expensive! I realized that I don't really need my storage nearby...since I am over 7000 miles away anyway. So I picked a unit to hold my precious belongings for my tenure abroad that is out of the city. So instead of paying almost 150-200 bucks for an air-conditioned first floor unit, I got the same dimensions and features for 66 bucks. It is just a little further.

I scheduled a carpet cleaning for my new "roomie" so she can have a fresh and clean house to move in her stuff.

I got a quote from CarMax for my lovely Toyota Camry about a month ago. So I will be selling that to them in a week or so. I will miss that car! I won't miss car payments, insurance and gas though. 1 point SOKO for great public transportation.

Have I packed yet? Heck no. But I did...

order myself a military style duffel bag not exceeding the 62 inches as stated on Delta. Delta will tax your ass for some bags. Read this from their website:

You'll be charged an excess baggage fee each time you go over any one of the free allowances.

For example, if you have an extra piece of baggage that goes over the weight limit and the size limit, then you'll be charged 3 times:

once for the extra bag,
once for going over the size limit, and
once for going over the weight limit.

I was like hell no! I am mooooving to Korea. So I would rather pay for the extra bags and try to keep them under the size limit and weight limit. I can't rely on my flirting mechanisms to get me out of those extra fees.

Additionally, I am traveling with TWO meow mixes (cats for all you laymans). Lint and Lola. I believe that if you make a commitment to a pet, all measures should be taken to keep them if you can. I love those two.

Anyway, I have one who will have to travel cargo due to the embargo (nice rhyme) on the weather. So I can't check him in. I pray that the weather is not 85 degrees when i drop him off in the morning at the air cargo. I doubt it will be though. The PetFirst customer service rep stated that it just couldn't be over that temp when I dropped him off and I must drop off four hours in advance. So since Delta operates only one flight to SOKO and it leaves around 11am. Lint should be cool. His ticket will be about 220.

I bought Lola a ticket to fly under the seat with me in the cabin. Her ticket is 100 bucks. However, I guesstimated that she weighs ten pounds. I took her to the vet and I am off by a few. She is 14 lbs in her plastic carrier! I knew she was chubby but damn! I have her on a strict Atkins diet of chicken breast and lean meat. She has to help me out and lose some weight. I would hate to have someone deny her on the plane. She is small, but rotund. She is currently on a regular workout regimen. Let's cross our fingers she fits in the new cloth carrier I bought her on Amazon. It should be here next week.

My other friend has bought my 50 inch plasma tv. Thank goodness! I really did not want to store that thing.

I am excited! Wooohooooo!