Things are getting heavy

Okay…when you make the decision to do a move of this magnitude you have got to be ORGANIZED and have a plan. I’m really good at the planning part and only somewhat good at the organizational stuff…somewhat. Truthfully I have always been the “Big Idea” girl. One time I went into business with one of my best friends a few years ago and we were sooooo excited. We thought we were knowledgeable and would complement each other really well. At least until realized that we were both “big idea people” and we both totally sucked at handling the details. Needless to say our business folded very quickly…and ended our bid for “world domination”.
The thing I am kvetching about now is there is now a situation connected with my move that is forcing me to acknowledge that I am the person that loves painting the broad strokes and forecasting the end results; and in my world the results are always “fabulous”; however it is the small details that can completely derail you if you are not careful. This move is also forcing me to recognize that I HATE the nuts and bolts of making things work BUT that I HAVE gain the skills quickly to help me realize that moving abroad has lots of little moving parts. It is true that I have done well with the broad strokes. I took action and decided where and when to move, mapped how to make it work financially. I feel I’ve made a very good career choice for living abroad. I understand the ins and outs of how I will be able to stay in Spain after my tourist visa runs out and very importantly, I AM totally flexible with having to go to a country other than Spain for a short term assignment for work if the need arises. I bought my ticket, did the research to take my dog and I EVEN have a couple of vacations planned once I arrived. Hell, I have a back up to my back up plan! That being said why is it that I can’t keep up with the simplest of things and I haven’t even left the country?!? UGH! Admittedly I am venting out of frustration of having lost something essential to Harper being able to travel, but this situation has also made me wonder if this is symptomatic of a much larger issue.
Okay…a little back story. Saturday I took Harper in to get groomed and to get his micro chip; it seems that I can’t take Harper to Europe without him having the chip. I paid for said chip … AND my vet…who is fabulous (BTW) handed me the card and gave very simple and easy to follow instruction to me for activating the chip so Harper can be tracked. Most importantly I need this information to send to the USDA in Austin so they can issue Harper’s approval to enter Spain. Guess what?…I lost it! Yep…in the span of three days I have lost the activation cards and I am now faced with a couple of really icky options. So my options are, one…my vet may have the number on file and can tell me where to call or two…Harper has to be re-chipped. Not only is that an expense but how crappy will it be if I have to take him in again for that? Ughh! So this situation has me examining what I KNOW is a shortcoming of mine, I am only somewhat good at organization (translation…not really good at all). I’ve got to get better and better RIGHT NOW! My friend Angie suggested I buy a file organizer to but important information that I need to get to quickly and just carry with me. Good idea and I did it! But I was just a few days too late to save Harper’s chip activation cards, they’re GONE! I’m really trying not to blow this out of proportion but I ‘m a little frustrated with myself for not being able to keep up with something so important! I really can’t afford to carry this type of behavior to Europe. And unfortunately I have a bit of a history of losing important things :-(
So I'm outing myself along with my friend Angela by default (sorry friend). On my first trip to Europe I lost and found my passport twice. The first time I left my passport at the check in desk in Amsterdam and not 30 minutes later I left my passport at a food bar. Thank goodness I was traveling with John and Ken who are super organized. The second time a nice gentleman returned it to me. You would think I'd learned my lesson...but no. The second time I went to Europe; this time with Angela, I actually lost my passport on the flight over to Paris. Yep…I lost my passport on the plane…hey it could happen! We spent the whole day trying to make me legal to enter France. After almost having guns drawn on us by the French police, a mad race through the streets of Paris to make it to the Embassy on time and a second scarier encounter with the American Embassy police I was able to get a replacement passport. There was some promising improvement in me and I think I learned a little something from that experience because on my last trip to Europe I did not lose my passport at all...Angie did:-) but I did not. Anyway…bottom line is that I need to break bad habits and become organized to compliment my great planning skills.