Summer

Learned something interesting this summer while we were away -- My job is more taxing mentally than 4 consecutive hours of private Spanish lessons a day for 5 days.  Whereas an hour of private salsa lesson is harder than my treadmill workout.

When I signed up for all that, I felt apprehensive about my potential concentration level, the amount of energy I'd need, whether it was a mistake to spend summer holidays at school, and if I'd regret not having a more leisurely time.  But, I had also reached a point where not knowing the language beyond the super basics was hindering my future plans.  So it was time to go for it.

In the end the only thing that stood out was the structure that existed with having set class times.  Not used to that much scheduling during vacation so it was less relaxing because of it.  And obviously the daily homework.  Feet hurt from dance -- First real test since my injury.

Ended up with 2 top notch teachers.  Got way more out of both classes than I could have imagined.  My Spanish teacher just started talking to me and because I wasn't going to answer in just "yes / no" or with basic replies, it forced me to learn so I could answer with the depth and variety as if I was speaking to someone in English.  The hours just flew and I wasn't tired at the end.

D opted for 2 hours a day and I could hear that he had had enough by the end of it.  He was a trooper though as I tried to convince him to just lay low for the duration but he didn't want to miss out on the opportunity.  Whereas he was a definite no-go for salsa -- D is not a dancer...

I've had 3 ballroom instructors in Canada and none of them comes close to the one I had in Antigua, Guatemala.  Really pushed me.  And she happens to specialize in "lady styling".  So hard to make it look easy and natural but I so want to learn more from her.

Originally wanted to take 2 hours a day but thankfully I dialed it back because it would have flattened me.  It was private ballet lesson hard.  None of my previous ballroom teachers ever challenged me as much as she did.  Absolutely loved it.  Lit a fire.

Absolutely worth flying down to Guatemala just to learn.  Will be back 2 more times in '18.  And trying to carve time to continue my studies at home.  D started Skype lessons with my Spanish teacher.

We've paid for 20 hours but I haven't used any of it yet.  Not sure if I will or not.  Been too preoccupied with other things.  Good thing I'm good with self study.  Have Spanish movies on as background occasionally to keep the language up in my mind.

Incidentally I found the Spanish spoken in Mexico city quite difficult to understand.  So fast and not a lot of space that my ear could detect in between words.  Felt quite discouraged right away and ended up leading with "thank you for your patience, I just started learning Spanish recently...".

Exit Plans

As you can imagine, frustration levels are high in D's world right now.  He's not back in Nepal to volunteer like he had intended to be.  Our summer holidays had to change again and again (it did end up pretty great in the end).  All our fall weekend plans were shot.

Then he breaks his heel and my travel plans got cancelled so he feels horrible about that.  He's had to work from home and knows that despite his best efforts, the negativity from work seeps into our space.

There's finally some changes coming down the pipe at his work that is supposed to help.  I'm not optimistic but he actually is.  Can't believe he has lasted this long as his typical pattern is to try and switch to yet another position.  But this time he has stuck it out and I've never seen him work like this.  I'm calling it "back end load" with respect to his career journey.

We sat down to devise a worst case plan for him and it looks like this:

• His last day of work at this current position will be end of Aug '18.  
• We will have 2 months expenses as a head start saved extra and I will handle everything financially from that point.
• He will work on getting our main house into "show condition".

Assumptions:

• D won't be able to find another work opportunity.
• His current work environment and load does not improve.

Basically, we will not tolerate his current work scene indefinitely.  Our quality of life is suffering.  August '18 was chosen as we both have obligations up to then but won't commit to anything beyond until we know more.  We had originally thought as early as end of this year but it won't work for a number of reasons.

As for the cottage, I want it up on the market next spring and just deal with the capital gains if and when it sells.  I spent all of 1 night up there this year and no longer wish to go back.  Have let it go from my mind and want it gone but will keep the kayaks.

We had a real estate assessment and to our surprise, the suggested selling price was 40K higher than we would have guessed.  In my mind, that more than covers the added capital gains and netting what I expected.

Now I've only done a basic calculation and we may no longer have receipts for many of the capital improvements... As you can probably tell, this is more an emotional decision.

D argues it is very inexpensive to keep it going and he will take responsibility for the continued maintenance of it... yup, with all that extra time he seems to have... In the end, he won't stand in the way if selling it is what I want.

Good News and other stuff

• D's foot is going to be OK.  I told him if he keeps this up, I'll be trading him in for a newer, shinier model...
• Having just written that, I have to admit, it was an eye opener realizing just how much D does on a daily basis, despite his long work hours.  It didn't take long before I started to feel like a house elf... I'm quite spoiled.
• Submitted a travel cancellation insurance claim.  We'll see if I receive anything back for my non refundable hotel stay.  Technically, D was not hospitalized.
• Had to re-jig my flights out west for Christmas to use the travel credit from the cancel trip.  Shortened my stay to squeeze in a quick 5 day trip before the deadline.
• 2018 will be a far more adventurous year.  Feel rested enough.  Ready to get going again.
• Except 2018 will not involve surfing like I originally intended.  Made a ridiculous flight booking error (don't ask, never happened before).  So I will hang out in Lima instead.
• My car wouldn't start with a boost.  Battery too dead.  So they boosted it enough for D to get her into neutral and she was winched out onto a flatbed truck.  Pretty neat to see.  First time tow for me.  
• Battery has since been replaced.  Turns out it was the original 2007 battery, so it was time.  
• Also found out my car audio head unit has died as well.  It can be fixed but the software is old and I don't love how it works.  An aftermarket one is the way we'll go.  
• Had an opportunity to apply for a part time regulatory role at work.  Seemed like everyone else thought it would be a great idea for me, except for me.  Made some sense on some level but wasn't willing to do any more on my off days, even if it wasn't necessarily difficult.
• Excellent expedition documentary:  Locked In, First Descent of the Beriman Gorge