Puppy love and big, big day

We are bringing our 7-year-old miniature Dachshund to Costa Rica with us. Her name is Frankie. If we didn't love her so much, she sure as hell wouldn't be coming. Getting a straight answer from the airlines is, well, impossible! We've... haha, I lie, Kevin has spent all last week on the phone trying to sort out how to bring her down. He's been given such inconsistent information we don't know what to believe. The rules are so vague. The reservation department is one entity of the airline and gives us one story, then the Pet Safe department of the same airline gives us a completely different story... and then within each department every person Kevin speaks to seems to have a slight or major variation of what he was told previously. To be in the cabin, dogs must be 9 lbs or less... no 20 lbs. She has to go through customs... no she doesn't. We've received quotes from $600 to $4,100... are you kidding me? We still don't have any concrete answers. I'm sure Kevin will figure it all out, but since he has spent all his time on the phone for the past two weeks, very little packing (like none) has been done. And I continue to work like a mad dog, so I'm too tired to tackle any packing when I get home, so I've been completely useless.

Speaking of work... today was the day I gave in my notice. I walked into my manager's office first thing in the morning and handed in my letter of resignation. I told him what Kevin and I were doing and he was shocked, at first, but seemed genuinely happy for us. I gave 5 weeks notice, which seemed pretty fair. I'm very busy these days, but I'm hoping my projects will be close to their completion by the time I leave. I hate leaving things undone. It will be what it will be, I guess. I've been smiling ever since. No regrets... just pure joy. Hope I have the strength to last the 5 weeks! So far the response from people I've told is amazing. Everyone is so supportive and genuinely excited for me. It's nice that I can speak freely about our plans now. It's hard to carry this kind of secret for a year without feeling like a fraud. Now that it's out in the open, I can breathe a little easier. Today was indeed a very good day. I feel liberated in so many ways. 

---