Moving to KAUST

I have reposted this from my previous blog site as it seems to be the one that is of most interest. I was having some issues accessing wordpress so I have decided to try blogger. It seems to interface more easily with google, gmail and facebook.

We move at the end of October. Our house is under contract and, with a little luck, it will close. Now, all I have to do is get rid of the accumulated furnishings and bric-a-brac of 20+ years. This, of course, is easier said than done as we will need much of the stuff until we walk out the door for the last time. I anticipate that will be hard. We have been happy here, and unhappy too. We have lived through a lot in the six years we have lived in Glencoe: the near fatal illness of my lovely husband Brian, the loss of a much loved brother-in-law to cancer, the tragic, violent death of a nephew are the obvious dark spots while marriages and births and new beginnings are the clear and wonderful points of light.
Who would have thought that at the age of almost fifty, we would up stakes and move to, of all places, Saudi Arabia. Certainly, not me, not in a million years. My life in Glencoe is downright close to perfect – a loving (and handsome) husband, a terrific son, a beautiful home, and an interesting and often profitable career in real estate. My basement doesn’t even flood – and believe me, that’s a rarity for an older home in this here neck of the woods. What possessed us to do this? I have to assume that it’s the same thing that motivated us to move here to the US from the west of Ireland all those years ago – a mixture of curiosity, ambition, and hope.
Our house at KAUST is ready now and my husband has already moved in. He tells me that it is large and that mostly things are working. Hmmm. He assures me that he has not spotted any livestock in the house and that any creepy crawlies are easily dealt with. I tell him that I lived most of my life, before meeting him, right on the water. I know what that involves. Perhaps our cat will actually earn his keep. Or maybe not – Cyclone has been our friend and companion for eleven years. I am not sure what that makes him in cat years. A little past his prime, is my guess. Still, maybe he will make up with experience whatever he has lost in speed.
I am excited and apprehensive about this move to the other side of the world, more the former than the latter though. What an amazing opportunity to be involved with a project of this breadth and scale. It’s mind boggling to think what has been accomplished in such a short period of time.