Plan your work, then work your plan.

Simple but true. We are setting all sorts of goals for ourselves: clearing out the garage and basement, culling old clothes from the closet, attending to long-needed house repairs and maintenance, and long term budgeting and saving to name just a few from the lengthy list of things to do. Would these things still get done without the exchange on the horizon? Probably, but there is a greater sense of urgency and excitement about it. It feels a little like selling the house – getting everything tip-top, ship-shape for the viewings except that we get to come back after and enjoy the fruits of our labours.

I tend to be an obsessive planner and organizer when it comes to big projects – not a bad thing, really: plan your work, then work your plan. No question I could (and have) spent dozens of hours so far thinking, researching, planning, writing, listing, sorting, organizing. I’m not one to “wish my life away” hoping that time passes quickly, rather I’m trying to relish the feeling of anticipation. Spur-of-the-moment trips can be fun, but you get more bang for your buck if you plan ahead and get the added excitement of the wait.

So, a mere two weeks since submitting the application and at least 12 weeks to wait before we might hear about the match, I’ll sit a while with the calendar plotting out the goals to achieve in the weeks ahead and enjoy today’s nervous anticipation and uncertainty.