If You Had Not Heard

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I am sure many of you that know me well, could tell by the past few postings; but it is official as I am not renewing my contract for next year. There were many factors that played into the biggest one is that we were many years away from ever going to a fully cooking facility, which is my passion so in the Fall I started looking for some new opportunities. I was pleasantly surprised to find several positions of interest; but of all of them, I found Farley's & Sathers to be the most exciting with the greatest opportunity.

So I leave for the States for the Holidays on Tuesday (12/23) with a stop over in Germany to visit Jetta, Piage and Liam. I will spend the night with the Kaune's in Frankfurt then fly out the next morning through Cincinnati to Fort Wayne to be with my parents and Ginger for Christams. Then on 12/26 Freddie will be flying in to experience a Christmas in the US. When we planned on this, I did not know I would be back in the States with a new job so Dad and I decided to go to Las Vegas for our annual Father Son trip over New Years and from there I fly to Denver to go skiing with Jamie, Bill and Freddie. I must say, for only skiing 6 or so times, Freddie is getting pretty good. We went to the indoor ski place last Thursday for a few hours. The snow was terrible this time, but we had a good time.

After Denver, I will be home (Gainesville) for a week before flying back to Russia to finish up the last of my business for just one week. So while I am home, I will be very busy trying to get ready for the move to Chattanooga where I will be based as the QA Director with Farley's. And for those that know Farley's, it is a candy company and not a chicken company, so that will be a challenge and learning curve in itself; but I am very excited about the opportunity. I fly back from Russia on 1/21 to start 2/2. In that short period of time, I will need to find a car, a new home, cell phone, bank, etc. I am thankful Chattanooga is only 2.5 hours from Gainesville so I can make that trip as often as necessary. Mark has also asked to stay at the house and continue renting, which I think is good with the market the way it is and knowing the Holidays is NOT the time to try to sell a house so I think I will wait until this Spring and put it up on the market.

As you can image, it has been a emotional past week as I am starting to say my goodbyes. This weekend was the official goodbye party, but we did start. Both were suppose to be small, but we had about 10-15 at both the Friday and then the Saturday gathering. Today, I spent cleaning, buying a few gifts, and cooking. I am excited, but I am also very sad. It has been a great and wonderful time here. I have made some AWESOME friends that I will miss greatly. No, this is not my closing blog, I will do that later, but I did want to let you know of the news if you had not heard. I will also send out my new address and phone number once I get it.

I am sure I will not be on the blog until after Christmas, so let me say thank you to each of my readers, my long time fans as well as those of you that "hit" it through your internet searches. I want to wish each of you, your friends and family, a very merry and blessed Christmas.

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Photos

Pass the Jack
No, I was not as drunk as this picture looks, now the photographer might have been ;)

Pass Me Your Glass
It is time for another toast.

Great Friends!
I am going to miss all of you, but I promise to be back to at least visit and know you are always welcome to visit me in the US!

Comments

[Marc]

Merry Christmas and a big thank you!
Hi Vince, Now I'm again part of your blog, also we know only so a short time. Wow! By this way I want to thank you again! If you wouldn't have written your blog, I never had seen the real Russian way of life. Sure - your not the perfect Russian ;-) but to meet you and your great Russian friends was an experience, I never want to miss! I also want to thank all your friends which were so approachable. When I was told to go to Russia, I had a lot of prejudices. After I meet them, I got a complete different side of view. Thanks to all of you and a merry Christmas and a happy new year! And for you Vince - I wish you a lot of success for your "new" life in the States. The earth is round. So I see you around. Marc

[Leo]

Dear good friend, we shall be missing you so much!

[Pat]

Should Be a Breeze
Having been in snack/candy quality in Chattanooga for 32 years, I can tell you that you won't have any problems whatsoever. Candy will be a breeze compared to chicken!!

[Lorraine]

Welcome Home
While I'm sad for you to be leaving your Russian friends, as one of your American friends I can say...Welcome Home! Your blog has been so interesting and informative regarding real life living in Russia. I've enjoyed it very much and will miss it when you are home. Thank you for doing this blog and for keeping it up all this time. Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year!

[angie]

I have been reading your blog from the beginning and have really enjoyed it. I will miss you but know you are going home so you will be happy. Merry Christmas and have a wonderful New Year and a new adventure.

[Gale]

wonderful news
Although I'm sure everyone in Russia that you've met and everyone who reads your blog will miss you, those of us here in the States that have known you will be glad to have you back in our lives, even if it's an occasional drink here and there. You are a great person and I enjoy being able to call you my friend. We're a bit closer now in SC so hopefully we'll be able to get together on one of our trips home to Georgia also. Take care and hope to see you soon. I will miss the wonderful adventures you've taken us all on though but it's been a great time reading about them and living them through your words and photos. Thank you for being the traveling frog for all of us!!!

[gretta]

glad to hear you will be closer to home although I know you will miss some good friends

[Lois]

Yay!
Glad to hear you are coming back to the States, strategically located between your Georgia friends and your parents. Sorry I missed seeing you on your last trip to WF, but am glad you are safe and happy. Candy company, huh? Have I ever told you that you are my best friend? Welcome back.