We made it to NZ on December 30th 2011. And it's only taken me two months to get a blog post out! Oops! Honestly, I've logged on a dozen time to do it and something always comes up. Plus, we have a pretty crappy Internet connection. So I've been mostly posting to Facebook but I know not everyone can see those posts. I was going to recreate the FB posts on here but it's honestly just too much downloading and uploading and I'm paying for Internet by the MB!
So we're here and safe and sound and I'll try to post more often!
03 March, 2012
27 December, 2011
To infinity and beyond!
We're going to Disneyland! Santa put tickets under the tree for the kids and kindly got Erik and I tickets too! The kids were pretty thrilled - but Caty most of all since she's been there before. Tuesday and Wednesday we'll be at Disneyland and Wednesday night we leave LAX for NZ.
I'm pretty excited, so excited that I have almost forgotten that our crappy movers couldn't fit our bed into the container. Our wonderful, amazing, so soft, less than 2 year old bed that I love so much! Of all the items to leave for last, why would they leave the single-most expensive (and largest) furniture item we own for last when they suspected it wouldn't all fit?! But I'm much less upset now. I will just have to find another wonderful bed when we get to NZ. Sigh...
Sitting at the dining room table at my in-laws' house after a fun filled Christmas morning right now, NZ seems a long way away.
21 December, 2011
Moving Day(s)
It finally arrived! Moving day. We were unprepared even after 4 months of waiting! The last minute details were getting done the night before and morning of the move instead of the day before. The kids could feel that we were excited and busy and the little ones got pretty clingy and agitated and Caty got very jittery and excitable. None of them could settle down, even with the incenteive of popcorn and a movie - which usually turns all three into zombie-like creatures, eating and staring at the screen.
So, after we got the last kid in bed at 11 pm on the night before the move, Erik and I packed our suitcases and dashed around the house looking for stuff we needed to bring on the plane. The pile of stuff that was going air-freight (to arrive in 3 weeks or so) was supposed to be ready when the movers got there but I was still washing dishes to pack when they arrived.
Both of the guys who came to pack us up were very nice: Cruz and Mauricio. But they had these funny looks on their faces when they came in the house. Apparently they were told it was a simple job that would take them a day to pack and then load up the next day. We were told it would be three guys packing for two days and then loading the shipping container on the third day. We worked it out with them and they said they would bring another guy the next day. They also are not packing things like the international mover people had said: separating out certain things for inspection at NZ customs. We have inquired with the head office but they seem to think it's not a big deal. Things that make you go hmmm.
But, at this point, I could seriously care less. We're on our way and if we never see any of our stuff again, I'll just have to deal with it later.
The kids are really excited now that things are in boxes around the house. Maggie thinks it's a whole new world of adventure and has been peeling off shipping labels and sticking them on different boxes. Ben keeps an eye on his "backpack", which is really a rolling suitcase with a Lego motif, and periodically needs it zipped shut with his things inside so he can be ready to go to " 'Zealand". Caty wants to not do her homework this week and also to go swimming at the hotel pool and hot tub. (Sounds not so fun to me since the air temp is 54F or 12C here now, but I'll take her anyway.)
More later, Maggie just woke up!
So, after we got the last kid in bed at 11 pm on the night before the move, Erik and I packed our suitcases and dashed around the house looking for stuff we needed to bring on the plane. The pile of stuff that was going air-freight (to arrive in 3 weeks or so) was supposed to be ready when the movers got there but I was still washing dishes to pack when they arrived.
Both of the guys who came to pack us up were very nice: Cruz and Mauricio. But they had these funny looks on their faces when they came in the house. Apparently they were told it was a simple job that would take them a day to pack and then load up the next day. We were told it would be three guys packing for two days and then loading the shipping container on the third day. We worked it out with them and they said they would bring another guy the next day. They also are not packing things like the international mover people had said: separating out certain things for inspection at NZ customs. We have inquired with the head office but they seem to think it's not a big deal. Things that make you go hmmm.
But, at this point, I could seriously care less. We're on our way and if we never see any of our stuff again, I'll just have to deal with it later.
The kids are really excited now that things are in boxes around the house. Maggie thinks it's a whole new world of adventure and has been peeling off shipping labels and sticking them on different boxes. Ben keeps an eye on his "backpack", which is really a rolling suitcase with a Lego motif, and periodically needs it zipped shut with his things inside so he can be ready to go to " 'Zealand". Caty wants to not do her homework this week and also to go swimming at the hotel pool and hot tub. (Sounds not so fun to me since the air temp is 54F or 12C here now, but I'll take her anyway.)
More later, Maggie just woke up!
15 December, 2011
The visas arrived - finally!
On Sunday (Monday in NZ) we heard from our immigration consultant that our case officer at the NZ consulate in LA told her on Friday that he still hadn't received anything back from the NZ medical examiner and had no idea what the status was on our visas. This was disappointing news and we continued to make plans to move to Colorado while we waited for visas.
She's getting big. That is Ben's 3T shirt from last Winter. It's baggy but it looks cute on her. Pretty soon she'll be borrowing the car! And speaking of growing up: Today Caty killed the battery in the cordless phone talking on it with her friends. Now she's using my cell phone AND the land-line in my bedroom to talk to her peeps. (And she complains that she doesn't have any friends! ha!)
On Monday morning we received all five of our passports with visas in them via FedEx.
Does anyone involved in the bureaucratic immigration mess have any idea what they are doing? I very much doubt it.
They are good for entry anytime so we have the movers coming 19-21 December. We are sick of waiting around. That's Caty's last week of school so we'll stay in a hotel and wrap up loose ends (like sell the cars, clean the house, etc...) until her last day of school on 23 Dec. That day, we'll drive to Page and spend Christmas with Sue and Sherman, Erik's parents, and then back to Phoenix to regroup before leaving for LA. We'll spend two days at Disneyland and then fly out of LAX the night of the 28th, landing in NZ on 30 Dec.
Erik's office will be closed through 9 Jan for the holidays so we'll use the first week to learn where things are, buy a car, hang out at the beach (it's Summer there!), and generally recover from jet lag.
This week we're just tying up loose ends and cancelling utilities, Netflix, and stuff like that. I still need to finish Christmas shopping too! I'm thinking of getting Maggie rock climbing gear...
She's getting big. That is Ben's 3T shirt from last Winter. It's baggy but it looks cute on her. Pretty soon she'll be borrowing the car! And speaking of growing up: Today Caty killed the battery in the cordless phone talking on it with her friends. Now she's using my cell phone AND the land-line in my bedroom to talk to her peeps. (And she complains that she doesn't have any friends! ha!)
07 December, 2011
Scooby News
I thought I had already posted our Scooby news. But I guess I didn't. So here it is.
Scooby is living with Erik's Aunt and Uncle in Nevada now. They came to our rescue (and Scoob's) by adopting him.
Maggie misses playing in Scooby's bed, but I bet he doesn't. He used to put up with her really well but he was not thrilled that she thought his bed was her reading nook! :)
In order to get Scooby to Val and Glen, we all piled into the van a couple weeks ago and drove to Las Vegas to meet them. They live in Northern Nevada so Vegas was as close to half-way as you get. We handed him off to them and after some tears, spent a day in Vegas with the kids alternating throwing tantrums and making demands. But the next day was better and we got to spend some time at Hoover Dam and walked on the bridge. The kids were very proud to hear that Erik had helped with the work to "build" the dam. He worked on the foundation for the part of the bridge on the AZ side.
The little ones were sooo tired after swimming at the hotel and walking all over the dam and bridge. However, the indefatigable Cate wouldn't be caught dead taking a nap. :)
We hear that Scooby is doing well and enjoying the snow. We miss him terribly but we are so glad he's with Val and Glen. :)
Scooby is living with Erik's Aunt and Uncle in Nevada now. They came to our rescue (and Scoob's) by adopting him.
Maggie misses playing in Scooby's bed, but I bet he doesn't. He used to put up with her really well but he was not thrilled that she thought his bed was her reading nook! :)
In order to get Scooby to Val and Glen, we all piled into the van a couple weeks ago and drove to Las Vegas to meet them. They live in Northern Nevada so Vegas was as close to half-way as you get. We handed him off to them and after some tears, spent a day in Vegas with the kids alternating throwing tantrums and making demands. But the next day was better and we got to spend some time at Hoover Dam and walked on the bridge. The kids were very proud to hear that Erik had helped with the work to "build" the dam. He worked on the foundation for the part of the bridge on the AZ side.
Not too shabby. But the Phoenix Art Museum has some that are a little better by Jamey Stillings.
Erik looks so handsome in his Movember beard and mustache.
On the dam with mom.
Cate found the compass rose on the dam and we got her picture on it. Maybe she'll be a geographer like her mom.
We hear that Scooby is doing well and enjoying the snow. We miss him terribly but we are so glad he's with Val and Glen. :)
06 December, 2011
Moving on...
It's cliche, but there's good news and bad news.
The good news: We have a date for moving out of the house. The short sale nearly fell through last week but the buyer coughed up a few thousand extra and today the bank accepted the offer and set a closing date: January 12th. We will have to be moved out by then.
The bad news: Still no word on the visas. Last we heard was about 2 1/2 weeks ago the NZ consulate in Los Angeles sent our paperwork to NZ to be reviewed for what they told us was between 3 and 8 weeks. REALLY? That's a bigger window than the cable guy gets away with. How do you plan around that kind of window? So, we may be perfectly timed and be able to just make it all work. But what are the odds of that?
So, the solution was presented to us by my wonderful parents. We'll be packing up and moving into Mom and Dad's house in Colorado this January. They're very graciously moving out. They're moving into a nearby furnished apartment. That is the nicest thing! We can't believe it, we are really blessed.
So we'll be moving to Colorado until we get things finalized for NZ. Who moves to such a cold, snowy place in January? We do! It's better than moving to Phoenix in July, which is what I did years ago. :)
In the mean time, here's an interesting tidbit of information about NZ wildlife:
This is a NORMAL bug in NZ. It's called the Giant Weta and is the heaviest insect in the world! (Don't mention this to Catherine or else we'll never get her on the plane!)
The good news: We have a date for moving out of the house. The short sale nearly fell through last week but the buyer coughed up a few thousand extra and today the bank accepted the offer and set a closing date: January 12th. We will have to be moved out by then.
The bad news: Still no word on the visas. Last we heard was about 2 1/2 weeks ago the NZ consulate in Los Angeles sent our paperwork to NZ to be reviewed for what they told us was between 3 and 8 weeks. REALLY? That's a bigger window than the cable guy gets away with. How do you plan around that kind of window? So, we may be perfectly timed and be able to just make it all work. But what are the odds of that?
So, the solution was presented to us by my wonderful parents. We'll be packing up and moving into Mom and Dad's house in Colorado this January. They're very graciously moving out. They're moving into a nearby furnished apartment. That is the nicest thing! We can't believe it, we are really blessed.
So we'll be moving to Colorado until we get things finalized for NZ. Who moves to such a cold, snowy place in January? We do! It's better than moving to Phoenix in July, which is what I did years ago. :)
In the mean time, here's an interesting tidbit of information about NZ wildlife:
This is a NORMAL bug in NZ. It's called the Giant Weta and is the heaviest insect in the world! (Don't mention this to Catherine or else we'll never get her on the plane!)
06 November, 2011
Offer on the house
Finally! We have an offer on the house we bought for $274k. The offer is for $142k. I'm feeling ambivalent about it. On the one hand, happy that there won't be anymore mad dashes to tidy up toys, laundry, dishes, etc so a Realtor can bring someone over. On the other hand, sad that we are totally losing our shirts on this stupid house because of the stupid market and the stupid economy. And part of me feels like I should feel one or the other of those more strongly but there is a certain level of indifference to the whole thing too. I don't really get attached to houses the way other people do. I don't feel the nostalgia for them that other people talk about.
The next step is to get our crappy mortgage company to accept the offer. They are crappy because although they were cheerful and helpful at first, they have managed to harass our Realtor for an offer (as if it's in his hands) while simultaneously denying they've ever heard of us. And this was the same bank employee on the very same day! She must have multiple personality disorder.... Also, she lost our paperwork twice and when Erik sent her her own email where she had confirmed receipt of the paperwork, she suddenly remembered all about us.
We have about another week and a half before we could hear from the NZ consulate about our visas - at the earliest. So, Erik's employer has asked that we schedule a date for the moving company to "pack and uplift" our household items. We've scheduled that for the Monday and Tuesday following Thanksgiving. We have to have our visas in place before Air New Zealand will let you book a one way flight so, as soon as we get those, we will book travel. But we're tentatively thinking we'll be flying out of LAX on December 2nd.
On a happier note, since the whole process has managed to take so long, I've booked a flight to Denver to visit my parents (without the kids) for a few days next week. And Ben will be starting preschool here in Phoenix three days a week until we leave. First we were waiting for him to get potty trained but then that happened, and then we thought we'd be leaving soon, but that got delayed so we're just going to go for it. He's so excited to go to "school". He starts Monday but has already been for a familiarization visit.
The next step is to get our crappy mortgage company to accept the offer. They are crappy because although they were cheerful and helpful at first, they have managed to harass our Realtor for an offer (as if it's in his hands) while simultaneously denying they've ever heard of us. And this was the same bank employee on the very same day! She must have multiple personality disorder.... Also, she lost our paperwork twice and when Erik sent her her own email where she had confirmed receipt of the paperwork, she suddenly remembered all about us.
We have about another week and a half before we could hear from the NZ consulate about our visas - at the earliest. So, Erik's employer has asked that we schedule a date for the moving company to "pack and uplift" our household items. We've scheduled that for the Monday and Tuesday following Thanksgiving. We have to have our visas in place before Air New Zealand will let you book a one way flight so, as soon as we get those, we will book travel. But we're tentatively thinking we'll be flying out of LAX on December 2nd.
On a happier note, since the whole process has managed to take so long, I've booked a flight to Denver to visit my parents (without the kids) for a few days next week. And Ben will be starting preschool here in Phoenix three days a week until we leave. First we were waiting for him to get potty trained but then that happened, and then we thought we'd be leaving soon, but that got delayed so we're just going to go for it. He's so excited to go to "school". He starts Monday but has already been for a familiarization visit.
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