Blog Posting Fixed

It seems that you could only post a comment to our blog if you had a Gmail email account. I have rummaged through the settings for the blog and fixed it. I think. Please email me if you still can't post. :) Thanks to Dad and Lindsay for pointing it out.
Well, today I cleaned out the laundry room and revisited the kitchen to get rid of a few more things. We've started stacking boxes of things for the yard sale in the carport and we're a bit worried that for the next week our house will appear white-trashy. We also went through the playroom again and the living room. Not that there's much left in the living room. I actually have several empty shelves in the hall closet! Amazing!
Then after having such a good day, I got home from the grocery and Erik handed Maggie to me and right after that, she threw up all over both of us. The beginning of several more like that though the evening. Why is it ALWAYS me who is holding her when she does that?
So progress is halted for now and we're circling the wagons around little Maggie trying to keep her hydrated.

Driving and other stuff

I knew I had one, I just didn't know where it was. While cleaning out boxes of "stuff" Erik brought in from the shed, I found my English driving licence today. (And yes, they spell it with two C's.) It was in with my A Level results and college acceptance letters. (I didn't keep the rejections.) Appropriate since that was the era of the licence's last use.

I actually learned to drive on the streets of Harrogate on the "wrong" side of the road. In fact, I still look Right, Left, Right when crossing the street. Just can't break that habit. Now it will come in handy. Since my British licence won't expire until 2040, I'm hoping it will save me from a driving test when we get to NZ.

On a more interesting note, we have heard from the (lackadaisical) immigration consultants that we may be able to get a visa approved without the FBI records check (which is a huge hold up right now since they are taking 2-3 months (!!) to get records out and we submitted about 3 weeks ago. ~sigh~ ) So, if SKM gives the thumbs-up (because it will cost them more in the long run) we will be leaving in about FIVE weeks! Sweet!

We have completed all the tests: urinalysis, blood tests, chest x-rays, and have all the kids paperwork complete. We are waiting on three pages each for Erik and I to be filled out after our GP gets the results of all the tests. Crossing my fingers that I didn't pick up some horrible disease without knowing it. Just having all that done, makes you a bit of a hypochondriac. Our GP expects the results Thurs or Friday. Then she can finish our paperwork and we can - maybe - submit for a shorter term visa and get out of Dodge sooner. The wait is driving me crazy. And unemployment isn't all that fun for Erik, or the rest of us.

Friday is Scooby's turn. He goes to the vet for an evaluation and probably will need his teeth cleaned in addition to the shots and blood tests he will need to be allowed in the country. At least they don't quarantine people. Scooby will have to spend 10 days (minimum) at the quarantine kennel in NZ before we can have him back. On the other hand, he gets a doggie valium for the flight and will sleep in a humongous crate most of the way there. He will probably be more comfortable than the 5 humans in his family on that flight. :)

Now that the medical stuff is nearly complete, there is more urgency to getting other things done. So, I made my way through three boxes of "stuff" today and kept only three file folders worth - including the UK driving licence. Why, oh why didn't I do this years ago? But some things are easier to get rid of than others.

What to do with the present Santa left in the back yard last year? We have an amazing wooden swing-set, tree house with rock wall, sand box, and monkey bars on the other side from the three swings (one for each kid). Santa paid a lot for that thing and then his elves left the kit for Erik to put together and that was some real work. So, we could take it with us but it will take up precious room in the 20' long container that we have to get everything into. And it will have to be disinfected by Lysol or Pinesol or something like that to kill microbes and mold and spiders, etc. If the MAF (Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry) doesn't like the look of it they could hold the entire shipment of our belongings in quarantine or else take the swing set away. So, is it worth it? And will we even have a yard big enough to set it up in? Decisions!

Slow going...

Despite what our Realtor told us, someone has already come to see the house. This was good and bad all at the same time. Selling it would be good but selling it now would be bad. We have a couple months to go - maybe even three! before we will be able move to NZ.

Erik finally spoke to the, apparently overworked, woman at the immigration consulting company. He had to call her as she did not reply to emails. Anyway, she said the FBI has indeed been taking 8 weeks to get criminal records checks done. And that after we submit the NZ visa application, NZ should be able to approve us in 2-3 weeks. It is SO frustrating to be at the mercy of the Federal Government. I pray they don't have a budget crisis and shut down operations.

The Feds did do something for us though. We got my passport today. So, that's done. We have 5 passports ready to send to the NZ government for visas.

Meanwhile, we have been paring down our possessions. Lucky for us, we own a baby and kids consignment store! I've been taking in bags and bags of toys the kids never play with and baby equipment Maggie is growing out of. Also, I've been cleaning out the kitchen. Every appliance that plugs in has to go -- eventually. For now I'm taking the nicer stuff to a kitchen consignment store in town and making boxes of stuff for the huge yard sale we're going to have.

Erik has sold his entire Star Wars collection - more or less (several giant space ships to go and it seems the Darth Vader cookie jar has to stay). We have also taken all our DVD's and vinyl records (remember those things?) to a second hand record store. Next is the turntable and stereo equipment from the bedroom. He also scored several hundred dollars (yes, I wrote hundred) for his enormous Lego collection (which was mostly off limits to the kids) that he only just recently acquired.

Both of us have found it a relief to get rid of things and also a bit wrenching at times. At first glance around the kitchen I didn't know how I would live without things and I'm sure that selling the Star Wars collection was really hard for Erik to do.

Erik has also gotten rid of some metal items. Namely his braces! They came off this morning and what an amazing smile he has now! I was so used to seeing the braces, it was a shock to see teeth again. Such a handsome guy and even more now! :)

Next:

• Trips to the doctor for our physicals, x-rays, and blood work
• Wait for FBI background check

For Sale - one home, well-loved

Well, the sign went up today while we were out. Now we're actually in the odd position of hoping that the damn thing doesn't sell. At least not until after we're off to NZ.

Also, we finally heard from the "visa people" who turn out to be a consulting company in NZ that assists people with obtaining visas to NZ. I had been under the impression that the "visa people" as we had come to call them, were a couple of glorified secretaries who had been delegated to help us with the process. Happily, it turns out otherwise. They sent us a questionnaire and asked for some documents. We've already started getting those documents together - see earlier post - so we are happy to be ahead of them and be on the right track.

First Entry

Erik and I are setting up this blog so we can keep friends and family informed of our progress toward our move to NZ.

To date, Erik has been offered and accepted a position at SKM in Christchurch, NZ. He's going to be working on the Christchurch Rebuild project.

We have applied for passports, renewals for Erik and I, new ones for the kids.

We have also started the visa application work. This involves several things: FBI background checks and fingerprint cards for Erik and I, physicals for the kids (and a 30 page document detailing those physicals for EACH child), and physicals for Erik and I which include blood work and chest x-rays - amazing but true.

So far, the kids' physicals are done and we have had our fingerprints taken and sent for our FBI records. The FBI's web site says this part could take as long as 8 weeks! But it also is the only thing about the process that is free. I guess you get what you pay for. Next week Erik and I get our physicals done. Once all this is complete, we can send in the paperwork requesting residential visas to live and work permanently in New Zealand.

All I can say is that this place must truly be Paradise, the way they guard it.