So, the intensity has been turned up. Last Tuesday I got word that my visa was approved! Brian and I bought a flight right away (didn't even run it by my new company, just wanted to pull the trigger), and I am flying out of LAX a week from tomorrow, on March 30th. I land in Melbourne in the morning of April 1.
We are leaving Arizona this Friday for San Diego and Brian will take me up to LA on Tuesday. The details are still being worked out, but one thing I do know is WE ARE GOING SKYDIVING on Saturday. WOOOT to the WOOOOOOT!! I am STOKED. A little nervous, but really excited.
Funny thing is, I didn't expect Brian to do it with me. He hates roller coasters, he hates all of the adrenaline kind of rides... so I assumed I would go without him. But when I was calling to put down my deposit the other day and reserve my spot, he says reluctantly, "go ahead and reserve for me too...." all rolling his eyes and acting like I'm making him go see "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" or some bullshit. I'm like, "dude, don't go if you aren't into it. It's kinda expensive, you don't like heights... no big deal." His reply? "I don't want to feel like a pussy since my wife did it and I didn't."
Ummmmm I feel like that's the wrong reason to jump out of a plane from 18,000 feet, but ok.
So we will see if he wusses out or whines the whole time or what. But I am super excited!! I just hope the dude who's going to be strapped to my back isn't on a suicide mission. :-)
As for Justin Bieber? Ok so I was watching the View today (yes, I watch the View. Yes, I know that's lame. What can I say? I'm a sucker for those ladies), and they had on Justin Bieber. And I have heard of this little dude, but didn't know what the deal was about him, just knew he was like the male Miley Cyrus where all the little teenyboppers are all about him. I wasn't really paying attention at first, but then I started listening to him in his interview. He's so polite? He's articulate! He's 16! (Who knows what kind of monster he'll be in few years, but right now he's a sweetheart) Then I heard him sing..... no wonder Usher and Justin Timberlake were fighting over signing his little ass. He's a great singer. Is it bad that I kinda want to download the song he sang on the View?
I know, I'm 32 years old and have a crush on a 16 year old... at least I haven't gotten into the Twilight bullshit.
Back to reality. Tomorrow I am opening an IRA with two 401(k) rollover accounts, going to the bank, making a Target run, and....what am I forgetting?.... oh yeah, PACKING. blahhhhhhhh
Monday, March 22, 2010
Thursday, March 11, 2010
bday wishes
thanks to everyone for the bday wishes today... makes me feel good to know that i have such good friends all over the place! it helped make it a good day.
it was a pretty basic day, btw. i walked the boys, talked to some folks on the phone, treated myself to a mani/pedi and went out for bbq with brian and his parents... all in all, a great day!
Plans for this weekend include going to the Renaissance Festival in Apache Junction, AZ and seeing Alice in Wonderland.
(me chomping on a turkey leg at the Renaissance Festival)
as for australia, everyone keeps asking when i'm going and it's so frustrating to have the answer of "i don't know yet". I was told I had to purchase health insurance for Brian (even though he won't be in Melbourne full-time until mid-August), so I did that on Tuesday morning. The insurance company is then supposed to email me a confirmation letter for me to send to my visa agent that proves that we have paid. I guess they can't move forward with the visa until they receive that letter... and of course, i still haven't received the letter. I called the company again yesterday and they said they were backed up on requests and it might not go out for a few days.... and the agent won't give me a better idea of the timing of when my visa will get finalized until she receives that letter. And I can't buy a ticket or make any real plans until I get an estimate from her.
So I'm getting frustrated, but I talked to Andy yesterday (who's my American friend in Sydney), and he said that I'll get there soon enough and not to stress about it. Good advice I think. Anyway, so for my SD peeps, the plan is for me to fly out of LAX, probably on a Monday night or Tuesday night. So Brian and I will come out to SD on Thursday or Friday and spend the weekend hanging out with our SD friends before Brian takes me to LAX for my flight. Sooooo.... it might be the weekend of March 25th-28th, or maybe the following weekend which I think is Easter.
So I will keep you guys posted for sure!
In the meantime, I am still getting stuff together here. Made several trips to Goodwill over the last few days and continuing to separate stuff into four piles: donate, storage, ship to Australia, take to Australia now. It's all a bit overwhelming but we're plugging away!
Also, tomorrow I take all four clowns to the vet (dogs in the AM, cats in the PM...can't handle all of them at once). This is when they all get their blood drawn for rabies, call a "titre test". Assuming that everyone comes back positive (0r negative i guess...whatever, the way we want them to), tomorrow will be Day 1 of the 5 month quarantine in the US. So that puts the pets and Brian coming to Melbourne around August 8th or 9th. Not ideal, but not terrible.
That means that I will most likely only live with Dawn for about four months; hopefully she won't want to kill me by then!
On a much more important note, the Steelers. Yes, I know that it is very much the offseason, but stuff is going down. I am not happy about the Ben Roethlisberger situation, although it is interesting that he had two cop buddies with him (along with Willie Colon, who supposedly was cuttin' it up on the dance floor the whole time and didn't see "the incident"). But the cop buddy thing could be interesting: either they are F'ed because they're kicking it with an assailant (i know, awesome word!), or else it might mean that he actually didn't do shit because he cop buddies were around and wouldn't have let it happen . Anyway, it's interesting.
On a positive Steelers note, I am stoked that we are keeping Ryan Clark and that we signed back Randel El again. We need serious help in special teams, so i'm hoping Randel El will be the man for that. I am a little worried about Mike Wallace... I thought he did well last season and really might deserve the third WR spot... but I am not concerned about keeping Limas Sweed. I get a punk/wuss vibe from him, so whatevs. Update: now I am really over him, wtf??
Lastly, I just saw the premiere of Lady Gaga's 9-minute "Telephone" video, and I hate to admit that it was pretty entertaining. Her music is the kind of thing that gets stuck in my head and is catchy, but I would never go buy it.... but I still kinda like her in a wackadoodle kind of way. The video was definitely a bit nutso... but i liked it.
I also like Chelsea Handler.
I am now done being narcissistic.
(I. Me. My. I. I. Me. All. About. Me. hehe)
it was a pretty basic day, btw. i walked the boys, talked to some folks on the phone, treated myself to a mani/pedi and went out for bbq with brian and his parents... all in all, a great day!
Plans for this weekend include going to the Renaissance Festival in Apache Junction, AZ and seeing Alice in Wonderland.
(me chomping on a turkey leg at the Renaissance Festival)
as for australia, everyone keeps asking when i'm going and it's so frustrating to have the answer of "i don't know yet". I was told I had to purchase health insurance for Brian (even though he won't be in Melbourne full-time until mid-August), so I did that on Tuesday morning. The insurance company is then supposed to email me a confirmation letter for me to send to my visa agent that proves that we have paid. I guess they can't move forward with the visa until they receive that letter... and of course, i still haven't received the letter. I called the company again yesterday and they said they were backed up on requests and it might not go out for a few days.... and the agent won't give me a better idea of the timing of when my visa will get finalized until she receives that letter. And I can't buy a ticket or make any real plans until I get an estimate from her.
So I'm getting frustrated, but I talked to Andy yesterday (who's my American friend in Sydney), and he said that I'll get there soon enough and not to stress about it. Good advice I think. Anyway, so for my SD peeps, the plan is for me to fly out of LAX, probably on a Monday night or Tuesday night. So Brian and I will come out to SD on Thursday or Friday and spend the weekend hanging out with our SD friends before Brian takes me to LAX for my flight. Sooooo.... it might be the weekend of March 25th-28th, or maybe the following weekend which I think is Easter.
So I will keep you guys posted for sure!
In the meantime, I am still getting stuff together here. Made several trips to Goodwill over the last few days and continuing to separate stuff into four piles: donate, storage, ship to Australia, take to Australia now. It's all a bit overwhelming but we're plugging away!
Also, tomorrow I take all four clowns to the vet (dogs in the AM, cats in the PM...can't handle all of them at once). This is when they all get their blood drawn for rabies, call a "titre test". Assuming that everyone comes back positive (0r negative i guess...whatever, the way we want them to), tomorrow will be Day 1 of the 5 month quarantine in the US. So that puts the pets and Brian coming to Melbourne around August 8th or 9th. Not ideal, but not terrible.
That means that I will most likely only live with Dawn for about four months; hopefully she won't want to kill me by then!
On a much more important note, the Steelers. Yes, I know that it is very much the offseason, but stuff is going down. I am not happy about the Ben Roethlisberger situation, although it is interesting that he had two cop buddies with him (along with Willie Colon, who supposedly was cuttin' it up on the dance floor the whole time and didn't see "the incident"). But the cop buddy thing could be interesting: either they are F'ed because they're kicking it with an assailant (i know, awesome word!), or else it might mean that he actually didn't do shit because he cop buddies were around and wouldn't have let it happen . Anyway, it's interesting.
On a positive Steelers note, I am stoked that we are keeping Ryan Clark and that we signed back Randel El again. We need serious help in special teams, so i'm hoping Randel El will be the man for that. I am a little worried about Mike Wallace... I thought he did well last season and really might deserve the third WR spot... but I am not concerned about keeping Limas Sweed. I get a punk/wuss vibe from him, so whatevs. Update: now I am really over him, wtf??
Lastly, I just saw the premiere of Lady Gaga's 9-minute "Telephone" video, and I hate to admit that it was pretty entertaining. Her music is the kind of thing that gets stuck in my head and is catchy, but I would never go buy it.... but I still kinda like her in a wackadoodle kind of way. The video was definitely a bit nutso... but i liked it.
I also like Chelsea Handler.
I am now done being narcissistic.
(I. Me. My. I. I. Me. All. About. Me. hehe)
Sunday, March 7, 2010
slack ass
oh, i have been quite the slacker on the ol' blog.... i blame my 'rents... they were here last week and were a (great) distraction.
so yeah, it was great to see dave and linderella. they came out a week from thursday, 2/25 and left on tuesday, 3/2. They stayed with Brian's parents since we would have nothing but an air mattress to offer them after giving away all of our spare bedroom furniture! the six of us went up to prescott to Paul and Paula's place and hung out with Brian's Nana and Zeyda... it was a great time. We ate, went wine tasting, wandered around in the woods, ate, played in the snow with the doggies and ate. My idea of a good weekend....
This past week we have been finishing up our super shopping spree since everything is so freakin expensive in Aus... I am proud of myself... I have become quite the little patient bargain shopper.... I am hoping I can continue to be patient after starting work full-time again. :-) In the past, my idea of shopping went like this: "I like the outfit that mannequin has on. Do you have all of that in my size? Ok I'll take it. Yes all of it." This is not because I don't like to be frugal, it's more because I just don't have to patience to put a cute outfit together... but in my old age I am getting better. I think my fashion consultant Katie would be proud of me too. :-)
Today was a great day. Paula and Paul had a little going away/birthday open house for me this afternoon. We hung out with Bubbi and Dean, Ken, Roe and Ruth, Harold, Lisa and Taylor and the other Lisa (Von Bargen). Thanks to everyone for coming out today!
This week's agenda is to make a trip or two to Goodwill (we have a gigantic box to donate and I am starting to need the space for sorting other stuff), take the pets to the vet for their blood draw for the quarantine process, and hopefully nail down when I'm going so we can buy my ticket. I am starting to get a bit restless re: not knowing exactly when I'm supposed to go. I heard from our visa agent chick last week and she said I passed the first step, but I don't really have a frame of reference for how many more steps there are, how long they'll take, etc.
We want to go to San Diego before my flight, so the plan is to drive to SD on a Friday and then Brian drive me up to LAX most likely on a Tuesday... but I don't know if it will be two, three or more weeks! Frustrating. I want to make plans. But I got a sweet job in Australia, I need not complain.
Oh another thing Brian and I have been doing is looking at what car to buy when he finally gets to Melbourne. We want a small SUV with enough space in the back to put the pups for weekend trips, similar to what we do with our XTerra now. Right now we are most interested in the Nissan XTrail, Nissan Dualis and the Subaru Forester. Any opinions?
so yeah, it was great to see dave and linderella. they came out a week from thursday, 2/25 and left on tuesday, 3/2. They stayed with Brian's parents since we would have nothing but an air mattress to offer them after giving away all of our spare bedroom furniture! the six of us went up to prescott to Paul and Paula's place and hung out with Brian's Nana and Zeyda... it was a great time. We ate, went wine tasting, wandered around in the woods, ate, played in the snow with the doggies and ate. My idea of a good weekend....
This past week we have been finishing up our super shopping spree since everything is so freakin expensive in Aus... I am proud of myself... I have become quite the little patient bargain shopper.... I am hoping I can continue to be patient after starting work full-time again. :-) In the past, my idea of shopping went like this: "I like the outfit that mannequin has on. Do you have all of that in my size? Ok I'll take it. Yes all of it." This is not because I don't like to be frugal, it's more because I just don't have to patience to put a cute outfit together... but in my old age I am getting better. I think my fashion consultant Katie would be proud of me too. :-)
Today was a great day. Paula and Paul had a little going away/birthday open house for me this afternoon. We hung out with Bubbi and Dean, Ken, Roe and Ruth, Harold, Lisa and Taylor and the other Lisa (Von Bargen). Thanks to everyone for coming out today!
This week's agenda is to make a trip or two to Goodwill (we have a gigantic box to donate and I am starting to need the space for sorting other stuff), take the pets to the vet for their blood draw for the quarantine process, and hopefully nail down when I'm going so we can buy my ticket. I am starting to get a bit restless re: not knowing exactly when I'm supposed to go. I heard from our visa agent chick last week and she said I passed the first step, but I don't really have a frame of reference for how many more steps there are, how long they'll take, etc.
We want to go to San Diego before my flight, so the plan is to drive to SD on a Friday and then Brian drive me up to LAX most likely on a Tuesday... but I don't know if it will be two, three or more weeks! Frustrating. I want to make plans. But I got a sweet job in Australia, I need not complain.
Oh another thing Brian and I have been doing is looking at what car to buy when he finally gets to Melbourne. We want a small SUV with enough space in the back to put the pups for weekend trips, similar to what we do with our XTerra now. Right now we are most interested in the Nissan XTrail, Nissan Dualis and the Subaru Forester. Any opinions?
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
who's blacker, snoop or charles barkley?
that is seriously what the topic is on the George Lopez show.... never saw this show before but i was compelled to watch this one.
Snoop's pissed because Barkley is 75% sub-saharan african and Snoop is 71% sub-saharan african. they actually seemed stoked to get their DNA done... i don't know if I think it's awesome or ridiculous.
BTW, George Lopez's monologue was a whole lot of not funny. i wasn't impressed, although I did like him giving Snoop a Josh Grobin CD because "that's what white people like".
Re: the Australia stuff, I have had a pretty productive few days! I got all of our documents scanned and sent in for the visa paperwork, and today I had to drive down to Tucson to get my passport expedited. $150 and 8 hours later, I now have an updated passport! I had never gotten around to changing my last name on my passport...didn't figure we were going out of the country any time soon.... but obviously that got bumped up on the priority list.
I also bought health insurance for myself today, because they need proof of me being covered to submit for the visa. So without fully understanding their system, I am now a proud owner of some random Australia health insurance plan.
What else? I posted my Prelude on Craigslist and have heard from several folks so far... I have a few people coming over on Saturday to take a look at it. So hopefully we'll be down one car and have some cash in our pockets soon. :-)
ok it's getting late... peace!
Snoop's pissed because Barkley is 75% sub-saharan african and Snoop is 71% sub-saharan african. they actually seemed stoked to get their DNA done... i don't know if I think it's awesome or ridiculous.
BTW, George Lopez's monologue was a whole lot of not funny. i wasn't impressed, although I did like him giving Snoop a Josh Grobin CD because "that's what white people like".
Re: the Australia stuff, I have had a pretty productive few days! I got all of our documents scanned and sent in for the visa paperwork, and today I had to drive down to Tucson to get my passport expedited. $150 and 8 hours later, I now have an updated passport! I had never gotten around to changing my last name on my passport...didn't figure we were going out of the country any time soon.... but obviously that got bumped up on the priority list.
I also bought health insurance for myself today, because they need proof of me being covered to submit for the visa. So without fully understanding their system, I am now a proud owner of some random Australia health insurance plan.
What else? I posted my Prelude on Craigslist and have heard from several folks so far... I have a few people coming over on Saturday to take a look at it. So hopefully we'll be down one car and have some cash in our pockets soon. :-)
ok it's getting late... peace!
Monday, February 15, 2010
lots o' stuff to figure out
today was filled with figuring crap out; really basic stuff like: what visas am I eligible for? how do I get my passport renewal expedited? How does Australia's health insurance system work?
So, yeah. I don't have it all figured out yet, but I'm working on it. Re: the visa, I am getting sponsored on a 457 visa, which is the main employer-sponsored visa. Brian will be my dependent on this visa and it allows him to be able to work wherever he wants, so long as I don't get laid off. If I happen to get laid off, then I have like 3-4 weeks to find another company to sponsor me, or else we get deported. But assuming that doesn't happen, I believe our visa is valid for 4 years and then can be renewed with some B.S. involved. All in all the 457 is a good visa; there are also some great tax benefits to account for the fact that we also will (potentially) owe taxes in our home country as well. It's a good thing there are so many tax loopholes in the US to help us out with that. :-)
So there is a bunch of stuff I am in the process of gathering for the 457 visa: marriage certificate, birth certificates, proof of work history, blah blah. Most of it is easy, but the main thing I'm working on now is my passport renewal. When we got married I changed my social security card, driver's license and checking account, but figured we wouldn't be traveling for a while and didn't get around to doing the passport. Now it's REALLY URGENT. So I figured out a little way that may help expedite things: I was told to have my future employer send a letter stating that I need to change my passport ASAP, and for an additional fee I can make an appointment at the closest state department office, which is in TUCSON. blahhhhhhh. Whatever, anyway so I am hoping this will work. I might be taking a trip tomorrow, we'll see.
So the thing about the 457 is it takes a while to get pushed through, so my company was hoping to get me another visa to be a temporary one until the 457 gets approved... but it appears that the only option is one for 18-30 year olds, and since i'll be 32 in less than a month (yes, I'm old...suck it!) I'm not sure yet when I'm going... but we are still shooting for the 2nd week in March.
The last piece is the health insurance, and it has been a doozy so far. Brian and I aren't eligible for their public health system since we're considered long-term visitors, so we are responsible for paying for private insurance. This is required for the visa, which is cool with me, except for the fact that their system is soooo much different from here.... I'm sure I'll get it eventually, but for now I am trying to figure it all out at lightning speed so I can purchase it for the visa. Questions I'm running into are: do I want to pay extra to go to a private hospital if we have an emergency, or is the public hospital good enough? How does the prescription plan work? It sounds like the insurance carriers cover up to an amount on a list...but where's the list? Whose list is it? What do they consider "pre-existing conditions" (brings me shudders from all of the healthcare debates here in the US)?
Anyway, my head is kinda spinning, but I'm sure I'll get it all sorted out.
On a much more important note, I am trying to figure out how much money I am allocating toward my new handbag fund (they are very fashiony in Melbourne, and clothes and stuff are super expensive in Australia, so I am going on a shopping spreeeeeeeeeee). I have unfortunately fallen in love with quite a few beautiful bags and am having a hard time narrowing them down.
Oh woe is me, my life is so hard! Haha feel free to put me in my place.
Ok the Olympics are over for the night, so peace!
So, yeah. I don't have it all figured out yet, but I'm working on it. Re: the visa, I am getting sponsored on a 457 visa, which is the main employer-sponsored visa. Brian will be my dependent on this visa and it allows him to be able to work wherever he wants, so long as I don't get laid off. If I happen to get laid off, then I have like 3-4 weeks to find another company to sponsor me, or else we get deported. But assuming that doesn't happen, I believe our visa is valid for 4 years and then can be renewed with some B.S. involved. All in all the 457 is a good visa; there are also some great tax benefits to account for the fact that we also will (potentially) owe taxes in our home country as well. It's a good thing there are so many tax loopholes in the US to help us out with that. :-)
So there is a bunch of stuff I am in the process of gathering for the 457 visa: marriage certificate, birth certificates, proof of work history, blah blah. Most of it is easy, but the main thing I'm working on now is my passport renewal. When we got married I changed my social security card, driver's license and checking account, but figured we wouldn't be traveling for a while and didn't get around to doing the passport. Now it's REALLY URGENT. So I figured out a little way that may help expedite things: I was told to have my future employer send a letter stating that I need to change my passport ASAP, and for an additional fee I can make an appointment at the closest state department office, which is in TUCSON. blahhhhhhh. Whatever, anyway so I am hoping this will work. I might be taking a trip tomorrow, we'll see.
So the thing about the 457 is it takes a while to get pushed through, so my company was hoping to get me another visa to be a temporary one until the 457 gets approved... but it appears that the only option is one for 18-30 year olds, and since i'll be 32 in less than a month (yes, I'm old...suck it!) I'm not sure yet when I'm going... but we are still shooting for the 2nd week in March.
The last piece is the health insurance, and it has been a doozy so far. Brian and I aren't eligible for their public health system since we're considered long-term visitors, so we are responsible for paying for private insurance. This is required for the visa, which is cool with me, except for the fact that their system is soooo much different from here.... I'm sure I'll get it eventually, but for now I am trying to figure it all out at lightning speed so I can purchase it for the visa. Questions I'm running into are: do I want to pay extra to go to a private hospital if we have an emergency, or is the public hospital good enough? How does the prescription plan work? It sounds like the insurance carriers cover up to an amount on a list...but where's the list? Whose list is it? What do they consider "pre-existing conditions" (brings me shudders from all of the healthcare debates here in the US)?
Anyway, my head is kinda spinning, but I'm sure I'll get it all sorted out.
On a much more important note, I am trying to figure out how much money I am allocating toward my new handbag fund (they are very fashiony in Melbourne, and clothes and stuff are super expensive in Australia, so I am going on a shopping spreeeeeeeeeee). I have unfortunately fallen in love with quite a few beautiful bags and am having a hard time narrowing them down.
Oh woe is me, my life is so hard! Haha feel free to put me in my place.
Ok the Olympics are over for the night, so peace!
Sunday, February 14, 2010
happy V day!!
Brian and I have a new obsession: HDTV and the DIY channels (we especially love House Hunters International). The only reason we can come up with is because we're moving eventually (well me soon, him eventually) and get to organize a new place.... not demo it and renovate but you know, decorate and stuff. But we also just like it because there are some dumb-ass people on these shows and we like to make fun of them: "I can totally renovate my kitchen in four days. By myself. Without having any construction experience. Or having any real plan." Let's see how that works out for you, Bro. hahahaha
Anyway. I took the GMAT last week. I didn't do awesome, but I didn't blow it either. I did well enough to get into Thunderbird, which was the main objective. So yay. Now I need to get motivated to write my essays before the 28th.... we'll see how that goes.
In the meantime, I have been working with my recruiter to solidify my employment contract. He came to me on Thursday with a HOT MESS of a contract... probably wasn't his fault, but still... all the crap we talked about wasn't in there. So technically I guess I still am not 100% going to Melbourne....but I am hopeful that Dale and the HR peeps will get their shiz together and get me a contract that I can sign. Everyone keeps asking when I'm going, and the answer is....not sure yet. I am shooting to start work either the 15th or 22nd of March, which means I'll leave like 5 days before that.... but those dates will get pushed back if the contract takes forever.
In the meantime, we are trying to sort stuff into piles: what is getting sold/donated, what is going into storage, what is getting shipped to Melb when Brian leaves, what is going to go in our luggage. It has been kind of a pain in the ass but we are plugging away.
On a side note
, I
finished some quilts for my bff Kasey! (actually, they're for her kids Sarp and Demet.) I am sending them to her this week... not sure if you tell from these pics, but Sarp's has planets and Demet's has ladybugs. :-) She doesn't know they are getting them, so I hope they like them!
What else? Dave and Linderella (aka my 'rents) are coming to Phoenix on February 25th through March 2nd. We are planning on heading up to Prescott one last time for a while (for me, anyway), and then my mom said she'd help me sort stuff.... the 'rents just wanted to see us one more time before we head off to the eastern hemisphere! They are excited for us....I think my mom has even come around to the whole thing. Since we are on a 3-4 year plan, I think it's less scary to her that we'll be gone forever.
On a last note, my man made me an awesome dinner for V-day....we had broccoli soup for an appetizer, then grass-fed NY strip steak with scallops, asparagus and fennel polenta, and poached pears with vanilla bean ice cream and chocolate sauce for dessert. FANTASTIC. Also, we drank some wine from Portugal and drank some port from Temecula for dessert. All in all it was such a great dinner. It puts my gift of a card with jelly bellys and gummy bears to shame. :-)
Anyway. I took the GMAT last week. I didn't do awesome, but I didn't blow it either. I did well enough to get into Thunderbird, which was the main objective. So yay. Now I need to get motivated to write my essays before the 28th.... we'll see how that goes.
In the meantime, I have been working with my recruiter to solidify my employment contract. He came to me on Thursday with a HOT MESS of a contract... probably wasn't his fault, but still... all the crap we talked about wasn't in there. So technically I guess I still am not 100% going to Melbourne....but I am hopeful that Dale and the HR peeps will get their shiz together and get me a contract that I can sign. Everyone keeps asking when I'm going, and the answer is....not sure yet. I am shooting to start work either the 15th or 22nd of March, which means I'll leave like 5 days before that.... but those dates will get pushed back if the contract takes forever.
In the meantime, we are trying to sort stuff into piles: what is getting sold/donated, what is going into storage, what is getting shipped to Melb when Brian leaves, what is going to go in our luggage. It has been kind of a pain in the ass but we are plugging away.
On a side note
, I
finished some quilts for my bff Kasey! (actually, they're for her kids Sarp and Demet.) I am sending them to her this week... not sure if you tell from these pics, but Sarp's has planets and Demet's has ladybugs. :-) She doesn't know they are getting them, so I hope they like them!What else? Dave and Linderella (aka my 'rents) are coming to Phoenix on February 25th through March 2nd. We are planning on heading up to Prescott one last time for a while (for me, anyway), and then my mom said she'd help me sort stuff.... the 'rents just wanted to see us one more time before we head off to the eastern hemisphere! They are excited for us....I think my mom has even come around to the whole thing. Since we are on a 3-4 year plan, I think it's less scary to her that we'll be gone forever.
On a last note, my man made me an awesome dinner for V-day....we had broccoli soup for an appetizer, then grass-fed NY strip steak with scallops, asparagus and fennel polenta, and poached pears with vanilla bean ice cream and chocolate sauce for dessert. FANTASTIC. Also, we drank some wine from Portugal and drank some port from Temecula for dessert. All in all it was such a great dinner. It puts my gift of a card with jelly bellys and gummy bears to shame. :-)
Monday, February 8, 2010
The Menagerie
Well Brian and I ran into a little quagmire last week when we started researching companies that move pets internationally. We knew that pets had to be quarantined for 30 days in Australia, and had decided that in the long run, it would be fine for the pets and would make us happy to have them with us.
But after talking with some specialists, we found out that not only do the pets have to be in quarantine for 30 days in Australia, they have to be held in their own country for 150 days on top of that! Basically the deal is that Australia doesn't have rabies...never has...and they have a really strict policy on bringing animals into the country. They used to require everyone to put their pets in a 180 day quarantine (their quarantine is like a boarding facility, so it's not a horrible experience...but having your pets in a boarding place for 6 months is just sad). Now they allow for the first five months to be served in the home country and the last month still needs to be served in the facility in Aus.
And the 150 day ticker doesn't start until the have tested negative for rabies, which is usually administered 4 weeks after they have been vaccinated against rabies....
What all of this means is that Brian and I had a lot of figuring out to do... do we get rid of the pets? Do we find someplace for them to go for 5 months? But ultimately what we decided to do is keep the pets here in AZ with Brian until the 150 days are up. That means that I will be going to Melbourne around mid-March, but Brian won't be coming until mid-August most likely. He will plan on coming out for a week or so halfway in between.
I am going to miss him!! I am really bummed that we're going to be separated for that long, but we both think that this is the best solution to the problem overall. It also is a better financial decision because I will be staying with our friend Dawn for a few months, which will give me time to research neighborhoods and save money....no point in moving into a big place for the whole fam until everyone gets down here. :-)
So... that's the latest.
Also, on a side note, I am taking the GMAT tomorrow. You would think I would be excited/anxious/something since I have been preparing for it for so long, but I am pretty 'blah' about it. I am trying to get some good studying in today and then a good night's sleep....and then hopefully I'll do ok! I have been slacking a bit in the studying department, but I hope that won't affect my score too much.
PS Glad the Saints won last night....but I do sorta feel bad for Peyton... he looked so depressed. How am I going to live without football?? The good news is my recruiter is a big american football fan and he said he'd help me figure out how to get the games when the season starts next year, so yay for us. :-)
But after talking with some specialists, we found out that not only do the pets have to be in quarantine for 30 days in Australia, they have to be held in their own country for 150 days on top of that! Basically the deal is that Australia doesn't have rabies...never has...and they have a really strict policy on bringing animals into the country. They used to require everyone to put their pets in a 180 day quarantine (their quarantine is like a boarding facility, so it's not a horrible experience...but having your pets in a boarding place for 6 months is just sad). Now they allow for the first five months to be served in the home country and the last month still needs to be served in the facility in Aus.
And the 150 day ticker doesn't start until the have tested negative for rabies, which is usually administered 4 weeks after they have been vaccinated against rabies....
What all of this means is that Brian and I had a lot of figuring out to do... do we get rid of the pets? Do we find someplace for them to go for 5 months? But ultimately what we decided to do is keep the pets here in AZ with Brian until the 150 days are up. That means that I will be going to Melbourne around mid-March, but Brian won't be coming until mid-August most likely. He will plan on coming out for a week or so halfway in between.
I am going to miss him!! I am really bummed that we're going to be separated for that long, but we both think that this is the best solution to the problem overall. It also is a better financial decision because I will be staying with our friend Dawn for a few months, which will give me time to research neighborhoods and save money....no point in moving into a big place for the whole fam until everyone gets down here. :-)
So... that's the latest.
Also, on a side note, I am taking the GMAT tomorrow. You would think I would be excited/anxious/something since I have been preparing for it for so long, but I am pretty 'blah' about it. I am trying to get some good studying in today and then a good night's sleep....and then hopefully I'll do ok! I have been slacking a bit in the studying department, but I hope that won't affect my score too much.
PS Glad the Saints won last night....but I do sorta feel bad for Peyton... he looked so depressed. How am I going to live without football?? The good news is my recruiter is a big american football fan and he said he'd help me figure out how to get the games when the season starts next year, so yay for us. :-)
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