We finally have some more information to share. The work permit is on it's way! We have an appointment at the British Consulate in Chicago next Tuesday, March 6th. We'll make a flying trip there and back the same day to get finish our visa application process.
Then we'll have a day at home to finish packing before we leave for London on Thursday March 8th. YAY!!! We're really going! Michael's still in London, so I'm going to start getting everything packed up and ready to go.
I'm sure that by now everyone knows that we're soon off to London. Several of you are probably also aware that we have been delayed a bit from our original plan. For those of you who aren't completely up on everything that's been happening, let me bring you up to speed.
On January 2, 2007, Michael started working full time for Lombardi Software. Part of this new position would include traveling to Europe (London - at least initially) for a period of approximately 1 year to provide training, mentoring and knowledge transfer to their new European division. At first we didn't have a lot of information about travel dates, then we learned that the plan was for Michael to conduct training during the last week of February and then start work full time in London by the first full week of March. Our plan was to head for London just after my birthday, on the 22nd or 23rd of February, have the weekend to get over our jet lag and then he would ready for work on Monday.
Needless to say, it hasn't worked out that way. We're both still optimistic about the adventure, but right now we're both getting a little frustrated. Before I rant, just let me say that Lombardi has been great. They have done their best to help us find answers to our questions. The UK lawyer we've been working with - not so great. Every question seems to have a week turn around time. What I really wanted was a checklist (for most people who know me well this should come as no surprise) of all the information they needed from us. Instead they've requested things and answered our questions in more of a trickle of information.
So, to make a long story a little shorter (at least I hope so anyway) we aren't leaving for London today. Michael is flying out this weekend and will be gone for a week to conduct the training that has already been scheduled. In the meantime we're waiting on pins and needles for our work permit to arrive from the UK. The lawyer says it should be next Monday or Tuesday, although originally it was eariler than that, but I digress. As soon as the work permit arrives we can make an appointment with the British Consulate, probably in Chicago, to get our visa applications processed in person which is supposed to be a 1 day process, instead of having to wait for them to go through the mail.
The good part about being delayed a little is that it gives us just a little more time to get ready. I've been cleaning out our store room today. Once that's done then I need to clean off my bedside table and our closet. We also have one of our suitcases in the shop being repaired, so that will hopefully be done before we leave. Everything else is pretty much ready to go. I've been tweaking our packing lists, and we've already gotten the plug and voltage converters that we will need. I'm just ready to go!
The most stressful parts, for me at least, have been taking care of the house and business stuff so that we can be gone for a year, and of course trying to figure out what to do with my kitty while we're away. Fortunately, Mom and Dad love us and they've agreed to temporarily adopt our cat for the year. As for the business, our friend Kara has agreed to take care of some of the business things for us while we're gone. Billy and Nicole are going to help us keep an eye on the house and take care of the yard work for us. Thanks to all of you for helping us make this year in Europe better. It's so nice to know that things will be taken care of while we're gone!
That's all I can think of for now. We'll post new information as soon as it trickles in!
