A Couple of Notes

-The Sprout has stood up for a couple of seconds before plopping down on her bum. We clap ecstatically.
-Last night Small Sun stayed in his bed. Both a night light and a baby gate were employed in the event of an evacuation but neither seemed necessary. When he was snuggling in our bed this morning (as is our custom) I asked him "did you have a good sleep?" and he said, "yes, mama sleep good?" to which I could happily reply "yes, I did. Thank you sweetie!"
-I would have had more sleep if I hadn't kept myself up for hours thinking about Australia.

We can go online to find out what month's visa applications are currently being processed. They have been on August for MONTHS. Yesterday when we checked they were up to November. NOVEMBER! That means if they move at a month a month pace, we could receive our visa as soon as December! December people!!! So of course I had to stay up and try to work the logistics of this move in my head.

This is really just a recipe for disaster. This is a really complicated move. It's not one that you can plan out before you fall asleep at night. Believe me, I've spent lots of time trying. Here's where my brain always starts spinning into a rut:

We get there and take a taxi cab to...a hotel? Once there we sleep up for a day or two. Then The Captain goes out on his own and finds a car. He somehow gets the car all legal and registered and whatever and miraculously learns to drive on the left side of the road to the extent that I don't fear for our children's lives. The next day (boy was that fast!) we set out to look at apartments. Furnished? Unfurnished? Where? We drag jet lagged, time warped kids all over looking at apartments. Hopefully we find one we can move into right away. We go to Ikea and buy a ton of stuff.

Now this was one major wipe-out area. How do we get the stuff from Ikea to the house/apartment? I was freaked out about The Captain driving a moving van on the wrong side of the road. But, no worries! Today I found out that you can pay Ikea to deliver your purchases! Yahoo. So they deliver all of our stuff the next day after we buy it.

We spend a day at the new place setting up beds and whatnot so we can have somewhere for the kids to sleep. We're living out of suitcases and sitting on boxes of unassembled bookshelf units. We alternate between wild exaltation at having actually made this crazy leap, and annoying each other to death getting this house put together (we don't do projects together very well). Anyway, you can see the challenges. Mainly, the kids!

So a more feasible plan would probably entail The Captain going on ahead of us to get a job, buy a car, learn to drive it, find a house, and set up some basics in it. Hey, I can just give him a basic Ikea shopping list. Then, my mom can fly with me and the kids.

-How far ahead of us should he go? If he went like, a month ahead, could I handle it?
-Where do we live after we have our house packed up and our belongings shipped? There's certain to be a gap in there. How will we manage in OZ waiting for our stuff to arrive? It will take several weeks.

Some pros are that The Captain currently has two cousins studying in Sydney. You know, the good for help moving type! Strong lads. Another pro is that we know of at least two college students from our church who are studying there as well. They might be potential babysitters or be able to recommend some. This is high priority people!!

So, if we got our visa in December, we'd be looking at a February move. The Captain thinks that it will take us two months to set it all up. Can you believe that? February is only six months away! Granted, it could take longer, but it could be as early as six months. I've been doing what I always do: not focusing on the goal I want because I'm afraid I'll be disappointed. But this seems like we might actually be moving, after all these years of talking about it. I don't quite know what to do with myself.

Comments

[Tamara Cosby]

I think I might be a bit jealous! :) That sounds amazing!!!!! I have someone who has read my blog from Australia...I love the idea of Australia...would love to live there!!!

[caro.d]

Ah, girl. Im going to miss you...

[Mayhem]

That's very exciting! Do you know if you'll be blogging through the move or after, or will you have to give it up?

[Lisa]

I just ran across your BLOG looking for adoption stuff...Have you worked out the Australia move stuff? My sister in law went to teacher's college in Sydney and then amrried a local buy. They just moved back to her hometown in Canada 2 years ago. It has been a major adjustment for him! Their move was very complicated because most of their stuff didn't arrive for 6 months. :( Lucky they could live with my MIL the whole time and didn't need to worry abotu IKEA deliveries. :) Have you found someone to help you with OZ info? e-mail me if you need one...lisam0451 at hotmail