More Rome Progress

The last few days have been BUSY, making more phone calls and preparations for our impending international move. Seriously, the last couple of weekdays have been spent only working on these plans during the day. For both Nick and myself.

Our biggest news? We booked our plane tickets!! We are officially leaving on August 30. Wow. That's only 63 days away! And today, we got official confirmation that our kitties have reservations on our flights too.

We have already done research on getting the kitties ready for an international move, both in terms of transporting them and getting their paperwork in order. This has led to a phone call to our microchip company, one to our vet, reading dozens of websites, printing off paperwork, and ordering international microchips ourselves to get them all in order. Plus, we're still trying to decide if they'll come in the cabin or travel in (the pressurized and climate-controlled) cargo. Both options have benefits and drawbacks. Either way, we need new carriers for them, as ours don't meet the measurements and criteria for either choice. All of these things cost $$$.

Today I also crunched the numbers for the different property management companies we're considering. It's not pretty. I figured up the maximum amount of money that will be coming into our pockets vs. what has to be paid on our mortgage. Yikes.

I've also been in contact with a few people about apartments. Our budget is really limiting in terms of what we can get, but I'm looking everywhere to find something that we can live in, that isn't a closet, and that is in a good location.

Yesterday I got our American cell phone situation figured out. I loved having something to sort-of check off the list. The fact that it will involve one more phone call in August means that it doesn't get completely crossed off.

I was also on the phone with Medtronic this morning about some non-functioning sets of tubing, to get those replaced. Plus, I updated the number of test strips I can get per day, so I'll be getting a new shipment soon for my hoarding obsession. Random fact: if you report a problem with a product to Medtronic, they want a current BG reading. Weird?

We've also been doing more to get ready to apply for our visas. This may be one of the most difficult parts of the whole thing. Getting my study visa won't be an issue, but Nick's visa is another story. We have a couple of options for him, but each has its drawbacks. More yikes here.

So not a bad couple of day's worth of work. But there is still much to be done. Plus, I leave for a 5-day trip to Missouri next week AND my summer class starts soon. Getting ready for this move is acting like a full-time job lately. We'll just have to budget our 63 days carefully to ensure that the whole job gets done.