Planning

When the workin’ day is done…

Sometimes, life just wants you to know you are on the right path. I had an “Official Song of Moving,” too. And for some inexplicable reason it was Girls Just Want to Have Fun. I don’t know why, but this had become an earworm for me as I spent all of my recent days packing up the house. And when I fired up the U-Haul to make our penultimate trip out to the storage unit, it was playing on the radio. I don’t mean it came on sometime during the drive or I was flipping channels or anything: literally I

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Planning

Message from Marley

What a whirlwind the past several days have been. After forfeiting our original tickets to Spain because our visas had not arrived, we finally received those precious parcels last Thursday – exactly 4 weeks and 1 day after we submitted our applications. Our euphoria segued into get-it-done overdrive, and we frantically finished moving our household to storage. We could not have done this without the help of J & J – you know who you are. We are eternally grateful. It was stressful, to be sure, and this Dreamer had to do more Doing than she is comfortable doing in

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Bureaucracy

A Tribute to My Wife, Paperwork Ninja

Our visas came today. I will note today is exactly the government-mandated 4 week date (plus mailing time of 1 day). So once again we learn that bureaucrats are nothing if not consistent. Too bad for the first set of plane tickets I bought (my pocketbook, really): a 4-week processing time does not mean 3 1/2 weeks. And woe to those who apply for Spanish visas with a 12-week processing time, who will almost certainly not be getting their passports back in 11 weeks and 6 days. I do have to thank my lovely wife for her constant attention and preoccupation

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Planning

Tidying in Limbo, or “Waitin’ on a Visa”

Our new departure date less than a week away, we continue to await our visas. So far I have only compulsively checked the mailbox twice today – yes, that is an improvement! It’s a little less nerve-wracking knowing that we can change our tickets this time (for a small fee, but of course). Still, the state of waiting tends to turn one’s life into a country music video – this one seems an apt metaphor for the visa process, plus it’s so literal it gave me the giggles. Meanwhile, the extra time, though expensive, has been appreciated, as we have

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Bureaucracy

Waiting

We were supposed to move to Spain today. That didn’t happen. Earlier this year, I applied for a position as a North American Language and Culture Assistant in Spain. Living abroad has been a lifelong dream of mine, and after a honeymoon in France and Italy, my new groom was on board. I had learned about the Auxiliares de Conversación program in college, but at the time I couldn’t make it happen. Years later, I was delighted to learn the program was still going strong, and I submitted my application in early January. Waiting to find out if we would

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