OK
We're still alive. I promise. We are--or at least we were--horribly busy for the last month. March is typically a beast because we're dealing with a long quarter and with getting things ready to send off to the International Baccalaureate Organization for Middle Years Programme (yeah, I know, but that's how they spell it across the pond--with extra letters) moderation. It basically means we send samples of graded student assessments off to the IBO to make sure we're doing things right. Sounds simple, but there are a lot of particulars for each subject area and lots of little tiny details to worry about.
It's a massive undertaking and it's always a huge sigh of relief when it's done. This year was no exception, except on top of all that we got to throw the added stress of making arrangements to ship ourselves, our cat and our furniture and other household goods back to the U.S. Fun times, kids, fun times.
Thankfully even that fell together last week. We got a decent quote for shipping our stuff, and the good news is our school-provided shipping allowance should cover it, with a teensy bit to spare to use on shipping His Royal Loudness, Sir Beans, home.
That, in and of itself, has been an adventure to organize. We found out we were able to save, oh, a few thousand dollars by booking with a company in Jakarta rather than booking with a U.S. pet relocation company which we'd just be paying to book through the Jakarta company anyway. Then we found out that Beans gets to fly KLM from here to Amsterdam (special catnip, anyone?) to Chicago, but that getting him from Chicago to Omaha is a problem.
It turns out that once he gets past the major, major airports in the U.S., he can only be sent on by plane if the forecast temperature is below 85 F. That's a pretty big toss-up in the middle of June. We looked at the possibility of meeting up with him there since we're also flying through O'Hare and then carrying him on the plane for the last leg, but the best option is going to be driving.
We get into Chicago in the morning and will rent a car, stay overnight in a hotel about 90 minutes outside of the city, get up early the next morning and drive the 20 minutes from the hotel to the kitty boarding facility where Beans will have been staying for a couple nights. They're located right off I-80, so then we'll just drive the rest of the way home. It's really not too far, especially since we'll already be 90 minutes closer to home by then anyway. In the end, it's not any more spendy that shipping him to Omaha or flying with him there. Besides, we like road trips.
Anyway, since it's been so long there's a lot to blog about. I've started volunteering at a local baby orphanage and it's quite an experience. I'm about three-quarters of the way done with a blog about it, but I have to be in the right frame of mind to finish it. I'll post it soon, I promise. (Oh, and don't go getting any ideas about us bringing home an Indonesian baby, either--the bureaucratically heinous adoption process for foreigners takes about two years, and that's after the foreign couple has been married five years already. We're going on four and leaving in June. Do the math.)
We have this entire week off from school for third-quarter break. I'd call it Spring Break but there's no such thing as spring here. We are, however, going off for some time at the beach. We leave for Bali tomorrow morning and get back Friday. We'd meant for December to be our last trip there but since I spent the entire time in bed, sick with a terrible cold, we figured we'd better go back for a few more days. Don't worry-we're flying a good airline so we won't fall out of the sky or spontaneously combust on the runway. Fly is Safe.
I promise to blog more as soon as we get back. I need to tell you about the babies at the orphanage, about how little Ruben grins when he sees me, how Nathaniel likes to hear stories about monkeys in the banana trees outside his window and how Oscar tries to eat my ponytail. Sorry again for the long blog drought. We were just far too busy, but now that third quarter is over we can breathe again.
It's a massive undertaking and it's always a huge sigh of relief when it's done. This year was no exception, except on top of all that we got to throw the added stress of making arrangements to ship ourselves, our cat and our furniture and other household goods back to the U.S. Fun times, kids, fun times.
Thankfully even that fell together last week. We got a decent quote for shipping our stuff, and the good news is our school-provided shipping allowance should cover it, with a teensy bit to spare to use on shipping His Royal Loudness, Sir Beans, home.
That, in and of itself, has been an adventure to organize. We found out we were able to save, oh, a few thousand dollars by booking with a company in Jakarta rather than booking with a U.S. pet relocation company which we'd just be paying to book through the Jakarta company anyway. Then we found out that Beans gets to fly KLM from here to Amsterdam (special catnip, anyone?) to Chicago, but that getting him from Chicago to Omaha is a problem.
It turns out that once he gets past the major, major airports in the U.S., he can only be sent on by plane if the forecast temperature is below 85 F. That's a pretty big toss-up in the middle of June. We looked at the possibility of meeting up with him there since we're also flying through O'Hare and then carrying him on the plane for the last leg, but the best option is going to be driving.
We get into Chicago in the morning and will rent a car, stay overnight in a hotel about 90 minutes outside of the city, get up early the next morning and drive the 20 minutes from the hotel to the kitty boarding facility where Beans will have been staying for a couple nights. They're located right off I-80, so then we'll just drive the rest of the way home. It's really not too far, especially since we'll already be 90 minutes closer to home by then anyway. In the end, it's not any more spendy that shipping him to Omaha or flying with him there. Besides, we like road trips.
Anyway, since it's been so long there's a lot to blog about. I've started volunteering at a local baby orphanage and it's quite an experience. I'm about three-quarters of the way done with a blog about it, but I have to be in the right frame of mind to finish it. I'll post it soon, I promise. (Oh, and don't go getting any ideas about us bringing home an Indonesian baby, either--the bureaucratically heinous adoption process for foreigners takes about two years, and that's after the foreign couple has been married five years already. We're going on four and leaving in June. Do the math.)
We have this entire week off from school for third-quarter break. I'd call it Spring Break but there's no such thing as spring here. We are, however, going off for some time at the beach. We leave for Bali tomorrow morning and get back Friday. We'd meant for December to be our last trip there but since I spent the entire time in bed, sick with a terrible cold, we figured we'd better go back for a few more days. Don't worry-we're flying a good airline so we won't fall out of the sky or spontaneously combust on the runway. Fly is Safe.
I promise to blog more as soon as we get back. I need to tell you about the babies at the orphanage, about how little Ruben grins when he sees me, how Nathaniel likes to hear stories about monkeys in the banana trees outside his window and how Oscar tries to eat my ponytail. Sorry again for the long blog drought. We were just far too busy, but now that third quarter is over we can breathe again.
posted by Erin @ 10:05 AM
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