Less Than A Month To Go!

We're getting excited about leaving with less than a month to go before we depart for London, but many, many things remain to be accomplished prior to September 11. Sometimes the preparations seem overwhelming, but every day it seems that we get something else done that prepares us for the trip, and that's progress! Even if it's just getting our eyes examined yesterday and making sure we have great glasses and contact lenses for the copius amount of reading that we'll both be doing, we know that it's "one more thing" checked off our list, and we can go on to the next task at hand. Much of it, like the banking stuff and just paying our US obligations while we're gone, involves setting up automatic transfers amd withdrawals from our local credit unions and banks. It's routine paperwork but it takes time and effort.

And there are twists and turns in the road to departure that we have not anticipated that need to be negotiated. So far, we have encountered challenges with getting our visas, which we think we have now straightened out; we have debated with ourselves whether or not we can or should rent out our house while we're gone, a situation that we still have not resolved; we have had to pull out of our plan to ship several boxes to ourselves, due to the exorbitant costs of doing so, and we're now determined to pack it all up and take it in two large suitcases and two carry-ons; and we have decided to work out our financial concerns with a supplemental loan, in addition to the student loans we will get, so that we will not stress over money the entire time we're there, and be able to consentrate on enjoying the experience of the journey itself. Many more hurdles, expected and unexpected, remian in our way, we are sure, but we remian upbeat and positive that we can overcome them in time to take off on Sunday, September 11th.

Finally, we know that we do not go alone. Many, many good wishes accompany us, we know, and we thank you all for your prayers and good thoughts. Our own home becomes the site of an estate/yard sale this Saturday, August 20, from 8:00 AM to 1:00 PM, where we will hopefully sell some of our art collection ( we have too much anyway), the piano, and two vehicles as well as miscellanous stuff that deserves a good home, too. 

Cheers!