Now The REAL Preparation Begins....

We sent our visa applications off Monday, with yet another wretched passport-sized photograph from Wal-Mart, and they should be back here shortly. Now the really tough jobs need to be focused on: what do we sell at the yard sales? What do we pack for seven months of super-changeable weather in London? What do we mail to our friend Nigel ahead of time? (We already have two small but full boxes ready to go, and probably will mail 2-3 more in the next couple of weeks.)

Maybe it’s more positive to see what we have done. We have all of our prescriptions filled through April 2012 and our medical records – still have to get our eyes checked and possibly new glasses for both of us before we go. We have partially filled our friend Rosalie’s spare room in Henderson with stuff to sell at the yard sale next Saturday, although a great deal remains to be done before we’re ready for those events, too. We have a storage space paid for through next April and we have started taking stuff over to it too. More work is needed there as well.

We also have to get the house “renter-ready”, which is no easy task. We’ll probably pack all our junk into the back storage room and lock the door when we leave: that way, the new tenant(s) will be free to actually move about the house! On the positive side, we are reducing the amount of food we have in the freezer compartments, and not spending any more money on food than we have to right now. We are also beginning to set aside clothes in a “definitely-taking-this-to-London” pile: my dress shirts, ties, and socks are already picked out, with at least 5 pairs of my trademark black pants going with me for sure, and 8 t-shirts are in a box to be mailed next week. Maria is having a tougher time deciding than I am, but then again she has more clothes than I do.

And I have to finish reading the entire canon of the writer known as William Shakespeare again before I get there. On the positive side, I know six plays well enough to recite them verbatim, and I’m really familiar with a dozen more. That’s only half the plays, though, to say nothing of the Sonnets and the long narrative poems. I will be ready, though – even if I have to read on the plane! Amidst all this practical preparation and packing and logistical stuff, I have to also prepare to study and to excel once I get there. I don’t think focus will be a problem once classes start, but from now until then there will be plenty of things to distract me, that’s for sure! 

Maria already has an additional genealogy client already, and although she can’t work for UK pay, she can do a lot of research for anybody who wants to know their sordid personal past history! Let her know! It’s simple to get started, and you will probably be surprised at what she finds!

 Once we arrive, a lot of things will happen very fast, I’m sure. We will need to find a place to lay our heads at night, set up a bank account, make sure our London phones work, and visit Brunel so that we can take care of the financial stuff quickly. WE hope to be fully ready soon!