Funny money!

We got our first lot of american and canadian money for christmas - it looks so strange!

Flights are booked

Well, what would my life be without a little bit of drama to keep things lively! 

Went to speak to the boss at work about a suitable "quitting" day.  He was not a happy chappy and insisted I at least work until the end of the roster.  Hmm...dilemma....I'm happy to work until we go, BUT I technically need to quit to get my annual leave paid out, so I can use that money to book the flights.  Payroll were less helpful, saying even if I quit then and there, they couldn't process it all in time anyway, so I would still have to be waiting until the next pay day in January before I get paid.  Bugger!  So decided to set my quit date at the end of the roster (Jan 9th) and manager has agreed to offer me casual shifts from then until we go.

Add to that, when I emailed the manager for the job waiting for me in Truro about a start date, she replied that we'd sort all that out after Christmas when the HR guy was back.  <sigh>  So I can't even pin down a definite start date in Canada either!

After having my own private little hissy fit - why does it all have to be so difficult - I decided to think things through logically.  I KNOW I need to be there before the end of January to get E enrolled in school in time for Semester 2 (stupid rules the high school has that you can only start at the beginning of a semester).  Logic tells me that the new job will want to start me at the earliest - mid January, and the latest, February.  So worse case scenario would mean that I'm not working for a 2 or 3 weeks.

With that in mind, I decided to go ahead and look at booking tickets around mid-January.  I would have liked to gone sooner, but I decided it was just stupid to pay the extra $1000 or so for the flights when the following week it was much cheaper.

Thanks for a VERY understanding mother who kindly offered to lend me the money for the tickets (or was it a gift??  you know, being christmas and all??  i'm sure she doesn't really expect me to pay it back does she????  LOL  Just kidding mother!!!)  Anyway, thanks to my lovely mother, I have now booked the flights from Brisbane to LA!  WOOHOOO!!!!!!!

Gosh - its official!  We're really going!!!!!!  I have found some really good prices on flights from LA to Las Vegas, and from Vegas to Halifax, so will go ahead and book them on payday.  Then its just the matter of sorting out accommodation, and we're done!

Now all thats left to do is sort out the house.  So many things to sell, so little time to do it in.  Am still tossing up between doing a garage sale, or seeing if a second hand store will come in and make an offer on the lot.  Or just give it all to charity and be done with it.  It's not like its actually worth much....  hahahaha

So thats the latest update.  It's all starting to come together nicely  :)  It's going to be a *great* Christmas and an even more fantastic New Year!

It's APPROVED!!!!

I figured that EIGHT WEEKS is plenty long enough to be patient.  So I sent an email to the immigration office asking what was happening with my application.  Funnily enough - I got an auto email reply saying my request had been forwarded to the appropriate department, and someone will be in touch within the next 28 days!  HAHAHAHAHAHA  Yeah, that would certainly be my luck!

Thankfully, it was only 2 days!  I got an email this afternoon saying the work permit had been approved, plus the two student visas, and the paperwork should arrive in the letterbox in the next day or two!  YES!!!!!!!!!

I'm sure we all looked a bit strange doing our happy dance in the middle of the mall!  But hey - who cares!  WE'RE OFF TO CANADA!!!!  AT LAST!!!!!!!!!!!

So now I'm back in that lovely position of having too much to do and not knowing where to start, or what to do first!
I guess emailing my new employer would be a good start - it might be prudent to let them know the work permit is approved and we're set to come.  I'm not sure it would be a good first impression to just show up! So first step is to arrange a start date I guess, and then we can sort out flights and details from there.

Oh my gosh - its just so exciting!  This is the BEST Christmas present I could have hoped for!

Will the waiting ever end?

Nothing much to report - we're still waiting, waiting, waiting.  I don't think we've checked the letterbox so much as what we're doing now!

On a positive note, everything else is coming together nicely.  I *finally* received my police check from New Zealand - all clear!  Phew!  Was getting worried why it was taking so long to get it. Started having visions of their printer burning out with the screeds of pages it was having to print of my criminal record, or that I would have someone show up at the door with a warrant for my arrest!  I know, I know - I have no idea where there stupid fears come from. Geez, I'm so goodie goodie its sickening!  I KNEW my police checks would be fine....but still.....   Thankfully its all good, so I'm clear now to get my nursing registration completed.

Oh, and another small miracle.  After a MONTH (I kid you not!) of badgering, E's sperm donor *finally* sent her passport application all signed.  Hopefully the stupid post office accepts a scanned and printed signature/consent, and I can at long last renew her passport!  Will head down tomorrow to get that all sorted, so fingers crossed!

And now that everything else seems to be in order - surely its a good sign that the work permit is soon to follow!  Here's hoping!