Continuing the countdown... 6 weeks in the house, 9 weeks until departure.

You've seen our list so far of what we've done and we have yet to do.

Done since the last time:

Appointment made with the vet for within 30 days of our departure to get cat's rabies certificate.

Visas are ready for pick up tomorrow.

Still to do:

Six of 8 ACS recommendations have come back.  Yay!  Just waiting for the other 2, which is fine since I gave the folks until May 4th to complete them for just this reason.  Some people are just quicker than others, like the 2 who returned them the same day.  They rock.

In the meantime I really need to scan all 4 sets of applications and email them off to ACS.  It's a time-consuming and boring job, which is why I haven't done it yet.  No excuses this week.

Plan yard sale #2 to include several pieces of furniture we're currently using.  That'll be fun.

House is still on the market.  Two weeks now.  Arg.

Pick up Medical Records.

Return 3/4 cello to Music&Arts (after May 6th concert).

Order items from Amazon, including 4/4 hard cello case needed for shipping.

Return text books to schools, especially Gar-Field.  Still have texts from last year she didn't return.

Still waiting for White House tour tickets. It's been weeks.  Is that normal or should we just give up on them?

What am I missing??

Shooting at the Family

As a finale to Nicholas's birthday, we went out for paintball.  No photos from the field because I wasn't going to be out there worried about sitting on a camera.  The paint was orange.  Anything red you see is blood and/or bruising.

Nicholas's hand:

Katherine's hand:

Becca's side:

Jonathon's leg:

A good time was had by all.

12 Years Gone

Coldstone ice cream cake and an edible arrangement!

LOTS of new clothes!

Signed Caps stick and autograph helmet!

Trip to Udvar-Hazy to see Discovery!

Waiting for the jet fighter simulator that spins 360*!

Taking a nap!

No photos of LaserQuest!

Sakura for dinner!

Sunday lunch at Silver Diner!

Rebecca was off at a retreat all weekend, Jonathon stayed with grandma and grandpa all weekend, Katherine was out most of Saturday, so a good portion of the weekend was focused solely on Nicholas. I do believe he had a great birthday weekend.

ACS Amman Ambassador's Handbook

It took a lot of searching, really, it did. But I came across a neat little handbook written by high schoolers at ACS. I'm printing out a copy for my kids. Nice to see there's a mention of prom!

Playing Hooky

OK, not really. Ian didn't play hooky today, we had to go downtown to the SIA office to sign the passports we'd sent off for visas sans signatures, before they actually got sent to the Jordanian Embassy. Oops. Always check to see if whatever needs signing actually gets signed.

I really do like the District. It's bright and clean and sunny, with huge sidewalks, green spaces, tons of restaurants and shops, monuments and museums and everything else. Obviously, I don't live in a city, but I think someday I'd like to give it a try.

Our time in the SIA was quick, so we did what normal people do on a home game day at 11 a.m. We caught the tail-end of practice at Kettler.

Sweaty Swede:

Me and Joe B.!

On the way to the van to drop off a bag, Mike Green passed by me. He was walking completely unmolested to his car... parked next to ours. You know how neat I think that is? I figure it's one of the things that keeps hockey players "humble," at least as humble as sports star millionaires can be. Or maybe it's just that we're not a killer hockey town and players can just be themselves. Clearly he wasn't interested in autographs or photos, so he got in his car and I told him Good Luck on tonight's game, he waved Thanks and drove out. Just as we nearly "ran over" Ovi a few weeks ago, now we have the distinction of nearly getting "run over" by Greenie, while getting Braden Holtby's autograph.

*happy sigh*

So far in the Move Countdown....

We are 8 weeks out from moving out of our house, and 11 weeks until our departure.

- Orders received.

- Our house is on the market. Please buy it.

- Yard sale #1 held.

- Schools are informed of our departure: records requested from Montclair and Gar-Field, still need to do the needful at Saunders.

- Medical records requests will be submitted tomorrow.

- ACS recommendation forms have been disseminated to various school personnel.

- New passports received.

- Visa requests were dropped off at Main State.

- Walk through date scheduled for early May.

- Packout dates scheduled for 13-15 June.

- Summer reservations made for DC and VA Beach.

- Tickets acquired for Crime&Punishment Museum, Holocaust Museum, Capitol tour.

- Still waiting for White House tour tickets and Bureau of Engraving and Printing.

- Plane reservations made.

-Cat reserved on plane. New carrier received.

What am I missing?

Oh right.

- Binder started. My favorite part.

What is there left to do?

- Send applications to ACS

- Get Katherine's recommendations from hospital.

- Sell house*

- Receive visas*

- Pick up school records*

- Receive recommendation letters from schools.

- Pick up medical records*

- Schedule turn-offs for all utilities.

* = waiting on other people!

Medieval Times for Nicholas's Birthday

On the 20th Nicholas turns 12, so today we went to Medieval Times.

5th Grade Language Arts

Jonathon's Haikus (the misspellings are his own... yes, he's in 5th grade and his spelling is atrocious)

Unicorns

My horn has magic

My fur is soft as silk

I have saved many

Minitor (he meant Minotaur)

My horns are deadly

I have the strangth of a bull

My ax is pin sharp

Sky Sun

The sun in the trees

Warming all our cold harts

The heat of the sun

And our favorites....

Love

Love is a big wall

And unbrakeable strong force

It will stay always

Dragons

The heat of ther breth

The warmth of ther beating hart

A born warior

The Two Sides

Greed is an Evil

A black hole of all good lite

It has to be slain

Good is an angel

A light in a pitch black room

The life of all things

House for Sale, PW County, VA

If you're interested, please contact Christine Luckenbaugh @ christine@christinesold.com