Hello blog...long time no talk.  Haven't posted in a while.  Not because there hasn't been anything going on, because believe me...there's plenty going on.  But because when I sit to write, I have no idea where to even begin.  So let's throw the dart at the board and see where it lands, shall we?

Housing?  Housing it is.  The search for housing is in a word...interesting.  Although Steve was in England for three weeks, he was performing two jobs and was super busy.  So he was only able to get one day off to look for housing.  In a housing search that was over in the blink of an eye, he looked at 10 houses in one day.

My requests were simple...

1. A semi full size fridge.  Not a dorm sized one that many had where I would end up going to the market twice in one day.  And not a ginormous American sized one either...kitchens just aren't built that big over there and I've come to terms with that.
2. A separate clothes dryer.  Many places have a washer/dryer combo.  It's a great invention...a washing machine that converts into a dryer.  Great space saving device, but takes forever to do laundry because you can't start a new load of wash while the first one is drying.  Takes all day to do laundry.  Believe me, I know.  We had one the last time we were in London.
 3.  Bedrooms that would fit more than just a bed.  And by bed I mean bigger than a twin.   

Some looked better online than in person.  Some appeared nice on the outside, but were surrounded by a questionable area.  And some where just too old or too small.

He ended up finding a place (pics below) closer to the coast than we originally planned.  It was more city living ie. no yard, no garage and on street parking.  It was older, but the place was completely refurbished inside; very modern which I like.  That ended up being our first choice.

The second choice house (pics below) was more in the "burbs" but still within walking distance of shopping, parks, etc. and only a couple miles from Steve's office.  It wasn't updated as much; think blue carpeting, green kitchen tiles and flowery wallpaper.  But it was roomy, had a larger fridge, a dryer, a garage and a beautiful yard.

After careful consideration (about 20 minutes) we decided to go outside our comfort zone and pick the city living house.  We notified the letting agent and they put the offer in with the landlord.  Because of the time difference of 5 hours, it was not received until the next morning.  By then the house was already gone!  We were disappointed to say the least, but we had a good alternate option in the circa '90's technicolor house.

We put an offer together and submitted it to the letting agent on Friday.  Today is Monday.  Hmmm.....  If this one falls through too I think we will wait to find something until after we arrive and shack up in a extended stay hotel or something.  Fingers crossed though!

I will blog about the schooling another day.  Don't have the energy to open up that can of worms today. 

Cheers!

Here they are...the boy's visa's.  They have been given UK entry clearance in their passports.  Upon telling them that they came in the mail Jack said "So now I can buy stuff like Mom does with hers?"  Ummm, not that kind of visa!  And don't let the lack of smiles on their pictures fool you...they are actually getting more excited as the days pass.  It's just rule that the photo's be expressionless.  Other than that, things are moving along at what seems like warp speed.  

Our move has been confirmed for December 29th.  Well, actually we have three moves...the boat move, the storage move and the plane move.  On December 22nd the movers will come and pack up everything that will be shipped overseas.  Some of the things we are moving are beds, dishes, pots and pans, summer clothing (I'm not even really sure if we should seeing as it will be much colder where we'll be living, my tank tops will become base layers I guess!), kitchen table, sofa, TV's, etc.  I will keep my fingers crossed that everything arrives dry and not smelling like the ocean!  This shipment, which will be on a container ship, should take 6-8 weeks. 

Then on December 27th the movers will be back to pack up everything that we are storing in Atlanta.  What we will be left with, if we've planned correctly, is everything we are taking on the plane.  Clothing to last us 6-8 weeks, toiletries, some toys/books for the kids, Xanax and a bottle of vodka.  So we have basically gone through each room, closet and cabinet and written down whether something will be shipped, stored, donated, trashed, taken on the plane or sold.  I have lists and post-its everywhere, even on my nightstand so if I wake up in the middle of the night with a thought I can jot it down.

My biggest source of sadness, seeing as I'm such a foodie, is not being able to take all my cool appliances.  Can't take anything that plugs in which can't be converted to a different voltage.  So, goodbye my Cuisinart food processor, sayonara my Kitchen Aid mixer and adios my FoodSaver vacuum sealer...for now at least.  I'm also trying to take in what food I can, mostly my spices.  I have accumulated so many and to build my stock back up once we get there will be so costly.  I put in a request to DEFRA (Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs) asking if I can bring those in.  I'm pretty sure I can, as long as it's not living, potted plants, but the last thing I need is for airport customs to question what the bottles of dried green substances are..."It's oregano and parsley...I swear!" :)

Plugging away

Whenever a couple of days pass and nothing is heard or discussed about the move, my imagination gets the best of me I begin to think they've changed their mind and I'm left with a half boxed up house.  But, I am happy to report that we are still on track!  Steve now has a starting date.  This date has been the source of much discussion the past couple of months.  Now that we have a start date (November 14th), visa's for Steve and the kids can be applied for.

Speaking of passports, I thought everything was in order for my travel to the UK.  I am not a US citizen (as I tell my friends that ask if I will ever become one..."No, I like to be different").  But in order to stay in the US legally I do have a green card.  Oddly enough it's not actually green, but pink.  My first one that was issued was green, but after I got married and got a new one, they had changed the color.  According to the UK immigration attorney, I, being a Swiss national, needed to do absolutely nothing to establish residency in the UK.  I could come in on my Swiss passport, set up shop...even get a job with nothing more than my little red book.  But as I found out later, according to US laws, I cannot be outside the states for more than 6 months without filing papers to avoid having my green card surrendered.  That would be a big bummer if we decided to come back and visit!

So I had to fill out papers to ask the US to have mercy on me and give me a two year travel accomodation on my green card.  The only problem is that I have to return to the States for a couple of months prior to the two year expiration to submit another request for another two year extension.  I know that the assignment is only for two years, but we have fingers crossed that we stay for longer.  So basically, every two years I have to come back for a couple months.  But it's not that bad I guess.  Not only is it great for seeing friends and family, but I might even sign up for some races in Atlanta during those two month windows!

So back to the starting date.  As of this date Steve will begin getting paid in pounds (British Pounds Sterling to be exact).  I now have to get bank accounts opened (going with HSBC) in the UK to allow for direct deposit.  I also need to establish an account with the same bank in the US.  If we didn't do it that way we would be paying an arm and leg for wire transfers from HSBC in England to Wells Fargo in the States.

We also need to get a credit card opened in the UK.  We love, love, LOVE our American Express Delta card and use it to buy absolutely everything (up to 3 Skymiles per dollar charged if anyone is interested in one?!)  But they charge a 2.7% conversion fee per international transaction.  Since we use our card for everything, we'd have fees out the wa-zoo.  American Express does offer cards in the UK, but not for Delta.  Instead it's for British Airways.  Guess we'll start flying them all over the place!

We are supposed to get set up with a realtor to help us find a house and narrow down our list of schools.  Yes...there is a LIST.  More on that later!

At least someone is thankful that I refuse to be a packrat

For years Steve has gotten on my case about throwing things out.  From mail (which sometimes doesn't even make it from the mailbox, up the driveway and into the house), to old clothes from his glory days, to boxes from random bike related purchases.  Many a time he has asked "Where is the box for this?" or "Where did my old tennis shoes go?"  To which I would answer, "If we need another box we'll find one" or "Those shoes were falling apart...you SO do not need them anymore."

So when the movers came today to check out our belongings to take inventory of what would be moved and what would be stored...you can imagine their surprise and borderline elation to the fact that we "barely have any stuff."  Finally someone who appreciates my minimalist way of life.  My brain may be cluttered, but at least my drawers aren't. :)

The Difference between the UK, Great Britain and England

Got this video from my good friend Lynn.  The boys have watched this numerous times.  Not because it's terribly entertaining (although Steve and I think it is), but because the guy speaks so darn fast they keep missing things.  Have fun learning!

The Adventure Begins!

Isn't it funny how even though you tell certain people about big changes in your life, it just doesn't seem official until it's posted on Facebook?  Well, it became "official" today...the Grover's are heading to England.  Newcastle upon Tyne to be exact.  It's located on the east coast of England with a 5 hour drive north of London and a 2.5 hour drive south of Edinburgh.  Imagine that...in about 2 hours we'd be in a whole different country.  Not that I'm knocking it or anything because we've liked living here, but I don't think that would even get us out of Georgia...in any direction.

So...some of my friends suggested that I set up a blog to document our move overseas.  I'm not much for the written word (I actually asked my Hallmark-esque friend Lillian to be my ghost writer) so I thought a video diary would be a good alternative.  But, after several failed attempts at getting a proper video made, I have discovered I'm not much for the spoken word either.  I really hate how nasal-y my voice sounds when it's taped.  And my hair never looks right.  And the camera seems to add more than the talked about 10 pounds...but I digress.

We have busy days to come...packing, storing, home and school searches and last chance parties (um, are you listening Atlanta friends?) so I will do my best to update this blog, with videos (if it's a good hair day), pictures and stories as often as I can!