Well, he made it.

John is in South Korea. He called me this morning from the school where he was touring. I also got to speak with the director and she sounded very nice, excited to meet both me and Natalie. So, that part is done and now we need to figure out when Natalie and I will be going over. It will probably not be until after December 15 which may mean that we are here until after the January 1st. It's just all going to depend on the holidays and stuff. We can't even apply for our visas though until John gets his first full check. He'll send that and then I'll do the applications and send them through the mail and then I should get that all back in the mail as well and after that, we make plans as to when we fly over. He is going to try and get the same airline he had and have us fly over on the same day though the problem with that is that getting paid on the 15th of December, that won't be until December 21st and that is going to be a really bad time to try and fly due to the craziness of the holiday season. Still, being able to go with him and see part of the process really helped and I now know I can get another bag for both Natalie and myself and I can get a laptop bag for the computer too and use a purse/diaper bag for Natalie. Hopefully I'll be able to put some toys in there for her as I'm sure she's going to want her doll and a few other things. Not sure how I'm going to deal with 8 bags, a two/three year old AND a car seat (yes, I need to take the car seat and that alone is going to be a big pain in the behind). I'll also either need to invest in a harness or an extension for the Ergo sling I'm buying from a friend of mine as I am not going to be able keep a full hand on my daughter at all times and she's entirely too fond of the escalator (I'm terrified of them, I don't even like the stupid moving sidewalk!) So lots of details, things to buy, things to figure out and it's just all mind boggling but at least John has made it to South Korea safely and that's the important thing.

Now, we wait.

John has been dropped off at the airport and currently, should be in the air as I'm typing this. Actually, he should have been in the air for the past 11 hours and will hopefully land in the next two. Saying good bye was hard, just as it was last time but maybe a little harder this time since there was Natalie too. Hard to believe that it was almost seven years ago that he left the last time. SO much has changed in those seven years.

Anyway, I'm REAL beat and Natalie has already crashed so it's really tempting to go to bed. Hopefully tomorrow, things will start to go back on track, at least until we get ready to leave ourselves.

Getting ready for tomorrow!

After many setbacks and delays and two VERY long and tiring trips to Chicago (a five hour drive by car ONE WAY) to get John's visa all ready, John will finally be leaving for South Korea from Chicago tomorrow morning. Yes, this does mean making ONE more trip down there but fortunately, the majority of the driving will fall to a family friend though it will be a VERY early morning for us as John's flight leaves at 11AM. He would like to get there by 8AM which means leaving here at 3AM or earlier. So another VERY long day awaits us one that will be made a little harder by John's departure. We'll be joining him but not for at least a month (possibly even two months) so it will be a fairly lonely time here. Fortunately, I'm just a short distance away from friends and family so all should go well. Still, I do worry that Natalie will have a hard time without John there to keep her occupied but I did buy a copy of Annie and once I have the desktop set up, she can start watching that in our room until the VCR and DVD player finally get set up.

I'm sure too that the next month to two months will also go quick with me making plans myself for our own departure. I will still need to get our visas done (thank goodness there's no need for any trips to Chicago to do that, that will all be done by mail), go through both mine and Natalie's clothes and determine just what will be taken, go through Natalie's toys, go through books, finish my scrapbooking project so that the finished scrapbook can go with, cut down on the things I am using here bit by bit, sell/get rid of old clothes of Natalie's, try to sell some more nursing necklaces, and more that I'm not thinking of right now all while dealing with an almost 3 year old toddler who has MORE than enough things to get into during the day when no one is looking (in particular, the cats that are outside that she keeps trying to sneak out to go see).

Add to that birthdays and holidays and people to see and things to do, I have to say I think the next two months are going to go by WAAAAY too fast for me and the next thing I know Natalie and I will be on an airplane ourselves! Don't want to think about that just yet though cause eek! not ready for that and can't really wrap my mind around that at this time.