Sorry

I know I fail at blogging sometimes. It's not really that I don't have anything to say. Here's a wrap-up of what's been going on:

- On 7/28, I got a call from the German Consulate saying my passport was ready for pickup. I was SHOCKED, because I thought it would be at least another 2-4 weeks before I heard anything. We made our flight reservations for 8/18 after they called.

- I picked up my pretty new red Reisepass the following Monday in Los Angeles in a horrible round-trip day that lasted just about 12 hours. That night, I filled out the paperwork for M and the kids to get their EEA Family Permits from UK Border Control, but the soonest biometrics (fingerprinting and stuff) appointment was on Thursday, 8/5. Boo to that! Mr. A couldn't get an appointment until 8/6 (triple boo), but Mini-Minion doesn't need one at all (huzzah!).

- M went in for his biometrics appointment on 8/5 and took Mr. A with him on the off chance they would allow him to get his biometrics taken right then. They did! So we overnighted our application to the UK Consulate. They got the package at 10:30AM on 8/6.

- We had our going away party on 8/7. It was a little hard to get everything off the ground for the party, because we were packing up our 18 boxes as well. My house is still trashed from it. :( But we had a great time, and it was fun to hang out with everyone. M was the hit of the party with his version of Ballroom Blitz.

- 8/8 we had to pack the last 3 boxes that were being shipped, go to dinner with my grandparents, and load up all the boxes in the back of a pickup so they could go down to LA the following day.

- Yesterday, I made the trip down to LA AGAIN. I could really do without making that trip again, and most of my goodwill has temporarily gone. It was another 12-hour day. But all 18 boxes are in the hands of the shipping company.

- Another good thing from yesterday: M got his confirmation email from the LA British Consulate saying they received his application and were processing it. Phew!