I just thought I'd give a bit of a recap of what's been going on so far...
The plan: Version 1 (early February)
The plan: Version 1 (early February)
Wes’ work wanted him/us to move to the UK for a year for training in their Chester office. This sounded exciting and maybe a little too good to be true, but we agreed to go, and they started working on the paperwork. They wanted us to be there in March or April, so we had a lot to do in only a few short months. As far as we could tell, nothing was really happening and certainly nothing was presented to us. So...we were waiting...and waiting... We were told to be patient and that once things get moving it’s going to be fast!
The plan: Version 2 (April)
Obviously we’re still here and they still want us to go for a year and are now starting to work on visas for both of us. We started looking for renters and packing up some of our belongings (books and other non-essentials) for storage. We are now planning to go in June...wow...there’s only a month and a half to figure everything out...crazy! Our first potential renter falls through...too bad (but in hindsight it worked out okay!). And we were told again, that “once things get moving it’s going to be fast”!
The plan: Version 3 (early June)
We were able to get a renter for a year, but we would have to be out of the house as of July 1. We thought that would be okay since we would be leaving soon anyways...we’ll figure something out. We were in Lethbridge for Wes’s brothers wedding when things fell apart. Apparently there was some issue with the year-long visa, so now the plan is to go back and forth for a year...3 months in the UK and 1 month back here. We wouldn’t need visas to be there for 3 months. That will work...I would take a leave of absence for one year and when we are home in Alberta, I’ll have time to catch up with friends and family and Wes would be able to keep up with his office here. Sounds good, when do we leave?? We decided the beginning of August would be a good time to leave. This would work out great since then we wouldn’t need a renter (oh yeah, our renters fell through as well...again...) since we were only away for 3 months and would need the house while we are back in the city. I’m sure you guessed, but we were still being told that “once things get moving it’s going to be fast”! ( yeah, right...)
The plan: Version 4 (now...today...)
I’m getting tired of this...can I get off of this roller coaster?? Okay, here is where we are at...the three month/one month back and forth plan won’t work... Apparently we can get a 6 month Visa fairly quickly. We’ll go for 6 months and then that’s it, the adventure will be finished. We can spend some extra time there before and after to do some travelling and we’ll have any long weekends and maybe a take a couple of vacation days to do with what we want. Interestingly enough, no one said that “once things get moving it’s going to be fast”...probably a smart decision from their end...
I’ll keep you posted for version 5... ;-)
