Movin right along ...

It hasn't even been one whole week since we have made the decision to move to Hong Kong and we have started to get a lot of stuff moving. We are getting some house stuff in order today and in doing so, I had to go to the bank and get stuff out of the safety deposit box. Gosh ... that thing is a mess. I did manage to find our birth certificates, a savings bond that someone gave Gabby when she was born and a ton of house stuff (all stuff I did not need!) So, that was a "worth it" trip.



We have forms that we need to fill out for the work visa. Holy moly, that thing is complicated. What is interesting the government (HK) is asking for a copy of Jonathan's transcripts. They
want to know your education level ... I guess they don't want a dumb foreinger working there :)



So now we have moved onto finding a homeschooling program. We have looked at A Beka and Calvert school. Jonathan is leaning twards A Beka, but I looked at the math program for 5th grade and Hannah is doing some of that now in 4th. I hope that it challenges her. I would hate to put her behind when we get back. What I think I might do is buy a used book on ebay and see if it will be a good fit for her.

When do we start telling people that we are moving?

We knew that we had to tell family first. I did not want them to hear over facebook, so I called my parents and Jonathan emailed the Collins side too. I then called my cousin, who is getting married Labor Day weekend and broke the bad news that we were probably not going to make it to her wedding in Chicago or Argentina (I know ... cool huh!). She was excited about he HK part (she is also a world traveler) but sad about the wedding. (So were the girls and I!) Then it was time to move on to some of my close friends from high school whom I reconnected with recently. Now ... I have started to tell some of my closest friends here in person, I'm sure the rest will find out thru word of mouth by the end of next week.

Jonathan took it upon himself to put it out on his beginnertriathlete blog and tell some friends from swimming. I wasn't really prepared for it, but it was like ripping off the band aid ... fast and clean. We have gotten a huge amount of support. I really appreciate ALL of it!

This next week we need to narrow down a couple of areas we think we want to live. Jonathan wants to live in Discovery Bay, where we will get a little more room for the money. I'm not really sure where I want to live, because it is a balancing act between getting the full experience and having a good quality of life for the girls like parts and rec areas.