Passports Arrived!

Hallelujah! We are on our way Saturday!

The Italian Consulate came through and the passports arrived today in express mail. Of course, we weren't here when the mail carrier came and so then had to make arrangements with the post office to pick them up tonight. I feel that we live in a carnival fun house right now where every turn leads to another unknown. But---at this point, we will board United 900 this Saturday and arrive in Pisa Sunday afternoon.

We continue to move ahead on faith, as the passports still do not carry the much desired visa. The Eternal City of Rome still deliberates our fate! It would seem that a yes or no would not take long so suspect our apps are quietly sitting in a pile in some clerks office waiting for review. (I hope that's the situation.) There was a note with our passports assuring us that we will be notified as soon as the decision is transmitted.

There is no real problem with not having the visas now as we really don't need them until we go in July--we just wanted to be able to begin the "buy a car" process but we can't do that until we have residency which we can't get until we have a permissio di soggiorno which we can't get without a visa.

Tomorrow we make our last trip to the vetinarian's office to weigh our duffels. After scratching our heads and pondering where, oh where, could we weigh the bags that now seem heavier than the one we took to the airport for approval, we remembered the scales at the vet's. They graciously let us use them. So--if you ever have such a need and have a pet, you may find this to have been a worth while read.

All the arrangements are made for Casey while we are gone. His basketball team is undefeated thus they are going into playoffs and finals. We are sad to miss this excitement--but, Uncle Jeff will fill in for us.

Little League Opening Day is next weekend--again Uncle Jeff wears our shoes. Thanks goodness for Zio (that's uncle) Jeff.

Teachers have been notified, friends are ready to do whatever might be necessary, medical authorizations are signed and notorized, freezer is full for the college student taking care of our boy, and without doubt we have missed something.

Now we put our trust in God that all will go well, that no emergency will erupt, that Casey will not be emotionally upset while we are gone and that this is the beginning of the journey we have a head of us. Dreams are so often no more than sleep time visuals. Making one come true is very special.