Pics of Katie

Well, I figure this blog won't always be all about the move... so we'll start today :-)

I thought I'd post some pics of Katie from the week - she got a new short haircut (like Lily's, she says), today was Drive In Movie Day where the kids dressed up in 50s attire (BIG fun!!), and we got a Valentine's present in the mail today (thank you, Mimi!).

Enjoy!
Becca

p.s Oh - and about the move. :-) We didn't get the work permit today, but it has been promised to us tomorrow!! Yippee!

and then it gets hard...

Well... we said a terribly sad goodbye to Rosie last night - she is our 75 pound dog who we sent to a new permanent home.  Rosie was a wonderful and fun dog who brightened our home these past 2 years.  She and Katie would play and do all manner of fun things around the house.  Becca would fix all her toys that would get chewed up. I would repair the holes that she dug in my yard!  She did not know that she was 75 pounds and was a snuggle dog who would prefer to be on your lap.  :-)  We really loved her and it was hard to let her go to another home.  Even our other dog Rusty seems sad this morning.

The good news is that the family who took her have been looking for the "right" dog for many months.  They are an excellent fit for her.  For example, they live on 20 acres and have lots of room to run and play.  Rosie will love them and her new home.  They will be great for her and we truly believe that God provided such a good place for Rosie to live.  

  

However... we're sad about it all.  Very sad.  We are "pets for life" type people, so it's really strange for us not to have Rosie with us.  

Jason for we 3

Immigration - we're close!!

Hey there...

I'm in the Orlando Airport on my way back to Dallas. I don't have much time but wanted to share some GREAT and AMAZING news. My work permit will be available on Tuesday or Wednesday of next week!!! Can you believe it?!?! We have really been praying God expedites this process. The coordinator who has been telling me it's 2/3/4 months typically to get the work permit is STUNNED. :-) It's clear that we're not in control... isn't it!

(editing this post on Friday am... I'm back in Dallas)

So the process looks like this:
- work permit midnext week. Say Wednesday.
- We then go to Houston to the Spanish Consulate and appear in person with some money, lots of paperwork and a smile. They take our passports and stuff and we wait what we hear is a week. Then we reappear in Houston to pickup our paperwork and the work and residence Visas. At that point, we're DONE. We move.

So... the schedule is something like this:
- I'm in Europe this next week for meetings. Return Fri/Sat (1/2)
- The packing company is coming to assess our move on the 30th
- We'll go to Houston on the 4th with our permits
- Hopefully we'll have Visa's on the 8th. No later than the 11th. ???
- The movers come on the 13th for the international shipment
- The 14th/15th, we complete moving our stuff to storage and other details
- The 16th, we fly to Madrid on one way tickets.

It's now moving FAST. We're excited. Keep praying for the work permits to complete without a hitch! It's not over till it's over!!

Jason

Madrid and Paris

Hey there! Jason here.

I'm in Paris, France at the moment and things are going well. (Except for sleeping, of course.)

I arrived in Madrid on Tuesday morning and successfully got myself and the rental car to the Hotel and IBM office. It's been great meeting and working with my new manager and colleage, Douglas - who is a Scot. Everyone is super helpful here for newcomers like me. The highlight is that I brought them Dallas Cowboys shirts and they'd honestly never heard of the team. Perhaps it'll soon be a rag for polishing the car??? who knows...

I met everyone in the HQ office early in the week (tues/wed) and then my manager and I flew to Paris. We arrived to the hotel at 10pm last night, but we still went out for a 2 hour 'driving tour' of the city. It was great fun. Becca and I were here in 1999 and many things were familiar. The funny thing is that when I would recognize something or mention that I saw this or that in 1999, Eric (my boss) would ignore the comment and explain the site and significance to me as if I had never seen it! :-) He is VERY proud of this city and it shows!

The sleeping is not going well. Don't ask. I'm seeing 2am every night. eeeekkkkkk.

There are many, many challenges in this new job. It'll be interesting to see how it all plays out. We're off to a solid start...

I wish I had more funny things to share, but it's all a bit boring on this trip. Lots of work. I'm almost completely done with my "old job" work, which is good. We finished the year by slipping many deals into next year... so the new sales manager will have a good first quarter! Even still, I hit my forecast... so that's a positive!

Well... it's 8pm here and I'm beat. However... I've saved a little energy and plan to go find a little dinner on the Champs Elysees!

http://www.aviewoncities.com/paris/champselysees.htm

Au revoir,
Jason