Status Report

Where are we?  Well, let's see...I think we are somewhere around 53.3478° N, 6.2597° W.  How did we get here? 

Thus far, it has taken:

• 2 months of limbo (and counting)
• 3 temporary apartments
• 3 hotel stays
• 3 rental cars (4 if you count our regular UK lease car)
• 4 school visits
• 4 house viewings
• Countless hours doing paperwork and waiting in line

At the beginning of October, six weeks after moving out of our house, we finally received the permit we needed to move to Ireland.  A couple days later, we were finally on our way to Dublin.



Very bright and sunny during take off from Birmingham Airport, UK.

 

We arrived in Dublin on Saturday, and the temporary apartment our relo "support" company found was not available until Tuesday.  And no, for some reason, they could not book us a hotel in the mean time.  We had to do that ourselves.  So for the first few days, we stayed at a lovely hotel, complete with room service and bathrobes (I am still wearing the complimentary slippers).  For 3 wonderful days a hot breakfast including tea, coffee, juice & fresh fruit was delivered to our room at a time of my choosing.  Mmmm hot breakfast, that I didn't make and didn't need to do the washing up (dishes) afterwards.  So nice.

 

Hot Breakfast.  Mmmmm....
(Was tempted to crop sock out of pic, but decided to keep it real)

 

On Monday, Z started his first day at the new office. 

 

Lookin' good.
(notice the darkened cave, er, room, in the background:  shhhh...don't wake the sleeping cub)

 

 

And when C had enough change and just wanted to take a break and stay in the room all day (watching Curious George between race car rocket boosting sessions), well, yes, I would like my own pot of hot tea with the chicken Caesar salad, please. 

 

At the Hotel
Keep Calm and make another cuppa

 

These small luxuries offered some much needed comfort in the midst of the chaos of relocation.  And I am so thankful to God for the resources that allowed a small reprieve.

 

On Tuesday, after taking advantage of a late check-out option (I was not going to spend another day in the car between accommodations, thank you very much), we drove to our temporary apartment where we will stay until we can move in to a place of our own. 

 

The apartment is ok.  It has two bedrooms and a living area.  And some furniture from the early-2000s-in-the-midst-of-divorce-bachelor-pad store closeout.  Besides the over-use of gold-tones for decorating, the chief short-comings of this apartment are the lack of an oven & clothes drying rack.  One is relatively easily remedied.  The other, not so much.  Nothing to really experience local everyday life like carrying groceries and a clothes drying rack a half mile through town back to your flat.  I felt very European.  Even as my hands turned a strange shade of purple-red and my fingers took on a semi-permanent claw shape from the weight of the bags.

 

At the end of our first week in Ireland, we spent 8 hours in the car visiting state-funded schools and looking at rental properties.  The schools were not at all what we are looking for, making me miss the local county school in which we had C enrolled back in the UK.  There was a general lack of adequate outdoor space and equipment for recess and running around.  Some schools demonstrated a lack of patience with children.  Others are over-subscribed, and do not offer the supportive learning environment we want for C.  Mainly, we didn't find a place I would feel comfortable leaving C on his own every day.  We have since asked the relo liason to focus on private Montessori primary schools in the area, and sent her a list of schools I would like to visit.  At least the relo support will save me some cold-calling of schools.  Hopefully we will find a Montessori school that will be a good fit for C.

We did, however, find a house we wanted to pursue.  So our relo liason put an offer in on the house on our behalf (renting in the UK and Ireland generally involves a bit of negotiating).  We heard back the next day that the landlord had accepted our preliminary offer. The following week we were asked to pay the deposit and sign the lease.  Which we did.  But there still seems to be some questions from the landlord who lives, funny enough, in the UK.  Seems like the questions would be asked before accepting a deposit and requesting future tenants to sign the lease.  Some of this may be the sometimes helpful, sometimes muddling middle-man addition of relo support in the communications.  So we have a house to move in to in a couple weeks...I think.  I'll get more excited once we have a signed copy of the lease from the landlord.  Multi-country rental dealings, mixed with a resistance to use technology to streamline the process, makes for extra days of waiting.  Random fact: The 3 places we have rented since moving from the States have all had "resides out of the country" landlords. 

Also this week, we spent about 6 hours waiting in line to register with the Garda and apply for PPS numbers.  It was not fun, but C did well and that part is over...until next year when we need to renew our registration with the Garda.  Oh boy.

 
And now, a little relo deja vu for your enjoyment:
 

2011 Dualing Work Blackberries: US & UK

 





2013 Dualing Work iPhones: UK & Ireland

 

 

Cheers.