So we are on our last legs of getting out of here. We have gotten completely out of our house. The movers came last Monday to pack us out, it took them two days to pack and load the crates. I wasn't too happy about how they packed those crates and Dave was having a fit. The took apart all of our bookcases and desks, but left the screws and dowels in everything. That means that everthing is going to be broken, and I get new stuff!!! All of our things came to Italy fully assembled and the Italians think it is totally cool to take everything apart when they send it back to the states. What a pain in the backside!!!
With all of our stuff packed up and the house empty, we were able to clean and do final inspection on Wednesday. So that's all done. We have to take in the final meter reading for our electricity and pay an 'estimated' final payment (they will let us know in 4 to 6 months if we owe any more). We shut off the phone and internet, moved into TLF all on Monday of last week.
We got to spend Thanksgiving in TLF with just our family. We received a few invitations to share the day with other families from the ward, but decided that we wanted to be alone and relax after the stressful few days. We had ham, mashed potatoes, stuffing, green bean casserole, garden salad, pumpkin pie and apple pie. It was a great day! We talked about the many wonderful experiences we have had here in Italy and how grateful we are for our family and friends.
We had to speak in church last Sunday for the last time in this ward. Kaitlyn gave her last talk in Primary two weeks ago. So we are all good until we figure out what ward we will be moving to next.
This week is just as stressful, more for Dave than anyone. And today didn't start off very well at all!! First off, he couldn't find his keys, actually that is not unusual since he never puts them in the same place twice. When we lived in the house, he would usually leave them in the car until the end of the day when he needed them to lock up the house. He has a couple of times left them in the car since moving into TLF. I found the keys just a couple hours ago under the kleenex box. ;0) Then he had to go pay the final bill for the electricity and they wanted our account information, just in case we get a refund. So he had to come back to the room to get the checkbook, which he couldn't find where he thought it should be, so ended up waking me up to his stomping around. UGH!!! Now we just have to go over to the hospital to pay off that bill, that one is gonna make me stress out!!!!! Then we just need to take care of the car, we have to sell it because it is European specs, so we can't ship it back to the states.
After all of that is done and we have to get Kaitlyn's school records, our medical records, and Dave's last day of work. We will fly out of Venice to Paris, spend a couple of hours there. Fly from Paris to Detroit, spend the night in Detroit. Fly out of Detroit to Salt Lake City, rent a car, check into our hotel, get some much needed rest, then see our family!!! We are all so excited about returning to be near family for the holidays!!!
Monday, November 30, 2009
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Frustration!!!
Okay, so we are in the process of trying to get moved. It has been a freakin' nightmare!!! Dave, of course, decided to exercise his return rights back to Hill AFB, UT, six months ago. They actually did away with his job or consolidated it with another wing or group or something and didn't tell him. Then said that the lady that has his position isn't going to give it up or something like that.....the job was guaranteed to him by contract and condition of return rights. So Hill had to scramble to find him a position, found him one or created one for him. Between Hill and Aviano, they couldn't decide who was gonna write the orders, so Dave had to write them himself and submit them. Orders were approved and we began the process of getting everything set up.
Dave started the outprocessing by decideing when we were going to leave Aviano and getting our airline tickets. Then he had to schedule the movers, they don't celebrate Thanksgiving so any time was good for us, the sooner the better. They will be here on Monday and Tuesday to pack us out and load it into the crates. What are we going to sleep on? Well, Dave tried to make reservations at TLF (Temporary Living Facility) but they were completely booked for the time that we wanted a room, so he made reservations in town at a hotel. Come to find out, he had to call EVERY day to see if there were any cancellations at TLF or we would have to pay out of pocket for our hotel. LAST night we finally got TLF for the whole time we need it. Thank you!!! I really wasn't looking forward to having to eat out EVERY meal for 3 weeks.
Dave has been telling his bosses that he was leaving in December and that they needed to find someone for him to train on the programs that he uses so that the transition would be smooth. WELL, in all their wisdom they waited until FRIDAY to send someone over. Never mind the fact that he wasn't going to be in the office next week and his last day of work is the 4th of December. Oh yeah, and by the way, he had to move over to a new building on Thursday!!! BY HIMSELF!! He is so frustrated! People are thinking that what they need him to do has to be done YESTERDAY, never mind the fact that they have had six months to get their crap done before the deadline. Now that their deadline is here they want him to drop everything and get it done especially if there is a problem that should have been taken care of six months ago. UGH!! Stupid people!!!
One of Dave's co-workers tells him not to worry about it, do what he needs to do to get the heck out of here and not worry about all this other crap. The bosses knew six months ago he was leaving and if they waited until the last minute to find a replacement then it's their problem. But the only problem with all of that is Dave was raised to have good work ethics.....he can't leave his bosses hangin' out to dry.
Dave went to turn in the reading on our electricity and try to get a final bill. They told him that they couldn't give him a final bill until we actually turn in the keys, get the meter reading on that day, turn it in....they will give us a estimate of what it will cost, but not an actual final bill until 4 to 6 months from now. Yes, I typed that right..... FOUR TO SIX MONTHS FROM NOW. We will be in the states and they could jack up the final bill and we could end up owing thousands of dollars MORE than what we have already paid. UGH!!!
The Medical bill is the same way pretty much.....that is a long story in and of itself. One I don't want to have to think about this morning.
Oh the stuff we have to get done this week. Laundry today, prepareing talks to be given tomorrow in church, packing the suitcases, seperating and gathering stuff to be given away, seperating and gathering stuff that needs to be shipped ahead of us so it's there when we get there, move ourselves into TLF, clean the house, clean the FMO furniture, find and turn in the keys to the house, turn off the phone and internet, pick up medical records, turn in all the library books, sell the car, pay off the medical bill, finish out-processing, pick up a rental car, get to the airport, and fly out of Italy!! Holy cow, I guess I better get busy!!
Needless, to say we feel like we have been taken advantage of by the Italian government and our own because they allow the Italian government to do this to American citizens. Sure this is actually their base, but we put all the money into the buildings and the landscaping. The Italians get all the good civilian jobs on base, get paid much better wages, and get the better schedules. The Americans get whatever is leftover.
Don't get me wrong, we have LOVED being in Italy. We have fallen in love with the culture, art, people, and the country. We have had experiences here that we could NEVER have had any where else. Our family truly needed this experience. We have all grown closer together as a family, we have grown spiritually, and stronger as individals and as a family. We have learned to rely on each other and help each other. We have watched to church grow and members become active again. We kind of like to look at our living here as a three year mission. We know that we were sent here for a purpose, I pray we have accomplished that purpose. We have created memories that will last us all a lifetime. Now it is time to return to the states, Utah in particular and continue on our life's journey.
Dave started the outprocessing by decideing when we were going to leave Aviano and getting our airline tickets. Then he had to schedule the movers, they don't celebrate Thanksgiving so any time was good for us, the sooner the better. They will be here on Monday and Tuesday to pack us out and load it into the crates. What are we going to sleep on? Well, Dave tried to make reservations at TLF (Temporary Living Facility) but they were completely booked for the time that we wanted a room, so he made reservations in town at a hotel. Come to find out, he had to call EVERY day to see if there were any cancellations at TLF or we would have to pay out of pocket for our hotel. LAST night we finally got TLF for the whole time we need it. Thank you!!! I really wasn't looking forward to having to eat out EVERY meal for 3 weeks.
Dave has been telling his bosses that he was leaving in December and that they needed to find someone for him to train on the programs that he uses so that the transition would be smooth. WELL, in all their wisdom they waited until FRIDAY to send someone over. Never mind the fact that he wasn't going to be in the office next week and his last day of work is the 4th of December. Oh yeah, and by the way, he had to move over to a new building on Thursday!!! BY HIMSELF!! He is so frustrated! People are thinking that what they need him to do has to be done YESTERDAY, never mind the fact that they have had six months to get their crap done before the deadline. Now that their deadline is here they want him to drop everything and get it done especially if there is a problem that should have been taken care of six months ago. UGH!! Stupid people!!!
One of Dave's co-workers tells him not to worry about it, do what he needs to do to get the heck out of here and not worry about all this other crap. The bosses knew six months ago he was leaving and if they waited until the last minute to find a replacement then it's their problem. But the only problem with all of that is Dave was raised to have good work ethics.....he can't leave his bosses hangin' out to dry.
Dave went to turn in the reading on our electricity and try to get a final bill. They told him that they couldn't give him a final bill until we actually turn in the keys, get the meter reading on that day, turn it in....they will give us a estimate of what it will cost, but not an actual final bill until 4 to 6 months from now. Yes, I typed that right..... FOUR TO SIX MONTHS FROM NOW. We will be in the states and they could jack up the final bill and we could end up owing thousands of dollars MORE than what we have already paid. UGH!!!
The Medical bill is the same way pretty much.....that is a long story in and of itself. One I don't want to have to think about this morning.
Oh the stuff we have to get done this week. Laundry today, prepareing talks to be given tomorrow in church, packing the suitcases, seperating and gathering stuff to be given away, seperating and gathering stuff that needs to be shipped ahead of us so it's there when we get there, move ourselves into TLF, clean the house, clean the FMO furniture, find and turn in the keys to the house, turn off the phone and internet, pick up medical records, turn in all the library books, sell the car, pay off the medical bill, finish out-processing, pick up a rental car, get to the airport, and fly out of Italy!! Holy cow, I guess I better get busy!!
Needless, to say we feel like we have been taken advantage of by the Italian government and our own because they allow the Italian government to do this to American citizens. Sure this is actually their base, but we put all the money into the buildings and the landscaping. The Italians get all the good civilian jobs on base, get paid much better wages, and get the better schedules. The Americans get whatever is leftover.
Don't get me wrong, we have LOVED being in Italy. We have fallen in love with the culture, art, people, and the country. We have had experiences here that we could NEVER have had any where else. Our family truly needed this experience. We have all grown closer together as a family, we have grown spiritually, and stronger as individals and as a family. We have learned to rely on each other and help each other. We have watched to church grow and members become active again. We kind of like to look at our living here as a three year mission. We know that we were sent here for a purpose, I pray we have accomplished that purpose. We have created memories that will last us all a lifetime. Now it is time to return to the states, Utah in particular and continue on our life's journey.
Friday, November 6, 2009
Happy Halloween
I know this is a week late, but hey we've been crazy! Our ward had a trunk or treat Fall Festival last weekend and so the girls got all dressed up in their Pirate costumes and became......
"Daddy's Pirate Wenches"
There was food, games, activities, and of course trunk or treating. We had a good time visiting with friends and letting the children have fun. The weather even cooperative, no rain, but it was chilly.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Are We Ever Moving? Part 2
And the answer is......YES! We finally got our orders this morning!!! We have our plane reservations now too. We leave Venice, Italy on the 15th of December. We get to be home for Christmas!!! Yeah!!!
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