Countdown minus....

To paraphrase, "it was the best of times"....It was the best of ideas; it was the worst of ideas!!! THAT was how I was feeling earlier last week. WAS I crazy to be moving out of the country for 9-12 months???
I was not having serious doubts, but I WAS STRESSING out about the myriad of details surrounding this junket! The stress has lessened somewhat, but still, where do these new things come from to get on my To Do list?

However, my "to do "list is shrinking....THAT is the good news.The bad news is that while I leave on July 29th, I'm don't have as much time as it appears...Last week I was on a delightful vacation for the week in Wells, Maine, with my four  siblings....(My brother Norm was the successful bidder for a week's rental on a house on a marsh and near the beach to benefit homeless veterans. He could have also used it in September, but kindly opted for june, since I will be away! THIS is a time when he is studying for the BAr Exam, which is the week that I leave!) I am going to Seattle in July for my son Peter's swearing in to the Washington Bar. Both of these are/were NOT TO BE MISSED EVENTS , of course!

I have a buyer for my 2006 Ford Hybrid Escape! Rather than deal with selling to an end user, I will sell it to someone who has a small used car in Burlington. Exact timing to be determined...I need to rent a car and cancel my car insurance in the interim and sort out the details around this, as I will need some transportation before I leave!
Because I didn't know who my tenants would be (that is, would they want the house furnished or unfurnished?)....I needed to learn how much it might cost to move my belongings. Therefore, I got one estimate from Roadrunner, whom Melissa had used and liked. However, I do have signed lease, and details on my tenants will be in a future blogpost....

On June 24th I returned to the French Consul in the Park Square Building at 31 St.James Avenue to apply for my visa. My earlier visit-MUCH too early it turned out-taught me that! The Consul website http://www.consulfrance-boston.org/spip.php?rubrique192
says that long term visa applicants must apply well in advance, but it does not say how long that time should be! Oh, well, details to follow!