Visas: they're in.

We received a very nice email from Brian's office in Zurich notifying us that our visa authorizations have arrived. Remember how I mentioned that it wasn't really going to be real for Brian until we got our visas, boarded the plane, and landed in Switzerland? Well, I think this news has pushed Brian to his first level of reality regarding this move. His response to the email:

"Holy shit… we are moving to Switzerland."

Baby steps honey, baby steps.

On another note, silly silly me. For some reason I thought that we were waiting for our visas all along. Turns out that just the authorization is in. We have to go down to the Swiss Embassy in DC with money, passports, passport photos, a copy of our marriage certificate, and completed visa applications for each of us. Then we should have our visas. Wonder what Brian will say then?

We like to donate to the state of Maryland.

So much so, we'll continue to give from Switzerland.

Apparently, Maryland is one of the few states that taxes expatriates. Taking up residence in a foreign country for a few years and earning money in a foreign currency doesn't mean squat to them. Since our stay in Switzerland is dependant on Brian's job, the state of Maryland says we can't officially establish a domicile in Switzerland.

Details.

So, naturally, we wonder: hey, will we have to pay Swiss taxes? And the answer is yes.

However, we won't have to pay federal taxes, or at least will be paying significantly less than we would if we were living in the US. Thank you Uncle Sam! Enjoy our money Governor O'Malley.

The cancellation process.

With our move in only 3 weeks, I've finished canceling our utilities, cell phones, and my gym membership. I never enjoy canceling things. I always feel uncomfortable when the agent on the other end of the phone starts through their form comments: "Was there a problem with the service?", "Would you like to transfer your service?", "If you find someone to take over your cellphone you can keep the number".

But now I have a great answer. "We're moving to Switzerland". The response usually is "Oh, okay, we'll cancel the service".

Quick, painless. Love that.

Except with Verizon.

Verizon's customer service line is automated. Right off the bat I'm annoyed- the automated service line is the kind that requires spoken responses rather than touch tone inputs. Probably annoys me because it never picks up my responses and my end of the call sounds something like "no. no. NO!" followed by some punches of the 0 key to try to get a person on the line.

Anyway, I finally found my way to the cancellation section. I was told the wait was approximately 6 minutes and if I would like, I could have Verizon call me back when my turn came around. Nice! So I entered my phone number to have them call me back. But after that the call wasn't disconnected and I was transferred to another section of the automated service line. Assuming that it hadn't worked, I waited on the line.

Wrong decision. While I waited, Verizon called me back. Damn. So I hung up and tried again. This time I found my way to an automated cancellation section. Problem with this decision- I answered yes to moving out of the area and then they wanted to know what state I was moving to. Shoot. The 0 button couldn't get me out of that question so I hung up and tried a third time.

This time, I decided to wait on the line and not take any chances of getting transferred somewhere else. Finally after 5 minutes or so I was transferred to a customer service rep. Told her I wanted to cancel my service and saw an end in sight. Oops, nope- canceling phone service is handled by a "special" customer service department.

So she transferred me. And I waited for TWENTY minutes for this super secret special customer service agent who was the only one with powers to cancel my phone service. After what seemed like an eternity (aka 20 minutes listening to elevator music), someone picked up. It then took her another 5 minutes for her to cancel my phone service.

Overall, a good 45 minutes of effort to cancel my phone service. FORTY FIVE minutes!!! Comcast took five. And one phone call.

Now I just hope that it worked and I won't have to call in 3 weeks to remind Verizon to turn off our phone!

Our new home

Our new home is south of Zurich, Switzerland.

Our apartment is a 2 bedroom apartment with a patio and green space. A playground is a hop, skip, and a jump away from our patio. And there are several toddlers in the area. All boys though. Shhhh, don't tell Brian.

Our town is one of the larger towns along Lake Zurich, approximately a 20 minute ride from Zurich. Several stores and the train station are within walking distance of our apartment. But, by far the most important thing, is that the current renters have a list of babysitters for our use. Score!

This is a HUGE load off our shoulders. We will receive the rental contract fairly soon and then will be able to occupy the apartment when we arrive in Zurich the morning of June 2nd. I've been told we can also preorder furniture from Ikea and have it delivered the next day. Suh-weeeet!!!!

Unfortunately, it is not a 3 bedroom apartment. But potential guests, please don't worry. We will be purchasing a new sofa bed just for you. :-) No excuses people!!!!

So, we have a place. If you'd like our new mailing adress, just shoot me an email. Now onto decorating... off to Ikea this weekend to investigate!

Coming full circle

Brian and I made some great purchases in the past five years we have lived at this house. Two favorites were our big screen TV and sectional couch in our basement.


The TV was purchased the first fall after we bought the house. Brian moved in and immediately began laughing when he saw my 13" TV from college in the basement. Apparently it was not what he envisioned watching football games on. Off we went to Best Buy and purchased a 50" rear projection HDTV. Through some screw ups on Best Buy's end, we ended up getting a 55" model. Football season was glorious.

Unfortunately, we only had a couch I had purchased through eBay to sit on while watching glorious football. So several years ago we went searching for a grown up couch. After a lot of searching, we found a huge comfortable sectional. And our bottoms have been thankful ever since.

But sadly, both had to go. So after our buyer rejected both items (his loss!), we sold both of them and they are now with their new owners. And now we have come full circle for our last month in this house: A 13" TV and Marion size chairs.


I find the familiarity comforting. Brian is thankful it is no longer football season.

Thank You!

Yesterday, Brian, Marion, and I attended our going away party. It was a fantastic party, with great friends, family, conversation, and food. The weather even improved just in time for the party!

A huge thank you to all who attended! We truly enjoyed seeing all of you before our departure. We wish we had been able to spend more time with you but we greatly appreciate each and every one of you taking the time out of your busy spring schedules to wish us off. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!!!

And if you weren't able to make it - and we know how busy life can get - we hope to be able to see you before we leave!

And now for something entirely different.

Boo!

Mommy's letting me take over the blog today because it is my birthday. I had an awesome day. First, Daddy took me to breakfast at the local diner. I ate french toast with whipped cream and then had a cookie with a candle.

After my nap, Mommy set up a new gift. A play bounce! I was scared at first and wasn't happy about this thing.

But then my friends Brinley and Karis came over and I had a blast!

We all sang Happy Birthday and then had cake! I had so much fun that I fell asleep within 5 minutes. What an awesome birthday!