Getting the straight goods on how to bring our dog to Costa Rica with us has not been easy. We were given quite the run-around; however, finally, Kevin had a conference call between the American Airlines reservation department and their Pet Safe department and got some concrete answers! Frankie gets to fly with us, in the cabin by our feet. No need for a vet to check her on the other side, no fuss, just hand over the paperwork stating she's healthy and that's it. And it will cost $250. A slight difference from the $600 for the vet and possible $4,100 for! It pays to do your homework and ask a lot of questions. We're so relieved! Now we can finally start concentrating on the packing. We have decided to do it ourselves, which not only means packing into boxes, but we also have to take inventory of everything we pack and value it. It's not hard, but very time consuming and time is not something we have a lot of. Thank goodness Kevin is at home during the day. I can help in the evening. We'll have to hunker down and get it done. We're saving a ton of money to do it ourselves, but it's got to be done right or there's no point.

Work is still busy and I'm counting the days until my last day. It can't come quick enough.

Well, not much has changed in the dog department in the last week, if you can believe it. Looks like we'll be getting the vet in Costa Rica to clear Frankie through customs for $600. Kevin is still trying to finalize her booking, which seems impossible to do. Who would have thought this would be so complicated. You would have thought we're the first people to travel with a dog. 

On a more positive note, all our documents are starting to arrive in the mail. My birth certificate, our marriage certificate (all long form... must be long form), our police check, etc. We have to wait for a few more documents and then we can go the get them notarized, then signed at the Foreign Affairs office and then send the whole package to the Costa Rican consulate in Ottawa. It's a lot of work and money, but once it's all done, it will make it so much easier to apply for residency in CR. 

For those who are thinking of moving to Costa Rica, you may want to check out this agency: ARCR, here is their link: www.arcr.net.  A good resource to have for so many things.

We are bringing our 7-year-old miniature Dachshund to Costa Rica with us. Her name is Frankie. If we didn't love her so much, she sure as hell wouldn't be coming. Getting a straight answer from the airlines is, well, impossible! We've... haha, I lie, Kevin has spent all last week on the phone trying to sort out how to bring her down. He's been given such inconsistent information we don't know what to believe. The rules are so vague. The reservation department is one entity of the airline and gives us one story, then the Pet Safe department of the same airline gives us a completely different story... and then within each department every person Kevin speaks to seems to have a slight or major variation of what he was told previously. To be in the cabin, dogs must be 9 lbs or less... no 20 lbs. She has to go through customs... no she doesn't. We've received quotes from $600 to $4,100... are you kidding me? We still don't have any concrete answers. I'm sure Kevin will figure it all out, but since he has spent all his time on the phone for the past two weeks, very little packing (like none) has been done. And I continue to work like a mad dog, so I'm too tired to tackle any packing when I get home, so I've been completely useless.

Speaking of work... today was the day I gave in my notice. I walked into my manager's office first thing in the morning and handed in my letter of resignation. I told him what Kevin and I were doing and he was shocked, at first, but seemed genuinely happy for us. I gave 5 weeks notice, which seemed pretty fair. I'm very busy these days, but I'm hoping my projects will be close to their completion by the time I leave. I hate leaving things undone. It will be what it will be, I guess. I've been smiling ever since. No regrets... just pure joy. Hope I have the strength to last the 5 weeks! So far the response from people I've told is amazing. Everyone is so supportive and genuinely excited for me. It's nice that I can speak freely about our plans now. It's hard to carry this kind of secret for a year without feeling like a fraud. Now that it's out in the open, I can breathe a little easier. Today was indeed a very good day. I feel liberated in so many ways. 

Okay, so, a week has passed since we signed on the dotted line. Within the week, all conditions were met so we have officially sold our house. Kevin has spent the whole week on the phone re-negotiating the property deal in Costa Rica. Well, not re-negotiating, but trying to iron out the details. We're using the seller's lawyer in Costa Rica, so one would think this would create a conflict of interest. Well, we thought so anyway. However, the lawyer has been very quick to make sure both our interests are met. He has no issues setting both parties straight. The seller had an idea that complicated the whole deal (his intention was in the right place, we think) and at one point I thought Kevin was going to walk away from the whole agreement. Finally, everything was sorted out and we're back on track. Of course, I was at work dealing with hectic deadlines and being of no help to Kevin at all. 

Funny, I look around the house and in one week everything has gone to the dogs. How quickly things change. We no longer live in a pristinely clean and tidy environment. Papers are now strewn everywhere, shoes are piled near the front door. We're no longer stressing over keeping everything in its place or how many people came to the Open House or if an offer will be coming in. Now the stress is of a different kind... can we get what we need to get done in such a short amount of time. It's all quite overwhelming... and a bit scary, too. 

It's Kevin's birthday today and he wakes up and says "we're going to sell the house today... I can feel it in my water"... then we get a call at 11 am asking for a viewing at 1 pm. Of course, we said yes. A couple came and viewed the house. We sat across the road watching. They seemed rather thorough. We met them on the way out. She's from England and he's from Montreal. Interesting since Kevin is from England and I'm from Montreal. They seemed to really like the house. 

We get a call at 4 pm with an offer. Nail-biting stuff. Back and forth... finally by 6 pm we agreed on a price! Whooot! We have sold the house. Yes! Yes! Yes! I cried a little. We close in 45 days... August 20th. We're really moving to Costa Rica! It's happening! I'm feeling a bit numb.

P.S. Since I last wrote, the Urban/Suburban crew came to film the episode. Kevin was able to watch the whole thing. I was at work, unfortunately. Kevin said everyone was really nice and professional and they were very tidy and put whatever they moved back in its place.