Count Down to Emigration...144 Days.

Things seem to have slowed down, at least on the surface. All the major hurdles are now complete, and only the finer details need to be worked out, you know, little stuff, like where exactly are we going to move to?

Both options are still potentially open to us, and although everything seems to be pointing towards Melbourne, at least to begin with, there is still nothing to stop us going straight to Hobart if the correct opportunities open themselves to us.

I still haven't sent my CV to any potential employers, partially due to the fear that they will reject me, and also partly because of the fear that they wont. Although I am deeply unnerved by the prospect of having no job to go to when we arrive in Australia, a little bit of me is reveling in the flexibility and freedom I currently have.

B's packing anxiety has developed to a stage where it is finally beginning to show, as walls are emptying of pictures, the house is starting to look empty, or as B likes to say "like a normal house". Now we know we are definitely going I have finalised the details for our shipping with Pickford's, and they are now due to pack everything up the day after our leaving party. They are confident the whole process should only take half a day, but B is worried it will take longer and it will end up costing us more.

Speaking of our leaving party, we have sent out our first round of invitations via the medium of facebook, and we are getting a good response. A second round of invites will soon follow for those who do not have facebook or indeed access to a computer (I am thinking of my Mother here). We have already booked and payed for the venue, and arranged the entertainment. A lot of people have commented that a Sunday is a bad day for a party, but there is logic behind the decision, as most of B's friends from work would not be able to attend if it was on a Saturday.

I printed my letter of resignation today, having written it a whole week ago. I still haven't sent it, my boss isn't in this week anyway. I have always felt uncomfortable when having to resign from a job, for some reason it always makes me feel guilty, especially when I really like the place I am working. I do like working at the RUH, despite my rants about on-call issues, and I will really miss working there.

As well as sorting out all our physical possessions, there is a tone of financial stuff and paperwork to sort before we go, with issues around what to do with our bank accounts and direct debits. We have both already canceled our phone contracts, and last weekend I went to both our banks to discuss options regarding what to do with our money, especially as the exchange rate is currently at an all time low. A lot of other costs, including most of our utility bills can not really be sorted until a month before we go, as we still need electricity.

20 weeks is not long, and it is hard to believe everything is actually coming together so quickly. There is still so much to organise, we cannot grow complacent.

Adam