Last minute errands

So today I had to come back to Madison to run some errands. My mom and I were very intense with out mission.

1. Check to Tallard.

2. Check to EAS.

3. Laptop to MERIT.

4. Charter to switch the account over to Candice.

5. Cherokee to drop off my gift for my cooperating teacher.

6. Woodmans to buy Rippin' Good Cookies for my host family

7. DSW for new tennies.

8. Walgreens for a Wisconsin Snuggie for my host family.

9. Bank to deposit checks and deposit loose coins.

Some went pretty smoothly. Some not so much. For example, I've decided that the reason you never see a Charter office anywhere in Madison is because there really are none... they're on the outskirts, blending in with their surroundings as to avoid any rocks (or other foreign materials) thrown through their windows.

Cherokee wasn't open. I was too lazy to go to the back door.... so my present will be delivered by a friend.

And my favorite... at DSW, I was trying on shoes with my shoe inserts... and low and be hold, I left one of them in one of the shoes there... so now it's a trek back to DSW to get my stupid shoe insert. Stupid flat feet. Bah.

So I'm leaving tomorrow morning for Chicago, lunch with Miriam, and then planning our trip in Australia with Laura and Chelsea in Chicago!!!! We're almost there... it's unbelievable!!!

Visa's here!

I'm ready! I have everything packed up and I'm ready to go to Laura's on Wednesday. Now I just have 100 errands to run tomorrow in Madison, and I'll be perfectly prepared! My visa came in the mail today and my roommate put it in my room for me so that it's nice and safe, thank GOODNESS.

In other news, after watching Food Inc last night and feeling like puking every time I looked at meat in the grocery store today, I got to go to a "meat raffle" with my dad in Lohrville (aka Podunk), Wisconsin, where I got to watch people win packages of meat. I'm pretty sure my dad won the biggest chicken breasts I've ever seen. Genetically modified much? But, I looked it up and most of the meats there support local farmers... yay!

T-4 Days

Four days 'til I fly out... and still no visa. I moved out of my house today, which was incredibly sad and depressing. I went and watched some of my kids perform in Odyssey of the Mind and it just about tore me apart having to say goodbye to them. My little babies...

Also got an email (yesterday?) that was subject line: "NZ Homestay Information". Yes, finally, I knew where I'd be living! Unfortunately, the content of the email was "We still are not sure where you will be staying, but don't worry, we'll know by early next week!" Ahhhhhhhh!

It was my birthday yesterday... I got lots of great presents for my trip to NZ.. lots of books, journals, an outlet converter from my CT (awesome!), and other wonderful things. I'm excited to use them.

My favorite part of today: My kids running toward me in the hallway when they saw me to give me a big hug.

My least favorite part of today: Taking pictures of my empty room. AND having to say one final goodbye to my students and CT.

Bittersweet... more adventures await, however!!!

It's all coming together!

Hi, please find attached letter from me at Raroa Normal Intermediate to assist with Sarah’s visa requirements.

Look forward to meeting you Sarah and I know you’ll enjoy your visit with us.

Thanks

Craig Nelson

Deputy Principal

Raroa Normal Intermediate School

Johnsonville

Wellington

Yup... that's about the letter I've been waiting for. It finally ended up in my inbox late this afternoon after I had found out this morning that Laura already got hers. It put me into panic mode. So hopefully tomorrow those will be processed by the embassy and then I'll get my visa! PHEW.

I'm getting really really sad about leaving. The more things come together for New Zealand, the more I have to look forward to, but for a while there, I was just really sad and distraught at the fact that I had to leave my students here. Last night, Susan and I went to see them in "Nighttime Drama". The highlight of the night was when one of my student's microphones wasn't working, so he went to a teacher to try to get it fixed, and as he yelled, "OH CRAP" the mic became live. He echoed through the whole place... it was great. We had a lot of great laughs and I got a lot of love from my students. LOVE IT.

Handed out grade reports today. Lots of unhappy people (ripping up their report, pouting, yelling, crying...), but also lots of happy people (one kid hugged me. Gotta love it). I love them. Who'd have ever thought I'd be afraid of eighth graders????

Jetpack? I think YES....

So this morning I was driving into school and I was listening to the Bob and Tom show. All of a sudden, they had an interview with this guy Richard Lauder from New Zealand.. talking about this friggin' sweet jetpack that his company invented... that actually works!

Pretty sure that that's going to have to be a part of my experience... just putting it out there.

Follow-Up

But, hey! Holla to Chelsea who GOT HER VISA!!!! I'm pretty jeal right now. She didn't even need this letter. Come on, Helen from the visa office, throw us a bone here....

Thank you, Sara V!

So seeing Sara Vanderstappen's blog made me wonder just how far I will be from Madison when I'm living in Wellington.... and yep, it's a whopping 8,496 miles. Oh... my.... gosh.

It's been a rocky road. I've known for almost a year now that I'm going to NZ, and I know about as much now as I did then. Last night at our cohort "pre-graduation" party (since Laura and I can't be there for the real one), we played the, "Everyone ask Sarah and Laura any question about New Zealand and they have to answer" game. We got to sing the national anthem (if you were wondering, it goes 'Kiwis, kiwis, we'll forever be united as kiwis'). If you were to tell me where I am going to live, I would tell you here:

Yeah, aren't you jealous???! I'm just saying, if I don't have scenery like that right outside my window, I might be pretty upset, haha.

It's starting to feel really surreal. It's hard to think that in almost 11 days, I'll be on the longest trip of my life so far, and the farthest away from home. Thank God that Laura and Chelsea will be with me. 12 hour layover in Los Angeles. Sounds miserable... until we found out that Chelsea's great aunt is going to pick us up from the airport at 930 in the morning and take us to the beach for the day! Yes :-) I've never been to Cali, so that'll be fun, and I can say that I actually spent time there. Then it's a 13 hour flight to Auckland, then another 3 1/2 hours to Sydney. I don't get to experience an April 2nd, 2010 since Sydney will be 16 hours ahead of Madison. Good thing that's not my birthday.

We DID get an email response about our visas today. Jo (our coordinator) sent in a nice friendly email last week asking our contact in Wellington to get a letter of invitation from the schools we will be working at because we need it for our visas. We need these letters by Tuesday. She responded a few hours ago with, "We're so excited for you to get here! I'll pick you up at the airport! I'll be sure to look for the American girls speaking with an accent."

Good... but if I don't get my visa, I can't come at all! AHhhhhhhh.