Going with "Plan B" for my Visa

We found out last week that the language learning visa I had applied for is not going to be available in time for me to start language school on July 5th. There are blessings though, even in this. For example, we only found out because one of my teammates happened to go by the school to start the visa process for someone else. At least we know now and can go with plan B. 

Plan B is actually easier, at least at first and doesn't require me to go to the consulate in San Francisco to pick-up the visa. Now I will be applying for a visitor's visa. There are still a few hoops to jump through and it will take some time but hopefully it will be done in time for me to depart on June 25th as planned. Not having the original type of visa will probably cause some bumps on the other side as the original visa would have given me more of a residency permit. I will also need to travel out to Singapore when that visa is done, but hopefully I can do that during one of the school breaks. 

Please be praying that everything goes smoothly from here on out! 

Busy Days and Hard Moments

200 pounds shipped - done. A 12-hour shopping marathon in Portland - done. Doctor appointment, dentist appointment, and eye doctor appointment - done. Write will - done. But that is just the beginning...

Teaching tools, birth equipment, some special foods, dishes, clothes, and pictures for the walls all packed up... 

... And ready to ship, so they can be included in a container to the hospital. 

Well the to do list is full and the days are busy with so much to do before I leave. It is easy to get overwhelmed! I am determined though to do as much as I can as early as I can because then my focus can be on people in the days before I leave.

One of the hardest moments of this transition so far, came today when I had to put my cat Missy to sleep. She has been a faithful friend for almost 10 years now. I have never been a cat lover, so when I originally got her in Indonesia she was mainly to help keep the rat population in my house under control. Somehow though she became so much more. In those 10 years she has moved 6 times with me - once all the way across the ocean :) She was always there to greet me when I came home from a long shift at work. Naps on my shoulder or lap were a favorite pastime. And she rarely failed to get me out of the house on our daily walk to the mailbox or to have some fun with her toys. I wish I would have been able to take her back to Indonesia with me but her kidney disease had become too severe. She has been a precious addition to my life and she will be greatly missed!

The day she arrived - she would eventually grow into those ears but at a top weight of six and half pounds she was always tiny. 

A recent nap time on her heated window bed. She never did adjust to the cold of the Northwest :)