Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Now we're getting somewhere!

On Monday, Josh got the last of the info we needed to be apply to start the Visa application.  He started the application process online...And next Thursday, we have to go into an office here in downtown Indy to have our biometric information taken.  (apparently, they'll be scanning our finger prints and taking one of those 3-d/360 degree head shots).  once we have that info + some additional passport photos taken (for the visas themselves), then it looks like we actually just mail our application to the UK embassy in Chicago.

Part of what has made this process so confusing is that, over the last 3 years, UK immigration rules have be continually changing..all in an effort to make the process more efficient/streamlined.  And with the latest changing having been rolled out April 5th of this year...well, that has really made our application process very, very confusing.  But we feel like we have a really good handle on things now.

My dad was here last week, and we went over shipping.  seemingly no problems there.  (cross your fingers).  we have a to-do list & to-get list all written out on a my work white-board.  a huge calendar hanging above it for the month of May...gotta keep ourselves on track!

Work has really been causing me some sleepless nights.  I have work dreams, and then wake up in a panic at 4 am most mornings,  so I've just started getting up then..going right to work...and taking naps later.  this morning was a 4 o'clocker...got some decent odds-n-ends done.  The trick with working this early in the morning is that the garage is still cold from the overnight lows....plus i can't make all the noise i want, since joshy-boy is still in bed.  But he gets up ~5:30...so i'm ok right now.

so on that note, i suppose i'll go do some more work!

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

crown dreams...getting closer to moving.

well, after dreaming about work for another night in a row, i'm happy to say that we're finally getting closer to our move to England being official.  All of our info was submitted to get the COS# from the company (certificate of sponsorship)

Once we have that COS#, and the "Ok to go" from a couple of bosses, then josh and I will be off to Chicago to go to the UK embassy to apply for our Visas.

We're also attempting to get ahold of the lady who is organizes the move to help ensure that we've done all that we need to do...and to see if we're forgetting any steps...oh yeah, and making sure we have a place to live (minor detail).

So we're getting closer.  and We're at about T-minus 5 weeks from our goal departure date (tickets won't be purchased until after visas are received).  the jokes at josh's work about how the trip may be delayed due to Iceland's volcano are getting really old.  Josh has accurately been telling everything that, the trip had better not be delayed any, otherwise I;ll lose it and got ballistic on someone there....that or I'll make Josh swim us over there, with me on his back.  That usually get's a good laugh...but it's true!

Ok, so status update about work:  My daddy will be here later this weekend, to start learning the shipping steps.  josh is getting stuff configured so that, From England, i can print to my printer here in Indy!  So I'll be printing of the shipping labels, and daddy just has to stick them on the right boxes!

and speaking of boxes...Wow.  Yeah, i'm a little hesitant to show photos of our living room right now.  mass of inventory boxes stacked waist high.  unorganized.  Ribbon scraps everywhere.  stacks of crowns out in the garage that need to be polished and/or attached with ribbon.  gettin' closer.

i will start posting pix of this whole process...but then it's hard to find the time to post pix.  eh.  excuses, excuses.

Friday, April 16, 2010

Ouchie!!!!!

So, I'm having balance, sensory, depth perception issues right now!  And that that's not good when working on crowns:

I was just working on making a bunch of new textile crowns.  and to make these, I drip a few holes, put 1 rivet, then go back and drill the 2nd  hole, for the 2nd rivet.

So I was doing just that, and I guess I wasn't paying attention, and as I started to drill the 2nd hole in a crown, it got ripped out of my hand!  and because of a backerboard i have on the press, and with how fast the drill was turning, the alminum crown just completely wrapped itself around the drill bit!  and even though it was fabric covered, it got ripped out so fast that it cut up my hand as it wrapped itself around the drill press.








So after bandaging myself up, i went to the fridge for
some Soda-pop.  (diet coke always helps me pull myself together).  and i went to take a drink, and I spilled soda all over my face and the floor.  Today is NOT my day!

Thursday, April 15, 2010

new crowns, and more are coming

So I'm almost finished with the custom orders, but am also well into making stock. there boxes and ribbons EVERYWHERE!  I'm finding it a bit overwhelming to make up the stock.  I thought i'd be fine, and just chug my way along one design at a time.  but i'm also filling orders at the same time....plus making all the coordinating candle sets for the crowns...well i just kind of feel like i'm here, there, and everywhere.  I think that if i can keep up my current progress for a couple more days, that I should be doing a lot better organizationally come Monday.

And as far as out travel to England goes, well, we're quite a bit closer.  Josh is working on his "certificate of sponsorship" from his work.  once we have that, we get to go stand in line at the UK embassy in Chicago to get our Visas.  And once we have those, then we get to book the plane tickets.  we're at T-6weeks.

We went out today and got a bunch of extra copies of the house key made to hand out to family, in case of emergencies, and someone unexpected needs to check in on our kitty-babies.

We also got a couple of cheap clocks: One will be set to Indiana time, the other will be set to England time, so that my dad doesn't try calling us at 1am, when he things it's only dinner time.

I also found a local person who has the same font as my logo for her embroidery machine..and i ordered in some fun blank polos and such, and will be getting some nifty things made up.  I did a bit of shopping with my sister over the weekend..got a few articles of clothing that will be nice to England.

the biggest "thing" has been deciding how to handle bikes...whether to fly with them, ship them, or buy some over there.  After sooo much talk and back and forths...i think we're going to ask the company to reimburse to ship them.  (we have a 2 hour train ride from the airport to our apartment..and we're already going to have like 6 pieces of luggage...can't really manage all that plus 2 large bike cases.)

and so in an effort to gain a sense of control, i tried staying up late this evening to post mass quantities of things on the site.  well it's 2 am and i'm tuckered out, and tomorrow is another long day. so i'm off to bed!

Friday, April 9, 2010

friday morning surfing

i zone out on the computer for a while each morning as i'm waking up....and today, through a series of websites...I ended up here:  http://www.bakadesuyo.com/what-english-sounds-like-to-foreigners

I thoroughly enjoy this.