Immunizations, Packing, and Visas.....Oh My!

Things have been getting real around here (and a bit crazy!) as we're heading into the home stretch in preparations for Thailand. This month we are working on three big things: immunizations, packing up our house, and applying for visas.

We had our first round of immunizations today. Unfortunately, we have to drive to Indianapolis to get most of our vaccines because they are not commonly used and can be rather expensive. The upside is that we got to visit with some friends today, who live near the immunization clinic, that we haven't seen in a long time! We'll make two more trips to Indy to finish up our vaccines before leaving at the end of June.

We have less than one month left in our house! Packing up all our belongings is going slowly, but we are hopeful that the rest of May will be a little slower and will allow us to do more. (Wishful thinking?? Probably.) I'm a pretty organized person and like things to be packed, and boxes labeled, in a logical order. It will likely come down to me just throwing things in boxes the last few days before we move, but until then I am trying to do things in an organized fashion so that when we come back in a year, we don't have to rifle through every box to find the one thing we need.

Finally, it is time to apply for visas. There is a lot of paperwork involved in this, especially since there are five of us and most of us cannot sign for themselves. We have started the process but have not officially mailed in our applications yet. Our goal is to get them sent in by the end of the month, then hopefully receive our visas mid-June.

These may not seem like big things (in fact, as I'm typing this I'm thinking, "Why does all this seem so stressful?"), but in combination with the school year ending, my job wrapping up for the year, and preparing for my orientation in D.C. at the beginning of June, we often have trouble fitting everything in. (Plus, you know, all the normal-life stuff that goes along with raising and feeding three children.) We are trying to rest in the knowledge that everything that needs to happen will happen, one way or the other, and that we just need to keep plugging along. And maybe relax a little, too.