This week has been full of activity for visas, dog transportation, storage locations, and Estate Sales because we've crossed another hurdle.
We are under contract on our house.
The offer came in last Friday and we agreed to terms and went into the "Due Diligence" period by Sunday. Things are moving along at lightspeed, with an expected closing at the end of April. Over the next week or so we will have contractors (theirs), inspectors, appraisers, more inspectors, and Gd knows who else in the house doing all the things that it takes to make sure that the deal gets done.
When I heard that contractors were coming to the house, I actually got teary thinking of things that they were going to do to "my" house. Of course, C reminded me that it wont be my house any longer. However, we received a lovely note along with the contract, and I know that the new owners will love the house too.
Bittersweet.
When we leave our home, we will stay with my parents who are not really in love with my over-excitable dogs. As such, the pups will be boarded at a farm not too far from my parents where they will also be trained on how to walk on a leash, not bark at random noises or door knocks, and not jump up on visitors; all in all they will be much better suited for city life. We can go visit as often as we wish, and I'll be needing to take them for shots and tests for their pet passports.
We will also be finishing up the needed paperwork for our visas, such as getting everyone fingerprinted and having our health certified. I don't know if the boys are excited or freaked out about getting fingerprinted, but that should happen on Saturday. Those have to be sent off for translation/notary/apostile and while we are waiting for that to be done, we can work on temporary housing and health insurance.
I've been reaching out to some of the folks that I met when I was there in hopes that someone would have a short-term rental option, and we may have a place to call "home" for the first 2-3 months. It's all part of what is needed for our visas, and will assuage some anxiety.
So much to do, but the trip to Miami for filing is in our sites. Once we file, we will have to wait for a few weeks (to a few months) to be notified that our visas were approved. Afterwards, we will have to return to Miami to pick them up and then travel to Spain within 90 days.
We are under 4 months from travel at this point, and the momentum is gathering.