No, this brief little blog has nothing to do with money. And yes, I’m keenly aware that I haven’t blogged for a few days. But, we’re almost back on Tennessee time, physically, if that makes anyone feel any better about it.
After moving our flight Tuesday from (all times Pacific) 7:40 to 8:55 to 10:50 to 2:50 just waiting on a phone call, text message, or email that said the ICPC office in Tennessee had approved our packet and we were cleared to leave Arizona. . . .well, I got a little impatient, I guess.
We knew that the process could take up to 2-3 weeks. But, we also had been told explicitly that it usually only took a couple of days. Well, the process started when Jennifer signed consents back on last Thursday, so we were beyond ready to go. I asked if I should call the Tennessee office like I did the Arizona office, just to check to see if they got the packet in the overnight mail. I wasn’t told not to, but was told I might want to wait.
So I didn’t call.
I sent an email instead – just asking if we should move our flight plans to Wednesday or even Thursday, especially if they didn’t have the packet in their possession yet.
Well, score one for Greg’s inability to play by all the rules. The very cordial and helpful lady from the Nashville ICPC office (no, really – no sarcasm this time) said that she hadn’t received it and that it was not in their office on the 4th floor of the Cordell Hull Building in Nashville. But, she thought she would make triple certain by checking the mail receiving area in the building lobby on the main floor, just in case. Well, there it was, she told me, and had been for a while. Just no one delivered it upstairs. She promised to get to work on it right away and have it out today.
Yes!
So we hurried to the airport and waited on her permission before we checked bags and printed boarding passes. Tick. Tock.
Finally, we passed a time that we were comfortable with getting through ticketing, bag-checking, and security in time to get on that flight, so we called to have our tickets moved to the last flight out of Phoenix for the day – at 6:35, but a direct flight (all but one of the others had a connection somewhere).
Fifteen minutes later, we had permission via email. We got boarding passes, checked four bags (never done that many), got two adults and a 9-day old baby (as well as two book bags, two laptops, 8 bottles of formula, a car seat, and a stroller – the partridge in a pear tree didn’t make the trip) through security, and waited three hours at the gate for our flight.
We landed in Nashville a little before midnight, were in the car headed west to Milan by 12:30, and were in the bed by 3:20. Still running on adrenaline fumes, we got up three hours later, got dressed, and introduced little Kane to the three people he would get to know best – and both annoy and be annoyed by the most – Kara, Gabe, and JP. I took Kara to school, went to school myself, and more details for all of that will have to wait for another blog.
But, when the sun came up on Wednesday, we were HOME. And I was glad to see the green – grass, trees, and other living things. They don’t believe in all that out there, y’all. And they don’t always understand it when Jaclyn and I talk. Imagine that.
More details later, but Dorothy was right – there really is NO place like home (and no place like my own bed).
“Then each of them went to their own home.” -John 7:53
Scottish Invasion 