We are almost there.  The countdown has started.  Suitcases are getting packed.  Lists are made.  The grieving continues.  Documents are scanned, signed and FedExed.  Cars are sold.  Hopefully, so will the condo in the next few days.

We are encountering last minute idiots, the ones that could make or break the trip.  It looks like everything we have to delegate turns out done incorrectly.  At least when we make mistakes, we can blame each other!  The last official documents we received tonight shows my birthdate with false day, month and year.  No, I wasn’t born in ’05, whether it be 1905 or 2005.  Not even 1965, 75 or 85.

The kittens’ papers are almost in order, the last thing we need is the approval from the Indian government.  We drove to Los Angeles and were in the APHIS office at 7:30 this morning.  This, we did not delegate!  But we went into a frenzy last week when the government decided on this insane shutdown.  Another group of idiots.  We’re lucky this part of the government is financed with fees.  Right now, I like fees.

It feels surreal yet very present.  The numerous pieces of luggage around the apartment are a constant reminder that we’re leaving.  Bottles of Permethrin (against mosquitoes) and packs of Wet Ones (antibacterial wipes) on the counters.  Driving a car that isn’t ours (a rental).  Not buying much food since we would have to give it away.  Not buying books.  Now that’s a big one for me!  And we are getting on each other’s nerves.  A lot…

But in this chaos that our life has become, there is one certainty: we have no second thoughts.  Not once in the last few months have we wondered if we’ve made the wrong decision.  There have never been talks of backing out.

India, here we come!!!

Our little one