I thought I'd take a break for just a minute to blog about it to fill all you non-Albuquerquians in on the details, and to make a record for myself, and--let's be honest--fish for some sympathy. I find adventures much more exciting when other people know about them. So, here is a play-by-play of our next four-ish weeks.
July 18-25
Deep clean entire apartment in preparation to check out
Pack for the Mega Trip of the Century
Includes 2 weddings, 2 flights, camping, and 10 days away from home...
let's have fun packing for that all at once
Somewhere in the middle: two coaching classes & a baseball game
(if we can possibly find a babysitter...no luck so far!)
July 26
2:30 am Leave ABQ, Drive to Utah (10 hours)
12:30 Arrive in Salt Lake, have lunch with Dad, pick up Amy
Drive to Rupert, ID (3 hours)
5:00 Boldt/Wampler Wedding BBQ at 5:00
Drive to hotel in Twin Falls (1 hour)
July 27
Ben's 2nd Birthday!!
1:00 Heather and Brandon get married
YAY!
Pictures
Drive to Aberdeen (1 1/2 hours)
5:30 Birthday Dinner
It's technically a wedding luncheon, but I've arbitrarily decided to give that one to Ben. Heather said it was okay!
7:00-9:00 Reception
July 28
9:00 Sacrament Meeting
10:30 Drive to Salt Lake (3 1/2 hours)
Drop kids off with Grandma Karrie, Go to Airport
5:00 Flight to Denver
6:55 Flight to Atlanta
6 or 7ish Ben's Birthday Party that we're going to miss :(
12:30 Arrive in Atlanta, pick up rental car, check into hotel
Please note: This is Atlanta, Georgia, in the last week of July--what I've repeatedly heard to be the absolute WORST week of the year in terms of heat and humidity.
July 29
Find an Apartment
No pressure.
July 30
Sign Apartment Lease
Connect Utilities
Visit health clinic to complete Kindergarten registration paperwork
I've had a few rants about this on Facebook and I know I've whined to more than one person at the park more than once (sorry, Shara and Rebecca!), but I largely stopped once I recognized how much I was playing victim. That said, I do think it's a noteworthy portion of this adventure, so I do want to record just how complicated it has been to get Audrey Jane registered for kindergarten...and I'm saying this now at a time when I still don't know if it's going to work or not.
In order to enter the school district as a new student, these documents are required:
~Birth Certificate
~Social Security Card
Those are normal, that's fine.
~Immunization Certificate
Mostly fine, except that it has to be on the official Georgia State Health Department form, which means we have to take Audrey's records to a doctor there to be transferred. If she has any shots missing or if any shots were done too early, we'll have to call my mom in Salt Lake and have her take Audrey to a clinic somewhere there to get the shot, then have the record faxed to Georgia. I've done my best to make sure she has all the right shots at all the right times, but fingers crossed anyway.
~Ear, Eye and Dental Screening
To quote the website, "No child entering a Georgia school for the first time shall be admitted unless the child has a certificate of eye, ear and dental screening. This Georgia Department of Human Resources certificate must be signed by the Health Department or a licensed Georgia physician."
Oddly enough, we're not actually in Georgia, which makes it a lot harder to have said screenings completed by a licensed Georgia physician. I have taken Audrey to several appointments to have her vision screened, her hearing screened, her immunizations updated, and all her dental work completed. I have pages and pages of documentation proving just what was done and all the results of the screenings, but I haven't been able to entirely confirm if the paperwork I have is sufficient for a doctor in Georgia to sign off on the official form. Prayers on this one wouldn't hurt.
~Proof of Residency
Remember how we don't actually live in Georgia yet? Yeah, it's hard to prove residency that doesn't exist...hence why we are signing a lease and connecting utilities at an apartment two weeks before we will actually be there. Just so we can have the paperwork to prove that our daughter is eligible for kindergarten.
~Affidavit of Residence
Did you think we were done? Ha. We have to have a notarized form, again verifying our residency in order to enroll in school. Before we technically live there.
At best, this all comes together, she's registered without problem, and she can attend the first day of kindergarten with everyone else. At worst, something goes wrong and we have to wait until she's in the state with us to get new screenings or whatever, and then she registers, missing roughly a week of school. I'm doing my best to avoid that--I think the first day of school is extremely important, both from a teacher's view and a parent's view.
Anyway, assuming all that happens on the 30th, that brings us to...
July 31
Register for Kindergarten
so not kidding about prayers
Visit Georgia Tech Campus
the actual reason that Sandia is paying for this trip in the first place
August 1
6:40 Flight to Denver
8:25 Flight to Salt Lake City
9:55 Arrive in Salt Lake City
Thank you, Time Zones, for working in our favor this day
Pick up the kids
Go grocery shopping for camping food
Eat lunch
Drive to Island Park, Idaho (4 hours)
Somewhere in the middle: I have class (which happens over the phone)
Set up camp
August 2
Be camping
this is the easiest day on our trip. it's really hard to HAVE TO do anything else while you're camping.
August 3
Break camp
Drive to Salt Lake (4 hours)
Showers & Baths
4:00 Brenda and Gavin get married
YAY!
Pictures
6:00 Picnic at the Park
6:00 Picnic at the Park
...and hopefully visit my family since it's my last chance to see them before moving across the country
August 4
4:00 am Leave SLC, Drive to Albuquerque (10 hours)
Unload the van
Thank you, thank you, thank you to the Relief Society compassionate service committee for bringing us dinner this day (and the two days after)! We will be officially out of food before we leave town, and I don't want to go to the store to buy anything on Sunday when we get back.
Look, we're home! But we're still not done yet...
August 5
Do all laundry from the trip
Repack every suitcase
Load everything back into the van, including everything else that we don't want on the moving truck
Chris at work
August 6
Moving company packs apartment
Kids with babysitters all day
Chris at work
August 7
Moving company loads apartment onto truck
Clean apartment
Clean apartment
Kids with babysitters all day
Chris at work
August 8
Check out of apartment
Drive to Oklahoma City, OK (8 hours)
August 9
Drive to Memphis, TN (7 hours)
August 10
Drive to Atlanta, GA (6 hours)
Side note: During this entire drive from New Mexico to Georgia, Chris and I are driving separate cars. It's a toss-up between being alone with all three kids in the van or driving the Metro with no air conditioning.
August 11
Go to new ward for the first time
August 12
Audrey Jane starts Kindergarten
Hoping beyond hope hopefully.
See what I mean about having no other time to get that paperwork correct?
See what I mean about having no other time to get that paperwork correct?
August 13... or 14... or 15... or 16...
Stuff shows up at our new apartment
August 14-15
Georgia Tech Orientation
August 19
Chris starts Grad School
...And then suddenly we'll just live in Atlanta. That'll be weird.
There you go. Now you, too, can experience just a piece of the insanity we are living out in our family right now. Good thing I'm so amazing so we can actually get all of this done. I would love to stay and chat, but those walls aren't going to wash themselves...
P.S. If it just so happens that you weren't adding up all the numbers as you went along (because really, who does that?), we are driving an estimated 58 hours with all three kids in the van over the course of 16 days. That's only an average of 3.6 hours per day, which doesn't sound too bad...except that we're not really splitting it up quite so nicely.
P.P.S. If you include the flights, but still without including the driving around any given destination, we are traveling an estimated 7,619 miles in 16 days. That's an average of 476 miles per day. Which, ironically enough, takes more than 3.6 hours to drive...
P.P.P.S. Is your brain tired yet?
Ok, now I really do need to get back to cleaning and packing and all that. This took way longer than a minute. But, as a parting farewell, here is a picture to cap off this yet-picture-less post.
2 comments:
Oh Laura. OH LAURA! Oh Laura does my head hurt for you just thinking about ALL that stuff! I sure hope you survive. I mean seriously, that is terrible. Too bad you have to care so much about getting your kid in school. If you were one of those moms that just didn't care, your situation would be so much easier... Yet still insane! I will most definitely be sending prayers to heaven in your behalf. :)
OH MY GOODNESS. I cannot even believe how insane your next couple of weeks are going to be. I wish I could help you. I wish I could see you too... :(
I am SIMPLY ASTOUNDED at the lengths that you have to go through to get Audrey registered for kindergarten. RIDICULOUS. It's almost like they don't want kids to go to public school. WHAT THE???
I need to talk to you at some point. So much has been going on with us lately, and most of it I don't want to share with the entire blogging world. But, I can wait until you are settled in Georgia. :) GOOD LUCK!!
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