Satellite delay

Okay, okay, okay...

So we start this blog in September 09 to try to document our trials and tribulations while jumping through the hoops of emigrating (and returning) back to Canada that the government sets up for us...

As it turns out it took us four months to get our bums in gear and actually get all our paperwork sorted, stamped and posted.

The story so far:

Well, after deciding last summer (August 08...and am currently being corrected by 'mr' that it is now the summer before last...sigh...pedant...) to explore the options of me (mrs can't shovel rain) returning to Canada with my UK husband in tow (yes, that would be mr can't shovel rain), we immersed ourselves in the wacky and wonderful world of Canadian Customs and Immigration. After wading through the forms and buying a book to help us we decided to start prepping for our new life and aim to submit our immigration forms by the end of 2009.

Now, you would think that two fairly-not-unintelligent people such as ourselves would be reasonably confident with forms and such like but I think I speak for both of us when I say we were surprised at just how daunting a prospect it was. Having decided it was something we both wanted very badly, the terrifying fear of getting something wrong settled over our heads like the grey cloud that permanently hovers over the UK.

Despite this sense of uncertainty, we forged ahead, trying in vain to sort out things out in our flat and start selling off bits of our old life, like an antique china collection at a flea market. Roll on autumn 2009 when we finally start making some headway - we go to an emigration expo for some pointers and to meet some people who could ship our remaining old life items when the time comes. We were hoping to meet someone who could help with the one or two questions we had about the specifics of the forms but alas! this was not to be (well not quite anyway and without going into a huge rant about the ethics of immigration consultants...enough said).

So we spend the last few months of 2009 downloading forms, uploading photos, drinking coffee, printing forms, printing photos, drinking coffee, giving blood, finding spelling errors, reprinting forms, drinking gin, paperclipping, collating and stapling the last five years of our life into one, manageable A4 envelope to send off.

And the big question...did we make it before the end of 2009? Well...technically yes, we did have everything ready and packaged...but due to Christmas and the unprecedented snowfall in the UK this December (*suppressed laughter of the irony of SNOW in the UK delaying post to CANADA...*) we thought it would be best to post in the new year. It did all go early January 2010 and so begins our blog of immigration hi jinks and misadventure.

Apologies for the slight satellite delay...

Yours,
mrs