Don't Dare your Wife....

Well, we need to back up to about June of 2007. That's where the OZ adventure really began. I can't remember what day of the week it was now, but it was a week night, probably Thursday because we were lounging in our recliners, Jay - with Budlight in hand and me - a much more sophisticated beverage of cardboard Chardonnay (or box wine). I wouldn't say we were intoxicated as it was a work night, but a relatively deep conversation had ensued, as they often do when engaging in the spirits, which went something like this:

Tam: "Before I met you, I was going to Australia. But you messed up my plans..." (darn men...always holding the woman back)
Jay: " Well, you go bad ass. I dare you to post your resume on the net." (yeah, right)

OK. Rule number one: Don't dare a woman to do anything, especially when she feels the empowerment of beno coarsing through her veins.

"By golly, don't think I won't!"...I'm not sure I actually said 'by golly', but that was the thought process how I remember it now.

Anyway, we both got up, got on the internet and posted our resumes on some Aussie job boards. SO THERE. Think I'm afraid?? NOT. After that, Jay and I resumed our leisurely night in the reclined position, probably ready to watch TV until we fell asleep.

I'd say no later than 45 minutes after we posted our resumes, the phone rang. And to our amazement and total surprise, a lady named Kay asked to speak with Tamara Norton in a very distinct English accent. Kay is a recruiter for engineering companies in Australia and she had a wonderful opportunity for me.

Long story short, I interviewed with PB a week later and was offered a sponsorship. It all happened so fast, really. And we were moving to Sydney!

Now hold on...I just said it happened so fast. But it took 5 months to process our visas before we could really act on moving. I have to note that while it appears to be relatively easy to enter the United States, that is as long as you can swim and stand the heat or hire a coyote to sneak you in, it is quite a fiasco of paper work, health requirements, and character assesment to even be considered for a work visa in Australia. Starting with just getting a US passport......4 weeks, but we had to pay out the nose. Then the sponsorship paperwork could be completed. But wait, then there's the chest x-rays and health certificates. Finally, the last week of November 2007, our visas were approved and THEN, things began to move very rapidly.

Now that's just handling the humans of the family...we also had Tankbutt and Kitter to sort out. And my goodness, it took just as much paperwork, health certificates, MONEY and time to haul them over here too....and poor baby's had to go to jail for 30 days (quarantine) once they arrived.

We finally made it on January 4, 2008, a beautiful Friday morning. And I'll pick up the story there in my next post. It's getting late and I have to go to work in the am.