Back in the US (for now)

Well, the pre-move trip is over.  We finally found a house we liked on Friday afternoon.  (Lori actually found it Wednesday night online because our house hunting trip with the realtor Wednesday day was so disappointing.  We had a Thursday viewing scheduled but the house realtor stood us up so our realtor rescheduled for Friday afternoon.)  So on Friday we walked through the house and really liked it; good neighborhood location, close to very good schools and close to our price range.  Fast forward a couple of hours and we have confirmation that the house is ours for two years.  Huge, huge relief to have that settled.  I will follow up later with details, no pictures at this point though.
  The difficult part now is getting the kids into the schools close to the house.  As mentioned previously England has a state law capping class sizes so now we apply and see if the schools are accepting students.  We can appeal if we get turned down but we need to apply first.  Keep your fingers crossed.   

A few final thoughts on the trip:  Their McDonalds use sweet pickles in their quarter pounders, kind of a funny taste.  We were told they don't have dill pickles over there so I'll put that item on my Englsih myth busters list.  I also did not see any pick ups over there.  They do have Lorries which are more like smaller US delivery trucks than F-150's or Chevy Silverados.  I will have to look for US style pick ups when we return.

Today's Steve Frey Animal Pic

Nothing special about this picture, just a tip o' me hat to Steve Frey and his excellent blog (ukfrey.blogspot.com) for those looking for another perspective on life in the UK.  The Freys are both Rolls Royce employees on their secondment like we will be starting shortly.  The pic was taken between Derby and Manchester on Friday afternoon on our ride to the Manchester hotel by the airport.  We flew back today, very nice to be back.  So our next step is to get our visas and wrap up our affairs here. Probably be about a month and we will all move over. It's starting to get exciiiiting.

  

Thanks for listening,
Jay