January
This has got to be one of our busiest months ever. Surprisingly, we're feeling good about keeping up on this blog thing, despite it all.
To recap:
- Of course, January started out with some serious fireworks.
- Two scheduled hospital trips for Ella's sake.
- One unscheduled hospital trip to welcome Mattias (more fireworks).
- A birthday bash for Jeff (we're not soon forgetting that banana-split brownie sundae).
- A couple evening outings and a hockey game for some entertainment.
- Two trips for Jeff: Malmö, Sweden for work last week & in Copenhagen, Denmark (now)for friend's funeral
- May, Mattias and Jeff visited the US Embassy to apply for:
- Mattias' "Consular Report of Birth Abroad" (ask Jeff K), which let us apply for...
- Mattias' social security number, and
- Mattias' US passport (just got it back today - what a cute picture)
Added to the above, there was the 2-page property tax form, to be submitted by end of January. Luckily we learned about it a few days ago, which gave us time to get help. Submitted it today.
Gotta say - you think tax forms are hard? Try them in a different language, under such a deadline. Obviously we took great advantage of local help with this one.
Annual taxes for our new flat? Just under 600 Czech koruna ...about $30.
Visa Extensions + 1
Then, tomorrow morning we have our meeting with PricewaterhouseCoopers for our (long-term residency) visa extensions. This meeting is done each year and requires significant documentation prep. and getting pics.
For 2008 we also tacked on our newest family member who needs a long-term visa.
Lastly, and this is where we miss and love our friends & family dearly: Care Packages.
We know we've been so very quiet in e-mail and phone calls, but we hope all can be forgiven.
We guess we're writing this to mostly explain our quietness. Blog entries reach all of you, but we know we really need to touch base with each of you individually, too.
Love you all lots, us 4
Oh, we got a laugh out of this. Here, we receive notices to pick up packages at the post office.
In our mailbox we just got the notice slips in the picture. Typically, it's "last name, first name" like you see in the left slip (a registered letter).
How is it on the right slip? Well, our package must be addressed to: The Whole Parker Crew
...hence the notice slip is for "Parkercrew, Thewhole"
:)
1 comment:
I can't believe the first diatribe didn't make it. I will try to repeat it but it will undoubtedly lose some passion:
Mattias, Don't take any grief. You too can be President of the United States, assuming you meet certain criteria:
1) You are at least 35.
2) Your parents move you back to the States at least 14 years before you declare your candidacy.
3) You garner enough votes which is apparently as difficult a Constitutional question as your citizenship.
You an me brother, we are both "natural-born citizens". Don't let any of them there foreigners give you crap! Of course, if John McCain wins, our citizenship debate will be answered once and for all. He was born in the Panama Canal Zone.
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