Still More Minimizing and More Milestones

| Alan

First milestone:  Wow.  Over the last 18 months we downsized, minimized, donated, gave away, and trashed in order to move from the house into our current one bedroom apartment.  Over the next 60 days we will be minimizing still further from the apartment eventually into two suitcases each.  Over the last two weeks Tracy has scanned, edited, and uploaded about 7,000 hard-copy photos; snap shots, wallet-sized, Polaroids, 3X5’s, 4X6’s, 5X7’s, 8X10’s, and 10X13’s.  I’ve uploaded dozens and dozens of digital photo files from CD’s and DVD’s onto a one terabyte external hard drive.  Add to that work scanning all the legal documents that we may need that doesn’t require the actual “hard copies”.  The scanning ended up being a huge project to complete.  We loved taking photos of the kids when they were growing up.  Now we are delivering and mailing the photos and other family memorabilia to the adult kids.

Second milestone:  The semester started today at the college today.  For the first time in twenty-three years I’m not teaching either full-time or part-time at TMCC.

Third milestone:  My first pension check from the Nevada Public Employees Retirement System (NV PERS) arrived today.  After 32 years of public service in law enforcement and teaching I am retired.

Tracy scanning and editing family photos.
Tracy scanning and editing family photos.

Relocation – delays, disappointments and delights

| Tracy

In our journey towards living abroad we have done years worth of research and planning and decision-making and dreaming. Our dream of living in Italy was recently squashed by the Italian Consulate when after months of requesting additional documents and having to delay our original departure date we are still without a visa.

However, we are resilient as only the parents of eight children can be. When Plan A falls apart, Plan B moves to the Plan A spot and becomes a completely suitable replacement without regret. So our Plan B location was next on our visa application checklist. We found another apartment, with a totally awesome landlord – who speaks English – and went online and requested a visa appointment. This time we lucked out and the location of the consulate was in San Francisco.

So on January 2, we made the 4 hour trip to one of our favorite cities in the world, parked the car near Grant Street, located the Consulate for our meeting later in the day, had a delightful lunch at John’s Grill [where Dashiell Hammet wrote the “Maltese Falcon”], took a stroll through the Westfield Mall and all of our favorite SF stores – many of which were still decorated for the holidays – and eventually headed over to Kearny Street for our meeting.

We arrived on time at 88 Kearny Street and rode the elevator to the 6th floor and waited outside the locked door for another 10 minutes until a young man in a security uniform came and opened the door and had us go through the security screening and then on to the waiting room.

We didn’t have to wait long before a very nice young woman called us to the counter and asked for our documents. We handed her the entire collection as specified on the Consulate Website and in the order requested. She gave us a big smile when she noted that we were retirees and finished going through the stack of paper. We then signed the applications in front of her, got our fingerprints scanned into her computer system, had our photos taken and were told that we would have an answer in 7 to 10 business days.

So we headed back to the car and drove home thinking that at least the process was faster and better organized than our experience at the Italian Consulate in LA.

Saturday (three days after our mid-week trek to California) we get a “We tried to deliver” notice from the post office. Making the assumption that there wasn’t enough time to get the actual visa we believed we would be receiving a request for additional documentation, similar to our experience with the Italian Consulate. Today Alan headed to the post office and called me from the car to let me know that our visa was approved and that we would be spending the next year speaking French.

As our new Plan A, Carcassonne France will be our home for the next year, with the option to renew if we decide to stay there a bit longer. Carcassonne is in the Langedoc-Rousillon region of southern France about 40 minutes from the French Riviera, Nice, Cannes, and Provence.

Carcassonne is divided into two main parts: the Cité de Carcassonne, a medieval fortress settlement with a history that exceeds two and a half thousand years. Picturesque fortifications with over 3 km of walls with 52 towers, (Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves was partly shot here) and the town centre, known as the ville basse (literally ‘lower city’), where the other sights and hotels are located. Our second floor apartment is in this area.

The two areas are separated by the Canal du Midi, a canal built in 1666 to connect the Atlantic and Mediterranean Oceans shortening shipping time from one month to one week. Both the Canal du Midi and the medieval fortress are listed as UNESCO World Heritage sites.

All in all, our plan to retire abroad has been a work in progress for quite a while from choices in South America (Belize, Panama, Costa Rica) to Florence, Italy to our new destination,. We are delighted with our new Plan A and expect to spend the next year enjoying our new city and doing a wee bit of sightseeing which we fully expect to share with all of you!

Viva la France!!

Christmas And Unexpected Delay

| Alan

We had a fun Christmas at home, the last we expect to have in the US for quite a while.

For Christmas brunch we had ravioli, tortellini, wine, Christmas ale, gifts, and fun conversation with the kids that are still in Reno –  Sarah, Nick, Casey, Adam, and Adam’s fiancee’ Liz – made it a great day.  Kiki the micro-dog enjoyed all the special attention.  Through the day we also had “Merry Christmas”  telephone calls with Danielle, Tyler, Dirk, and Dallas, the “out-of-town” kids.  We have been enjoying the time with all the adult kids over the last few months and holidays, we know we are going to miss them all.  After brunch with the kids we visited with more family at Tracy’s mom’s house.  Nana, Tracy’s sisters Tammy and Trina, nieces, nephews, and even a great-niece.  Once Tracy and I made it back home she finally got her wish for a “white Christmas.”  Snow was finally falling in the valley and we had a romantic nighttime walk through the falling snow to finish Christmas night.

We just learned that we have an unexpected delay in our departure date moving it from January to late March.  We have to resolve a couple of paperwork issues with the consulate.  Rather that leaving the first week of January, we will be making a road trip to the consulate.  We are now processing yet more paperwork and re-scheduling flight tickets and apartment reservations.

Oh well, if there is not a few “bumps in the road” you don’t appreciate the final outcome.  We are a bit disappointed with the delay, but in the whole scheme of things an 11 week delay isn’t that big of an upset.

Alan’s Last Day At the College – Retired

| Alan

December 14th 2012 was my last day teaching at Truckee Meadows Community College.  I am officially retired as of January 7th, 2013 after 32 years of public service in law enforcement and higher education.

TMCC President Sheehan kindly granted me Professor Emeritus status upon my retirement.  I greatly appreciated the honor and recognition.

It was a very bittersweet moment to walk out my former and now emptied office then leave the college for the last time.  I loved teaching and loved working with the students through the years.  The best day of the year for me at the college was always commencement day .  I always thrilled watching the graduates cross the stage to receive their diplomas while their family and friends cheered their accomplishment.  It was also the greatest pleasure to see former students become successful in their careers and know I contributed to their success in some small ways.

I am proud of my both of my professional careers, police work and teaching.  I am incredibly lucky and can say I’ve had two dream careers. But now I’m anxious to move on to the next step in our lives.  Our “Forever Honeymoon” starts soon.

Thanksgiving, Final Good Byes, and Final Notices

| Alan

As we race toward our rapidly approaching departure date for Italy (which is now just 38 days away) we are trying to spent extra time with family and friends to say our good-byes.  As much as their work and college schedules will allow, we have had lunches and dinners with the local adult children, Sarah, Nick, Casey, Adam, and Adam’s girlfriend Liz. We’ve spent time with friends Kelly, Kathy, Cindy, (another) Kelly, and Echo and Dan.  We realize that in the very near future visiting won’t be so convenient and intercontinental flights back to the States will not be frequent.

We enjoyed Thanksgiving with Tracy’s Aunt Debbie and Uncle Gerry in San Martin, (outside Gilroy) California.  Nineteen people, two Chihuahuas, two Pit Bulls, and one very large and tasty turkey. Along with Tracy’s mom, sister, brother-in-law, aunt, uncle, nieces, and nephews we got to spend time with daughter Danielle, her husband Joe, and granddaughters Lorelei and Lily.  We also visited with son Dirk, his boyfriend Trey, and their “fur baby” Milo the chihuahua.  There was a great traditional Thanksgiving feast, great conversation, and all around fun.

After the Thanksgiving celebration, Tracy headed to Long Beach with her mom, sister, aunt, to meet two Northern California cousins, and one more sister for a farewell “Girls’ Cruise” to Catalina Island and Ensenada on Carnival Cruise Line.  It was a chance for Tracy to spend some final one-on-one time with her family.

I drove back to Reno, with Kiara the microdog in the passenger seat (“Dog is my co-pilot”), to finish out teaching my final semester and to take care of some additional departure details.  I cancelled our post office box which has been my primary mailing address for the last twenty years.  I also gave final notice to our apartment manager to advise her that we will be vacating our apartment New Years Eve.  Our remaining car is listed “for sale” on Craig’s List and we are waiting for an agreeable offer.  Those are a couple more small steps toward cutting loose our remaining ties in the US.

I’m somewhat apprehensive as we continue to cut our domestic links since our visas from the Italian Consulate still haven’t arrived, but we are being bold and proceeding on faith since people request and are granted visas all the time and we believe the documents’ arrival is just a matter of time and patience.

Thanksgiving 2012
Thanksgiving 2012

Fifty Days To Go – Bankers And Final Minimizing

| Alan

During our October appointment to the Italian Consulate General in Los Angeles, Tracy and I signed our visa application in front of a consular officer who also endorsed the application.  However we were also required by the Consulate to submit three additional documents before they would process the application.  The Consulate wanted a copy of our marriage certificate, a notarized letter of why we wanted to live in Italy, and a letter of financial solvency from our banker.  The last request seemed very old fashioned since we had already submitted pension statements and account balance print-outs.  I had an image out of  the film “It’s a Wonderful Life,” and the Consulate wanting us to go visit Jimmy Stewart down at the Bedford Falls’ Building and Loan office and asking him for a personal letter of reference.  We, like most the people we know, don’t have our very own “Banker.”

We followed-up with an appointment with the manager at our Bank of America branch.  We were surprised to learn that we actually did have our own banker.  Cherye, the branch manager, recognized us as long time patrons of the bank.  She was extremely helpful with getting us the document we needed.  She requested the financial letter from the Bank of America corporate office for us and co-signed the letter when it arrived at the bank branch five days later.  We added the bank letter to the other documents with our previously endorsed visa application and “FedEx’ed” the whole package along with our passports  back to the Consulate for their review.  We are now anxiously waiting for a return FedEx package from the Consulate with our final approval, visas, and passports.  We are in “hurry up and wait,” mode.  Although we can only apply for the formal visa a maximum of  90 days prior to scheduled departure, the Consulate does not provide a time estimate for processing and final decision.

Our efforts on minimizing “stuff” is going well.  Tracy and my goal is to downsize our personal possessions and move to Italy with only two suitcases and a carry-on bag each that contain all our clothing, computers, Kindles (in place of books), and cameras. (The dog has her own carry-on bag to ride in.)  We went through our wardrobes and reduced our clothing to just 10 outfits each, coat, and shoes.  Our son Nicholas, who is a similar height and build as me, made off with several suits, shirts, slacks, ties, and jackets from my closet.  Tracy has been copying our legal and financial records along with family photographs by scanning them into digital files while saving them to external hard drives.  She has already “ripped” all of our DVD movies into digital files so we can have some English language entertainment while abroad.

We put the Smart Car Cabriolet, our last vehicle, up for sale on Craig’s List. We wanted to get the car on the market before the upcoming holiday season diminishes the cash flow of potential buyers. The Smart car is our last “big” possession that we need to divest ourselves from.  After owning minivans, station wagons, and family sedans because of raising eight kids, I really enjoyed the last few years of having a “ragtop” two-seater and driving with the wind and sun in my face.  But getting rid of the car is a final step for making the move and transitioning on to the next big step in our lives.

Alan driving Smart car

Eight Straight Wins

| Tracy

On Saturday, October 13, we attended the UNR vs UNLV football game with some of the kids – Dirk, Trey, Nick, Casey, Nicole, Tina (Nicole’s Mom), and grandchildren Carter and Avery. We had a fantastic time although most of us ended up with pink faces due to the great weather and Las Vegas sun! Avery and Carter enjoyed seeing “The Uncles” as the group of sons came to be called by everyone.

UNR didn’t handle the first half of the game very well and we were a bit worried that our last State Rivalry game would not end well. Thankfully our beloved Wolf Pack pulled it together in the second half and won the game! The two bands had a post-game play-off of their own when a spontaneous “Battle of the Bands” occurred as the two bands left the field. Grandchildren danced as UNR played the instrumental version of “Call Me Maybe.”

We celebrated with the family with drinks in the Stratosphere tower and dinner at the buffet with Tyler in attendance after a day of drill with his Marine Reserve unit.

Our stay at the Stratosphere was fun and the rooms were pleasant, the food was good, the company fun and the trip memorable.

A few of the kids couldn’t make it to the game and they were missed, but duty calls in all sorts of ways – Guard drill, Saturday classes, caring for tiny babies – and those who were not with us in person were with us in spirit. Some were even getting text updates on the game!

All in all, a great weekend, a good game and fantastic company for our last Rivalry game – who could ask for more?

The Uncles watch the Battle of the Bands
The Uncles watch the Battle of the Bands in a post-game show during UNRs Victory Dance.

Consulate Journey

| Tracy

A week after UNR defeated UNLV for the eight straight time, we found ourselves on a flight to Los Angeles for our visa appointment at the Italian Consulate.

We were prepared. Or so we thought. We had not one, but two binders full of documents (in triplicate), a list from the consulate Web site of the documents required and enough passport photos to choke a hippo.

The evening before the appointment we landed at LAX, took a taxi to our hotel, arrived three hours early and received a nice upgrade to a suite. After a glance at a map realized that we were just a few blocks from where our sister Trina and her husband and daughter lived and gave Trina a call to let her know that we were in town.

She immediately asked if we were free that evening and said that when she was finished with an appointment that they would stop by our hotel to visit. We eagerly awaited her arrival, sort of . . . both of us were exhausted after a day of travel and fell asleep within minutes of sitting down, thankfully our afternoon respite didn’t last too long and we were both awake to greet our visitors a few hours later. Trina and her husband, Glenn, took us to dinner at Norm’s, a favorite of theirs and we really enjoyed ourselves.

Rarely do we get such great one-on-one time with family as most family events involve many more people, so we were both excited and pleased for their time and attention. After dinner they took us by the cottage they’ve rented in LA, which is absolutely adorable and Trina walked her sister around the quiet neighborhood where they live while the brothers-in-law chatted at the cottage.

Trina had offered to pick us up the following morning and to drop us off at the consulate for our appointment, saving us a great deal in cab fare. We were happy for her company and really enjoyed the afternoon when we finished at the consulate. Trina took us to the California Academy of Science (the new home of the Space Shuttle Endeavor) on the USC campus where we explored for hours all of the great exhibits, then she took us on the route the Endeavor traveled from LAX to it’s new home at the Academy of Science. We were both amazed and awed at the size of the Space Shuttle and the ingenuity it took to get it from one place to the other.

Our afternoon exploits helped us to forget our morning at the Italian Consulate.

After arriving an hour early and waiting in the small room with a very large window looking down at Avenue of the Stars, we were called promptly at our appointed time by Patricia Maroni, our intake counselor for a visa.

She quickly looked through the binder of our paperwork and asked where we got the list of documents. Stating that she hoped we hadn’t used the one from the Italian Immigration site as that is not the same list as the one for the Italian Consulate General in LA. We smiled and told her we had the list from the LA Consulate Web site, whew close call, because weeks earlier we had called the consulate and were told that the list was on their Web site. She smiled and said “Oh no, that is not the one to use. It is outdated, you should have called and asked for the right list from us, then you would have been prepared.”

There are no words to describe the swearing that was happening in our heads as we looked at Patricia incredulously and stated “Well, now we know better for next time.”

Patricia graciously gave us the super-secret, can’t get it till you get here in person, list of documents and as we eagerly read through the list to see if we had the additional documents in our “other” binder of documents. We had one of the three we were missing, our marriage license. The other missing documents were a letter from us to the Consulate General stating why we wanted to live in Italy – that has to be signed and notarized – and a letter from our banker stating our monthly income, account types and balances.

We asked Patricia if a bank statement would suffice as many of us in the U.S. don’t actually know our banker. She said “NO. It needs to be a letter from your banker and needs also to be signed by your banker.”

So after our lovely afternoon with Trina and our niece, Etta-Kimiyo, we found ourselves back at LAX waiting for our flight and reviewing the events of our visit to the consulate and making a list for the following Monday.

1) write a letter explaining why we want to live in Italy

2) find a notary so the Consulate General knows that our next door neighbor didn’t write our letter for us

3) find our who the hell our banker is and get them to write us a letter

We pick up the letter at 10 am today and will be visiting the notary this afternoon, followed by a trip to FedEx to send everything back to Patricia, including the thank you card for all her help during our recent visit.

Fingers crossed people, we are hoping to get a favorable reply and the visa stamp in our passports by Christmas so we can book our flights, get the dog certified for travel and move in early January.

Whew, almost there.

Battle for Nevada 2012

Fremont Cannon, college football's largest trophy, a replica of a 19th century Howitzer cannon.
| Tracy

Our last “in person” game between state rivals, University of Nevada, Reno and University of Nevada, Las Vegas, is soon approaching. This game and state rivalry has been an important event in our lives for the past 12 years. It’s right up there with Superbowl Sunday and the Academy Awards for our family.

When we married 12 years ago, we knew that it would be difficult for the children to spend holidays with more than one household a day. Children need to play and do not generally like to be opening gifts and eating and getting in the car to go to another household to open more gifts, eat again and get back in the car. We decided that holidays could be celebrated when we were together without disrupting the children, and then we thought it could be just as much fun to create special family days that were not traditional holidays.

So Superbowl Sunday became a family holiday, the kids would pick a team to support, so did we, food was laid out to be grazed upon during the day and lively shouting ensued. The Academy Awards were another family holiday. We printed up the categories, the nominees and everyone voted for who they thought would win and at the end of the night correct answers were added up and a winner named. These were the family days we most looked forward to, more than Christmas and Thanksgiving because these were our special times with our kids and we looked forward to them every year.

The UNR vs. UNLV game isn’t one where anyone picks a team to support. We are now and will forever be UNR fans. This isn’t just any state rivalry . . . we play for the largest trophy of any college team in the U.S., the Fremont Cannon, and it’s a very, very serious event. The winner of the game paints the cannon in their school colors and the cannon has been it’s rightful blue color for the past 7 years. UNR can lose every single game in a season and as long as they beat UNLV they remain champions to all their fans and supporters, and this family. This year, like all the others, we will scream, holler, kick the back of the bleachers and have the time of our lives and will love and support our Wolf Pack for another year . . . as long as they bring that cannon home to it’s rightful place.

We are making the arrangements, getting tickets, arranging a small bus and generally beginning to get pretty excited for game day at Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas. This game will be bittersweet, but even that can be overcome as long as the cannon stays blue and comes home to Reno.

So say a prayer for our Pack on Saturday, October 13 for a hard fought victory . . . game starts at noon, prayers should start at approximately 11:45 am! Go Pack!

UNR vs. UNLV Football History

1969 Reno  UNR 30–28       

1970 Las Vegas  UNLV 42–30

1971 Reno  UNLV 27–13       

1972 Las Vegas  UNR 41–13       

1973 Reno  UNR 19–3       

1974 Las Vegas  UNLV 28–7       

1975 Reno  UNLV 45–7       

1976 Las Vegas  UNLV 49–33       

1977 Reno  UNLV 27–12       

1978 Las Vegas  UNR 23–14       

1979 Reno  UNLV 26–21       

1983 Las Vegas  UNLV 28–18       

1985 Reno  UNR 48–7       

1987 Las Vegas  UNLV 24–19       

1989 Reno  UNR 45–7

1990 Las Vegas  UNR 26–14       

1991 Reno  UNR 50–8       

1992 Las Vegas  UNR 14–10       

1993 Reno  UNR 49–14

1994 Las Vegas  UNLV 32–27       

1995 Reno  UNR 55–32       

1996 Las Vegas  UNR 54–17       

1997 Reno  UNR 31–14       

1998 Las Vegas  UNR 31–20       

1999 Reno  UNR 26–12       

2000 Las Vegas  UNLV 38–7       

2001 Reno  UNLV 27–12       

2002 Las Vegas  UNLV 21–17       

2003 Reno  UNLV 16–12       

2004 Las Vegas  UNLV 48–13       

2005 Reno  UNR 22–14       

2006 Las Vegas  UNR 31–3       

2007 Reno  UNR 27–20       

2008 Las Vegas  UNR 49–27       

2009 Reno  UNR 63–28       

2010 Las Vegas  UNR 44–26

2011 Reno  UNR 37–0

Total Wins: UNR 22, UNLV 15