Thursday, November 23, 2006

Happy Thursday

I'll be celebrating today, being Thursday, by going to work (had to wait 30 minutes for the tube this morning... so it was like a holiday schedule, but it's not because it's Thursday), going home, stopping by any number of open stores that aren't having massive sales to pick up some food, and cooking some dinner. We might watch some football (although I believe it's referred to as "soccer" in American-English) on the telly.

But Happy Thanksgiving to everyone not reading this in a non-US country. I'm sorry I'm not there to bake pies for the occasion!

Saturday, November 18, 2006

They swore they'd been good...

... but photographic proof shows otherwise. Such naughty kitties we have! Hopefully they've been well behaved for Auntie Amy this weekend. Apparently they have already tried to get into the shower with her (and then went into the litterbox with wet paws and then running throughout the house)... so I'm not holding out much hope.

Friday, November 17, 2006

Bienvenue a Bruxelles...part 1

Hank and I took the Eurostar from London to Brussels on Thursday evening - it's incredibly odd to be in a different country across a body of water with no major jet lag and never having left the ground... and it was all in under 3 hours!

Our adventure today took us to a city called Bruges (or Brugge, depending on what language you're speaking). It is a stunning city with quaint little cobblestone streets, a lovely canal bordered in trees wearing the colors of fall, and waffles. OMG there are waffles everywhere. And they're tasty. There's also a chocolate shop about every 15 feet. Those are tasty, too. And I shouldn't forget about the beer. Each beer has its own specially shaped glass. One store we went into must have had a couple hundred different varieties... it was all I could do to manage to get Hank to leave the store.

We'd had plans to go to a tapas restaurant for dinner, but as that didn't work out as planned, we wound up at a lovely mediterranean/French place called Bonsoir Clara. We both loved our meals, and Hank tried a local spirit (we keep forgetting the name) that tasted like a very floral sake with a vodka chaser. And Hank kept talking about it having something melon-flavored (he claimed honeydew, specifically), but I think he was just trying to impress me. ;)

Tomorrow we wander Brussels and see what's to see, and yes, to have des moules et frites! (hold the mayo)

Thursday, November 16, 2006

Kitties are home at last!!

The girls finally arrived last night about 8:30pm! They seemed as relieved to get out of their kennels as we were to see them. They walked right out and let us give them some hello snuggles, then proceeded to wander around for the next 2 hours just taking in the new sights. Our friend & co-worker Amy was over to meet them, and both Taka and Neko let Amy give them some head scratches. Taka meowed at us until the moment we turned out the light to go to bed – she sure had a lot to say about her grand adventure.

So, the whole process of getting them hear was far more painful than we’d first anticipated. We hired a company to manage the travel, make sure all the paperwork was in order, etc, but they turned out to be incredibly unresponsive and unreliable. About a week before they were set to travel my mom identified another pet relocation company. She was kind enough to make at least 3 different trips to the vet for all of the last minute signatures and treatments the cats require to enter the UK. The paperwork then had to get sent overnight to the USDA for a stamp in order to leave the country, and all the paperwork had to accompany them on the flight to the UK to be inspected by DEFRA once they arrived.

Unfortunately, the vet made a mistake and didn’t give the cats one of the two treatments the UK requires for entry (even though all of the UK documentation says so). The USDA didn’t notice it before they approved the paperwork, and the relocation guy didn’t notice it either before the cats got shipped off. Unfortunately, the UK DEFRA inspectors DID notice, and the cats had to be put in quarantine until a vet could go on-site and give them the missing treatment. Then they would have to wait 24 hours before they could be released, meaning almost a day and a half in the kennel. All totalled, the mistake cost just shy of another $500. Ugh. These are very expensive kitties, but waking up with Taka sleeping on my hip and Neko snuggled up around my head, they’re worth every shilling.

Tuesday, November 14, 2006

Quick update on the kitties

I was hoping to post a very happy note that the kitties had arrived, however there's a problem with the very stringent requirements they have to meet before being allowed into the UK. Unfortunately the vet in the US neglected to give them one of the required treatments. So they have arrived to the airport safely, however they are stuck for another 24 hours until the treatment can be administered.

So far most of this process has been a complete nightmare from start to finish. I'll update in more detail later on, but big thanks to everyone who's been involved in getting them here - Hank and I will be tremendously relieved once we've seen that they are safe and sound at home.