here we are

After a frantic several days of sorting, packing, repacking, loading and unloading trucks, birthday celebrations and family in town, we managed to successfully make our Big Move to the Czech Republic. Here we are in Prague, one day after touch down still reeling from the jet lag.

Prior to leaving Portland, we spent the two nights at Tim's brother and sister-in-law's because most of our stuff was already moved out of our old house and into storage. Jonah got to spend a lot of the last few days in Portland with his Aunt Jenni and Montana Grandparents. They took care of him while Tim and I spend time liquidating our old house, schlepping stuff to storage and getting ready for the trip. Jonah seemed fine until the first night at Uncle's. He suddenly began to cry, wanting to go back to the old house. Tim managed to calm him down, but Jonah tossed and turned all night, talking from his sleep and waking up constantly. I could tell he was worried about the changes.

The next night, he and I talked about what was to come, as we had been for months. But this time the transition was actually becoming reality for Jonah. He asked me: "Are there going to be scary things there?" I told him that there wouldn't be. That we will all be there: "mommy, daddy and Jonah together" and that we will be happy. Jonah made sure then to request that somebody sleep with him in his new room in Prague. Specifically: "Can daddy sleep with me in my room? Mommy you can sleep in your own bed."

I was quite impressed with his ability to identify and verbalize his fears. Not only that, he came up with a solution that would help him feel better. I don't know many three-year-olds, but this seemed like a very mature thing to do.

After our talk, we both slept better.

On the day of our flight, we went back to our old house to pick up Sarafina, soon-to-be-International-Cat. We said goodbye the house. Jonah blessed the front yard with one last tinkle on the bamboo. Shh... don't tell the landlord, if you run into him.

Jonah did just fine on the flights, as he always does. He slept for a few hours, even. Tim and I, of course, never did fall asleep during the course of the twenty-some-hour long trip. Talk about a parental marathon once off the plane, keeping a very sleepy puffy red eye on one hyper monkey!

Once we arrived in Prague via Frankfurt and got our million bags off the conveyer belt, we approached the "oversize area" to pick up our well-fed furry friend. No, don't laugh. They did not name the office after her. We were alarmed to find her cage there, empty. Instantly I was sent to a desk clear across the baggage area. No one knew anything about what had happened to our cat. Her food bowl, water bottle and blanket were gone along with her. That told us she hadn't escaped, but of course, the worst possible scenarios flashed through my mind.

After a dozen calls made to a variety of airline and airpot employees, Tim wandered back to the Oversize area to take a second look. Luckily he spotted Fini there in another carrier. Apparently someone switched her from her small carrier that I thought was quite luxurious to a bigger one because, according to code, a cat is supposed to be able to stand up with a minimum of was it three inches above her head inside the carrier. No one bothered to tell us. We were just happy to have found her healthy and eager for our affection.

Sarafina is doing fine, adjusting to being an indoor kitty after ten years of being able to go in and out of the house as she pleases.

Jonah likes his new room and spends quite a bit of time playing in it with the hordes of toys we brought from Portland and the new ones he received from Czech family members upon arrival.

We have begun to explore the neighborhood, but I will write more about that later. For now, here are a couple of pictures of our street from our windows. Lucky Jonah looks out into the courtyard, full of tall leaf trees while our living/dining room and bedroom face the street.





(our building is the yellow one next to the trees in the last photo)