Our Bag Has Returned from the Deep Abyss

At midnight last night, after Alison and I had been in bed for almost an hour (I was still awake reading Watership Down), the doorbell rang. A little confused, I went to the door to find someone from the Bahrain Airport with our last bag! This was fantastic news. Apparently, the guy had called 16 times (which I confirmed with 16 missed calls on my mobile), and I hadn't picked up. I'm not sure how long he'd been driving around, but he apparently found our flat. So the saga is over - mostly. I'm still going to type up a letter for British Air and see if we can't get some compensation out of the deal. We still don't recommend you fly BA; or if you do, don't check any bags.

I have also been awake since 6am this morning, working on getting my wireless router set up. After a few phone calls and some internet trouble shooting - I am on security enabled wireless connection! No more cords, no more delicately moving so as not to disconnect the ethernet cable. Such freedom.

So now that we have "fully" arrived in Bahrain, we can be fully focused on getting some of the things done that we need to. Here are some of the things on our to-do list:

1. Get me a Visa: I was able to get a two week visitor visa at the airport, and now I need to work on actually getting my work visa/work permit. It *shouldn't* be a big deal, but... it seems that nothing is without a hassle.

2. Start my new job: I will start next week. I got a large to-do list from someone else at the church, and it was interesting looking at some of the things on there I need to do. I'll keep you posted on those things.

3. Alison will start her job: she's supposed to start next Sunday, but apparently the government has mandated that all private schools will start after eid (which, this year, isn't till the 3rd week in September). Apparently this is due to concerns of a swine flu outbreak here in Bahrain. We're still waiting to see if that will actually happen, but it'd be nice for her if it did!

4. Prepare the baby's room! There are actually a ton of things associated with this: get a new wardrobe for MY room, so we can get rid of my old one that's currently in baby's room; paint the room; clean out all of the junk we don't need (a mammoth task - we tend towards pack-rats); get rid of the desk that's falling apart; find storage for the junk we can't let go of; hang pictures; order more stuff online for our parents to bring out; put together the crib; wash baby clothes; hang pictures given as gifts; play with the toys; etc etc etc.

5. Find out whether Round 2 is a boy or a girl! We have an appointment on the 23rd, which is next Sunday. We'll get an ultra-sound, and then we'll let you know! The name will be kept under wraps until he/she is born, though.

Well, its off to the shower for me. Many things to do.