Some things are moving - others are not

Well we finally had some good news about our worldly goods. They have been X-rayed by US Customs and cleared. The shipping company pulled a few strings to get the container released earlier than normal and we've arranged delivery to our house on Thursday - yay! This means we can finally start to settle down properly with our own belongings around us. We'll probably wait until the weekend to move in but it's something to look forward to.

On the flip side, something has gone a bit awry with our Social Security application as we've been told that they have had to send the documents off to have them verified by Immigration. We're not sure why or what it means but it's another hurdle to overcome - not that we can do much to affect it. It's so frustrating.

Annalie has made her first trip back to the UK already to go back to uni for her Masters. She found out that she got a First for her first assignment which was a major surprise but she's pretty chuffed with it Because she stayed at her mum's she got to cat sit the Girls, but was very sad to leave them yet again. The flight was pretty convenient though, direct BA from JFK to Manchester. The annoying thing was that the in-flight entertainment system was broken in both directions. Annalie had to fill in a complaints form both ways as well so we're hoping for a few air miles to be added to the account On the way to JFK we picked up a Tom Tom sat nav to help us get around the country. It did prove itself to be pretty useful on the way to JFK as well.

While Annalie was away, Ian made the most of his freedom by going out with some of the boys from work. He played football for the first time since Annalie has known him and went along to a leaving do to deliver a door (don't ask). In another attempt to avoid boredom, he's also cleaned the yard of one of Annalie's colleagues, Carla. The "yard" was more like a field though (he took the job on before seeing it) so there were plenty of leaves to clear. It kept him busy and out of trouble for a day though.

We've been hunting out some fun things to do as well. We've found a pretty cool pool hall where you pay $5 per person and you get unlimited play. Just don't drink the diet coke in there though! We also paid a visit to Mohegan Sun casino with some of the guys from work, and which is about a 30 minute drive from us. Unlike our last visit to Vegas, we both got wiped out. We blame the people who joined our table part way through. Annalie managed to convince Carla to walk away from the slot machine when she won $50 on it rather than just fritter it away some more.

So next time we write we should be in our house We've just got to figure out the cable supplier now to sort out our TV, phone and Internet so that we can stay completely connected. That could be the tricky job.