The move is on!

That's it. The work permit that we naively expected five months ago.

When Stephen took along this fancy bit of paper to apply for his visa last week, the friendly official at the Consulate in Sydney announced, "That's rare, we hardly ever issue working visas. Only about five a year."
Perhaps that explains why it has taken so long.
Now, rather than feeling jaded about the lengthy bureaucratic process, we feel like we've won a very special lottery!
We're excited all over again.

With only a few weeks till Stephen flies back to Milan, we've begun a list frenzy.
Lists for culling, packing and storing.
Lists of repairs and lists of jobs to complete.
Lists of friends and family to see, and lists of favourite places to visit one last time.

Yikes! The move is on! Yes, really.