We can see the light...

It looks as if things are finally coming into place with our move to Sakhalin.  Today we were issued two very important pieces of the puzzle:  our letters of invitation and our medical clearance.  The letters of invitation just allow us to obtain (i.e. purchase) visas to enter the country.  We should get the originals in the mail later this week, so we will visit the Russian embassy next week to get our visas.  Shane also received his work permit, which is kind of like our Qatar residence permit.  It will allow him to live and work in Yuzhno.   

We are now working on getting hotel reservations for our last week in Doha.  The packers come to the house on the 20th, so we will need a place to stay until we leave on the 25th.  It looks as if we will be staying at the Sheraton, which will be nice.  It is in a good location for Shane's work and our compound.  Just the thought of living out of suitcases again kind of turns my stomach, but it is part of life as an expat and we are getting pretty good at it by now.  

The last big step - besides packing, of course - is to get the paperwork done for the dogs.  They need an export permit for Qatar, a health certificate by a certified vet and a rabies vaccination.  The vaccination is already done, and the other two items will be done sometime in our last week here.  

It still hasn't hit me that we are really moving.  We have known about this for so long, and have had so many hang-ups and delays along the way that it seemed that it would never get here.  While we are ready to move on, it will be hard to say goodbye to all of the friends we have made here.