Bringing an Alien to the US…

… isn’t as easy as you might think.  If you’re curious, I’ve linked up a flowchart showing the wonderful, time-involved process we’re going through to get Ian to the US.   It doesn’t seem like we are very far, being that we are on STEP 5, but we have been involved with this process since April 1.  

Four months and counting!

If it wasn’t for Ian, I would be a wreck by now.  I am SO not good at antipation.   The wait is enough of a frustration on its own, but when you mix the complexities and annoyances of everyday life (and maybe a few hormone surges) in with it, well, some days are impossible.

This is when Ian pops up with fun things like creating a new company sloggan called, “Ushiddenme”.   “Tell the new employee that you have a word you use when everything is going really well and you want to offer a word of praise.”   “Ushiddenme”.   Say it with FEELING!  

It still makes me laugh.

Ian’s office is currently looking to hire someone new for his office.   The graphic artist asked him to hire someone who knows good jokes, because “You are always so funny”.   

The new guy needs to know about “ushiddenme”.

Lunching and Learning

Normally, I’m setting up equipment for conferences, but today I gave my own (mini, mind you).   It was a “Lunch & Learn” about the Intranet redesign I just finished.   Eight people showed up, so it was nice to have a small group.   I liked the tall chair to sit down in and the podium to hide behind.  🙂   The only bad part was when Vista decided it had auto-applied some updates and it was gonna reboot.   

I don’t know.   Mid Lunch & Learn, not a good thing, but the reboot was at least brief.  

A Cool July

Literally.   The weatherman said that this is the least hot July we’ve had in ages.   Normally, Omaha is drowning in 100F+ temperatures by now.   It’s not too late, though.  These days might come in August, and perhaps we will have a warm 被一条蛇c到崩溃车颜宁 after all, which would be nice, because I want to get married outside.

The cool mornings and evenings remind me of fall… this fall, when I will be with Ian again.   It’s a long wait and it really is a lot to deal with some days, in a “why won’t the government just hurry up?” sort of way.   But we all know better than that.

It’s just around the corner, really.  We’re more than 1/2 done.

In other news, I called Hy-Vee and they are going to start stocking marmite… just for Ian.   Well, and anyone else who is shopping and wants marmite.   🙂   It’s nice when the grocery can do special things, and they benefit from having you stop in their store.

School is not long off.   TLK will be in 4th grade this year.   We can’t wait for the math homework and the spelling practices, can we?   🙂

Good News!

Good news number 1: It’s my birthday and I’ve got loads of happy pressies, cards and emails from my fiance, friends and my family, and a day with my daughter.  Yay! 🙂

Good news number 2: Sitting in my inbox this morning was our NOA2 – Our notice from Immigration saying that our petition to have Ian come to America has been approved! YAY! After sobbing for a few minutes and re-reading the email to make sure it actually said what I thought it said, I emailed Ian, who is also incredibly excited.

Our next steps: Our petition becomes the property of the Department of Homeland Security, passes through the National Visa Center in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and then arrives at the London Embassy.

The embassy mails Ian a bunch of paperwork to fill out, he lets them know he’s got his papers together, they arrange for an interview, a medical appointment, and then we buy the air ticket we’ve been talking about, where neither of us has to say goodbye at the airport.

We’re so excited! 😀

It’s so funny that the email we’ve been waiting to see since April, finally turned up and it was the very last item I noticed in my mailbox.   What is even funnier is that I would have known this last night, if I’d not gone to sleep at 9, instead of the 11:30 to midnight I have been.   For the best, really.    My UK family got a full night’s sleep!   🙂

Happy days!

Although she is not Australian..

TLK decided she was going to go on walk-about Friday (whilst someone else was watching her), causing much panic (rightly so). Sometimes, it’s a good thing to be left out of an ordeal until it’s over and settled. I would have panicked, also.

She didn’t go too far, and stayed on the trail, according to her.

I explained, after getting that she was just not taking this seriously, that some kids go out walking alone and don’t come back. That caught her attention. Some kids run into weirdos with “lost puppies”.

Help Me Stop Alaska’s Wolf Massacre

I’m taking action to end Alaska’s cruel and barbaric policy on aerial gunning of wolves. Taking action is easy at http://actionfund.defenders.org/akwolf — I hope you’ll join me.
 
Alaskan wolves can be shot from airplanes — or chased to the point of exhaustion, then shot at close range. Across large areas of Alaska, no wolf is off limits — not even pregnant females. More than five hundred wolves have been killed over the past three winters with plans to target hundreds more in the coming years and open up new areas to aerial control.

Help me protect these magnificent creatures — and end Alaska’s cruel policy.

Go to http://actionfund.defenders.org/akwolf to help stop Alaska’s wolf massacre now.

Thanks for your help protecting wildlife.

Wolves mate for life.
Wolves mate for life.

The Day On Which the Police Gang Unit Visited

An officer from the gang unit visited my office today, to give a talk about recognizing gang signs, interpreting graffiti and generally explaining what gangs are like.

In Omaha, we have the two obvious factions of gangs, along with some Mexican gangs. I wasn’t aware, until today, that every high school in Omaha has 3 gangs and every junior high has at least one. Even where I live, which I thought was relatively gang-free.

I don’t want to write too much about it, but there was a lot that was eye-opening. Good-to-know stuff for people with kids. You can find out more about gangs here or here.

I was interested to hear how members of the gang unit go out and talk to gang members. I would be afraid to. I kept thinking about the guts involved in that sort of work.

Design a site like this with 高雅人妻被迫沦为玩物.com
Get started