Pre-Thanksgiving ... Thanks...

So its about time for an update. So many things have happened since my last post I know many of you are anxious for one. Let's start with the most important (and obviously the point of this blog)

Eduardo
As most of you know Eduardo had a appointment in October and now the consulate said that all they knew about my husband was his past. Based on their findings my husband was associated with the gangs but not an actual member. Therefore they could not issue a visa nor give him the chance to file the I601 wavier (the pardon). However she said that if he sent her copies of:

Copies of his diplomas

Photos of him preaching

Copies of his credentials

Copies of some of his sermons

Then they will allow him to proceed to the wavier. They know he is a minister/pastor now but they have no proof of it. Getting the items above is no problem because I have all these things. Some items I had to wait for my mother-in-law to send which finally arrived last Thursday. (Don't even ask about this.)

I thought that the person who is reviewing my husband's case would be the same person that would review him again at the I601 Wavier. But my attorney mentioned that it's actually two different departments. Here's what bugs me. Eduardo has gone through this abnormally long, drawen out detailed background check by one department. Now I find out that for the visa appointment its going to be ANOTHER department? My concern is that this other department MIGHT just ignore the fact we went through the ring of fire and see a criminal history and we won't get a same day approval for Eduardo's visa.

Doesn't these extremely detailed background check on my husband count for anything at the wavier appointment? My attorney will argue that fact and it is my hope that both departments will just let us proceed and HOPEFULLY get the visa the same day.

Me
So I noticed that the last time I posted something I was talking about our company layoffs. Well we had some more last Wednesday and thank God I'm still here. By the sound of it might be triple work for me. But my mom said I need to budget my time wisely and I'll get through the days. Makes a lot of sense and I'll have to put it to use.

At church we had elections for new positions within the groups. I don't know if I mentioned this but I was the secretary for the Ladies League and I feel like a did a crummy job. Well apparently my thought was correct because I wasn't re-elected.

Aaron
Aaron's probably doing a lot better then Eduardo and I put together. He's enjoying school and maintains his solid "C" average.

Regardless of what's life is throwing at us we're doing well. We're thankful for each other support, our family support, our church support and our friend support. We appreciate each one of you!

We had layoffs this past Friday...

I want to say it was a complete shock. Instead I was rather shocked who was let go. I started to worry and think about the situation my friends are currently in. I work in Architecture our work is based a lot on the current housing market.

As I'm sure as you're aware if there's no need to build we won't. Our clients might find it difficult to obtain the necessary loan in order to construct. While I'm sure many have their own money needed for construction they're not willing to take the risk.

So the lenders won't lead, clients can't build yet clients won't build because peopling are not buying.

Because my job at the firm is in a administrative assistant role it might not be too difficult to find work if I was laid off. We can work in all types of industries. We're adaptable I guess. Now is there's an industry that doesn't suffer layoffs due to the current conditions of the market? According to the Food Network the candy industry is the only one that doesn't. I don't know how true that is, but they reason that its because no matter what the cost people will always purchase their favorite candy.

My prayers are for my co-workers who were let go. Why you were chosen I don't know but try to think of it as an new opportunity. (Easier said then done, I know!). But KP's mom is right "when God closes one door He opens a window."

There Are Times When Even The Internet Is Boring...

I've decided to start carrying a notebook around with me. No not a huge notebook just something small to write my random things. Whether I'm on the bus or walking outside my mind is working overtime. I especially enjoy the moments when I think about all the things I can write about on my blog. As you can tell I haven't posted a single one of them. Ok I'll get the notebook and post more often. But here are some random thoughts for you.

I've started to realize that having a computer at home and not have internet access means I don't use the computer very much. So I want internet access but I don't want to get it just yet. I will a bit before I do.

Now lately I feel as those I'm in limbo. Neither here nor there just stuck in the middle. Eduardo was having a hard time earlier this week. The frustration of our situation has caused him to fall into a depression. Its harder for me to talk to him when he gets like that. I don't know what to say or do that would help him to get out of his funk. So I just listen and pray that he does get better. I will admit that it does drain me emotionally.

Aaron has been back to school for about a week and half. Simply put.... its uh interesting. I attended the 1st Local School Council meeting and my gosh what a disaster. I don't know that I can make it to the next one. I told them at the meeting that if they continued to have the meeting at 9 am it impossible for a full-time working parent to get to them. But I tell you there were so many people at the meeting I wonder if they are welling to move the meeting time.

There's tons more to post but the lunch hour is over... Oh before I forget Happy Birthday to my wonderful mom!

Mexico City, Day 1 and 2, Gran Melia

We left Chicago around 6 am and had a connection in Dallas/Fort Worth. When I looked at my itinerary I saw we had about an hour and a half before we had to change planes. Little did I know that an hour and a half wouldn't be that much time on the return. No problems while we were flying and we landed in Mexico City around 3:00 pm. One thing I don't understand, when going through Customs at Mexico City's airport, is the need to x-ray our bags as we're leaving. I like to believe the hassle we go through at O'Hare Airport and its security measures would be enough but it's not. We didn't have to wait long for the bags and the x-ray was clean so we done.

Normally Eduardo meets me at the airport with flowers which I always appreciate. My favorite are colorful daisies. But I always feel bad when I can't take them home with because of customs. Well I've never tried to bring them home, I assume it would be a problem. This time Eduardo had no flowers (darn but at least I won't feel guilty about leaving them). Instead he gave me a paper and it was a surprise trip to San Miguel de Allende. I was so excited. I actually wanted to visit San Miguel for about 2 years but we either went somewhere else and didn't go. For this trip we planned on going to San Miguel but money was tight (who am I kidding there was no money!) so I knew we couldn't go. Either way I was happy with this gift. We would leave to San Miguel on Monday.

We stayed at the hotel Gran Melia in Mexico City on the main street Reforma in Centro Historico. With my architectural connections I could appreciate the structure and work as well as its flaws. Now if you remember I forgot my digital camera so this are pictures from the hotel's website. From the outside the view is spectacular! You'll also see a nice shot over looking the Calle (Street) Reforma.

The hotel offer many amenities and it was great and everyone seems generally nice and hospitable (who would have thought over the mix reviews at TripAdvisor.com).

So I've been traveling to Mexico City for quite some time and you'd think that we learn a few things about how the city works. Nope. Day 2 in Mexico City we were supposed to head to church because 1. Eduardo was going to preach and 2. because I was supposed to meet the Bishop. We need to be at church at 12:00 pm. We forgot that every Sunday the city shuts down Reforma and several other streets and creates sort of an activity day for the family. You can run, ride your bike, rollerblade ...whatever on this major street.

So when I woke up the next morning around 8 am, Eduardo and Aaron took off swimming. I heard someone talking on a speaker outside. As I peered down I saw people running a marathon. I didn't think it was a big deal until we left the hotel at 11 and found every surrounding street was blocked. It took us quite a bit of fancy driving to get out to the next major street. After asking several police officers we were directed on the "right" street and found ourselves back at the hotel! (and after an hour of driving).

Eduardo was not a happy camper. We eventually got church at around 2 pm (2 hours late!) and we ended staying for the 3 pm service. Oh well.

Here's the buffet that cost us $20 per person. When Eduardo said "200 pesos" I thought 'wow $20 bucks for all us that's pretty cheap!' My bad.

Here's the pool. This picture doesn't really do it justice. It was really nice!

The Lobby

Since we were heading to San Miguel de Allende on Monday Eduardo asked a fellow pastor to drive us home. The pastor would then drive our borrowed car and park it inside his gated house. But Eduardo locked the keys in the car and we were all were stuck outside trying to get the keys out. Eventually (after 1.5 hours) someone random guy asked if we wanted him to help. I'm freaked out thinking "OMG! He's going to get the keys out, pull a knife or a gun and steal the car!" (Hey it's Mexico City what did you want me to think!)

So I stood behind the men with a wrench just in case. The guy got the door open pulled the keys out and.... AND..... asked for $50 pesos. Argh! Thank God that was over with!

One minor recap of my vacation...

Saturday Aaron and I headed to Mexico City to visit Eduardo again. At this moment (from an immigration standpoint) we've done the following. We had the possession of cannabis charge changed do show that the case is officially closed. I have some doubts because when I first saw a copy of the disposition I noticed that the "possession of cannabis" was not written out at all. Instead there was the number code but the area next to number was blank. I forwarded that to our immigration attorney and it caused some confusion with them as well. Either way the disposition and a letter was sent to the consulate. Here are just some of the highlights what happened after that.

I went to the Daley Center (in Chicago) to get two copies (sealed) for our attorney. As I was in there I noticed something odd was going on outside of the building. However, I made it through security and proceeded to the 10th floor. When I was being attended an announcement was made and we had to evacuate the building because there was a bomb threat. I have gotten the chills before but never throughout my whole body. So in the end my mission was not accomplished. I returned two days later and got two copies. But then I noticed that the area by the number code was now filled in. At this point in our immigration journey I now that I MUST have my ducks in a row. I thought because we had already sent a fax to the consulate with the "blank" court disposition the fact that it was now filled might cause a problem. It didn't so I was on my way.

So where are we at now? I hate to say it but we're just waiting at this point. (Have you noticed a reoccurring theme with my posts? It's all 'We're waiting, now we wait, we need to wait' wait wait and more wait) Honestly I don't know of anyone else who had learn patience but me with all this blasted waiting.

Ok so I'm on the plane as I type this and Aaron's had more soda in the past 3 hours then he has in 2 days. I was hoping he would nap ... ya right. Eduardo and I planned a trip to San Miguel de Allende but the funds are tight so we'll have to tour around Mexico City. I'm sure there's plenty that I haven't seen. Here's a list of things I forgot to pack:

1. Jackets (these planes are FREEZING)
2. Something to swim in (maybe I can borrow shorts from Eduardo hahaha!)
3. Conditioner
4. Nice shoes for church
5. A pin or scarf for my new dress
6. Flip flops for Aaron
7. Sunscreen
8. Something to pin my hair up
9. My Bible. I'm sure it's going to look great that the pastor's wife doesn't have her Bible.
10. iPod cable
11. A digital camera!

Here's a snapshot of me having a bad reaction of something I ate or the sun :(

Reality Time Already?

How do you explain to 6-year-old why kids exclude him from playing with them? It burns me to no end when children to it. There's no real logic trying to figure this out yet it happens. Can kids be that malicious towards one another? This I can expect from random kids you don't know but this happens within my own family too. Terrible huh? As much as I want to say to my son "nope you're not going to play with so and so and you're staying inside with me!" he won't understand that. Especially when he can hear the kids outside hooting and hollering and he's not allowed to have the same fun. In the end I'm being a bad mom (to Aaron at least!)

As much as we try to protect our children my brother Danny said something interesting to me. He said we can't always be there to protect our kids and sometimes we have to allow these experiences to happen. By doing this it gives our children a (sad) dose of reality. The reality to know that not everyone is nice, not everyone is polite no matter what you do (or don't). Someone is not going to be happy you're around. Its the same for kids as it is for adults.

But I continue to raise my child I only hope that he is self-confident and self assured. That's my prayer for him everyday. Protection and self-confidence. Ranting and raving about bratty kids isn't going to get me anywhere. But just talking to my son and explaining realities of life might be the only thing that will work. The world is a beautiful place with wonderful people in it. You just have to weed through the bad one to find the good ones.

In other news: I finally got all the documents I need for Eduardo's stuff. I would have gotten it earlier, but on Wednesday when I was at the Daley Center we had to evacuate because of a bomb threat. I was telling my husband I felt the chills all over my body. I wanted to get out of the building and out of the area as soon as possible!

The Windy City was really a windy city last night!

Ever since we moved from Marengo, IL I've never experience such drastic weather here in the city. Last night Aaron and I went to the library to return a museum pass I got last Saturday. So we stayed there for a bit before heading home. Thank God we made it home before the storm hit. Here's another reason why I enjoying renting a basement apartment. That's the first place you need to go in case of tornado! I spent like 10 minutes trying to convince my aunt and uncle to head downstairs but they didn't. The weather was so bad I had to admit was pretty scared. I've never heard tornado sirens in Chicago before. At first I thought it was just a fire station but it wouldn't stop blaring! After about twenty minutes, Aaron decided to go to bed and slept through the rest of the evening.

Today I got the letter my attoneys wrote to the Consulate stating we're providing the additional evidence they wanted and to please give Eduardo the benefit of the doubt. It's been 15 years! They even used small portions of some recommendations letters we submitted as part of Eduardo rehabilitation (Some excerpts from Bro. Zuniga my pastor and from Christiana my sister in law). I'll get an original court disposition tomorrow and off to the consulate the letter will go. Again we're still waiting for an answer, so please keep us in your prayers.

I wanted to thank my pastor Bro. Lupe Zuniga. On Sunday they picked up an offering for me to help with my immigration fees. I'm grateful to God, my pastor and the breathen from the church for this much much much needed help. Thank you!

Speaking of church I finally was able to post the pictures of the family camp. You can check them out here!

Money, Money, Money...

Well I took out a loan on my 401k versus cashing it out to pay for the immigration stuff, lawyers etc. Anyway the payments were going to be deducted automatically from my paycheck starting at the end of June. But I noticed it hadn't happened. When I questioned the finance person about it he said that it wasn't going to happen right away but soon... ok no biggie...

When I called him on it again early last week I mentioned that I still hadn't seen the deductions. He called back and left me a VM telling me that he made the mistake of not paying the loan and now I'm behind 3 payments totaling over $900! So for the next 3 paychecks I have to make double payments on this loan.... AND I go to mexico next saturday and guess what? I have FOUR unpaid days for that vacation! I nearly died because I asked him to tell me how much my checks where going to be and the one check (where I take my vacation) might be around $300.

I know the finance person felt really bad about the situation but sheesh... Things will be ok I'm not going to worry about (don't get me wrong I flipped out when it happened but I'm ok now). So I mentioned to my hubby that we probably shouldn't go to San Miguel de Allende and we should try to do some things on the cheaper side while I'm down there in Mexico City....

Aside from that the weekend weather was wonderful! We went to Lincoln Park Zoo and so much has changed. If Yoly and I ever figure out whats with our memory card reader maybe I can post some pictures... This morning a storm blew through early in the city. I've never see the sky get so dark at 7 am. My parents drove me to the express bus this morning so I made it completely dry.

I feel like I should be posting more about my bus adventures or bus musings... for example today its raining cats and dogs and I watched a woman close her umbrella and point it out in front of her as she paid the fare. However, since she was pointing it out in front of her she's practically stabbing the bus driver and getting him all wet!

Finally!

After a few days of waiting I finally got the new court disposition I needed from the Chicago Clerk's office. After reviewing it (with my limited knowledge of criminal law) I can see that the possession of cannabis has been completely removed from the court record. That's really huge! So I've emailed that over to my immigration attorney Laurel.

Right now the next steps is to get that new disposition to the Consulate and then wait for them to decide on the gang issue. Timewise I honestly don't know how long that's going to take. I would hope they made the decision sometime in August. At the very bottom of this page you can see a countdown clock for our wavier appointment. I'm going to need to reschedule it but I'll wait to do until next Tuesday. When the gang issue is settled then I reschedule the wavier appointment. I'm assuming it's going to be sometime in October. Not too much to do just more waiting.

Today is the last day for summer camp for Aaron. Both my mom and I are relieved. It is a good program however, given the area we're in and the quality of some the camp directors it was ok. I could never tell how Aaron was enjoying himself. There were plenty of good days and bad...but it was hard trying to get Aaron to tell me about his day. He managed to tell me that yesterday he went to the movies and saw Speedracer and he didn't like it. However he enjoyed the popcorn and soda. (Hey so do I!)

Tomorrow we're off to the Lincoln Park Zoo in blazing 95 degree weather. I thought we probably shouldn't but Aaron didn't ask me or my mom...he went straight to Grandpa (my dad). So if Aaron said please my dad doesn't deny!

To my second child...

Today has been a solemn day for me. Not many of you know but in December 2007 I had suffered miscarriage. And today marks the due date of our baby. I do feel sad of what could have been, but at the same time happy because I was at least able to cherish the small time I had with my with baby. I'll never understand the reasons for it happening but I'm grateful that the Lord allowed me to the opportunity to at least experience it.

As I go through this journey I've never expected my life to be this way. But I do believe that bigger and better things are coming. Many people tell me that the Lord is going to bless us like never before. It was hard hearing that before when things looked so grim. Now that I feel things are moving in a positive way it's something to look forward to.

Last night I was reading Aaron a story call Miss Rumphius. How one of her goals was to make the world more beautiful. Even Aaron said that it was a nice story and "could we plant flowers?". I replied that no matter where we live we will definitely plant flowers.

Is this blog ever going to be about something normal?

Wednesday morning I went to court for my husband possession of cannabis case and praise God we got it vacated... actually BETTER then vacated. The judged order it to be "annale"? I probably spelled it wrong, but its a Latin term that basically the case is abandoned.

The judge couldn't understand why CDJ was being difficult about this case. And my criminal attorney explained to the Judge that if we didn't get the decision amended to show that the case is closed my husband would not be allowed to complete his immigration process. The state's prosecutor said they had no problem with the motion to vacate. "We have no evidence, no witness, even the lab couldn't pull up any reports". So the judge said that he didn't want to this case to "deny him the chance to reenter the country. Motion sustained." And at this point I don't have to pay anything!

I will have to wait until the decision is entered into the system. Supposedly it's 3 days but in reality its 9 days. However, my criminal attorney said he would call the clerk and ask her to enter it as soon as possible. So I hope by today (Friday) I'll have the certified court disposition in my hands and off to Laurel (our immigration attorney)! As Laurel and I were talking we think we're going to have to postpone our wavier appointment. We still don't know how long the Consulate is going to take to make the decision about the gang thing. So we'll see. 1 hurdle down, 1 more to go!

In other news...The family camp was so much fun and we had a great tent that held up during the horrible rainfall we had last Saturday night. I'll post pictures as soon as my sister downloads them :)

A minor recap and what's coming up...

Ok, as you know last Friday I went to the City Clerk's office to get a new court disposition for Eduardo's 93 case of poss. of cannabis. At this time the consulate has said that what we gave them indicates that the case is still open. However, its not. At the recommendation of the Clerk's office I had to ask to call the file back from the "warehouse" and I would present myself with Leo (our criminal attorney) and ask the judge to either vacate the case or amend the decision to show that it is dismissed. It would take 5 days for the file to return from the warehouse and 3 days before I can see a judge. I called the Clerk's office today and praise God the file has already arrived! So I'm going there tomorrow during lunch to ask that it put on the court docket. I'm praying that I see a judge next Monday or Wednesday! Keep those prayers coming.

In other news, our church is having they yearly Family Camp in Green Lake, WI. Yoly (my sister), my son and I went to last year and we had so much fun. This year my parents, my sister and son along with my cousin Mary and her husband will be going. Aaron's been wanting to go back since we left last year. I hope that when Eduardo comes back we can do it more often during the summers.

In other other news, Aaron was written up at his summer camp at the park. Turns out he was hitting another kid. When I said that he shouldn't hit other kids he said "But Mommy Andrew was not being very nice!" like that's an excuse but to him it was good enough. He cracks me up because he kept trying to change the subject by telling me how he tried the lunch at the camp. He ate the sandwich, but what that really meant was he just ate the bread and "it was so delicious!" ha!

Eduardo's back in Mexico City and he was very happy to be "home". When I head there next month I'll be checking out our possible "apartment" and the school. Then we're trying to decide about where to go and what to do. Of course Aaron said the beach and there no arguing that!

Here's the update to Thursday's appointment...

It's been a whirlwind kind of week. Here's what's going on now. We still have the gang problem and now according to the immigration officer there is a 1993 possession of cannabis case that the Officer seems to believe is still open. When you look at the court disposition it says "Bond Forf - SOL". I got a letter from the Chicago City Clerk's office that gives an explanation of that acronym "SOL". Basically the case is dismissed and the State of Illinois has 90-120 days to reinstate the case. Well that was back in 1993 and obviously 90-120 days have passed!

Anyway we don't know what exactly is bothering the Consulate about this particular case. But I've got someone at the Clerk's office and my wonderful criminal attorney Leo who are helping me recall the file and asking that it be put on the court docket. So I'm hoping to appear before a Judge and we're going to ask him to vaca the case. Because that seems to be the only thing that's going to work.

What’s confusing is that they’re telling Eduardo to bring stuff to the wavier appointment in August. But when Eduardo asked if it means we can proceed to the second appointment they told him “no cuentas con ese sita” (don't count on that appointment). I think the bottom line is they said we have to mail them a letter that states the poss. of cannabis is closed and that THEY would inform us of when we can go back to the consulate.

We did a 3-way call with our immigration attorney and she's also confused. Both of us believe the wavier is still going to happen so we’re going to continue to prepare for it. So right now I'm waiting for a court date and Eduardo's old file to come from the "warehouse". I pray its going to be this week. There's so many obstacles and it's very difficult but it's not impossible. I feel that the consulate is looking for every reason to deny us the opportunity to file the wavier. As much much as they want to knock us down, we keep coming back and giving them everything they're asking for.

I have a playlist on my iPod call "Encouragement" and whenever I hear an encouraging song I add it to that list. Two songs that have helped me today have been: New Direction's "Peace" and Fred Hammond's "No Weapon"... which I thought was an appropriate song and verse for my family.

Isaiah 54:17
No weapon that is formed against you will prosper;
And every tongue that accuses you in judgment you will condemn
This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD,
And their vindication is from Me," declares the LORD.

Update from Tuesday's 1st Appointment.

They are still trying to see if my husband is eligible for the I-601 (the pardon). Here's one of the problems. On one police report it says that my husband said he was a part of the Latin Kings. My husband denied it and said that when he was arrested there were two other guys that were part of the Latin Kings but he was not. There are no other court dispositions or police reports that state my husband's supposedly affiliation with the LK. Just this one police report. So they're reviewing it further to make sure that his can file the waiver.

The second thing they asked for was for my husband I-212 form. This form is needed because Eduardo had to leave to Mexico due to his order of deportation from a 1991 hearing. I didn't send because 1. I didn't remember and 2. now that I think about it is supposed to hand and hand with the I-601. So when my husband called me and told me that he had to go back on Thursday they wanted the I-212 AND the I-601 wavier packet! Blah!

I told my husband he needed to go back and ask again. Because how could they ask for the I-601 packet when we have the wavier appointment? Plus there's no way I could shell out the $580 for the wavier and $545 for I-212 Thursday! So he called me back and said that he could turn in the paperwork and the money at the wavier appointment. Here's my thought on why he's going to be eligible 1. God is good and He is on our side 2. The officer kept telling my husband "bring it to the wavier appointment"...why say that if there was a chance he wasn't going to be eligible?

So all panic aside and talking with my husband (and my friend Hilary) we figure this is a good thing. I mean this officer could have told him flat "No wavier ... see you in 10 years" but she didn't. So it's a good thing. On Thursday they'll tell him if he can file the waiver which I'm sure he can. Thanks for the prayers and the thoughts! We're still in the rat race!

Cutting it close with Immigration....

So by some fluke I didn't get the DS-230 (the Beast of all forms) or the I-864 (the form that says I will support Eduardo .... $$$... for 10 years!) done and mailed off with enough time.

Anyway. In the past I sent immigration stuff to my cousin Sandra in El Paso (FedEx, Overnight ... even Saturday delivery). However on Thursday, when I tried to prepare the FedEx label it tells me Saturday delivery is not available to my cousin's address. So I said ok well I just overnight from the post office. BUT I wasn't sure if their overnight also included Saturdays to a PO BOX. Well it kinda of does, but it worked this.

If you overnight something with USPS they guarantee it will get there to the next day to their "facility" HOWEVER they have no control of when the workers at the actual post office will put it in the box. Also remember the post office closes early on Saturday. Yet another obstacle.

Well my cousin called me Saturday and said NOTHING arrived. ARGH!!! So it will probably get there Monday.... I just checked the Track and Confirm with USPS today and it says a notice was left in the box. I hope its there. If not I planned to email scanned copies of these forms to Eduardo and I hope that it flies with the immigration officer at his appointment. Seriously what else can I do if the package doesn't make it? Needless to say my husband was really ticked off and he asked me to get him the waiver packet 1 week before the appointment so he wasn't going through this mess again.

I said this time around I wasn't going to freak out. I'm just rolling through the punches at this point. By the way, my husband said that going to the psychologist was the biggest waste of his time. He even argued with the dr. because Eduardo said the dr. talked about nothing but about his previous drug use.

My husband told the doctor MANY times that he since he turned his life over to Jesus he has not done any drugs for 15 years! My husband said to the doctor why are they treating him like a drug addict when he clearly isn't one? Caramba I tell you my husband has taken a "no holds bar" kinda of attitude with immigration. I think he (and I) are tired of tippy toing around immigration... its like we're telling them "you have NO reason to deny us anything anymore". We sick of this process! Oh and they had him draw pictures... what the!?

Two days to go!

Update from Eduardo - Medical Exam is complete!

As some of you know Eduardo's first appointment is Tuesday, July 8. He arrived in C. Juarez yesterday afternoon. His medical exam was today. He just called and said the medical exam went fine (had to get one vaccination = $210) and now he's off to see the Psychologist. (When you admit to drug use you are automatically sent there). I reminded Eduardo to EMPHASIZE the fact that he has been drug free for 15 years!

More to come!

After many days (months maybe?) without any updates from the Bohorquez family you must be suffering. :)

Throughout my month(s) of absence here's what's happened. As you know on April 25 Eduardo was denied his visa. To sum it up I didn't prove enough "extreme" hardship if I had to move to Mexico and Eduardo colorful criminal past. So the day I got the noticed I emailed, faxed and mailed requests for a new appointment. We were just going to refile versus trying to appeal.

About two weeks later I got a letter from the Consulate General and they scheduled Eduardo's new appointment! I was in complete shock (well everyone was) that the appointment arrived so fast. His new appointment is Ciudad Juarez is July 8, 2008.

The next thing for me to do was to call to schedule the wavier appointment. Are you confused now? Ya I'm not surprised. Ok Eduardo's 1st appointment is to make sure he is eligible to file the wavier (aka the pardon). Once he is found eligible to file the wavier he can proceed to the 2nd appointment (aka The Wavier appointment). At the wavier appointment (August 7, 2008), Eduardo package is reviewed within the next 15-20 minutes he will either be 1. approved! or 2. sent to the "backlog" for further review.

Where do I stand with our whole impending move? Well I'm planning for both outcomes. If Eduardo's wavier/pardon is approved then I won't move to Mexico. However, if it sent to the backlog then I'll will move to Mexico in December. Waivers that have been backlogged can be approved (or denied) within 5 months or even a year. I would hate to tell Eduardo "let's just wait until a decision is made" before I move out there. The truth is that's exactly what I did last year. We wasted nearly a year and half just "waiting". I can't do that again.

So that's where we're at! In other non-immigration news... Aaron has lost his 4th baby tooth and he's currently enrolled in summer camp with the local park district. What's new with me? Aside from the "turning 30 in the next 6 months" nothing much.

Making tracks to Mexico City...

So many things have gone on within the last few days it's been like whirlwind you know. Ok so as most of you read, Eduardo's visa was denied. Here's the deal, our previous attorney mentioned that there was a mistake in the denial and therefore we could file a Motion to Reconsider.

We can’t do a Motion to Reconsider. According to Laurel (the new attorney) the Immigration Officer was correct when they rendered the denial judgment. Eduardo’s waiver packet should have been about his rehabilitation (in fact 90% of the packet should have been about that). And that’s all because of his 5 arrests back in the days of him acting like a crazy gang banger. Which is hard to be the Pastor of Santa Rosa church was ever that. So we have do the entire process again. Sigh.

But in the meantime there something that is working to our benefit. His arrest are 13+ old. By the time it’s hits 15 years they really can’t say someone ISN’T rehabilitated. There are some arrests that Eduardo has that say something like “leave to reinstate” meaning that he can be arrested and tried for them. Laurel has recommended that I go find a criminal lawyer and get those cases closed. Currently it’s taking 3-5 months to get a new appointment with the Consulate. Under the new Pilot program (which allows for instantaneous approval) we will be referred to the backlog aka no instant approval. So that means I’m going to stay in the states to try to get Eduardo’s old criminal cases closed (with hopes they can be closed because of statue of limitations). After some thinking… by the time the appointment eventually comes Aaron will be in school. Which Eduardo and I discussed that we would/do not want to take him out until the school year was done. That may change...

My next obstacle is paying for Laurel. Normally she charges $6,000 for these cases, but Eduardo’s is “way to complicated” and therefore will be $7,900. And that doesn’t include the government filing fees. Maybe I’ll make some tamales or something but seriously it’s a lot of money that I have to pay off in 5 months. And I’m not even thinking about the other criminal lawyer. So that’s the news.

Does that mean Eduardo will get approved… nope she said it was 30-40% change of an approval. But we have to try.

I am moving to Mexico...Eduardo's Visa was DENIED

Yesterday I received the official letter from Immigration informing me that Eduardo's pardon was denied. I don't want to go into too much details because I don't even know myself exactly what happened. I have requested a new appointment but I don't know how long that's going to take.
We're devestated and extremely sad for what has happened. I'll make the move with Aaron to Mexico on or before September of this year. Please keep us in your prayers. There's so much to get done before we go.

Take care... I wish I was telling more about our family vacation but I just don't have very much energy..

Learning Life's Lessons...

So these last few days I've been preparing for our family vacation to Mexico. We leave on Friday (yaaaa!). I find that this time around things are running smoothly and gasp I almost done packing and it's only Wednesday! But here's my 1st Life Lesson: If it's too good to be true it probably is: So I'm doubling checking my bank account and I find that I have written checks that still haven't cleared. Needless to say I'm scrambling to deposit money today. Sigh. I really hate when that happens.

My second life lesson was something I learned last week. LL#2: Just because you think you're right doesn't mean you are: I wrote an email that was started off with good intentions but didn't end that way. I was very critical of someone and some things that while I was learning LL2, LL3 was also learned. LL3# THINK before you say (and do)! I really regretted sending that email. I went up and apologized to the person it was sent to. Do you want details? Too bad, you're not getting any. I've been mortified enough already...ha!

Enough with lessons learned on to funnier things. Last week Aaron started a swim class. It's once a week on Tuesdays. The first day of class I felt my heart in my throat. Yesterday's class was no better. Aaron has been told to hold onto the wall while he's in the pool of course he doesn't listen.

He decided to let go of the wall and proceeds to drown. At this point Yoly (my sister) and I are screaming "MY KID/NEPHEW is drowning!". Thank God another kid manage to grab him and pull him back to the wall. Does this stop Aaron from doing it again? Nope he tries it 2 more times with the last two times he manages to float on his own. I think I gnawed of my nails to my knuckles. My mom said she was not coming anymore and Yoly agreed. Shoot, I don't feel like coming anymore because I get scared too easily! There are three trainers in the pool and Yoly's who are all trained in CPR. So God forbid somethings happens Aaron, he will be fine.

I certainly do not want to instill a fear of swimming in Aaron. But he's just like Eduardo, a little daredevil. The boy was ready to do a cannonball in the pool... he didn't even care that he did not know how to swim. Well I hope during our vacation Eduardo teaches him to swim and so when Aaron does go back to his swim class he's already a pro. I've decided that I have to learn how to swim. I'll get in the pool and walk around without any problems but *shiver* ...

1 day and 1/2 to go until Mexicooooooo!

We made it to April!

In Florida, an atheist became incensed over the preparation of Easter and Passover holidays. He decided to contact his lawyer about the discrimination inflicted on atheists by the constant celebrations afforded to Christians and Jews with all their holidays while atheist had no holiday to celebrate. The case was brought before a judge. After listening to the long passionate present ation by the lawyer, the Judge banged his gavel and declared, 'Case dismissed!'

The lawyer immediately stood and objected to the ruling and said, "Your honor, how can you possibly dismiss this case? The Christians have Christmas, Easter and many other observances. Jews have Passover, Yom Kippur and Hanukkah... yet my client and all other atheists have no such holiday!" The judge leaned forward in his chair and simply said, "Obviously, your client is too confused to even know about, much less celebrate his own atheists' holiday!"

The lawyer pompously said, "Your Honor, we are unaware of any such holiday for atheists. Just when might that holiday be, your Honor?"

The judge said, "Well it comes every year on exactly the same date - April 1st! Since our calendar sets April 1st as 'April Fools Day," consider that Psalm 14:1 states, 'The fool says in his heart, there is no God.' Thus, in my opinion, if your client says there is no God, then by scripture, he is a fool, and April 1st is his holiday! Now have a good day and get out of my courtroom!!"

Now how did April Fool's get started? WikiAnswers... well answers:

There are several explanations for the origin of the April fool's Day. But here is the most plausible one. April 1st was once New Year's Day in France. In 1582 Pope Gregory declared the adoption of his Gregorian calendar to replace the Julian calendar and new year's day was officially chance to January. First it took awhile for everyone in France to head the new of this major change and other obstinately refused to accept the new calendar so a lot of people continued to celebrate new year's day on the first of the April earning them the name April fools.

10 Days To Go...

Until our vacation to Mexico City, Ixtapa and who knows where else in between. Eduardo has it all planned out so I just go with the flow. Last time I was out there I went solo because Aaron didn't have his passport. Most of the time I take a few weeks planning out my visit to Mexico City since it offers so much to see. During my last visit I didn't really plan much instead I mentioned to Eduardo that he was going to be in charge of planning out the visits.

Eduardo is very considerate. He'll always ask where I want to go, where I want to, what I want to eat, etc. "Do you want to here or there? Do you want this or that? Do you, do you, do you". While I'm grateful because I know there are NOT many husbands who as considerate as he is, it worked on my last nerve. Maybe I stressed out, burnt out, I don't know ... ok so I'm trying to justify myself here but I gently reminded him of a few things.

Because I:

• take care of Aaron
• work with Aaron with his homework
• work full time -- dealing with 30 people and numerous requests
• was a Sunday School teacher (at the time, not anymore)
• was the new secretary for the Dorcas group
• worked on his immigration stuff
• try to keep up with my household duties (try being the keyword)

I had a "few" things on my mind. Now I wasn't throwing it in his face or anything like that but I just wanted him to see that my mind was here and there and everywhere. Ever seen that email about a woman's brain? It's my favorite!

Therefore I asked that when I get to Mexico for him to pretend that I'm sheep that can be lead anywhere. This might be my most relaxing vacation! On an unrelated note I've been catching my regular bus (5:10 pm) and my Road Rage Driver hasn't been on.... yes it's still crowded but I can focus on my book!

Ah Spring...

Ok so the weather in Chicago hasn't improved but I have faith I'll see Spring for 2 weeks before the blistering heat arrives!

Spring Assembly...

My Aaron is such a ham. Today was his Spring Assembly for school and I enjoyed every minute of it. What cracked me up was their song "The Weather Song". There was 5 different weather scenarios that they were supposed to sing about. It was "rainy, coldy, sunny, windy and foggy". As they sang they needed to spell out the weather "it was Rainy... R A I N Y" of course by the third weather change (Sunny) they ended spelling sunny for the remainder of the song.

I'm grateful to God how well Aaron is doing in school. He thrives in school and was not a happy camper during Spring Break. Which further emphasizes the need of some type of summer school.

Don't forget to check out the pictures of his assembly here:

The Bohorquez Family Pictures

Both mom and Aaron's teacher have been telling me that he needs to know before he graduates:
Addition
Subtraction
Fractions (FRACTIONS IN KINDERGARTEN!?)
How to read the Clock
Reading

And there's probably more but isn't that a bit daunting for a 6 year old? Sheesh, when we're in Mexico (we leave in about 2 weeks) I'm going to have to continue to teaching him so he's ready to roll when he comes back. I got the order form for his graduation pictures and yes, I got all emotional about it. It's just terrible how Eduardo is missing so much :(

So I added a new element to my blog. When you subscribe to either my blog or to my picture blog you will be instantly notified via email. I encourage you to sign-up and don't be shy leave me some comments. Half the time I feel like I'm talking to myself even though I'm addressing an audience!

Hey props to Amy G. because I can always count on you to leave me a comment!

What a way to unwind...

As some of you know I am an avid user of the CTA (Chicago Transit Authority). I enjoy my bus ride home because it’s just a nice time to unwind. You sit next to a complete stranger and yes there are times they occasionally smell but like anything in life you just roll with the punches. You have no obligation to talk to anyone. So I can sit on the bus either enjoying music or games on my iPod or reading a book. Lately I can’t do any of those things. I haven’t had a problem with any particular person on the bus because the problem is my bus driver.

I often wondered what would possess a person to become a bus driver for the CTA. There are so many things you have to consider. Do you want to deal with the aggravation of driving, dealing with unruly people and the occasional bus breakdown? If you can deal with that then you are ready to become a CTA bus driver. Don’t get me start on their personal safety. Anyway, for the past 3 days I have deal with Road Rage Regina (RRR for short and no I don’t think that’s her real name but I like the way the title flows). Many members of my family often comment on my road rage but there is no comparison to RRR. This driver will scream at fellow drivers, scream at those who board the bus and scream at those who exit the bus. I almost forgot…she’ll scream at the cyclists.

Seriously, I can’t deal with her. It doesn’t matter how loud you play your iPod or how far back you sit on the bus you just can’t tune her out! Wanna read a book? Forget it there’s no way. Yesterday was especially bad with Road Rage Regina and the Giggle Girls. There was a group of 4 girls (middle school age with a baby) who would giggle loudly anytime Road Rage Regina would cuss anything or anyone out. I probably had more stress in that 45 minute ride then I did all day at work.

So today I wanted to make it a point of avoiding that particular driver. However I don’t think that’s going to happen because the weather is TERRIBLE today. We have rain, snow and sleet so I would like to avoid waiting too long for the bus. So we’ll see how the ride home is today.

Some news is better then bad news...

So last Tuesday, I took a 1/2 day from work to head over to my state senator's office for a meeting. And the only reason for our meeting was to have the State Senator push my US Senator's office into getting information about Eduardo's case.

At the meeting I feel like I'm well prepared. I honestly didn't know what to expect to come from the meeting but nonetheless I was hopeful. Well throughout the meeting I just wanted to cut to the chase. Call Durbin's office and ask them to get information on the Eduardo's case because I haven't heard from Durbin's office in about 2.5 months. My State Senator (William Delgado) told me flat out that there wasn't anything he could do. Because immigration is on a Federal as a State Senator he couldn't do anything. Which is why I reiterated the point of my visit ... just call Durbin's office. Well as I was in the office (with my mom and Aaron in tot) State Senator Delgado did make the call.

The next day, I get a letter in the mail from US Senator Dick Durbin. Hooray! Do I believe it was because of my visit with State Senator Delgado? Probably not. Only because the letter came regular US mail and there was no way they would have responded to any inquiry from my State Senator. So back to the letter...the gist of it was that "the file is on the Reviewer's desk and about to be reviewed. You should hear about a decision shortly." So in the end I'm glad I heard something.

I made another call to the Department of State National Visa Center today and the case is still pending. Next call is to Ciudad Juarez.

I'm Back From the Seminar...

Wow.... all I can say is wow! I'll post my thoughts later but here's a link to the pictures.

Dorcas Seminar 2008

Here we are in a nutshell

Eduardo
So far we're still waiting. I waited until I called the NVC before I posted here. Right now it's been about 13 months and we're still waiting for an approval or denial on my husband's waiver. Tomorrow I have an appointment with my congressman to get some help. I've tried the Senator's route and haven't heard anything from them (surprised? Not me). Usually I get more help out of my congressman then I do my Senator. So that's where we're at. We're not stressing as much about it because we're going to see each other in about 3 weeks. Both Aaron and I are SO excited about our trip. I'm sure it's going to be adventure. Aaron's been asking Eduardo where we were going and what we're going to eat haha!

Dorcas Seminar
So this weekend our church (Apostolic Assembly in the Faith of Christ Jesus, Inc.!) is having our yearly ladies seminar this weekend. That's over 500 women getting together for some good church! Here's our website: http://www.dorcasmediooeste.com/ This year's theme is Un Encuentro Transformador, John 4:14. Lets see if I can translate that correctly... A Transforming Encounter? Perhaps. It is based on the scripture John 4:14 which talks about Jesus and the Samaritan Woman at the well. One element to the seminar is that they ask each of us to answer a question..."what hinders you from serving God?".

According to Dictionary.com here is the definition of the word "hinder"

hin·der1
verb (used with object)

1.	to cause delay, interruption, or difficulty in; hamper; impede: The storm hindered our progress.

2.	to prevent from doing, acting, or happening; stop: to hinder a man from committing a crime.

–verb (used without object)

3.	to be an obstacle or impediment.

When I reflect on that question I understood it immediately. When something hinders you it means that it's taken control over you, your life. This thing, this person, this object it has captured you that you really can't focus on anything else. What suffers? You, your family, your job, your home... So when I think about that question and I honestly say that this whole immigration process hinders me from serving God. My focus daily, almost hourly, is solely immigration. I start thinking what I could do, who I can call when in reality the Creator has been in complete and total control. I need to be release from this bondage and give over to God.

We wrote down what was hindering us. And we placed them all in a water jug. Our pastor said a special prayer and we're taking it to the seminar. Each church will bring in their water jugs and another special prayer will be said for them.

It's going to be a truly transforming encounter!

Am I The Only One?

So for the past few weeks I have been search, solely, at Target for some mousse to style my hair. I can alternate between Dove or Pantane because both can get the job done. However, during those trips to store I couldn't find any... from any brand. So yesterday after searching for quite some time I found some Pantane mousse at a Target in Melrose Park, IL.

According to my sister I'm probably the only one who still uses mousse. Here's the thing, I can't use anything else in my hair to help style it. It's a lot easier to use that versus hair gel or pommade. If I don't use it my hair is fro that I just can't stand. So I started to wonder if mousse really is going out of style. It lasts a long time and I use everyday so I almost feel as though I need to stock up to advert catastrophe!

Ok enough on my hair (which is in a serious need of a MAJOR trimming). So as most of you know I am a frequent visitor to www.immigrate2us.net and they have these lists that show where members are during their immigrate journey. Right now I'm on the "Approvals List" for those waiting for a denial or an approval for the I-601 Waiver. Perhaps they should change the name to "I-601 Approvals and Denials List" but anyway.

So far a fellow member (2004mms) and I were the last two whose husband had their 1st interview for Ciudad Juarez during the month January 2007... well now I'm the only left waiting to hear a result for our waiver. I'm sad to say that the other member (2004mms) received a denial this past weekend. Its terrible, because she has two small children and she's going to try to get a new interview.

Deep inside, I fighting with myself not to worry. But its taken such a long that that it's hard not to get discouraged.

I'm going to stop saying "I'm SURE I'll get a reponse this week". At this point I have to be satisfied that it gets here when it gets here.

What's that yellow ball in the sky?

This week has really been a pick-me-up for me. I'll admit that the that few months have been extremely hard on me. I won't go into too much details, but I've struggled so much that I almost thought I wasn't going to make it through. Enough about that....

Seeing has how Sunday is the first day of the week, it was only fitting that my mood changed that day. I went to church and service was really really good. The songs were great and so was the sermon. Ever since then the days have been brighter for me. Of course the sun wasn't always cooperating with my mood, since I've seen the sun about 3 times this week. Today is another beautiful day. Yes its freezing but it's the sun that really lifts my spirits ... give me vitamin D please!

I got some WONDERFUL news yesterday (via email)...Aaron's passport has been approved and is being mailed to me. That was cutting pretty close. I'm glad we moved our vacation to Mexico to another month. Originally I was supposed to leave on March 7th, but the tickets were way too much (we're talking about $500 for each one). So we moved it to April 11th and tickets were $200 each. Much better deals for airline tickets and hotels. So we're all set... well I'm still waiting for the passport. But I've got some clothes and we're on our way to Mexico City and Ixtapa. Should be a lot of fun. Aaron keeps telling me (and everyone else) that his Papi is taking him to the beach. He's never been to a real beach so this should be great for him.

By the way, I've added a few new links to my blog and my favorite a link is our family pictures.

Take a peek when you get a chance.

And the Academy Award goes to….

So for the last week and half (or the last two weeks my minds a blur right now), I have been arduously working on my new and improved hardship letter. It required a lot of internet research, research at the library, book reading and input from friends to prepare for it. Right now it’s approximately six pages long and it’s filled with very good hardcore facts.

So what’s a hardship letter?

First I should explain to some of you what a hardship letter is. In a nutshell, it’s up to me to prove an extreme hardship if I am forced to move to Mexico. A very daunting task when I was first presented with it. Needless to say, the first letter I write was written incorrectly. It was far too emotional and it didn’t really state any facts/hardships. But then again, it was written over a year ago and I didn’t have any real life changing events happen to me or Aaron. Ironically, the US government is only interested in how a denial will affect me and Aaron. They don’t care what Eduardo has to say but rather they only care what I have to say. It kind of reminds of parents attitude with their children… “I don’t care what happens to so and so, I want to know what happens to my son/daughter!”

You can’t understand how happy I am to finally finish it. Here are some things that I have learned. Ask, ask, ask for help. My friend, Hilary A., has been a great blessing and source of information for me. She was always encouraging and gave me many ideas to work with. When I was feeling particularly discouraged about a bad phone call with the Consulate office or with the National Visa Center she was the first to tell me to ignore it/them. I can’t thank enough the wonderful people at I2US.net. Seriously, I owe them a lot for all their help and contributions.

Finally I thank God Almighty for enlightening the path. I’ve often felt ignored and left behind because things were just not going right for my family. I felt that I was often alone in the crowd always jumping up trying to catch God’s attention. But He has never left me nor forsaken me.

Praise God for that!

It's continues to be an overwhelming few days...

As most of you know I have petitioned for Walo since 2001 and up to now it's being a really grueling process. You never really know what to expect when you start the immigration process and when you're doing it alone you find that you have no real support. Sometimes even Walo doesn't even understand everything that's involved.

I find it frustrating when people offer blind suggestions on how to fix our case. Just hearing some of the comments from others who are offering their "help" really makes me tired. I get to the point of not wanting to talk about where our case is because it somehow I'm made to feel like it's my fault the things that have gone wrong. Maybe that's not the intention of the person who's making the comments and I'm exaggerating but that's how I feel.

Some of the comments I've received are:

"You lawyer doesn't know what s/he is doing!"
"How come it’s taken so long and so and so is already done and back home"
"I know someone who knows someone that can fix Walo's papers fast!"
"But why did you do this or do that?"
“Have him come back and wait over here!”

I shouldn't say I don't have much support because I have my family and I2US.net. A great wealth of knowledge and support from many women (and men!) about their experience throughout the immigration process. There we celebrate the approvals and cry with the denials.

The bottom line is that Walo’s case is complicated and the timing was bad. Eduardo has asked me to come and move to Mexico this coming June. As much as that scares me, I hate saying and hearing "just wait I'm sure something is coming in the mail..." because we say it week after week and there's NOTHING in the mail.

I’m getting ahead of myself because we still need to know what the final decision is for Walo’s waiver. I don’t want to needlessly worry myself about moving because it’s not time too.

Up to now, I think I’ve contacted every single source of help. Tomorrow is another day of calling and what’s better is that it’s double the mail tomorrow thanks to President’s Day… so maybe there’s something there for us.

It's been a crazy couple of days..

I spoke to our immigration attorney and she has encouraged me to write another hardship letter. Basically I need to show how hard life will be for myself and for Aaron should we have to move to Mexico.

Anyway I never really felt that our first hardship letter was very strong. I won't go into the details of how I felt, but I'm glad I'm on the right track to get in some additional evidence. I feel like I'm back in college writing a term paper. I have to say I am SO glad for the library. I love Google but sometime heading back to the old fashioned library works wonders.

The Harold Washington library here in Chicago offers a extradinary amount of resources. In fact, I was pleased to see that their information desk was very helpful. They guided me in the right direction so now I feel like this task isn't so daunting. And it was all over the phone!

Well it's all I can think of for now. Hey It's Super Duper Tuesday. Get out and vote!

Saw something interesting on the bus today...

As I enjoy my daily commute to and from work (no really I do!) you can see a variety of interesting things on the bus. I use mass transit, CTA (Chicago Transit Authority, 65 Grand Route) and I am especially impressed by those who travel with purchases made during the lunch hour. Upon the varies items I have seen were rugs, a Dyson vacuum cleaner, Crate and Barrel boxes, etc.

But on my commute home this evening, I saw two guys getting on at the Orleans stop. Now at the Orleans stop is an Office Depot so its not usual to see people lugging items from that office supply store. But today I was shocked to see what they had purchased. It was a ......

Ok so it wasn't this one but when you think about a typewriter doesn't remind you of something old and outdated? :) So I'm surprised that they still sold typewriters and secondly I wondered how much it was.

Regardless, out of all the things I've seen on the bus, this has got to be the most usual...but it was still pretty neat. Do people still say "neat"? Now I'm feeling old and outdated lol!

Walking in a winter wonderland...

Finally, my actual purchase of my snow boots has not been in vain. Last winter season did not yield much snow like this winter season has. Today we supposed to get a minimum of 5". The max is somewhere around 10". Maybe I can post a picture tomorrow. Regardless it was well spent 29.99 at Target. They're kind of heavy but in the end it's worth it (especially while waiting 30+ minutes for the bus). I think the only thing that bothers me about the weather is how to control the heat in my house. Especially in the bedroom. We have one vent that will blast out the heat which is great except it gets really hot then I'm sweating bullets! Yesterday was especially bad. It went from extreme hot to extreme cold, it's a miracle I didn't catch pneumonia.

Can I just say what a relief it's payday today? Seriously, these two and 1/2 weeks of waiting is brutal. I missed when Walo was working. He was paid on a weekly basis so there no need to stretch out money for a long period of time. Did it teach us to save and spend our money wiser? Of course not. We were so bad with money. Now that Walo's been back in Mexico for nearly four years money does get tight. But we're doing much better with our money management. Well at least 90% of the time :).

Right about now I usually call my mom to get my "Aaron in School" update. I find on the days that I'm too busy and I can't call is when Aaron decides to be badder then bad. For those who know him know what a sweet, lovable boy he is. Super polite, easy going and friends with everyone. But there are times when I don't know what is going through his mind when he acts like a brat. As I hang up the phone the "report" is so so. The teacher said he was spitting (or drooling) on the carpet. Luckily grandma can discipline him on the spot. It's harder for me to do since it's probably another 5 more hours before I see him. And with their short term memory it doesn't do me any good to yell when I get home. He probably forgot!

Where's my Welcome Back Carter song...?

All after reading (and enjoying!) several blogs these last fews weeks, I've decided to continue my blog as well. Its been eventful day so far. I didn't head into work today and its a good thing too since its so cold out. I heard we're at -20 with the windchill. Nice, I bet snow is on the way.

I have a headache thanks to T-Mobil. Don't get me wrong its a great company but I find that their customer service is OVERLY friendly and annoying. I was getting pretty tired of hearing "Thanks SOOOO MUCH for holding" and "I'm SOOOOO SORRY about the delay!". In the end I got a credit for $28 since they didn't add on my text messaging service to my plan. Come on would I really send 201 text messages KNOWING it was going to cost me .15 cents each!

I recently told a few friends of my wonder adventure last night. As we walked into the house last night my son crashes into the bedroom door (the lights were out) and cuts his lip. So I grabbed some vasaline to put on his lips. I encouraged him NOT to touch his lip, NOT to wipe it off and NOT to play with the vasaline. Well he did listened to 2 of my warnings. Can you guess which one he didn't listen too? If you guessed "Not to play with the vasaline" you are correct! As I was in my living room I heard some funny "squishy" noise and some giggling. Intrigued I walked in and saw the vasaline on the bed and all over Aaron!

No news from the immigration front. Seriously I'm getting pretty agitated about the whole thing. I'll keep you posted.