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.