Count Up

As you can see to the right, I started a count up to when we received our acknowledgement. I have no idea why, but the box is wider than the blog, and the 'Monk' in me is going batty....but, I'll try to live with it. :)

GIVE ME AN 'A'!!!!!!!!!!

For ACKNOWLEDGEMENT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WHOO HOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Now, we wait! Hopefully, the nice, kind folks at the USCIS will be quick like bunnies and I'll be jetting off to Vietnam SOON!!

Pissed Off

Sorry for the blunt title, but I'm really steamed right now. I still had not received an acknowledgement to the USCIS receiving my I 600 paperwork. On the advice of a friend, I decided to email them to make sure they had gotten my paperwork. I got a reply tonite that says they do NOT have my application, and to make sure my agency has sent it. BAHHH. I am steamed. I was told by my case worker it was sent over to Vietnam on July 28th. When I didn't hear anything by August 11th, I emailed our agency's staff and was then told there was a delay due to waiting for official referral photos, and I should hear in a week. Okay. Fine. NOW....I have NO idea where it is or what the delay is. It's just as I feared when it was sent out...that the paperwork would be somewhere in the Pacific Ocean.

I'm a patient woman. I think I've endured a good many delays, set-backs, and disappointments through this all with relatively good spirits. But, the fuse is just about to hit the powder keg, and it ain't going to be pretty.

Stay tuned....I'll let you know what I find out.

Some thoughts on my drive

Here are a few thoughts on my drive from Minnesota to New York City. In case you are wondering, it takes 24 hours to get from my house in northern MN to Manhattan. Perhaps a bit shorter if you leave the pregnant lady home...

There is something surreal and incredibly beautiful about watching the sun rise directly ahead of you as the full moon sets behind you.

Angela, the five year old, was better to ride with than her three month pregnant mother. SIGH.

After the novelty of the first toll booth wears off….tolls suck. And the Illinois state motto should be the “Land of the Toll Booth.”

Pennsylvania is HUGE. But, extremely beautiful. Especially after leaving NYC. Wisconsin is ALSO huge. Driving straight through them seems like an eternity.

I seriously drove through a cloud in Pennsylvania. No, not fog. I swear to you it was a CLOUD. I gotta find my photo I tried to take while driving…but, it was so cool. And, everyone else in the car was asleep at the time. I was the only one who saw it. Somehow, that made it even more special.

New Jersey has corn fields to get lost in. But, driving the local areas are really fun. And trying to go by the GPS, who is telling you to turn right down some one lane horse trail to get back on the main highway, can drive you into fits of laughter. Especially, when you’re very low on sleep. But, it was a heckuva good laugh!!! I’d really love to go back to Pennsylvania/New Jersey and explore a bit more. Very very pretty.

Staying up for 40 hours, and driving straight for 24 of those hours, can drive a person insane. Ask my husband. Seriously, I asked him for a divorce, all because he lost the drain plug to our bathtub and the ONLY thing in the world I wanted at that point was a hot bubble bath. He told me to sleep on the divorce idea. Smart man. God, I love him. Oh, and he bought me TWO more tub plugs. Did I mention how much I love him???

I'm Back!

Did you miss me?? I bet you didn't even know I was gone. :) Last Thursday, my friends said they needed my help driving to New York's China Town, so Friday, we all packed up and left. I'll be writing A LOT about my trip later, but for now, I just wanted to check in, say I am home now after driving back to Minnesota Wednesday-Thursday. We got back Thursday, and after being awake for over 40 hours, even though I got a good night's sleep, I'm still tired!

No acknowledgement on the I 600 yet. A friend of mine just got hers, though..and we sent ours about the same time. So maybe mine is coming soon? I DID get our baby's documents in the mail while I was gone. It's so touching to read about her first days on this Earth.

But, for now....I'm home! There's nothing quite like it. :) Much more to come......

Spam

What a funny word for your email junk mail, eh? SPAM. Anyway, we're told that when we check our email for anything from the USCIS, we should double-check our spam folders to make sure it didn't get stuck in there. I do this anyway, because I've come across good emails mixed in with the junk on numerous occasions. Of course, though, now whenever I see I have messages in my in-box OR my spam folder, I get excited. How sad is that to be excited about spam???

But, alas, no acknowledgement. However, I can enlarge my penis, by medications for my pets OR myself, I can lose 300 pounds in 30 days, augment my bosom (whoa, wouldn't THAT be fightening...), increase my sexual stamina, become a nurse online, get affordable health care through a company in Timbuktu, whiten my smile until I can land planes on the runway with it, get rid of wrinkles - ANYWHERE, learn Oprah's favorite books-movies-or canned fruit, decide which political candidate has REALLY had an affair, buy land in Costa Rica, buy a bridge in Brooklyn, earn a P.h.D in ANYTHING, have my taxes re-checked, learn the secrets to making $12,000 in a week stuffing envelopes at home, and refinance the mansion I'll buy with my earnings.

So, here's my thought for the night. If we can get this huge wealth of knowledge, just from our SPAM folders, why leave the house ever again?? I mean, really....with just clicking my way through a few bazillion spam messages and pop-ups, I can now have a huge schlong (I'm not REALLY sure how, but I keep getting told, "Michelle, enlarge your penis today), I can increase my D cups into Heaven only knows, earn a killing licking envelopes, and use my online health insurance to cover the cost of the subsequent papercut on my tongue. In the words of that Russian comedian whose name is escaping me, "What a country!"

Well, I'm off now to buy some land in Costa Rica and see if I can't get the Brooklyn Bridge I just bought to span across. I'll make sure to let you guys know how that turns out. Or if I get an acknowledgement. Whichever comes first.

Still Waiting

Okay....still waiting. It's been since July 29th. SIGH. Where, oh where, is that acknowledgement???

I'm Still Waiting...

I'm still waiting to hear from the USCIS if they have gotten our paperwork. Please, oh PLEASE, kind USCIS folks....all I need is one word from you all: "Acknowledgement." Maybe tomorrow????