*jab/poke*

Xavier had his vaccinations today and is too whingey, erm, weak to post to the blog. He had Measles/Mumps/Rubella and Tetanus/Diptheria today (2 shots total). This is apparently all he needs, though I was under the impression he would have to have about 10 shots! I am actually really confused about all that and just hope it works out, heh.

Meanwhile, I finally called the courthouse to see if they will give me a letter to the effect of: "Hear ye, London Embassy: Hoopla and Xavier have booked a wedding with us on SomeDate" but all I could get was voice mail systems, and am waiting for a call back. We have the choice between Romantic Courtroom 1A (5pm weddings) or the Magisrates Lobby, um, of Eternal Love (noon weddings). The Magistrates Lobby is supposedly somewhat decently... attractive, and is on the second floor, so I think we're aiming for that. We don't have the money for a big, fancy wedding now, so this will have to suffice for a year or two until we can have the fancy, exciting, wedding-y wedding in England, hopefully. It'll be alright, though, as our most important people will be there with us at the courthouse, and we're all going to enjoy a fancy "reception" dinner afterward. It will be a memorable day however you look at it.

We will not have seen each other in 417 days by the time I go to England, which is phenomenal to me, but not long to go now!

-Hoopla

The Post Which Shall Remained Un-named

Okay, nothing much is happening. The most, err, exciting thing is when I go outside on break at work, there are some stepping stones and each day I stand on the one which represents how many more days there are until I go to England. Yes, I know I have no life. Nothing is happening! There is one weekend left until my trip and we plan to use it all to make sure we have every item needed for the interview (I think we already do, but we're just double-checking). And stuff. Other than that, I have been working alot of mandatory overtime and just generally being brain dead (as evidenced by this post) *smile* I'm sure things will get more lively and exciting as the days and stepping stones wear on.

- Hoopla

P.S. Your pregnant sister probably does not want you to make a list of Elvish names for her unborn child. Just a pointer. Take it from me. :)

Nothing to see here... move along!

So, my days are filled with hallucinations of Packet 4, which has yet to come. This is slightly annoying, but I guess is a good thing as we really want the visa interview to be when I am in the UK. If I don't get to be there for it, I have demanded Xavier visit Dr. Phelan's toilet and report on the crazy x-ray guy (it took some work, by golly!). It's like, the law, of K-1 Visa Interview experiences, I tell you!

Meanwhile, I am still not doing much immigration-wise. I have thoughts of dragging out the AOS forms and getting a head start on them, but they are extensive and daunting, and there is alot (not at the MOMENT) to do before that time. That is gonna be one hell of a project, but there is nothing really to do at the moment but wait to see when Xavier's interview will be, and find out whether it will be when I am in the UK or not. These sort of doldrums are agitating in themselves.

I guess that is all for now!

*sniff*

Have officially not seen each other in a year now.

Four score and... nope, just four years ago.

(A quick note: I couldn't figure out how to explain to my niece, who is three, about immigration so I said, "Guess what!!! Auntie got a letter that says Uncle (Xavier) can come and live here!" and she was thrilled. So now when I am on the phone to my sister and sometimes talk to my niece, she asks me, "Are you at Uncle (Xavier's) house to pick him up?" which, I guess, is toddler-speak for, "So, how's the whole immigration thing going?" *grin*)

Well, today is our fourth anniversary and I am sitting here wearing a Liverpool/Budweiser parody shirt and tracksuit bottoms, working with Xavier (over the internet) on a "Pretty Please Can We Have The Visa Interview When Hoopla is in the U.K." letter for the embassy. It sure beats dinner and a movie, I can tell you! *sigh*

We first met in person four years ago on this date. My sister and I were late arriving at the aiport to pick Xavier up, and I first saw him as he was riding down an escalator. I got about a thousand times more nervous than I already was and kept painfully elbowing and whispering to my sister (probably along the lines of, "Oh my god, there he is, oh my god, what do I do, oh my god, oh my god, that's him") and somehow eventually quietly shouting his name in his general direction. He now claims he saw us first, but when I was calling his name, he was nervously looking at any random object but us. We were blocking the bottom of the escalator so he had no choice but to be confronted with us in the end. We hugged nervously - by "hugged", I mean put your hands on the other person's back for no longer than one second while trying not to touch any other part of your body together and, in the process, manage to knock the other person's glasses off, get a wad of their hair in your mouth momentarily, and try to keep your bag on your shoulder, but end up dropping it nearly off your arm. I don't remember what we said exactly as it was all a blur at the time and still is. The only thing I can remember is I kept saying, "It's YOU!" and pointing, over and over again, probably for the first hour, and commenting, "You really DO have purple Doc Martens!" and being mind-numbingly nervous (and overjoyed!) and just giggling and over-analyzing my every move for the first three days. We went to find his baggage and were alone for the first time, and I remember, like, staring intently at the baggage carousel (my eyes probably burned a hole in it) and making extremely boring, half giggled comments about the bags. We got back to my house and drank some vodka and strawberry soda ('cause I am classy, you see) and sat on the back porch and talked about who knows what. Luckily, we had my super-extroverted sister as a distraction from akward silences. After a while, we all went to bed and I could hardly sleep all night, and woke up at 4:30am and went out to the living room where my sister was sleeping on the sofa and woke her up and babbled nervously at her until Xavier got up the courage to venture out from his room at about 9am.

So anyway, four years on, we are getting married and he's moving to America, and we stare at immigration forms instead of baggage carousels, and it will soon become a case of, "YOU DO REALIZE YOU LEFT YOUR DOC MARTENS IN THE MIDDLE OF THE HALLWAY, YOU KNOW!" We've waited a long time to be real people... *grin*

- Hoopla

A clean bill of health for Hoopla!

"Can I transmit citizenship to my spouse? - No, a United States citizen cannot transmit citizenship to a spouse." --- U.S. Embassy London Website.

Well, that's good because I've been U.S. Citizenship (USC) Positive for twenty-some years now, and finally medical research proves that it is in fact a non-communicable disease! FOILED AGAIN! Nonetheless, it does make for a hearty laugh every time we read that bit of the embassy's website. Phew.

Right, well I just got a letter from the NVC saying they have assigned us a case number and our petition will be forwarded to London within a week. I looked at people's timelines and expect Xavier will receive Packet 3 quite definitely around October 1st. Which puts us ahead of expectations. Again. And that is not nice when you run a website called "Immigration-Agitation," but I expect I will get over it. That said, we are debating whether to respond to Packet 3 immediately or to delay our response in hopes of getting a visa interview during the time I will be in the U.K. Yeah, so waiting for Packet 3 is about all that is going on as we have pretty much got the embassy forms ready already (heh).

- Hoopla

Mmmmm, English Boys

Hoopla : you're hot when you sound english
Xavier : ok, I'm writing that down by the way
Xavier : and maybe I will get it written onto a little laminated card that I can carry with me always and flash at you when you smirk at me when I say "Tackoes" (tacos) or "Loss Anjalees" (Los Angeles)


Teeheeehee :)
Well, NVC in New Hampshire just received our petition TODAY, grrrrrr, and said 2-4 weeks to process, so October 1-15ish they will be sending to London. We are a bit more behind than we expected, but that may mean his interview will be when I am in the UK in late November. Kay bye!

Simple Pleasures

Xavier: america has lots of foods on sticks.. that makes me happy

America, And Stuff

Well, I received NOA2 in the mail on Thursday, sent off I-134 to Xavier on Friday (notarized and all), and just when I thought we had sort of accomplished something, the AOS (adjustment of status) forms I ordered arrived. Man. Those are some forms alright. It is an enormous pile that makes a threatening thud when you drop it on a table, and seems to be a in-depther and more daunting task than everything I have done so far put together. Woe.

Tried to call the NVC yesterday (long distance, might I add!) and they do not seem to have any kind of automated information, so I am just gonna hang around for another week and see if they mail me anything, and then attempt to call if necessary.

Meanwhile, Xavier is in the process of getting his new passport and his police clearance (supposing I'm not Marrying an Axe Murderer *smile*) and all that other stuff. We think his interview will probably be during the last two weeks of November, which is when I plan to go to the UK, if my work will let me have the time off (we are moving buildings around then, so I'm sure I will end up with some desk in a dark corner all by myself, but such are the tribulations of love!).

Anyway, I am not much for politics or blatant patriotism, but as it's September 11th I have been thinking about that sort of thing a bit. There are plenty of things I don't like about America (*cough*Bush*cough*), and I know we are wasteful and overweight and generally not as concerned about the environment as other countries, and too many people feel the need to own guns, and the average person doesn't know very much about other countries or what is happening outside U.S. borders, etc etc. There are alot of people in this country, and there are plenty who are not like that. There are bad people and bad aspects of every country, race, religion, and boy scout troop. In just the same way, there is also good. America has beautiful, vast, and varied landscapes. There are people who are concerned about the environment, who have never owned a gun, and who are interested in and concerned about other countries. We are by no means all a bunch of, "Yeah, go git those damned I-raqis! That'll teach 'em to mess with Texas!" snivelling bastards.

If you are reading this, you are (likely) a person who has fallen in love with an American and is willing is move to America to be with that person. That says something for our character (and yours) right there, though the famous quote:

"Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free"

seems to relate more to the ordeal of filing immigration papers these days than anything else.
*grin*

- Hoopla

I-129F Petition Approved

I was grumping around work, checking the aila.org processing dates every ten minutes for about three days straight when lunch time came and I checked my e-mail and just about fell backwards because there was a message from the USCIS and all I saw was "This case has been approved" and I started shaking uncontrollably without even reading the rest. I wanted to burst out of my chair and scream and stand on the desk and yell "WE'RE APPROVED!!!!!!!!!!!!" (yes, with that many exclamation points), but I ended up going for a cigarette and just about skipping down the street, and then couldn't function at all the rest of the day (or eat my lunch, heh). So yay, NOA2 is in the mail and I expect I will receive it next week. Meanwhile, we are about three weeks ahead of what I expected and I have spent all day today working on I-134 stuff to get notarized and send to Xavier next week. We expect his interview to be during the last two weeks of November, which is when I am hoping to visit him in the UK anyway, so that works well!

The poor boy is going to have to get his, like, ten vaccinations at once soon. Alas.
In other news, I am the proud owner of a ladle (and a toaster and some Tupperware and, er, steak knives, etc). I have been romping through stores acquiring stuff we will need for our apartment.
It's weird to think that someone actually picked up and looked at that thing (I-129F) I worked on for about six months, read through it all, and approved us! It was way faster than I expected, too, especially being the Nebraska Service Center. I hope that will give high spirits to whoever is reading this - Nebraska seems to have come a long way - the increased fees and whatever improvements they are making are proving themselves. Don't know what is up with the lack of updates on the AILA processing dates page, though; it is enough to make you pull your hair out.

- Hoopla

Bah

I wrote a nice long entry, but was dumb and should have written it in Word first, and it got lost when I tried to publish it *sniff* So I will try again tomorrow when we find out what the new processing dates are.

- Hoopla

Have not seen each other in 325 days! Sent I-129F 83 days ago!

Congratulations to my good friends Mo (Ireland) and Michelle (Texas)

whose wedding I attended on August 14th!

And thanks to the Dallas area test program, Mo almost has his green card and EAD already, and has only been in the USA for a month and a half! Woe is us, but at least the NSC is looking at applications they received on May 13th (we're June 7th) - so another 2-3 weeks and they will have ours in their grubby little hands.
I am finding myself really overwhelmed will all the things I have going on lately - all the million aspects of filing immigration forms, the waiting, the costs, plus I am looking for an apartment, working overtime, learning to drive and will soon get a car, preparing for Xavier's family to visit in February, Xavier's move here, probably going to the UK in November for a visit and to look at rings and meet Xavier's grandparents, etc etc etc, plus I will have a new nephew practically the same week Xavier moves to the USA! Oh, the humanity!
Currently, Xavier is ready to send off for his police clearance to submit to the embassy in London in about October or November, and is about ready to get his passport renewed (it expires in October). I spent all day Sunday going around and scouting out apartment complexes, and am about to put in a request to my employer for the letter I need as part of my I-134 submission (my current immigration project). Xavier has been researching pubs/bars in our intended new neighborhood *grin* He told me what he'd miss the most about living in the UK would be pubs and good Indian food. I don't even live there, and those are way up there on the list of things I miss as well :) We are also coming to the slow and dim realisation that Xavier will be a British Expatriate! Weird!
Am also never finding time to work on the website, which is annoying because I have been looking forward to having this website for quite some time. But I shall keep trying!
Yeah, I guess that's all I got for now *grin* Hope your experiences are going well, to whoever may be reading this.

- Hoopla