Fabulous Day!

I've had a fabulous day. I haven't slept well for the last 3 weeks and I certainly haven't slept more than 6 hours in one night so sleeping a full 8 hours last night was magical, baby, magical. I didn't have my violin lesson this morning so I was free to get up late, putter around the house slowly, and shower long enough to get a bit pruney. Ahhh, what a great start.

I'll admit, I guard my dossier with my life. Last year when I went to Hong Kong in the midst of the paper chase for my daughter, I rented a safe deposit box to store my documents in the event that any natural disasters took my house. Since I am leaving again for training tomorrow, I thought it best to notarize the last document (sans the document-that-won't-be named) and secure it in my safe deposit box.

I have to admit, the day was off to an awesome start and it wasn't even noon! I met Kelli for lunch at Sandra's for some really good Vietnamese food. I have finally had some pho and I really liked it. I won't tell Sandra, but Vietnamese meatballs taste exactly like Chinese meatballs. A very good experience and always a pleasure to spend time with another PAP that understands without having to say it. Having that connection is priceless and since we are with the same agency I think there is a chance we might travel together.

Although I ordered my new digital camera over a month ago, it has yet to arrive. Since we don't have any large electronic stores in my town I thought it best to shop in Indy and Kelli recommended Fry's Electronics. Wow. That is the largest electronics store I have ever seen and the salespeople are on the ball. While I wasn't able to find the camera I had originally ordered, I found one that will more than meet my needs. After telling the salesmen what I needed, he guided me to a Panasonic and a Canon, and as you know, I've really been wanting a Canon. I purchased a Canon PowerShot SX100 IS and it is sweet. It recycles very quickly between shots (most important feature--I can't wait to catch all those "first" moments with Haven), has a built in camcorder, 10X zoom and 8 mega-pixels. Like I said, sweet. From the moment I turn the camera on until I take a photo is only a second or two. Wow, what a departure from my Kodak. I could make a sandwich in the time it took from on to pic and I could eat the sandwich in the time it took to recycle between photos. And the photos are amazing. Very clear. Ok, that's just my little plug. This will definitely be the camera going with me to VN.

I didn't think my day could get any better, but wait, it does. The sun is shining as I pull into my driveway. I check the mailbox and lying right on top, a thick envelope from USCIS. My heart was racing and I was feeling very nervous. I didn't remember my 171H being so thick when I received it for my daughter. With shaking hands I open it and this is what I see:

I was so afraid it was going to report another screw up, but it wasn't! My I-171H is here! I have been approved for 1-2 children!!!!

Unfortunately I will be out of the state for the next week and I won't be able to do anything until March 24th, but what a relief to know it is finally here.

Thank you everyone for listening to me whine for the last 4 months. I never thought 4 months could take so long! Posts may be a bit slim next week due to my training schedule, but I will try to take an occasional photo and post it for you all to enjoy.

And now a photo from my mommy weekend a few weeks ago with Kristen: