August 2008 fillers

[Fred N Emilia 0]

I gotz some good deals. I didn't go through a travel agent I did it all direct. I use EVA AIRWAYS most of the time when I travel back home.

Before I go to bed check out my signature, 22 days!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now I'm going to bed! I'm tired now! hehehehehe! Goodnight everyone!

[Bulgarican 0]

I gotz some good deals. I didn't go through a travel agent I did it all direct. I use EVA AIRWAYS most of the time when I travel back home.

Before I go to bed check out my signature, 22 days!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now I'm going to bed! I'm tired now! hehehehehe! Goodnight everyone!

Wonderful news Fredy, now nothing can stop you from being together

Nite nite

[Hell0W0rld 10]

very nice!!

[TeeKol 0]

I gotz some good deals. I didn't go through a travel agent I did it all direct. I use EVA AIRWAYS most of the time when I travel back home.

Before I go to bed check out my signature, 22 days!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now I'm going to bed! I'm tired now! hehehehehe! Goodnight everyone!

Fantastic Freddy!! Now you can start planning!!!!!!! so really pleased for you, your long patient wait is coming to an end and your future is about to begin

HYENA: Hang in there!! I know its easy for me to say, but something will move soon. Stay strong and draw strength from each other

[Badgerella 5]

Uhhhhhhh.

I mean, we need to start planning, too. But, how does one do that when there are four exams and thesis left, here in Croatia?

I don't even know where to start! (Other than... doing the studying thing, of course.)

[HappyDancer 7]

CONGRATS Freddy!!!

Attention ####### time for me: Got our wedding bands!!!

[Badgerella 5]

BOTTOM of page 2. Uhoh.

[HYENA 4]

Congratulations! That's great! Looks like things are moving along now.

Now I need to figure out what to do....do I wait for the consulate to get it or get my bank statements ready now or or or....

I wanted to pack some more money in my account. The NOA2 hit me at a low time (hey, I'm not complaining)...so much is happening so fast now...in a couple months, maybe only 6 weeks (who knows how long it really takes but the list says 82 days once at the embassy)....soooo I gotta get moving!.....and train someone over there to do what she's doing businesswise (she's started...poor thing never used a computer before she met me, now she's doing great, can send pics and is learning well). I'm so proud of her (never had the opportunity to shine but she's smarter than I...jsut hasn't had the chance to show it). Sooooo, my boss will be here soon! LOL!

I think I'm supposed to sit here and wait for NOA3? or ....It's not clear but NOA2 came and it's on the way to NVC. I need to figure out when to do my bank stuff, etc.

Here's the letter from my liars office: Please send us a signed copy of the photo page of your passport. Please check attached sample signed passport, and a copy of the Approval Notice. xxxxx will call your fiancee/wife to arrange the medical and police record as soon as we receive these documents. Likewise, please collect any additional evidence of your relationship dated after your petition was submitted to the USCIS (such as e-mails, photos, telephone records, and wire transfers).

Please also begin to compile the following documents, which will be submitted with your Affidavit of Support. A draft of your Affidavit of Support will be forthcoming.

A. Statement from an officer of the bank or other financial institutions where you have deposits, identifying the following details regarding your account:

1. Date account opened;

2. Total amount deposited for the past year;

3. Present balance.

B. Statement of your employer on business stationery revealing:

1. Date and nature of employment;

2. Salary paid;

3. Whether the position is temporary or permanent.

C. If self-employed:

1. Copy of last income tax return filed; or

2. Report of commercial rating concern.

D. List containing serial numbers and denominations of bonds, stocks, and certificates of deposit, name of record owner(s), and value(s).

You should receive a notice from the National Visa Center notifying you that your petition will be sent to the US Embassy Bangkok. The notice should also include a case number starting with “BNK.” Please be looking for this notice and send me a copy via e-mail upon your receipt. Thank you.

I believe I filled ALL this paperwork when I was in Thailand at their office but I'll call them and ask....ugh! it's happening! I was becoming complacent in my waiting!

Edited May 1, 2009 by HYENA

[Gemmie 142]

Thanks for the kind words Dani and HYENA. And I appreciate you all sticking around and i am truly happy you are all moving forward with your visas, at the same time seeing so much happy news that I can't be a part of makes it really hard. Every day I literally run to the mail when it is shoved through the door, and feel crushed to once again find nothing and then frustrated that after 9 months we know absolutely nothing. 9 Months! I honestly thought I would be married by now, and looking into how I can get my SSN, Teaching License and more! Argh!

The other bit is that in 7 weeks I go back to Aus, and that is crushing in itself, if I go back with out a NOA2 I have nothing, no job, no car, and no idea when I will get to see Chris again.

I'm honestly at the point that I wish I had a time machine so that Chris and I could have married when he asked me and simply adjusted status from that....

A lot can happen in 7 weeks, Mara.

I completely agree with your trip to the U.S and you can't put a price on that; (well, you can, especially for that distance, but I'm sure you would prefer to spend 3 months together than have the extra money at this point) you really needed to be together. When Bill came to the UK for 2 months, it hit us really hard financially (as Bill was still unemployed and we needed everything for the move), but it was worth every penny we struggled with. I know it's not really the same because you don't know when you'll be approved, and we at least knew there was an end in sight in a few months..

Enjoy your time together, you're still there for almost TWO MONTHS and it will be amazing to simply be together without having the stresses plus the distance. If you're feeling frustrated, get Chris to make you some tea and cuddle you, that works for me. And know that you may hear some great news in that time. If not, you can start making some more plans on what to do (getting married and going K3, or just keep harassing USCIS, finding another job, etc).

Congrats on the ticket booking Freddy, let the countdown begin!

[maliciant 7]

Congrats fred, time to start crying about the AOS bill!

OK, for those who remember, I said I was sick a few days ago... I've actually only gone to work 1 day this week and left early, I don't have fever, cough, diarhea, etc, I just have swollen tonsils and it literally makes me wince to swallow, and has since about last sunday. I went to the doc on wednesday (I was pretty stubborn about it but I didn't want to tell my boss that I was missing a bunch of work and still hadn't gone... heck, my paycheck is raped every month by the insurance company... and it costs virtually nothing to use my insurance... like $15, I should go once a day!). They did some tests, and other than a low resting heart rate (which was actually up for me... it was 47... it's often lower) all the vitals are in the very healthy range (and I'm not too concerned about the slow heart rate since I have no side effects that I'm aware of and I get enough exercise that it's assumed it's from fitness I guess). Anyway, it was down to strep, not a common strain, something that takes lab work to detect, or mono, which also takes a bit of lab work but it's quick, they gave me a perscription for antibiotics and told me to start them that night after they called to let me know if it was mono (virus so no use in antibiotics) or not mono (in which case assume strep and start downin some serious antibiotics)... From what the doc had told me and the symptoms my wife had also had a week or so before, mono sounded most likely... and that's what they said when they called, it's mono.

Now mono is good in a few ways, you get it only once and are immune to it (like chicken pox), it's rarely fatal, something like 1 in 1000, it's not likely to lead to tonsil removal which I hear is fun for adults (and I've witnessed isn't so hot for teens). Also a bonus is something like half of the people get it and never have any symptoms, especially the young, and about 90% of people have gotten it by the time they graduate high school. The cure is simply bed rest, liquids, and some painkillers now and then (not aspirin) to deal with the symptoms, you don't have to do anything to get over it really.

The bad news... the older you are when you get it, the worse the symptoms are, I'm 32, that's apparently old enough for it to suck seriously badly, it can last months, from what I've read the symptoms might rotate a bit, and I could probably deal with say, fevers, and a few other things, but the sore throat is brutal, it's hard to get the liquids when it hurts to swallow, eating is slightly less fun. Apparently most likely fatigue will be pretty severe for a few months, I'm not feeling too fatigued right now but well, I'm sittin at home whining about how sick I am, while talking as little as possible of course. Mono is a virus, so no cure, there is nothing you can do to speed up recovery really... yeah, I listed that as a possitive because I prefer to let my body take on all comers and not rely on meds when possible... but I'm kind of tired of this particular torture. Your spleen and liver can enlarge from mono and this can last a while too, and apparently while that's going on they are very fragile, so no exercise (not all bad, doctors orders, no exercise... but it's a shame cause I was finally back into a good routine again, so this is a little more negative, plus even once it's over it'll be a few weeks before it's safe to exercise, approximately).

For comparison to how miserable I feel, I used to smoke, I was an addict, if I was sick I was still going to smoke, etc... the smokers and ex smokers in this thread know how addictive that is, and it'd been a long time since I'd come remotely close to quitting (it only takes 4 days to quit cold turkey!!!! and yet millions can't)... I had recently gotten on an exercise routine, I was working out regularly etc... and then one friday I ran for an hour on an elliptical, overall it was pretty easy (and of course I crank the resistance up, I was about 275 at the time so well... my body weight alone made the resistance somewhat negligible). I went to the movies that night, feeling pretty good, I heard a bit of coughing in the theatre, kind of annoying, but no big deal... I think I was already sick at this point and didn't know it though because by the end of the movie I was startin to feel a bit bad and all that exercise had really weakened my immune system (I was just getting into shape for the first time in 10+ years)... the next 4 days I was the most miserable I'd ever been, but as an added bonus I literally could not inhale ciggarrette smoke, I tried every day for four days, in the morning... I just couldn't, by the fifth day I was starting to feel better but I realized what a blessing it was in disguise, because I wasn't craving a cigarrette anymore, I just stayed away, it was miserable being sick but quitting turned out to be a total cake walk... well, for comparison, I think mono sucks more so far, more because it doesn't seem to have let up any yet and I'm pretty sure I was way more delirious from the flu so I probably don't remember it was well.

Also, the wife seems to have had it, and seems fine already, she had different symptoms like probably the swollen spleen (we didn't know it at the time, thought her symptoms were allergies, which is what I thought mine were too until monday when they got severe). Anyway, luckily for her, she got over it fast and didn't get the very swollen throat (torture!), but the down side is she did get the other symptom... the decrepid wimpy man syndrome where she gets to cook all manner of exotic home remedies to try to make my throat pains go away at least a little (yeah for ginger papaya chicken soup... it didn't seem to help with the soreness but it was definitely delicious... and sadly painful to eat... I can't wait to eat it when I'm not sick!). I owe her some serious pampering of some sort when I get over this!

I have a theory about how we managed to score mono... I blame it on my wife's baby kissin ways, I think she kissed my nieces drooling baby and the baby had managed to get infected at some point before by her mother, father, or some of there other teenage friends and passed it on that way, mono has such a long incubation period it's really difficult to determine where you were infected, there was also another possible theory too, but it seems a little less likely due to the time frame, that the wedding we stayed at while getting married (which I can tell you was NOT very clean) may have had some mono germs floatin around, but that'd be about 2 months before we had symptoms, it's possible we got it there, but not likely.

Anyway, sorry it's so long, just my life story... but I typed this while waiting for some ibuprofins to kick in... and sippin chocolate milk (it went down easy last night... but I think the ibuprofins were workin for me then).

[Badgerella 5]

Don't want to scare you, maliciant, but mono isn't at all a piece of cake or something people get (while they're young, or whenever) and basically not notice it. It comes with a fever, overall weakness, often swollen spleen, liver problems, heart disfunctions. It requires a diet (chicken and fish, as opposed to 'heavier' foods), a long rest, avoidance of physical activity even after the acute, initial symptoms are gone...

I know you mentioned all this yourself, too, so you're definitely aware of it. Take your time to recover, as to not develop some of the conditions you could then be dragging throughout your entire life.

I wish you a speedy recovery!

[HYENA 4]

Don't want to scare you, maliciant, but mono isn't at all a piece of cake or something people get (while they're young, or whenever) and basically not notice it. It comes with a fever, overall weakness, often swollen spleen, liver problems, heart disfunctions. It requires a diet (chicken and fish, as opposed to 'heavier' foods), a long rest, avoidance of physical activity even after the acute, initial symptoms are gone...

I know you mentioned all this yourself, too, so you're definitely aware of it. Take your time to recover, as to not develop some of the conditions you could then be dragging throughout your entire life.

I wish you a speedy recovery!

Malcant, I ahd mono when I was your age or a little younger...not that long ago and I was outta work for 5 weeks. Once I was diagnosed, the doc made me sit in the room with the monospot test so I could "accept" it. i immediately wen to the grocery store and stocked up because I knew it was gonna be a long haul. A month later I went back to work, almost passed out and they sent me back home.

It kicked my ####! I got it renting a mountain bike (and water bottle) in Moab, Utah. back then I was in excellent shape...not too bad not but nothing like back then. That's the only way i could have gotten it because no one else I knew had it.

It's more typical to go through high schools (mouth to mouth transmission...not necessarily direct). You're in for a looong haul and it's pure hell. You're lucky to have a wonderful angel to take care ofyou!

I hope you feel better and it doesn't kick your #### like it did me!

Edited May 1, 2009 by HYENA

[Noa&Mia 0]

hello everyone!!!!!!!!!!!! I am already in Miami!!! sorry I havent wrote! I have been really busy!!!! I am having the best time ever!!! we have a kitty wich is so CUTE!!!! he loves me!!!! I have been here for almost 3 weeks and it already feels like home! I am so happy, in love, complete!!! is perfect!!!! finally here!

Freddy!!!!!!!!!!! your visa was approved!!! yeiiiiiiiiiii!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! when are they traveling to the US????? I am so so so so so soooo happy for you!!!!!!!!!!

HYENA got approved!!!!!! yeeeeeeiiiiiiiiiiii I hope you get your interview and Visa approved SOON!!!!!!!!!!!

Gemmie!!! so long!!!! how have you been?? oh my god your interview is on the 5th!!!!!! I wish you the best!!!!!!!!

Mara! girl! keep positive!!!! I believe you will be getting your approval really soon! keep your mind positive!

HD!! hey how are you doing?? when are ypu traveling to teh US??? did you already quit your job???

I hope everyone is having a great time!!!!! today is friday yeiiiiiiiiiiiiii what are you guys doing for the weekend?????????

Love!!!

Mia

Edited May 1, 2009 by Noa&Mia

[HappyDancer 7]

Resignation is effective May 15, 2009.

Last day of actual work is today. Vacation starts Monday, woohoo!!!

I am loving this!!!

[Fred N Emilia 0]

Maliciant, get well man!

HD - wow you're all set!

Mia - When? read my sig. hehehehe