The Way We Were

[Hugglebuggles 60]

I saw a phone booth the other day, and it blew my mind seems like its been forever since ive seen one!

How is the new place working outKimbear? I bet you're happy to be out on your own!

I took a little VJ break after AOS but I missed it! I wonder where some of my fellow k-1 and AOs fillers went. It seems like most of them never came back to talk about ROC.

[Kimbear 53]

new house is great. puppies are still trying to get used to it. took a break for a coupole days cuz i over did it with my arm painting. was getting pains up and down it with tingling in the fingers. but i can't stand just letting it all sit there. it must be done so tomorrow now that 'im feeling better its back to painting. only half the house to go still UGH. i love the area we are in, right in the middle of two forest preserves, and the neighbours are great, and its so quiet yet we are so much closer to the city and ohare now. amg i have PRIVACY!!! lol.

[Kimbear 53]

oh hehe i forgot to mention. We needed congress to come to the rescue again!! i swear gonna be on a first name basis soon lol between immigration and this

long story short this was a short sale and it was also a rental, owners lived in Cali the last few years. anyway the previous tenants never paid the 1600 COMED bill, and comed refused outright to hook up our power. they accused us of lying and of trying to get it restored for the prvious ppl who lived here. and i was soo super pissed off. like dude give me your fax number your supers number your president i'll fax you my damn bill of sale deed hud one w/e the freaking hell you want!

and the ppl ( we tried 3 times to get someone to do something) kept saying no you have to get autyhroized it will take a month! !!??? ####### are you serious?? SCREW THAT SH1TE!

So after contacting lawers etc we finally said..hmm i wonder...and we contacted our congressman again, and what do you know..i get a call from comed asking me for info and telling me i'll have electricity within 24 hours. the next day the congresmans office called to ask if it was back on and to let us know if we had any other issues to call them back.

WOOHOO. ya know..its kind ofweird. i never up north ever contacted the govt for anything cuz normally..they were useless..but down here..you say jump and they seem to say hwo high.

[Udella&Wiz 325]

What a load of bull - why should the new owner be responsible for the previously unpaid bills - twisted thinking on their part. We had a situation where the previous folks hadn;t paid their HOA dues and they tried to get us to pay back dues...no way...we wrote it into our sale that we were not responsible for their back HOA dues

Really nice of your congressman.

oh hehe i forgot to mention. We needed congress to come to the rescue again!! i swear gonna be on a first name basis soon lol between immigration and this

long story short this was a short sale and it was also a rental, owners lived in Cali the last few years. anyway the previous tenants never paid the 1600 COMED bill, and comed refused outright to hook up our power. they accused us of lying and of trying to get it restored for the prvious ppl who lived here. and i was soo super pissed off. like dude give me your fax number your supers number your president i'll fax you my damn bill of sale deed hud one w/e the freaking hell you want!

and the ppl ( we tried 3 times to get someone to do something) kept saying no you have to get autyhroized it will take a month! !!??? ####### are you serious?? SCREW THAT SH1TE!

So after contacting lawers etc we finally said..hmm i wonder...and we contacted our congressman again, and what do you know..i get a call from comed asking me for info and telling me i'll have electricity within 24 hours. the next day the congresmans office called to ask if it was back on and to let us know if we had any other issues to call them back.

WOOHOO. ya know..its kind ofweird. i never up north ever contacted the govt for anything cuz normally..they were useless..but down here..you say jump and they seem to say hwo high.

[Holliday 4]

I've never been very active in chit chat around here, but um... I miss reading it, so this is my attempt at chit chat, even though it's mostly random thoughts.

I actually used a pay phone a few weeks ago in Orillia outside of a Harvey's. I hadn't seen one in ages. (No booth, though.) My Dad wouldn't stop calling me while we were driving to his place, so I called him to try to figure out what he wanted. It was nothing of consequence. Heh. My husband and I were FINALLY back in Ontario for a visit. It was wonderful. I call Ontario Normal-land. I love Normal-land soooo much. The feeling I get the second I cross the border into Ontario is unbelievable. It is like pure comfort and wonder and all things good all at once, and I love it. I really suck at living in Oklahoma, so yeah. At this point, I love everything about Ontario. Even the things I used to hate. Like, "hello ridiculous traffic in the GTA. Nice to see you even though it's 6am" and stuff like that. It's really odd to feel that way.

We drove from Oklahoma to Ontario and crossed at Port Huron/Sarnia. And we decided to take the "scenic route" to get to my Dad's near Midland along highway 21 rather than 402/401/400. And the weirdest thing happened. We got stopped by the RIDE program in Goderich at 10:30am. AM! The freakin' RIDE program. In April. In the morning. Is that normal now? Please tell me that's not normal. They let us go without incident. We'd traveled about 2000 km by that point, and we obviously hadn't been drinking. But then neither of us would drink and drive ever anyway. But it was still weird for them to have that set up on a Sunday morning.

I guess I'm actually attempting to acclimate to Oklahoma now. It's taken 2 years for me to get my act together. I've been volunteering, and my husband and I took a French class, and I'm looking into enrolling in school in the fall. So those are all good things. Plus, we actually have a curling club in Tulsa now, so that's exciting. It's an absolute clown show. There's only one ice rink here (and how dirty do I feel even referring to it as an ice rink? It's a rink, damn it!) even though there's about 400k people here. Anyway, they added curling sheets to the hockey ice (no bumpers/boards separating the sheets, no tee lines or anything, and the ice is HORRIBLE). Nevertheless, it's a lot of fun, and it's the best we've got. My husband and I joined for the inaugural season, and we ended up on a team with a ringer! Our skip (the only one of us who had ever curled before) is from Saskatchewan, and he's pretty awesome. I play lead because I suck, and my husband plays 3rd because he doesn't suck. And in the championship game our 2nd had the most beautiful draw to the button! It was very exciting, and it ended up being the winning point! So our team ended up winning the inaugural season. Oooh, and when we were in Ontario, we got to meet Glenn Howard (the skip of the current world champion team) because he's the manager of the Beer Store in Midland. World Champion. Beer Store. Makes sense, I guess.

[Krikit 1,164]

I know exactly what you mean about the feeling once you cross the border. I always take a deep breath and get a happy everything's-going-to-be-alright feeling. Wow, a RIDE program in the AM. That's a first for me too. Makes you wonder. Congratulations on your inaugural win!!

My sister and her husband are here on a visit from the UK. They're on a little side trip right now but will be back tomorrow. When my husband gets back from his business trip this weekend we are heading to Asheville, NC for a few days to visit Biltmore and to do the tourist thing. My parents are arriving this coming Thursday so we will need to scoot back in time to meet them. When my sister leaves the following week, I will drive back to Canada with my parents and get a flight back..... whenever. I haven't planned a date yet. I have my grocery list already. lol

Oooh, and when we were in Ontario, we got to meet Glenn Howard (the skip of the current world champion team) because he's the manager of the Beer Store in Midland.

That is awesome.

[Marilyn. 340]

I get that happy at home feeling when I visit Oregon. Not so much when I go to Canada..

yeah I am always happy knowing I am going to see my family but I don't feel at home there anymore..

[lilacvioletiris 11]

What has brought be me back is the ROC. Trying to get ready for it.

DH has a full time job, has had it for a year and is up for a raise. Trying to figure out some issues with trying to have a baby and that has been up and down lately. Do we refinance the house that is in my maiden name or just go forward as we have?

I missed VJ and figured I should see what is going on with people here.

[canada_socks 97]

Oooh, and when we were in Ontario, we got to meet Glenn Howard (the skip of the current world champion team) because he's the manager of the Beer Store in Midland. World Champion. Beer Store. Makes sense, I guess.

I AM FROM MIDLAND! Your dad lives near Midland? I am actually currently visiting as we are having my Canadian wedding reception next weekend! Which beer store does Glenn Howard manage?? I'm more of a win drinker (I don't like beer at all...or hockey...not a good Canadian I have been told lol!). I met him back in highschool. I worked at Tim Hortons (hwy 93!) back then and he was in and yea.

Also...maybe we know each other? Or know some of the same people?

Edited May 27, 2012 by sherrybaby

[JoeCanuk 3]

I haven't posted in this forum in a long time but it's nice to be back among fellow Canuckians. Lately I have felt like I am losing my "Canadian identity" so to speak, what with the naturalization process, the interview, and my oath ceremony in a couple of weeks. I'm excited about becoming an American but I have been here five years and miss Canada too. It's been a fun ride...

[JillA 2]

Hi Everyone, hope all the Canadian VJers are doing well! I had my N400 interview on Friday, which went extremely well I had this incredibly kind man interview and test me, he was a gentle old soul. We spoke alot about Canada, and really he didn't ask me for any of the ton of evidence I brought! I guess I sent in enough with my application. So I have my Oath on Monday at the Philadelphia Constitution Center! Before I take the Oath though, I went back home last weekend and got a rather large Maple Leaf tattooed on my back! LOL I still get home quite a bit, every 2 months or so. I'm happy that my immigration journey will be officially over Monday, so long USCIS!!

[Hugglebuggles 60]

Congrats Jill, that's great! It must be an awesome feeling. I love the tatoo, I've been considering doing that for a few years now. So far, my fear of needles is winning!

[Gypsyangel 11]

Congrats Jill! I just got approved for naturalization as well (May 16). It's nice to be done with USCIS. It feels different being a US citizen ... surreal, actually ... I can't explain exactly, but I feel more like I belong. The other day, the water bill came in and for the first time in six years I realized I didn't have to make a copy of yet another piece of paper and stick it in a file, nor would I have to ever again. Sometimes, the little things hit home ...

It's hard saying the part where you give up loyalty to other countries ... I think it will be easier to say when you think of the tattoo on your back. I remember Flames saying he wore his Canadian Flag socks at his oath ceremony. Thank goodness Canada recognizes dual citizenship, even if the U.S. doesn't. Going through this whole process sure makes you feel your Canadianness in a way you never would if you stayed in Canada. You can take the Canadian out of Canada, but you can't take the Canada out of the Canadian. Eh!

[JoeCanuk 3]

Hi Everyone, hope all the Canadian VJers are doing well! I had my N400 interview on Friday, which went extremely well I had this incredibly kind man interview and test me, he was a gentle old soul. We spoke alot about Canada, and really he didn't ask me for any of the ton of evidence I brought! I guess I sent in enough with my application. So I have my Oath on Monday at the Philadelphia Constitution Center! Before I take the Oath though, I went back home last weekend and got a rather large Maple Leaf tattooed on my back! LOL I still get home quite a bit, every 2 months or so. I'm happy that my immigration journey will be officially over Monday, so long USCIS!!

Congratulations Jill. I was lucky enough as well not to have to show any of the bunch of evidence I brought. lol I had to laugh when the guy asked me one state that borders Canada because where I grew up, I could put my feet up and they'd be in Detroit. So I said Michigan and was thankful for the freebie.

[JoeCanuk 3]

Congrats Jill! I just got approved for naturalization as well (May 16). It's nice to be done with USCIS. It feels different being a US citizen ... surreal, actually ... I can't explain exactly, but I feel more like I belong. The other day, the water bill came in and for the first time in six years I realized I didn't have to make a copy of yet another piece of paper and stick it in a file, nor would I have to ever again. Sometimes, the little things hit home ...

It's hard saying the part where you give up loyalty to other countries ... I think it will be easier to say when you think of the tattoo on your back. I remember Flames saying he wore his Canadian Flag socks at his oath ceremony. Thank goodness Canada recognizes dual citizenship, even if the U.S. doesn't. Going through this whole process sure makes you feel your Canadianness in a way you never would if you stayed in Canada. You can take the Canadian out of Canada, but you can't take the Canada out of the Canadian. Eh!

Congratulations Gypsyangel. I completely agree with all that you said. I'm not a citizen for another couple weeks but the rest of it, yeah you're right. It will be hard for me to say the oath but I'm doing it. I made an oath when I was in the Canadian military that I'm going to have to break and that's hard to do. And even with this oath, deep down I'm knowing that I'm still Canadian and I still love Canada even though I love this country too. So there's pluses and minuses to this whole dual citizenship thing.