I am participating in wegohealth.com’s Advocating for Another (A4A) Carnival – Parenting Edition. This is a month long event where health and parenting advocates write, share and enjoy! The FB page can be found here for more info + grab the parenting prompts here and …
Today, like every other day, I finished work at 2pm so I could drive the 16km back home and pick Ethan up from school at 2.30. No problem there right? At 2.35 I was still searching for my keys. I had called the school and …
Surely it’s not. Dave and I woke up at 4.37am. On a Monday. With school, work, swimming lessons and a netball game tonight for me, this is going to be the longest day ever.
Returning to work was surprisingly easy, I missed my workmates. When you are used to seeing people five days a week you become strangely attached to them. Ethan also had a great day back, he hopped in the truck after school a changed boy which was lovely and lucky for him as he was a demon child yesterday; I was dreading the drama I thought might accompany his return to school and routine. Instead he has chatted non stop about how great it was to see all of his wee mates and all the welcome back hugs he got.
This holiday was amazing for our family. I didn’t realize how much Dave and I were bitching at each other or how impatient we were being with Ethan until I was faced with the possibility of not being able to travel at all {you can catch up on that here}.
Being able to attend my little brothers wedding in Chicago and watching Ethan bond instantly with his American family was worth every penny of the massive cost of the trip.
Those are some things I have learned.
Nothings says “I’m happy your home” more than a Shi-Tzu with a face full of mud. Dashy got a wee bit carried away with his treat this afternoon and decided to bury it. With his face. What concerns me is that he has been showered …
One more night of sharing a room with Ethan; my little sighing, kicking, singing sleeps-like-a-log little rhino. One more day of living out of a suitcase. One more day of no routine. This felt lovely. One more day of no chores, cleaning, cooking, bill paying …
You are so hideously ugly but so beautiful in a strange un-organic way. You make my hair bigger than any other city I know, your hotels are scummy, your Chilis is amazing, you make my kid anxious and nervous with your bustle and population of tourists. You are sticky and I am so glad to see you!
After the week from hell I took a chance on Thursday and drove into the city to wait for my visa on the off-chance it would be ready for pickup before I actually received the notification email. My mates at the US embassy’s call centre …
Oh yes. You will love this one. I guarantee it. It has been tried and tested on Very Important Friends and they concur; calzones are go! Calzones are pretty common in SoCal, every pizza restaurant has them on the menu. I haven’t struck them at …
Another 5am start to get ready and get to the Consulate by 7.45am. Seems a bit silly to leave that early, however, as soon as I got on the Nor-Western it was gridlocked. Stressy and stabbier than ever, I almost turned around right then. It is unbelievable how hard this has been. I did get some answers today though, it turns out that I was deported in 2008 and THAT is why my visa waiver was denied. How could something like that have slipped my mind, more importantly, how was I deported when I lived in NZ? So visa approved though not in hand. There are two more obstacles in my way. One is actually getting my passport + visa back before my scheduled flight on Friday. Too make the wedding on Sat in Chicago, the latest I can leave is Friday night {which will mean buying a whole new plane ticket if I miss the morning flight}. Then, I have to negotiate Customs in the US, who could lock me up and deny me entry – because I’ve been deported remember?
The upside is I have lost 1.5 kgs in 48hrs. Yay a stress diet! It’s lonely here by myself, god knows what state I’d be in if I didn’t have four dogs to watch the Olympics and cry with.
I found these little notes in my truck from Ethan;
Tears.
I also got to FaceTime with the guys when they arrived in Chicago this afternoon.
More tears. A good sleep tonight and a non 5am start will hopefully see better luck tomorrow.
We are in the Sydney right now!!! We had a good flight here and we are missing you so much!!!!! Ethan here I am missing you so much plus daddy bought me a stuffed shark that says austrailia on it by by. We love you …