The Final Countdown

Who else now has this in their head?

[audio http://www.burchetts.org/music/500%20Greatest%20Rock%20Classics/022%20-%20Europe%20-%20The%20final%20countdown.mp3 ]

Sorry about that.

Tomorrow afternoon, my husband and I have an appointment with the USCIS (US Citizenship & Immigration Services) Biometrics Center.  Irritatingly, Evie’s appointment is on Monday.  Sigh.

 Anyway, all that is just very fancy speak for “taking your fingerprints”.  I imagine we’ll drive into Seattle, spend some time and endure a few arguments trying to find somewhere to park, and then take a ticket and….wait.   I believe it’s a similar process to our US Embassy experience, in that many people will have been given the same appointment time – so our 2pm appointment could actually fall anywhere from 2pm to…oh, who knows?  I’m steeling myself for a super fun afternoon with the Pepperlings, given that mobile phones and electronic devices are not allowed.  We’ll just have to bring snacks.   Lots of snacks.

The actual face-to-face time should be just about 10 minutes.  Enough time to check ID, take a photo and press inky fingers to paper. 

Then all our info is sent off to the FBI, and assuming that Evie isn’t hiding a former checkered past from us, we….oh yeah, we wait.  Again. 

Happily, I hear that we might now expect to receive our Green Card (or at least, my Employment Authorisation) within a couple of weeks!  Despite the fact that I am still undecided on what I want to actually do once we get that precious piece of paper (go back to my old job? Keep surviving the SAHM life? Retrain and embark on a career in Personal Training? Have another baby?!), I still can’t seem to help myself from browsing through jobs on LinkedIn this evening…  

A little premature, perhaps, but my goodness!  How awesome will it be, after almost 2 whole years, to actually have some choices?!!   Not only that, but to have an identity again, beyond “Evie and Henry’s Mom”.  I’ll be able to get a Social Security Number, my own bank account, credit card and store reward cards.  I can apply for a job, embark on a training course, or start a new business venture…or just simply stay as I am, safe in the knowledge that I could do any of those things, should I choose to.  Any day now.

Insert lots of smiley faces, right here.

In completely unrelated news, other than that the level of my brain melt over the last 2 years might well be directly proportional to my enjoyment of this, but….how unbelievably cute is this advert?  I’m afraid that there is pretty much zero chance that my kids would wait for the second marshmallow….