bubbaloves: RED TOOLBOX treasure chest competition!

bubbaloves: RED TOOLBOX treasure chest competition!: A few month back the kids and Chris had quite a lot of fun with a fantastic product from Red toolbox , Their treasure chest ! You can read ...

"Love Thy Neighbour"..

Honestly, do people really "Love Thy Neighbour?"

I believe in our town it is,  "Ignore Thy Neighbour". We go to functions in our town and noticed that many of the adults sit quietly by themselves. Yes, you will see some gossip mongers that huddle into their own little corner and never say "hello" to anyone. My husband and I go into our own little corner and keep to ourselves since this seems to be the norm here. This probably explains why our town isn't planning anything for the Royal Wedding. Who wants to spend an uncomfortable day with a bunch of silent adults that are pretending to enjoy themselves.

Anyways, I remember when I went to pick up my daughter from the local preschool and the mums were chatting away for everyone to hear in the hallway. I don't really like all the chatter but thought to be friendly, so I said, "Hello". All the women were joining in the conversation so I assumed it would be okay for me to join in. I kinda shrugged my head in agreement. Funny thing, noone said, "Hello" back and they completely ignored me and didn't even look at me! I found it very rude and quite shocking, so I walked away. I now try to avoid these people at all costs and show up a few minutes late to pick up my daughter or wait outside while these unfriendly women chat away.

Back to the whole, "Love thy Neighbour" show. We don't live too far from the town so we decided to take a drive there. The Yorkshire Dales is very beautiful and we love road trips so we decided to go there. The town was packed with lots of tourists. The shop workers seemed very friendly and we thought it was such a lovely place. I realise that visiting a place and actually living there is a totally different experience, but liked all the town had to offer. Yes, this small town has plenty to offer such as shops, a library, restaurants, pubs and coffee houses which is very appealing to me. Our town is very small with 1 pub, 1 shop, a broken down library mobile and some hiking trails. I like our town but wish I could say that I love it.

Lemon bars and a white lie.

I baked Lemon bars and they didn't turn out exactly how I hoped they would turn out. They tasted okay, but a bit too gooey for my liking to bring them to the local preschool Bingo night. Anyways, hubby helped with cutting the lemon bars for me which was a great help but he failed to wait until they cooled before he piled them ontop of each other. I was okay with it since I had already decided to keep them as a home treat for us and forget the whole idea of bringing them to the local function. My husband became extremely annoyed with me about it and remained annoyed until this morning.

The reason I refuse to bring the treats to the local function is because it looks like a gooey mess. Lets face it, who would want to buy it? Even worse, I can't handle the embarrassment saying that I made this mess! I am new to this very small town, without any family or friends living here and even worse an American.

I decided that I will lie to my hubby and tell him that I gave the Lemon bars to the school. I don't like to lie but I don't want to argue over stupid lemon bars! I felt so bad tossing them in the rubbish today, but for the first time, I realise that white lies are better than being brutally honest.

I am guessing he realises that the mums at the local preschool are not very friendly towards me and doesn't like that I have written them off completely. Maybe he believes these Lemon bars would ignite a frienship of some kind.

Royal Wedding

When I heard the news of the Royal wedding, I was so excited that I would be living in England and celebrating the event. My husband informed me that many towns have street parties for the event and we could participate that way. Well, it appears that our town isn't having a street party which is disappointing for me. I commented to my husband that I could have easily watched the Royal wedding on TV in the USA which makes me feel a little bummed out. I was really hoping to experience something a little more than being glued in front of the TV or hanging out at the local pub for a pint.

Immigration: a letter written by my husband

Two years in exile for a US citizen who chooses to marry an immigrant that has entered on a J1 visa with a two year restriction.  This was the final outcome for my wife.  In 2001, I entered the USA on a J1 visa to work at a university in the USA.  About a year later, I met Valerie and fell in love. 

We consulted an immigration attorney about overturning the J1 visa and after looking at my paperwork convinced us that we had a strong case.  The UK is not a country on the skill lists, there are no subject areas that are required by the UK and even though my first year indicated that I had received state funds (and not the second and third years), this was done in error as my pay remained the same over the three year contract.  The attorney’s main line of argument was that the funds were never specifically designated for me and according to my IAP66 papers.  Our attorney advised us to marry soon which we did in March so that we could begin processing the paperwork.

Within the two years that we tried to appeal our decision, my wife graduated from college with an Associate degree in nursing while I had considerable difficulty in obtaining employment in my field having only a one year work permit.  Meanwhile, we spent plenty of money on attorney fees and existed on the poverty threshold line.  The US immigration authorities requested that we attend an interview in which we had to prove that we were married based on providing a certificate of marriage and also evidence of co-habitation.  Even though the immigration authorities acknowledged that we were married, my appeal for the hardship case on the J1 visa waiver was finally denied and I was ordered to leave the country within 30 days or risk deportation.  Ironically once the immigration authorities were satisfied we were married, my wife was then given the choice to either live married life as a separated couple or married together outside the borders of the USA. 

I applied for jobs abroad and was offered a position in Ireland and after reviewing the apparently uncomplicated immigration procedures for my wife, I accepted the position.  However on arrival in Ireland, when my wife tried to register as a resident at the city police department, we were told that she had to apply for an EU card from the Department of Justice in Dublin.  After eight months, my wife received a denial of her application for an EU card but was informed that she could apply for a Stamp 4 that would entitle her to work for the period of my contract in Ireland.  It is perhaps worthwhile to note that my wife’s nursing qualification is unacceptable here and she would require an additional two years of schooling costing about 20,000 Euros per year. 

In the six months since we arrived in Ireland, my wife was diagnosed with Hashimoto’s disease, she has found that she is three months pregnant, and her mother was readmitted to hospital for heart surgery.  Valerie feels very isolated, unstable about our future, and despite attempts to remain upbeat sometimes becomes depressed.

We decided to marry and keep together through difficult times but it seems that the governments of this world are placing every possible obstacle in our way perhaps in the hope that we would eventually separate and live our lives in our own countries with a discriminatory attitude towards foreigners.  I was always been under the impression that the heads of states of the USA and the UK were concerned about the family values but it seems that the actions of immigration policy are to the contrary.

How many additional hardships are we to face?  After all, neither my wife nor I were born into middle class families.  Both of us were brought up by single parents in poverty whose fathers were tragically killed during our childhoods.  In consequence, both of us have endured major personal strife’s in our lives which neither of us wishes to divulge in order to protect the ones we love.  All we hope for in our future is the opportunity to live together as a family in a place we can call home, for both of us to have the opportunity to contribute to the family income when necessary so we can provide all the wonderful things for our child.

Many immigrants coming to work in the USA come on J1 visas. Should they happen to become involved in a relationship with an American citizen then it is the American citizen who will be forced to relocate out of their homeland. After all, as the saying goes love knows no bounds and no matter what preconditions the government imposes on legal immigrants coming to USA, it is evitable that this will happen.  Does this mean that my wife’s rights as American citizen are to be denied because she married an immigrant on a J1 visa (see the articles from the Human Rights below)?  Where is the  lady with the flaming torch to show my wife  the way home after emigrating from her homeland, leaving behind her family and opportunity for career to face an uncertain future?

A comping mum.

Yes, I am a comping mum. I am not one of those mums that neglect my housework, mum duties or anything like that. It is simply a hobby that I enjoy doing on my free time. I don't enter comps thinking that I will WIN, but when I do, it is always nice. Comping can bring out your creativity when entering recipes, photos, or writing comps. Also, there are comps when you play games such as trivia, or other fun interactive games.

It is free entertainment with the possibility of winning a prize.

An Insomniac thoughts on benefits of staying up late

1. Can read a book or study without any disruptions. The house will be very quiet.
2. Can watch a R-rated films while the children are asleep.
3. Can watch subtitled foreign films
4. Great if you enjoy Astronomy
5. If into Wicca, casting spells or holding seances at midnight will not be a problem.
6. You might be the only person to hear the Owl hoot in the night
7. If an intruder were to break in, you will hear him and will be able to surprise him.
8. You can always deny that you snore and noone will ever say any different.
9. You can record everyone around you that snores.
10. Can spend time on the computer chatting, blogging, enter comps, sending emails, etc.
11. It is the best time to catch infomercials to see all the interesting new gadgets you can buy
12. You will become very good on your toes with the constant tip-toeing around the house. It may improve your ballet skills, or just sneaking up on people.
13. You will know where all the creaky floor boards are in the house
14. If you like the night life then you will be able to party the night away without getting tired.
15. You may burn extra calories because of the constant tossing and turning in bed.