Flash !!! this just into our news desk .... Windmill Boy reaffirms that he is still alive and kicking ..... News story at ll:00 pm !!!!!
Aww what the heck, if you can't have any fun why bother participating in life at all Ha Ha Ha ?
Well as I am closing in on 3 months of being married I find that I finally have the chance to participate here, I read regularly but I've been so busy that I haven't had the energy / motivation / or time to write until now.
Things are slowly progressing for us. Kathryn and I got married June 25 th. It was a nightmare to throw together the weddding in about 2 months time and most of the work fell on my shoulders but we pulled it off and it was a nice ceremony. Then I had the honor to write all the thank you cards since she did not know most of the people. I did this in a relatively timely fashion but it kept me busy throughout July and into August.
Kathryn got fingerprinted and photographed on July 5 th, and we had our AOS "Green Card" interview on july 28 th. She was so nervous preparing everything and ensuring that every T was crossed and I was dotted. We came armed to the hilt with evidence but the interview took only 10 - 15 minutes. They verified that the information she wrote on a form was correct, they kept one of my paystubs, maybe photocopied her passport, her social security card, and possibly our marriage license and that was about it. I do not even think they asked any questions about our relationship and here we brought pictures, e-mails, love letters, phone bills, etc. -- all of that junk for nothing. The immigraton officer told us that we were part of a new trial program starting after May 1st in the Buffalo field office to speed things up. We aint complaining - she arrived here april 11 th and she was awarded her Green Card on july 28 th. We fill out a form in 2 years and send it in to remove the conditions and after 3 years she can apply for citizenship.
We wrote a letter back to the office in Chicago that collected our filling fees for the Advanced Parol and EAD work permit to see if we can recoup the fees that we paid for these. The Green card effectively made these unneccesary but since we never even heard a word from the government about these applications other than that they received the checks we are hoping that we get refunded the money -- but I kind of think we have a snowball's chance in Hell to see these fees returned even though they never took any action on these forms. Kathryn said that when she worked at the Austailian Consulate in her city in China they would refund the filing fees for situations like ours if it was requested so that is why she wanted to try to get a refund for our filing fees.
The next day after receiving the stamp in her passport for recieving her green card we did the proper thing of going to the social security office to apply for a new card that did not have the words NOT ABLE TO WORK printed on it. Well they confiscated the old card as soon as they entered the request for the new card. This really screwed us up because we wanted to apply for Kathryn's written test for driving but we had to wait for 4 weeks before she received another new correct card so she could physically show it at the DMV. Kat finally took the test and Aced It. Now she is going tomorrow for her second lesson at the driving school ($ 79 for 1 1/2 hours) and I am practicing with her 3 -4 mornings a week. She is doing pretty well so far so there is hope. The pressure is on her however as we are hoping that she can take the road test by the end of October. This way she can drive on her own a little before the Snow starts to fly.
Speaking of Snow that was another expense that I recently had to incur -- winterizing my woman. She has never even seen snow yet. But New York had a Tax free week on clothes around labor day so I had to buy her Levis jeans, Courderoys, Fleece Jackets, a light winter fleece jacket / parka, sweaters, sweatshirts, Gloves, boots, sneakers, and she bought a goofy looking Dr Zhivago looking hat that looks like some one killed a woodchuck on top of her head but it will keep her warm though. She is knitting herself a scarf and someone we know is making a knitted hat for her also. I still have to buy her the feel no pain Jacket that she will wear when it gets bittely cold in January / February.
Once Kathryn gets her license and is able to drive than the last piece of the puzzle is to get her into the work force. She is itching to get a job. But until she can drive she is stuck. She has started to circulate some resumes and is begining to interact with head hunting agencies but we are uncertain how her education and experience from China will transfer over to here. She is begining to worry that she wont be able to get a Job but I have to continue to reassure her that she can and she will. I remember when I was unemployed how much your self worth goes down. It has been hard for her to leave a good job in China to being house bound in the burbs and having to start over again.
Here is a funny ancedote ... tonight when I came home from work she had cut our some ads from the newspaper for job prospects that she wanted me to review. Being that she is an accountant and that they have all kinds of creative titles in that field -- Tonight I had to tell her " Honey, a corrections officer does not mean that you are reviewing someone elses work looking for mistakes like an Auditor --- It means that you are a police officer in the prison". Ha ha ha That is why I married someone from a different culture It is never a dull ride. It is not a stove or an oven It is a Stoven. It is not Cross Stitch it is Cross Snitch.
It has been a bumpy ride so far, She has gotten used to Rochester somewhat. She says it is a village here, but appreciates that it is quiet and safe in the suburbs. She misses her family but does not miss Guangzhou so much. Tonight we went for a Full Moonlight walk in the new development close to us and she was telling me which houses would have good Feng Shue for us according to our signs and which houses were innappropriate. She is already focusing and dreaming on buying a house within the next 2 years then she says she will be more content living in Rochester when we truely have a place to call our own.
It seems that I am non stop on the go between being the Chauffer for both of us, being a problem solver as they arrise, and working alot to try to earn some Dinero. I find that I have had very little down time just for myself to accomplish the things that what I would like to. But I guess those Bachelor Days are over. However all things considered so far I think I've made a good choice so far and I would not trade her in for a differnt model.
Windy
