Bullet Me This
It’s one of those awful Friday bullet point days, which you probably hate but I’m not doing “stream of consciousness” very well today, so…um…sorry.
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My visa application is doing my head in, for two big reasons:
1) I cannot find my college diploma anywhere, and unfortunately I kinda’ need to send it in. You would think it’d be easy to find, seeing as in typical Texas style the diploma is roughly the size of a small houseboat. I tore the house apart yesterday and am going for it again today. The good news is I do have a sealed official academic transcript proving I graduated and which may or may not suffice, but the fact I can’t find my diploma-it’s not in the handy box I have, the one under the bed of those documents I will need for a long time still-is whipping me.
2) There are specific visa requirements to “prove” I speak English, and wouldn’t you know it, I cannot fulfill one of them.
Seriously.
The Home Office need an official letter from my university stating that my courses and my degree were taught to me in English. This, despite the fact that my degree is from the States, because I still need the letter as the HSMP guidelines dictate “they need this evidence regardless of whether or not the main language from your home country is English.”
I complain about this to Angus.
“I got my degree from the University of Texas at Arlington! What the fuck language do they expect I was taught in?” I moan.
“Spanish?” he asks.
“I don’t think they teach any courses other than Spanish language and literature courses in Spanish,” I reply. “Anyway, I don’t speak Spanish. I was too busy learning Russian to try to impress a guy.”
I call UTA anyway. It’s weird calling the registrar’s office there, it seems like a million years ago I went there. I ask about ordering a replacement diploma, which is going to be a complicated procedure as I need to go to a bank here and have them draft me a check for $25, for which I get to pay a
Blimey! What a week for you. I really hope you get your Visa application sorted out, I know how frustrating it is when you can’t find something you thought was safe!And as for the English things, that made me laugh! Honestly, the bureaucracy of government can be mind blowing!
The picture of your tummy being held by you and Angus is beautiful – brought a lump to my throat!
Have a good weekend, Helen,
Love S
I absolutely adore the picture.
How’s Gorby feel about hair pulling? He might get to the point where he jumps in the Gorby sized diaper bag :-)
Hmm… maybe you should throw in a thick Texan drawl when your on the phone… perhaps they need to here a different dialect??
Good Luck!
Wow. What a beautiful moment/picture. I’m glad for you, seriously!
Isn’t it harder to write about problems with Angus, knowing he’s going to read this?
I completely understand the UK position. As midwesterner who was transplanted to Texas after 21 years of life, I was never sure if they spoke english there either.
That photograph is simply amazing.
That is a beautiful photo! After reading your words that accompany it my eyes are full of tears and my heart full of love! I am 29 wks 2 days and have been sharing feelings with you thru most of your journey, that picutre just really captures the beauty of what your going thru together. Congrats H- you are going to make fantastic parents!!
ps- good luck with the visa papers!
pps- on the fat jokes? – you tell them to suck it! I say you look amazing.
That’s the best photo I’ve seen in months! Keep it forever. It will mean so much to the babies when they are older.
That photo makes me incredibly happy. And I laughed out loud when I heard he’s fitting the babies’ room with a camera – of course he is! Yours is a home filled with lots of love and modern technology. Naturally. (I’m not poking fun, really, I’m impressed and I still find it amusing.)
8 weeks – seriously!? Even way over here it feels like the time is flying. Off to gaze at this lovely photo some more – speaks volumes about love to me. Beautiful. Thank you both (all, the Lemonheads included) for sharing it.
Helen,
I am new to reading your blog. I started off with your photo stream some time back on Flickr. Reading about the rig-a-ma-role (sp?) over English gave me a good chuckle. It’s just really funny because it’s so obvious. Anyway, thank you, I really needed a something to put a smile on my face today. The IP camera is totally something I would do if I had any kids. It’s a great idea. I’m glad to see that you are coming along so well. I’ve followed along on your Flickr stream since before “Coming clean”. Your belly photo is a beautiful capture of a great experience. Thank you for sharing. Maybe this is too much to write in a comment section and should belong in an email instead, but it’s already written here, so too late.
Christopher
Flickr: Mr.Thomas (exalthim previously)
What a gorgeous picture. Time is certainly moving right along… we’re all keeping our fingers crossed every second of the way for you!
All I can say about the woman in Arkansas: yikes.
Too funny about the english speaking. Since when does common sense become so difficult? Sheesh…
Have a good weekend~
This first part of your blog reminded me of the video…it is hysterical: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysg_FoWOue8
Love that picture. It gave me the warm fuzzies. Have a good weekend!
I don’t know the size of door frames and cribs in the UK, but if it is the same as the US, cribs DO NOT fit through a doorway, once assembled. So… just seriously think about putting the crib together inside the room when it comes time and not in the living room thinking you’ll just roll it into the nursery. ;-) Won’t work…
My babies slept in a big basket in the beginning. A friend of mine had hers sleep in a drawer… pulled it out of the dresser, fixed it up and BING!, instant baby bed! So… not everyone gets that nursery together immediately. Heh. It all comes together eventually. It does.
They’ll totally sleep non stop for like the first three weeks. Being birthed is a tiring job.
And after this week, I probably scared the shit out of you, but all babies, they’re different, nothing you don’t know, and it’s hard to not be scared. One two, three or a litter. Some days will be great and others you’ll be like Goldie Hawn in Overboard, where they sit there pegging her with grapes as she rocks back and forth. Those are good times. I think you’ll probably do better than I will right off the bat, since you’ll need some sort of organization with two.
That and leave the baby gear to the men. They’ll give it pet names while putting it together, but they still do it way better.
you are not too fat if angus can reach around you. That is truly a cool picture, and should be framed on your wall.
Webcams? How cool is that? I wish my daughter and sil were so savvy, I’d love to be able to watch the baby….
And just so you know, living in NM? They are only teaching in spanish. (ok, it seems like it anyway)
I absolutely adore that picture.
Here’s hoping next week will bring news that English is actually the first language of many Texans and that certain departments that deal with visa type things get their heads out of their asses. ;)
aaaah! what a great moment.
*chuckles* Every blogger I know that gets pregnant says they are not going to turn into a “Mommy” blog. after the baby comes
But of course, they certainly blog a lot about their baby.
As is natural and right, after all. Babies/kids/teens become part of your life. Of course you’ll blog about them. But you’ll still be you too. Yes, some women lose themselves completely inside their children, giving up their own identiies and living the rest of their lives through their kids.
But I seriously doubt you’ll be one of those, Helen. :)
Oh my God, I just read the part where Michelle Duggar has been pregnant for TEN YEARS OF HER LIFE. I need to go lie down.
Heather
I live in the UTA area, so if needed I can visit the Registar in person and see what I can do. Email me and let me know…. I don’t mind, really!
Absolutely love that picture!
First if this turns into a mommy blog, I would still read you every day. This is about Helen, and Helen is going to be the best mommy evar, so we should hear about it!
Second, I absolutely cannot believe you are carrying twins. It totally doesn’t look like it. Whoever is making the fat jokes, you just need to kick them in the ding-ding.