I refuse to change my ticker

Today I completed my fingerprints, virtually pain free, except there was metered parking and I had to scrounge, like under seats and in random car pockets, for enough change to feed the meter. I was so worried that this seemingly simple event would be disappointing by receiving a parking ticket, but THANKFULLY, I had enough change and then some. Thank goodness, that was a really close one.

Onto the title of this entry: I know that my countdown is cutting very close (I know, too close), but I refuse to change it until I have a questioned for anything, I-171H, referral, TA, anything. I can pretty much guarantee that I won't be in VN by the middle of Spring, but I hope to have a referral by then so at least I will know who my child is, even if I haven't met them yet. My friends in Southern California are planning on throwing a baby shower at the end of January, middle of February, so it would be nice to be able to tell people the gender of my child, have a name picked out a photo or two also. It just seems so fake without the referral. Again, this is why I wanted the adoption to be on a need-to-know-basis. Oh well, maybe next time.

Friday was a GREAT day

I checked the mail last night and was gleeful to see my fingerprint appointments in there. I can go as early as Tuesday at 8am. Unfortunately I have to work and that is too short of notice to go and get them done. The offices are open Tue-Sat 8-3:30 so I will be at USCIS at approximately 8:01 next Saturday morning. I am so excited. That took less than a week, since they just got my completed homestudy last Friday. Let's hope this is the start of more progress.

In the mail my mom and I also were invited to my cousins wedding. She is my dad's brothers daughter and I thought that may be weird, but my dad isn't going (he left my mom and I on 1/1/04, it's a long, emotional story), so it felt really nice to be invited, it's in December and the reception is going to be held at a vineyard. Sounds nice.

Friday was definatly a good mail day.

USCIS

I am wondering if anyone out there knows where I look online to find wait times for processing your I-171h? I looked on the USCIS website and then got distracted and lost my place. I don't have a fingerprinting appointment yet, hopefully by the beginning of next month, but I would like to start stalking USCIS's online network now.

Thanks

New Baby Items

Here is a photo of the blanket, booties and mittens I found in the cutest of all shops in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Home Sweet Home

First off, I love my bed. How I missed it so. Our flight back was blissful, only a little bumpy as the weather was rainy in spots and aparently flying through clouds is a bumpy road. The pilot even said, sorry about the turbulence, we didn't see it coming. My trip ended on a terrific note. Andrea from the agency called and GRANDMA"S PRINTS CLEARED. I am heading down there today to hand deliver a cable change notice (since I changed from Guatemala to Vietnam). I already submitted one to the CIS, but they need a hard copy for there records. I am so excited, I'm back to nesting and I love it.

On to the trip...I took more than 350 pictures and the fall colors are great. We saw a lot of lighthouses which I love, the ship was really nice (Carnival wasn't ads bad as I thought. It was super cheap, but the service was really good and our room was always clean. The food was super yummy and the excersions were great, overall I was really pleased). About 4-5 days into the cruise my mom finally felt better, I'm telling you this was the sickest she's been in 30 years or more, it was really bad, thankfully she is feeling much better, she just needs to build her lungs up now so she doesn't catch anything else-ever! When we got in into New York we even saw Will Smith filiming a movie (I didn't have my camera ready and he ran around the corner once I could have taken a picture. I realize I take some really good photos while I'm driving. I'll attached just a few so you don't spend all day, but here ya go. (We started off in Newark and then left out of the port on NY stopped at Boston, Portand, Halifax (where I bought the cute baby blanket, mittens and booties), and St. John and then back to spend a few days in NY. An overall wonderful, much needed trip, now, onto unpacking and laundry.)