Three More Weeks...probably

Yesterday we received our clearance from the National Visa Center...which means that they have approved our I-800 (US Immigration Form) and Mei's visa application will be forwarded to Guangzhou first thing this morning. We will wait 14 days for our I-800 to be approved, hypothetically it will only be ONE WEEK after that until they give us a travel date. Unfortunately, our one week will fall right during Chinese New Year.  I'm trying to stay positive, but it's going to be an additional week of waiting out through the biggest holiday of the year.

This has been the longest January on record. It's been bitter cold and I swear that every time we get a step closer there is always one more form to be approved. Adding to the length has been that I was laid off my job at NGA...hum. I'm not surprised that financially they are in a rough place. There was a bunch of crazy stuff going on, generally good people, but a definite lack of consistency. Nevertheless, I really loved writing for them. I hate to see it go. It was a pretty sweet gig to work from home and I've always known that it was a huge blessing for my family. I'm not going to be looking for anything new. My life is in such a state of transition that I think I just need to "be still" and "be patient" and let things kind of work out and about for the next few months. I've had a few sad days, but I don't really know how to sit still so I've managed to keep quite busy. It also looks like I'm going to be sticking pretty close to a budget for the next year. Woot, woot. Good thing I've got all of those hard beans in food storage--really looking forward to making some high fiber foods with them.

Last Saturday we took the kids skiing. The sunshine felt so good. The kids are really skiing well. I honestly don't know how Jack can go so fast straight down the hill--it makes me sick to my stomach to watch him do it. Lachlan mentions over and over again how much she loves using her poles this year. She still is, technically, a better skier than Jack. There is a lot more control going on with her.

I have to laugh when I look at this picture. What is going on with my twisty leg and crazy hand?