Happy Monday! Well, school is cancelled for the kids so that means I will be getting several phone calls through out the day at work..lol

Happy Monday all!!! We got lucky and had our bad weather this weekend. I think we got around 4-6 inches and freezing rain but hey, that's better than some. I'm looking forward to getting this week over with and enjoying Christmas next week. I also leave 12/27 to see my fiancee in Egypt for two weeks so I'm on cloud nine. I hope everybody has a wonderful week and the weather doesn't get too ugly for you. Hopefully more good news will arrive for everybody on their visas and notices. It seems like we have been on a roll lately but some of the ones waiting need some news soon. Good luck to all and God bless!

Tasha

happy monday all.

26 more days....

nothing exciting going on here, just wanting to sleep my days away but i stay up all night.

Love these puppies...Does anyone know what breed they are?

I have some sort of stomach virus and about every thirty minutes for the past two days, I want to die.

Happy Monday everyone!

Looks just like my parents Chihuahua when she was a pup. That dog makes me crazy!

It's still super cold here. The side streets are like a sheet of ice, but the main roads are decent. It's supposed to get to a whopping 36 degrees sometime this week. A warm front! Have a great day everyone!

me here

Here! Not happy to be at work again. Wish I could just quit. Tonight we get to look over health insurance and decide to take it or not.

Since I arrived here, I have had sinus issues. I never ever ever got sick in Tampa. Now I wake up and I HAVE SO MUCH SNOTTTTTT its driving me insane.

Sorry you are sick Jenn! be careful not to get dehydrated.

maybe your house is too warm at night? i have mine drop to 62 during the night to prevent that.

Well, we didn't get the snow or rain or sleet that was forecast for the weekend but it is so darned windy.

Happy Monday everyone.

perhaps - I will try that for a few days. I am getting more & more miserable

Happy Monday! It is a whole 18 degrees here.

I soooo fell asleep during Survivor last night. I woke up to see Todd (that little biatch) win a million dollars.

LaL, try Mucinex. midwest snot-buster

Jackie

buhhhhh. Work. lol. Give me my flea market day!!!!

Ramy's got a part time job as a party planner's assistant, but he had to travel almost 50 miles to Hartford yesterday in the ice and sleet to be a videographer for a birthday party. I was so scared crapless because he hadn't yet driven in it. Once I found out he arrived to Hartford safe, I figured if he didn't know how to drive in it, he would by the time he got home! Thank God he arrived safe

When the roads were clear I ventured out to our booth at the flea market. We usually get to the flea market between 7:30-8:00 to set up but yesterday I didn't even try to go until 1:30. Of course the place was deserted except for the vendors. And without Ramy there I ended up buying a piece of furniture I'd been eyeing for a couple months--an early 40's sideboard. It's kind of art deco and absolutely gorgeous! I bought it from a vendor across the room from us and now we're going to use it as a counter. We were going to give up the booth after Christmas, but I'm so excited and love it so much that I don't want to. Ramy doesn't like it much, but I'm hoping my enthusiasm will catch on. lolllllll. I might post pics of the sideboard later because it's soooo pretty. And it only cost me $40, which was even better because they only charged us half rent for the booth.

Lal, feel better! Ramy's been suffering from the same thing since he got here, but we think he might be allergic to the cat.

what kinda heat do you have? electric - propane - natural gas?

workin from home. School didn't start till 10 and I awoke to the door bell..it was the oil repair guy ready to fix my pipes...........I never even called to schedule him to come today so that was a weird thing but thank God he's here since we all had to sleep in my bed last night since it was the only room in the house with heat.

Yelled at the ex since he still hasn't deposited the money. Thank God my bank pays for checks even when I don't have the money. Granted I pay $33 a whack for that but at least it'll get me by until payday. As soon as I get out of this freakin' mess I'm getting a good lawyer.

I need more coffee.

I'm here, good morning all


those with overnight sinus issues, try sleeping with a humidifier on....

Jenn, hope you feel better soon, I dont think there is anything worse than a nasty stomach bug.

electric - and I have been blaming forced-air for my nasal woes - but this all just sucks. I also want my ingredients for cooking!!! Everything got tossed when we moved so replacing everything is a bit of a pain. Today I am missing vanilla extract - I wanted to make rice pudding. Something gooey & comfy to make me feel less snoooooootttty

hi all......
jenn i had something like that once try sticing ti saltine crackers and white rice
have a good day

ah yeah, i remember that problem when we had electric heat in texas. you need plants and humidifiers.

Mucinex rocks!!!!

Happy Monday everyone.

I'm still chuckling to myself over the blacked-out word !
I said the dirty word in a restaurant once with my friend & her parents and I thought they were gonna slap me ! )

It is still so funny. It was like I said the F-word or something. They wanted to kill me.

Anyway, I'm on vacation this week from work. We have a 5 day holiday for Eid.
Happy Eid anyone who is celebrating it !!!

I'm supposed to get some new glasses for my birthday this week & I want to go shopping for some winter boots. Here's a pic of a style I like:

Ok so I take it you mean winter boots for Egypt not a place where there is ice??? I'd fall flat on my arse if I wore those!!! They are lovely though! lol

What's going on with your case btw? Any word? Of all people I would think you'd be done by now since you even live there!!!

Boooo Monday.

We went and watched Tiger Woods win his own tournament yesterday from the VIP box at Sherwood country club and had a great time.

Have a good one!

I concur.

Boo Monday.


Yeah bridget, I just need boots for the winter to replace my slides and my tennis shoes from the summer. I don't know if I would get some that high, but these were some that I seen with the wide calf on them. My leg is too wide to fit into some skinny boots. I might have to get ankle boots if I can't find anything to suit me here.

No word on our case yet. I sent the embassy an email a couple of days ago. We know how that goes. I also tried to call DOS today, but the wait was more than 15 min to talk to an operator, so I decided to try at another time. I'm not sure what they will tell me, but I decided to call later.

Apparently, living here doesn't speed up the process, it just helps us personally to be together while we wait.

Thanks for asking though !

any day any day

SHUKIS, wiw !!!

I just got off the phone with DOS. I spoke to Chris. He said that everything is finished on Washington's end & that as of now they are processing the last updated information in Cairo. Duh! I knew that. But, he said the case won't go back to Washington & that the final stages are taking place right now.

Thanks again, wateriswide.

Happy Monday everyone...woke up to an additional 8 inches of snow to shovel...and some lovely packed in snow at the foot of the driveway...only took me one hour to get out..lol........


I hope everyone has a great day! ~Melinda

They told me that a month and a half ago.

Then last week they said "your husband never showed up for his interview"

Not to burst your bubble but I wouldn't put much stock in what DOS says.

Ares never went to Washington yet

Did your senator or congressman tell you that or just DOS? Again I would put no stock in what dOS says.

I'm missing snow right about now. But, my mom says it hasn't fallen in upstate SC yet.
We usually only get 1 or 2 snowfalls per year.

Good luck everyone in the snowstorms & be safe on the roads !


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Happy Monday! Yuck!!!!!!!

Jack sent an email to the Embassy over a week ago and they still have not answered.
I would assume with all this EID celebrating going on we will not hear anything for a while any way.

Yeah, bridget. Don't worry. That's only the second time I've ever called DOS.

I called today because Tamara's good news gave me the feeling that we are not far behind them & plus Wael's case was similar to ours (DCF) and they had a home visit just like us.

I actually would prefer to stay here a couple of more months. I am working and enjoying my time there.


OFF this topic question:
What do I do about my taxes for this year ? I didn't work, so I don't have to file, right ?
Or do I have to claim my money that I'm earning now ?? or what ??

OK. Thanks for any info. I will also ask my supervisor when I go back to work Sunday.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

well you did work this year...in egypt. you need to file in america even though you worked out of the country as far as i know.

You may not have earned enough to worry about - check into that. I think if it's under $3000 USD you don't have to claim it. I'm totally not sure about those numbers so check it out.

Thanks for the replies !

I found a chart on the IRS website:
http://www.irs.gov/publications/p54/ch01.html#d0e459

According to this chart, I won't have to file because my gross income doesn't reach the amount that requires me to file.

That's a relief.

Happy Monday!

Are you going by the limit on married filling separately? Otherwise you'd have to combine both your incomes to figure it out.

called dos same old same old case is in ap at the cairo consulate .......... sometimes it feels this will never end



The last two times I ever emailed them it took over 1 month to get a reply!!!

Damn and we are like 3 months behind you so it will be even longer!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Actually, we've both only been working for less than 2 months, so our income doesn't even reach any of those amounts after the money conversion ! Also, I tried to file him on my taxes last year or e-file as married but filing separately, and it wouldn't let me do it because he doesn't have a SSN or a TIN (Tax Identification Number).

That was my experience anyway.

Has anybody else been able to file their husbands on their tax returns while they were separated & before their spouse ever made it to the states ?

You might want to file anyway. All federal taxes that you paid will be refunded to you. I did this in college, even though I technically didn't have to file. I wanted my $75.

got this auto-response thier closed for christmas too


The Embassy will be closed for business from Tuesday, December 17, 2007
until Saturday, December 22, 2007 in observance of Eid El Adha
Holiday. We will re-open for normal business on Sunday, December 23.

You should expect to receive a response from our office within five
working days of receiving your e-mail.

Cairo Consular Staff

I am having a great Monday so far and hope everyone else is. For all of you that are experiencing the bad weather please be safe.

Well since I file head of household now, I won't have to put him on until he's been here for the majority of a full calendar year. God willing that will be in 2008 but who the hell knows.

My Princessa and Lexy bonding in my bed.

Jackie

lifes good how sweet is that