I am so ready to run in the sun with my flip flops on. I wore sandals yesterday but it was just for a little while. Now back to the cold for a few weeks. Javier doesn't really try to keep up with what is going on in Mexico. Actually, I have to make him call down there. He never calls his family. We are in the same boat as you, Stephanie. It's not like we are ready to call it quits but it's just different. He is different. You really should try to get away for a few days. It really helped Javier and I. Just to go to another town or something would be good. Well I hope we all make it through this weird stage and it's nice to know we have people to compare notes with. I was starting to wonder if there was something wrong with Javier and I. Glad to know we are still "normal".

Ashley: I hate to tell Diane but I think she will go through it too. Javier and I had the strongest relationship I thought was possible for two people to have and it's still happening to us. I think it's just natural after being away from someone for so long. She might even have it extra bad because she has been away from her husband a lot longer than we were ours. I hope it doesn't happen to her but odds are it will. At least you have been through it and you can help her out when the time comes.

So were the sparks all gone? was there no connection after a week or two of being back.... talk to me guys!!

Elvia…I don’t know how to describe it except as remember before you got married people told you that your relationship would be different after you were married? (O.k., well at least people told me that). 3 weeks after Miguel and I met we moved in together, yes I know it was fast but it felt right, and it was right. Well 1.5 yrs after that we married. So we had plenty of experience living together and “acting” like a married couple…but after we were married, just as everyone had said, things were different. Not in a bad way, just a different way. And seriously I don’t know how to describe it. It kinda feels like that kind of different now. Luckily digging through my memory in my feeble mind it seems that “differentness” only lasted a few months… I hope this one does too.

Elvia dont worry hun the sparks our there but sometimes the woman in us want to use them to burn our man in the *** to get them back on track .lol

Me personally almost everything was a little different. Tacho acts different , looks a little different, and at first treated me like i was his mom. In the bed was different. First it was come up for air then it was like where in the world did he go? Uh hes asleep? already! I guess its hard to admit but some of the change was in me and I was blaming him. For me I had never been alone. We got shacked up as my great gram likes to say when I was seventeen and I have always depended on him. I mean I worked and stuff , but not having to cook, make tortillas, be home at a certain time, or answer to someone made me a little more independent and yes a little more STRONGER!

************
No the sparks are still definitely there! There is no problem with that…just seems how we relate to each other has changed.

Well put Steph . Tacho and I lived together for two years but when we got married it did change. for me though its getting back to normal but a NEW normal. lol

But are things different to where they can be worked or is it too much of a difference that you think to yourself why am I still here? I mean is it so much that you start looking for a confidant? I remember when I was going thru crap with my now ex-husband I thought this is just wrong, why am I still putting into this with out anything in return???? You know what I mean?

Yeah the sparks are still there. Some of ours might have to do w/ having the housemate here w/ us so shortly after tachos return. We are getting back to our normal laundry routine I guess that is why I have taken three nights off from work this month. lol

For us Its like it can be worked out almost I hate you but I love you things. Like when your mad and you just get madder because you want to smile.

Oh things can definitely be worked out…but some of the oddity of it all is that I don’t know how to put my finger on what exactly needs to be worked out. This past weekend it got so weird that Miguel said maybe we need some time apart and I was like dude…we’ve been apart 6.5 months, I really don’t think that is what we need. It wasn’t necessarily that he wanted to separate, just that you get so exasperated as to what is bothering you both that you go for the quick fix…which in the end can be devastating. No worries though, we aren’t separating.

I think we need to do some laundry and chill out. I am such an overanalyzer that I try to figure every nuance out and it is making me bonkers. So instead this weekend I drank quite a bit of wine and dyed my hair. It turned out very interesting…not really what I expected but it is different. I am known to change my hair when I go through a change in life. My hair changed color and cut almost every other week in college…things were quite a bit more crazy back then!

Tacho has had said them exact words steph! Once he even said get out of my pants refering to we did not have to be together 24/7. I did that last week except for on Tequila. Didnt do so well, the next day I was sick as a dog!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

hey jessngeorge nice to see u! seen you in i2us welcome!

Thanks Steph!

it is just SCARY at so many levels to know that I will be going thru this immigration journey. I think I have gone thru all levels of grieve, like bargaining, anger, depression and then finally acceptance. It still worries me though. Do I make sense or is it just the paranoia?

I dont know about yall but when Tacho was in mexico I felt like it would be easier if he were dead. I mean when someone dies you grieve yet you realize that they are not coming back and you learn to step forward where as with immigration you have no control and no clue exactly the outcome . I am so glad it is over but I will never forget that phase of my life.

You are so on the right track Stephanie. That is exactly how I feel. Javier has said the same words too. I was the same way as you. I mean, he just came back, I don't want him gone again. And I have never thought being apart was a way to work on your relationship. It's the same way with us, you just can't put your finger on what is wrong. It's really weird.

Being apart is NOT a way to work on a relationship. It is a way out. I think it isnt something you can put a finger on more or less it is several things just out there.

Oh yeah, Elvia: The sparks are definitely there. We do more laundry now than we ever did. Except when we first started dating. It's great. Plus we have that other issue we have been working through also which makes it especially tough for us. Don't worry to much about it. It's not so overwhelming that you would want to throw in the towel. At least I don't want too.

Hey I am going to change the subject for this post only.... someone on IM2US (torres) said she just got her appointment letter and she got her file forwarded the same day as mine..... what do you guys think? should I call CDJ????? I am so nervous as I type this

Guys we are lucky with the INS crap though I mean poor melissa and then did yall see on I2us someone form Lebanon who overstayed a visa called to ask about there case and were denied over the phone for calling!

CALL CALL CALL

Thanks guys!!!

It is so comforting to know I am not alone with this!


You all are gold stars in my book!

if they are available call!!!!!!!!!!! to all my sisters

I'm on the phone with the lawyer???? we'll see what happens with him first

Yes, it is nice to know we aren't all going crazy. Thanks guy! You all are the bestest!!!

YES...call!!

Okay so I need to know something before 5. Where are you? What's going on?

okay I called the lawyer and she said the same blah blah about not receiving anything from CDJ yet so I will have to e-mail cdj since I am not at work I can't call to check..... bummer

I will call tomorrow from work...... aaargh.... I hate having to wait until tomorrow!!!!

Elvia…even if they haven’t processed an interview date for you guys yet….with Torres’ news, you know it’ll be any day now!!

Take care and I am hoping for the best!!

thank you guys!!!!! I too must say that you guys rock!!!!

Good morning Ladies!! Hope everyone is having a good day. I brought my spanish for gringos book with me to work today so maybe I can learn something. My goal is to be able to speak spanish by the time we go back in December. Do you think I can do it? I don't have much faith in myself. Plus I plan on starting an exercise regimen to get into shape by then also. I have a goal in mind for that too. I want to be strong enough to punch someone's lights out by the time I go back. You all have to keep me on track.

Charity -
You should get a discount working for the college. Couldn't you take an intro Spanish class? I have faith in you, I am sure you can accomplish whatever you put your mind to.

I do get to take one class a semester. I have already taken Beginning Spanish II. It was pretty hard. I made an A but I struggled through it. The teacher spoke mostly Spanish the whole class. He would only speak in English if we were completely confused. I learned a lot of good stuff but lost a lot of it since I don't use it regularly. I am just going to have to start speaking Spanish to Javier. That's the only way I am going to learn it. It's like you said, I just have to put my mind to it and do it. As Javier would say I have to "Git-R-Done".

I hope that you can convince Javier to be your teacher. Alex does ok, sometimes he corrects me and sometimes he does not. Drives me crazy.

Javier is really good at correcting me. He won't let me say anything wrong. Which is good, but he just won't speak to me in spanish. Good for him, bad for me. I really want to be able to communicate with his family when we go back down there. I just feel stupid sitting there looking at them and not being able to say anything. I know they don't understand why I can't speak spanish any better than I do.

It was funny the first time I went to Mexico, all I was saying was "NO COMPRENDE". I felt so dumb, this time was much better, I could actually follow converstions, as long as I knew what the conversation was about. I remember the first time I started watching Mexican TV with Alex. The news people talk so fast. I really started to pickup on it when I would watch the little soap operas. "Amy, la niña de la mochila azul" was one of my favorites. Alex's mom bought Emily some little pj's with Amy on the front.

See my problem is when we watch spanish tv, I tune it out. I don't pay attention to what is going on. That's why I haven't really picked up on anything. I really need to try and listen more and pay more attention. The last time I went to Huauchinango was better too. I could follow along with some conversations, not all of them. His family tried to talk to me more that time than the first time too so that made it better. I had a really hard time trying to answer them sometimes though. I can't do past tense stuff. It confuses me. I really need to study that part of it and the little connecting words you use to make actual sentences.

I am sure that I sound like a 2 year old when I speak spanish. I don't conjugate (no hablo, hablas, hablan, etc...) I bet that just makes me sound like fingernails on the chalk board to them.

Hola Muchachas!

I will now write everything in spanish for Charity so when she goes to mexico she will have learned how to speak read and write it!!!! You can do it girl!

Bueno, no fui a trabajar otra vez!! asi que me compre una tarjeta telefonica y estoy hablando pero no entra la llamada. estoy tratando de hablar desde esta manana pero sale como si estubiera ocupado.... Bueno mas alrato lo voy a intentar otra vez.... Charity si tienes problemas entendiendo escribelo para saber en que te puedo ayudar!

Edited to add.... hey Benita how did you get the n with the thing on the top?

Okay, I get that you bought a phone card and are trying to call about the appointment. I think you said you tried to call yesterday but couldn't get thru. I don't know what the second to last sentence says. And obviously I know what the last sentence says or I wouldn't have typed this.

Edited to add: I think you have tried to call all morning and it is busy. Instead of the previous thought I had.

Si!!! I also said that I will keep trying to call! Entonces todo lo que escribi lo entendiste. Ahora lo que tienes que hacer es hablarlo en voz alta para que oigas la pronunciacion. Y luego como dijiste tienes que ponerte a ver la television en espanol para que le vayas perdiendo el miedo.

I copied it from a letter that I had written before. Or you can get it from the internet. I just cut and Paste.

Okay, I can't figure this one out. I know it says I understand what is written. But I don't know what it says about speaking it and the pronunciation of it. I don't know what the last sentence says at all. I can pick out some words but I can't make it those words make sense. Does that make sense?

Guess what?????? There is a shortcut to make the tilde n. (ñ) all you have to do is put the cursor where you want this special character ñ hold down the alt key and type 164 when you let up on the alt key ñ your letter will be there. Pretty Cool.

Here is an entire list. Remember to hold alt down when you type the number.

á 160 ¿ 168
é 130 ¡ 173
í 161 ª 166
ó 162 º 167
ú 163 Ñ 164
É 144 ñ 165

I have to try that. It doesn't work for me. No fair. I want to be able to put the little thing on top of the n.

Charity, Did you use the number keys on the right or are you using the ones on the top of the keyboard? It will only work with the number pad keys.

ñ í ó ú COOL

Here is another suggestion:

Keyboard Configuration
If you use windows you can change the configuration of your keyboard. It is possible to make a little icon appear on the control bar at the bottom of your screen so that you can change from one keyboard to another very quickly. Go into your control panel and choose the keyboard icon. Choose languages. Choose "add". You will see a list of many languages. Choose a Spanish keyboard. Afterwards you will be able to change from Spanish to English or visa-versa very easily.

Below is an image of the Spanish keyboard from Spain. The keys in yellow are the important ones that you will need when writing in Spanish.







Gotta go.....Alex is getting a wisdom tooth yanked out today. Wish him luck.

Thanks Benita. I actually used the keys on the top of the keyboard, which is funny because I never use those keys. I have to use the number pad for my job all the time. Good luck to Alex. I hope everything goes okay.

[size=7] Elvia have you gotten through yet??????????????

otra vez he tenido problemas con el telefono. Suena ocupado. Ya mande un correo electronico pero aun no lo han contestado. Bueno ahorita voy a hablar y les tengo una respuesta mas tarde.

Your having telephone problems. You emailed them but they haven't answered. And I am not sure what the last sentense says. It's always the last sentence I have problems with.

She is going to call now and should have an answer soon.

I am going to call now and then let you know what they say.

Tambien he tratado de hablar al el otro teléfono 202-663-1541 pero cuando contesto la grabadora dijo que las representantes estan ayudando a otras personas y que por favor llame mas tarde. AAAARGGG

okay muchachas.... I am going to take a break from the net. if you need me you can e-mail me. I am just in need of some r and r. C-ya

See ya! Thanks for the spanish lesson today. We can pick up tomorrow. Have a good night. I hope you get through soon.