~July 2007 K-1 Filers~

[BabyBlueSusie 1]

Oh Susie - I am so glad to hear that things are going smoothly - it's hard to cope with it all but at least you know you have made the right decision and in the end it will be better for both of you

I know what you mean about the kitties as well - my two are a godsend - Daisy on her own was a lifesaver as we went through a lot together but having the little one running around all over keeps me occupied when Daisy is sleeping! Of course, it makes it a rare treat when they are both asleep like they are now as I get a bit of peace!!!

Yea, it is definitely not easy, but I have so much faith in us that I am not even concerned about our relationship not being able to handle this. We have been through harder times (as you ALL can relate to), so i know we are strong enough to see this through.

Thanks for being so sweet.

I don't know what I would do without my kitty. Aww it must be so cute to have them both sleeping. Do they ever sleep together? I love to see kitties all snuggly together, it's oh so precious. My kitty is happy to be an only child, and was very anxious when I had roommates who also had cats. He is generally a very laid-back kind of kitty and used to get very annoyed with the rambunctious (spelling?), young kitten that we used to live with. Do you ever have cat fights between the older and younger ones? The generation gap!

[Jeraly 4]

Oh cat fights? Alll the time!! I think it is their version of playing because Daisy likes to be left alone for the most part but the little one looks up to her - he gets as close to her as he can and watches her from a safe distance They've been known to sniff each other (not such a big deal for the kitten cause he has no problem with Daisy unless she is trying to eat him) and the kitten will play with Daisy's tail and sometimes she will let him get away with it - he swaps between trying to catch and eat it to licking it clean which is cute. I have high hopes that when he grows up and calms down a bit they might even snuggle up But not right now...

Where is everyone else anyway? I am trying to find out who can make it to the hallowe'en party as it is in about three weeks' time!! I still need to get my costume together and figure out some more food but I don't have a clue how many people will be here!!!

[rae_and_scott 1]

Hey everyone!

It sure has been a ghost town here! That's partly my fault. Scott and I were in Canada for our friends' wedding -- which was absolutely lovely and amazing. Coming back and using AP was no fun. The woman at the booth we drove up to was a total ######, and then we had to go inside and wait and wait, and it took an hour and a half. When we got home, though, we were greeted with Scott's Green Card, so we won't have to deal with that again! That's good since we're going back to Canada this weekend, this time to Montreal (to scope out wedding venues!! I am so excited!)

I don't think I wished you a happy birthday, Gillian, so happy belated birthday!

Now I'm back at work -- 12 hour days, plus I'm sick. Really sick. Yuck.

Aly, I can tell you a little about what my vision of Thanksgiving is. I LOVE Thanksgiving! Why? Because it is a holiday of eating! haha I know you've been talking about diets but on this day you can go crazy and eat and eat. Maybe it's because I like to cook and I usually spend the whole day sipping wine and either cooking or helping the cook, depending on whether I'm hosting or with family or what. A lot of American families watch football during the day. Personally, it's not my thing, but I wouldn't be doing my duty to not mention it. If you go to someone's house for Thanksgiving, expect there to be a game on. And men sitting on the couch drinking beer while women cook. Which is sort of a good thing, as it keeps them out of the way.

Some families like to eat Thanksgiving dinner really early in the day, like at noon or 1pm. I tend to prefer later, like 5. And normally I eat dinner at 8, 9, 10pm, whenever I have time, so even that is an early dinner. You can really do whatever you want, but if you have a super early dinner, be prepared to cook some the day before or get up super early to start preparing.

It's traditional to cook a turkey as the main course. Other traditional dishes would be mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie (anything with squash really), um... we always have bread or biscuits and salad and olives out, though I don't know how traditional they are. I like to make butternut squash soup for a starter. Cranberry sauce and stuffing are definite side dishes. Hmm, what else am I forgetting? Anyone want to chime in here?

Also, for those who didn't know, Thanksgiving is the most widely celebrated holiday in the States, likely due to the fact that it is not a religious holiday (Scott, being the cute Jew that he is, thought it was ) and the fact that it is always on a Thursday and therefore many people get a 4-day weekend out of it. It's the most travelled holiday of the year as well. The Friday after Thanksgiving is now the biggest shopping day in the US, I guess b/c with Thanksgiving over, it is officially okay to get the Christmas celebrations in gear.

It's fun. It's basically just cooking and eating and having time to relax. Well, unless you have a big stressful family... I guess then it might not be so fun. Since Scott will have to work the day after I've decided I'm going to host this year.

[Jeraly 4]

Well this year it is going to be at our apartment - there will be six of us so not too bad and there is no TV in the living room so no football!!! Of course, we might have a tv by then but I wouldn't bank on it I don't think Jeremy's family are that way inclined anyway so that is fine by me

We have the starter already decided - it's going to be prawn cocktail which is a Christmas tradition of my family - it is the one thing I make every year (although this year my family will have to fend for themselves!) as I make my own sauce from scratch. We have the shrimp already in the freezer as they were on a BOGOF offer

I only wish it would be a four day weekend! Jeremy will prolly be in work the next day

So how does Christmas work for you? In England we always got up early, put the turkey in the oven, opened the presents in our stockings and then chilled out in the morning. My dad's parents used to come over in the morning (veg and things were prepared the day before) and we would have presents from them, then at about 11am we would go to the sports club/social club and have a few drinks before lunch. There we would meet with my mum's parents and we would head back to the house at about 12.30pm-1pm to put the veg on (depending on how cooked the turkey was) The table all gets set up in the morning too with a nice cloth and Christmas crackers and things

We tend to eat about 2pm or so and the meal lasts about an hour and a half to two hours. It is usually me, mum, her partner, his mum and his aunt, my youngest brother and sometimes my other brother as well and my mum's parents. We have turkey with cranberry jelly, sprouts (gross but a tradition), stuffing, every kind of veg, roast potatoes and if we are lucky, mushy peas . Prawn cocktail for starters obviously. Then for desert we might have a cheese board and/or christmas pudding/yule log/brandy snaps with cream.

After dinner when everything is cleared up, we start opening presents from the family that are there. Gradually the rest of the family turns up - my mum's two sisters, my uncle, four cousins and respective partners. My step brothers might make a show for a bit as well. We open up the rest of the presents with mum acting as Santa (without the costume!) and when we are done we continue to drink and maybe play some games or just talk. Later in the evening we set up a buffet with cold meats, rolls, chips, dips, pickled onions, pickled eggs, salad, trifle... all sorts

I am kinda guessing that Thanksgiving here is a bit like that... but if so then what happens at Christmas?!?!?! I love my family Christmas and I am going to really miss it this year

[tucson_chick 0]

hi guys!

sorry i've been so silent, but i got somehow sick and then my bike broke, and i was just really busy and tired!

i wish so much i had a cat!!! or even a dog!

how are you guys doing with the economy being in trouble? we are really feeling it here a lot.

I'm not sure about halloween yet, but i'll talk to eric later. our car has been giving us trouble lately and i'm not sure if it will survive the trip.....

i had to get really irritated about this

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...15&start=15

yeah. the temp EAD at JFK is worthless for your spouse if the plan is for her to be a SAHM anyway!

DANG! if the main priority (for money and career reasons) is to find a job and work ASAP, then it can be well worth it.

DANG! especially if somebody already has a SSN. we went far out of our way to get the EAD and fly via JFK, so I really really really HATE it when people tell me it was worthless. well, if they have unlimited funds and the spouse needs time to adjust, well - but THATS NOT EVERYBODY.

DANG.

[Jeraly 4]

Agnes you crack me up!! And I realllllllly hope you can make it to the party - it wouldn't be the same without you!!

Economy is... interesting... the bills are gradually coming down because the AC isn't being used *quite* as much and the gas prices are dropping which helps as well. When we buy the car from Maven then that will help even more. But we have been majorly overspending - Jeremy has a hard time saying no but tells me we can afford things and to trust him, then I find out we don't have enough money to pay the bills!!! Needless to say we have had a big talk so hopefully things will get a bit better now, but it will help out sooo much when I get a job - no movement at all though - I still can't even see my cases online so I am hoping that maybe I'll just get a letter one day

[rae_and_scott 1]

Oh Aly, your Christmas sounds just lovely.

When I was a kid we would be allowed to open one present of our choosing on Christmas Eve, and then have to save all the rest for Christmas morning. When I was 17 my parents divorced and then we'd do Christmas Eve gifts and meal with my Dad, and gifts and dinner with my mom day of. Now, though, my mom still lives in Michigan where I grew up, but my dad lives in Tennessee, so holidays have gotten difficult and sticky. They both always want me to come home and guilt me when I don't. One year I skipped them all and stayed in New York alone but that was kinda depressing so lately I've been trying to switch years; Thanksgiving with one parent and Christmas with the other. That isn't going to work this year since I'll be staying here for Thanksgiving, but oh well. I still want to go home to MI for Christmas. I don't think Scott will be joining me, which is unfortunate, but he's Jewish, so he doesn't celebrate Christmas anyway. On the one hand, it's nice not having 2 MORE sets of parents to have to split this holiday between, but on the other, Scott is really a Grinch about Christmas, and I wish he wasn't. He hates the holiday and the absolute consemerism associated with it. He hates Christmas trees as he sees them as just a dead, murdered tree (and the plastics ones are no better since plastic isn't exactly enviro-friendly). So I could do without the complaining about the holiday, but whatever! We've made it work for 6 years so far. So I'll just go spend it with my mom again, have a nice time with her and seeing my friends who are still there, like I usually do. My best friend from home always has a Christmas Eve party and my mom and I go to that when I'm there, so that is fun.

Day of we relax and take it easy. Have coffee and open gifts, drink wine and eat munchies a lot of the day. For dinner we do a big shellfish dinner, which I just absolutely love.

And then Scott and I do a New Years gift. We haven't missed being together on New Years before, and I don't imagine we will now that we're married, so that is a nice new tradition for the 2 of us.

Ah, the holidays. I like them. I like the season here in New York and the spirit and yes, even the shopping.

[BabyBlueSusie 1]

hi guys!

sorry i've been so silent, but i got somehow sick and then my bike broke, and i was just really busy and tired!

i wish so much i had a cat!!! or even a dog!

how are you guys doing with the economy being in trouble? we are really feeling it here a lot.

I'm not sure about halloween yet, but i'll talk to eric later. our car has been giving us trouble lately and i'm not sure if it will survive the trip.....

i had to get really irritated about this

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...15&start=15

yeah. the temp EAD at JFK is worthless for your spouse if the plan is for her to be a SAHM anyway!

DANG! if the main priority (for money and career reasons) is to find a job and work ASAP, then it can be well worth it.

DANG! especially if somebody already has a SSN. we went far out of our way to get the EAD and fly via JFK, so I really really really HATE it when people tell me it was worthless. well, if they have unlimited funds and the spouse needs time to adjust, well - but THATS NOT EVERYBODY.

DANG.

yea, some people tend to think that their situation is everyone's situation. they are just simply ignorant.

i haven't (knock on wood) really felt the effects of the economy, but maybe that's because i have been poor right along i don't know, i receive a fixed living stipend from the school (not much AT ALL, trust me), which isn't going anywhere until i get my phd in 5 years...i definitely notice less people eating out and things like that though...glad to see that gas prices have taken a dip in recent days...i keep hearing on cnn that we should pay down our credit card debt asap, because the companies will probably be lowering spending limits due to their financial hardship...that is now a top priority in the short term...i really hope adriano can find a job soon, that would be a HUGE help

Edited October 10, 2008 by BabyBlueSusie

[Jeraly 4]

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That was a message to all from the kitten

Susie - I know what you mean about the financial situation - I haven't been working (obviously) so we have only ever had one income and almost all of that goes on bills, gas, food and rent. It doesn't help that Jeremy's van only gets 12mpg As soon as we get a car we are going to be laughing - Gas prices here have gone from 4.50 to 3.37 and still seem to be dropping which is a great help as Jeremy drives 32 miles a day to work and back and that isn't taking into consideration going anywhere else like the store and things. His credit cards have taken a hammering as he prefers to do that than tell me we have no money and can't afford things so we have prolly over $3000 on cards which is really bad. As soon as I have a job, all of his money is going on the usual bills/rent etc. but any leftover is going to go towards paying off his cards. Money I earn might help out there as well just to get it all paid off sooner, but then I want to use a lot of my money to save towards a deposit for a house and leave a bit of disposable income to have some kind of social life!

Rae - I had the same issue with Christmas when my parents split up - we used to spend one year with mum on Christmas Day then with dad on Boxing Day and alternate years. Another thing we did when my parents were together was go to my gran's (dad's mum's) house for a pre-Christmas dinner. As we were kids, we still believed in Father Christmas and each year the doorbell would ring and we'd go to the door and there would be a big box of presents left for us! Eventually we got wise to it and started looking out of the front window but the adults always managed to distract us for long enough that my granddad was able to sneak in! He used to spend a lot of time in his garage so logically as kids we never figured that he might come out of there to put presents on the doorstep!! When we stopped believing, then the presents stopped as well but gradually that day changed to a Saturday and now that is when dad comes down and we have Christmas with him - same scenario really but we get there for lunch at about 2pm then we have presents after and then we play party games that my dad has compiled (there are some really great ones that I am hoping to implement on Thanksgiving and New Year's Eve, including a treasure hunt and chocolate eating game ).

What does everyone else do for Christmas then? I find it so bizarre to not have a turkey - we are going to have to buy a spare I think after Thanksgiving!! Although... I don't know - I want to make new traditions but at the same time, I still want it to feel like Christmas to me. I think in future when we eventually buy a house and potentially move State then we will have Thanksgiving in the US because it is so huge then go back to England for Christmas every year - especially when we have kids I know my mum would love that too as she loves Christmas and to her it is all about having the family around - with us all growing up and getting our own lives though it is rapidly changing. I just can't imagine any place I would rather be than at home with my family on Christmas Day

[BabyBlueSusie 1]

jeraly - sounds like your situation is a twin to ours...i would also rather use the card than tell adriano that we dont have money (even though he knows we dont)...i know its terrible, but we have a similar plan in that, when he gets his job, he will beginning paying down the cards, which shouldnt take too long...we also want to start saving for a house, but if we plan to get one in ny, it will be a longgggg while before we have enough money for that...if we were going to get one here in indiana (which i doubt will happen anymore), we could definitely save enough within the next year (assuming he finds a job)... what a mess

ps- tell the kitty thanks for the sweet message! my kitty used to do that as well, but i pushed him off the desk enough times that i think he learned =]

Edited October 10, 2008 by BabyBlueSusie

[Jeraly 4]

Heheh - well we are looking at moving anywhere with four seasons and no natural disasters!!! It's really weird to think that we can move anywhere in this huge country and it is quite a nice thought, although uprooting again will be hard it won't be anywhere near as difficult as leaving the UK was. If I was living in the UK we would live in Bristol and I would have prolly never moved far from there at all. Now I have made the break we have the choice to pick wherever we want to live! Not that I couldn't in the UK - I just wouldn't have wanted to

My kitty has just learned how to get up to the space above the wardrobe - Daisy my other kitty goes up there a lot by jumping from the bed to the dresser then from the TV on the dresser to the space. He has obviously watched her enough as he got up there (rather inelegantly) by himself and even got back down again!!! Both kitties are sleeping now though which is lovely and peaceful and I have the windows opened again!! Woohoo!! It's only meant to hit 86 here today!

[weedebz 0]

With regards to Kitties. I love my wee boy Oscar (I say wee but he's a 16lb Norwegian Forest Cat), he keeps me amused for hours on end. He can get aggressive and bite sometimes but I'd never give him up for anything. He was a rescue cat and had been badly treated in his previous home. Recently he has found a way into the basement ceiling cavity and we can hear him running round above our heads. Me and the landlady have been all over and can't see how he's getting in and out.

Anyways, I'm going to be AWOL for a while. My ma and pa arrive tomorrow for the next 10 days. Not seen them since March and they weren't here for the wedding so we having a wee party at the place we had our wedding reception and eating the top teir of the wedding cake with them. Taking it out of the freezer tonight.

[Jeraly 4]

Oooh - Debz have fun!!! It will be nice to see them again!! I still have six months to wait until I see my mum

[tucson_chick 0]

Oooh - Debz have fun!!! It will be nice to see them again!! I still have six months to wait until I see my mum

NO, we will not end up on page 2!!!!!!!!

hope everybody is having a great weekend!

[*julez* 124]

Nice save, Agnes!

Where in God's name is Marta???? *worried*