Kayleigh+Kyle

So, let me try to get this straight. I (the USC) applied for food stamps. Husband (green card holder) was listed on the application, as I felt I had to list him. Since he is not a USC, they aren't providing him the food stamps, but it bases off of his income and mine? I'm just not sure if this would end up getting billed to my father (co-sponsor).

I hate that we had to apply for them at all. I was working 40+ hours a week up until late December, when our son was born. While I was on maternity leave, things slowed down at my job, and now I'm only working 23-24 hours a week. While it's great to have to the time with my son, it's definitely put a strain on the budget.

I do appreciate all of the input on the topic. I initially had been just reading general discussion on in-laws being around the new baby, but it is a bit different in our situation, being that it's not someone who is less than a plane ride away.

After more discussion with DH, I determined that the biggest issue with them staying here will be the breastfeeding issue. I am going into it believing it will be something that I will more than likely struggle with. I have many friends who are moms and they all struggled with it, and all but one gave up within the first few weeks. I know it's what's best for my child and I'm determined to make it work. However, I feel as though with them sitting in the same room when I'm doing something I'll more than likely be struggling with will only make it worse. I told DH that I will need them to give me privacy and either leave the apartment or go to the room they'll be sleeping in and stay there until he's finished feeding. This is perfectly acceptable to him, and he will discuss the matter with them here in a couple of weeks. If they are unable to do this, they will have to stay in a hotel.

He and I also discussed the possibility of if I am completely miserable, going through PPD and am losing my mind after a week, we will get the money together to put them up in a hotel for the duration of their stay. He and I both know that I do tend to anticipate the worst and that everything will probably be fine outside of the breastfeeding realm, but I did want to talk with him about that and have that option if I do end up on my wit's end with them.

My in-laws are nice people, and I anticipate that they will be respectful of boundaries, but you never know.

I'm hoping someone on here has gone through an experience like what I'm dealing with at the moment. I'm the USC, and I'm currently 31 weeks pregnant with our (and my) first child. DH's family lives in Western Canada, and we see his parents about once a year. I'm due January 5th, and his parents are coming to stay with us in our <1000 sq ft apartment on January 15th for 2 weeks. I'm of course happy that they're coming to visit us and to see their grandson (their first grandchild). However, I'm less than pleased that DH extended them an invitation to stay with us in our apartment. Under normal circumstances, I would be okay with it. However, DH will be working both weeks while they are here, and I'm not fond of the thought of them being here all day every day with me. I am going to be attempting to breastfeed our son, and quite frankly, I'm not comfortable enough around either of them to be doing that while sitting in the same room with them. Also, I'm a very independent person, and I very much want to do as much caregiving as I possibly can in the mere six weeks I get with our child before I have to go back to my job, but I feel like I will be pressured into letting my MIL do things.

DH and I have had a few fights about this situation. He tried to convince my MIL that sleeping on an air mattress and having a baby that will wake at all hours of the night to be fed is not a good way to spend their vacation, but she apparently doesn't care. I'm also very frustrated that they aren't staying at a hotel because DH and I had two free flights that we were unable to use before they expired, so we gave them to his parents so they didn't have to pay to come here (they were already planning on coming, so it was not what persuaded them to visit). They are planning on getting a rental car, but I highly doubt they'll be going anywhere seeing as it will be the middle of January and there isn't much to do.

I'm hoping that someone else has experienced something similar and how you coped. I just feel like I'm going to feel awkward, uncomfortable, and like my every action as a mother will be scrutinized. I also don't feel like it's fair for me to have to play hostess when I should be spending that time to bond with the baby. Can anyone offer up suggestions or share any sort of story they had in a similar situation?

I think I may already know the answer to this question, but I thought I would address it in case anyone has actually experienced this first hand.

DH is from Canada, has a Canadian passport & a 10yr green card. We are flying in a couple of weeks to Seattle and driving six hours to visit his family for his sister's wedding. I assume he shows both of these at the Canadian & US borders when we're driving? The main issue lies here: with the rental car company, they have this policy in place:

If you’re a U.S resident, you may drive a Budget car into Canada. However, you must advise us upon vehicle pickup that you plan to drive to Canada so we may issue a Canadian Non-Resident Insurance Card. This applies to rentals of all U.S.-registered cars. If you’re a Canadian resident, Canadian Customs regulations prohibit you from entering Canada with a U.S. car. So renters with a Canadian driver’s license and a U.S. license plate won’t be allowed to cross the border into Canada. Customers with a Canadian driver’s license planning to cross the border into Canada should be provided with a vehicle with a Canadian license plate, if one is available.

Since he isn't a Canadian resident, does this still apply? My main concern is that at that time I will be 13 weeks pregnant and I'm afraid I will be exhausted after flying for eight hours. I'd also have to try to find a way to get the rental car company (Budget) to waive the fee for someone under 25, seeing as he'll be less than three months away from 25. That's a whole other can of worms, though (but if anyone has any tips on that, it would be greatly appreciated too!)

A couple of recent threads where people are asking for others in the same area made me think of this one. It looks like the link to the original map was broken. Could someone please click on the attached link and let me know if you get to the map of where Canada's VJ'ers are in the US/Canada? Please and thank you.

Click here

I got the map of where everyone is!

I'm sorry, I'm having a problem with formatting the list. Which is weird because I've done it before. Sorry guys.

Received an e-mail today saying that Kyle's card was in production! Huzzah!

California Service Center (15/28 approved, 54%)

VJName.............Date of I-751.....NOA1 Date......Biometrics......Approved....

EXTRACARE..........05/29/10..........06/07/10.......07/20/10........08/27/10.... (card received 9/03)

SKYKATE............06/01/10..........06/03/10.......08/09/10........--/--/10....

GCHAN100...........06/01/10..........06/07/10.......--/--/10........--/--/10....

KAFFY..............06/02/10..........06/07/10.......07/27/10........09/02/10.... (card received 9/10)

AANDLKC............06/04/10..........06/07/10.......07/16/10........09/10/10....

CELLARLILY.........06/04/10..........06/07/10.......07/22/10........09/08/10.... (card received 9/14)

CATOU1181..........06/04/10..........06/07/10.......08/18/10........--/--/10....

C AND J............06/04/10..........06/14/10.......07/23/10........--/--/10....

TRUFFLES...........06/04/10..........06/14/10.......07/27/10........--/--/10....

WEATHERMAN.........06/08/10..........06/10/10.......07/23/10........07/29/10.... (Early Bio 7/08)(card received 8/09)

BLUEGREEN..........06/09/10..........06/16/10.......07/27/10........--/--/10.... (Early Bio 7/09)

EXPIREDGC..........06/09/10..........06/11/10.......07/26/10........08/31/10.... (Card received 9/07)

INCORRECTPOLITICS..06/12/10..........06/14/10.......07/23/10........--/--/10....

SWEETANGEL06.......06/15/10..........06/17/10.......07/23/10........09/13/10.... (Early Bio 7/20)

CHINTAN............06/15/10..........06/21/10.......07/26/10........09/13/10....

YGANDMAT...........06/15/10..........06/21/10.......07/15/10........09/08/10....

MCFEI..............06/18/10..........06/21/10.......08/12/10........--/--/10.... (Early Bio 7/23

SHEL444............06/18/10..........06/21/10.......07/21/10........--/--/10....

THANH..............06/18/10..........--/--/10.......--/--/10........09/03/10....

MEOWGIRL...........06/22/10..........06/28/10.......08/17/10........--/--/10....

WELLYWENCH.........06/22/10..........06/23/10.......08/17/10........--/--/10....

FOULTE.............06/22/10..........06/24/10.......08/17/10........09/03/10.... (card received 9/10)

KAYLEIGH+KYLE......06/23/10..........06/25/10.......08/03/10........09/16/10.... (Bio retake 9/02)

CSC_GC751..........06/23/10..........06/28/10.......08/12/10........09/15/10....

KELZM..............06/24/10..........06/28/10.......08/10/10........09/14/10....

JMRB...............06/24/10..........06/28/10.......08/10/10........--/--/10....

SHE_HIM............06/25/10..........06/28/10.......08/06/10........09/01/10....

EM79SUGAR..........06/28/10..........06/29/10.......08/25/10........--/--/10....

Vermont Service Center (16/27 approved, 59%)

VJName.............Date of I-751.....NOA1 Date......Biometrics......Approved....

EM&ED..............05/28/10..........06/01/10.......--/--/10........--/--/10....

MRS W..............05/28/10..........06/02/10.......07/26/10........08/02/10.... (card received 8/13)

OLD DOMINION.......06/01/10..........06/03/10.......--/--/10........--/--/10....

CIVIRAM_HCL........06/01/10..........06/08/10.......07/20/10........08/10/10.... (card received 8/20)

HONDO1Z............06/01/10..........06/04/10.......07/20/10........07/30/10.... (card received 8/12)

DHSPLEASE..........06/01/10..........06/11/10.......08/25/10........09/08/10....

LIZARED78..........06/03/10..........06/08/10.......08/13/10........--/--/10....

ELMIRA.............06/04/10..........06/07/10.......07/20/10........08/02/10.... (card received 8/17)

SSAH...............06/04/10..........06/09/10.......07/20/10........08/17/10....

L640...............06/06/10..........06/09/10.......07/21/10........--/--/10....

THE EARMUFFS.......06/06/10..........06/12/10.......07/27/10........08/03/10.... (card received 8/23)

TOPHARRY123........06/10/10..........06/16/10.......07/26/10........08/10/10....

LINDSEY Y KOKI.....06/07/10..........06/10/10.......07/20/10........--/--/10.... (RFE received 7/31, responded 8/06)

LADYAMALTHEA.......06/10/10..........06/14/10.......07/22/10........08/02/10.... (card received 8/14)

ALETHEIA...........06/10/10..........06/14/10.......07/22/10........08/13/10.... (card received 8/23)

DOMINICANGIRL3.....06/10/10..........06/16/10.......08/02/10........--/--/10....

JMK................06/11/10..........06/16/10.......07/29/10........--/--/10.... (RFE received 8/15, responded 9/15)

MDTOVA.............06/15/10..........06/17/10.......07/27/10........08/25/10.... (Early Bio 7/08)(card received 9/02)

TRAZOM.............06/15/10..........--/--/10.......--/--/10........--/--/10....

LA VIDA ES BELLA...06/16/10..........06/19/10.......08/13/10........--/--/10.... (Early Bio 7/26)(RFE received 8/16, responded 8/27)

MALLA..............06/17/10..........06/21/10.......08/03/10........08/17/10.... (card received 8/28)

KJW................06/21/10..........06/28/10.......08/10/10........08/23/10.... (card received 9/03)

RANDOM NONSENSE....06/22/10..........06/24/10.......07/20/10........08/30/10....

MARCUS AND LAURA...06/22/10..........06/23/10.......08/20/10........--/--/10....

ALL4KWEKU..........06/22/10..........06/25/10.......08/16/10........--/--/10....

KAT - BETO.........06/24/10..........--/--/10.......08/05/10........09/13/10....

SCATLURI...........06/28/10..........07/05/10.......08/19/10........09/11/10....

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*wave*

'Lo, everyone!

Hey, Nini!

The roof one for sure.

I say grill he says BBQ.

I say semi (long i) for a truck and he calls that a kind of house. (I encountered that with my friend in Stratford. She said she lived in semi. I said you live in a truck. LOL!) He pronounces the truck as semi (i sounds like a 'e')

Kyle also says BBQ, while we call it a grill. The semi debate is also true for us.

The funniest difference (and most surprising) was Mazda. Kyle pronounced it Maz-da (with a long a sound) and I thought he was crazy. Here it is pronounced with a short a, closer to Mawz-da. But then I heard a Mazda commercial on TV in Canada. I couldn't believe it! I thought it was hilarious that a name brand would have two different commercials for the different pronunciations.

There are quite a few people who say roof like ruff, but I don't think the majority of the people in this area do. I certainly don't.

That reminds me, anyone who is traveling to Canada ANYWHERE near a border town, and by that I mean 2 hours from the border, or so... I strongly recommend flying to the nearest U.S. border city and then renting a car, or taking an airport shuttle to your Canadian destination. You will literally save hundreds of dollars by not flying to a Canadian destination. I can't remember if we've discussed this on VJ before or not.

My husband and I are going back to visit his family next summer for his sister's wedding. We weren't sure if one was able to rent a car in the US and drive it into Canada. His parents live an hour or so north of the Washington state border so having a domestic flight makes so much sense. But again, we weren't sure how taking a rental car over the border would go, and we don't really need a rental car for an entire week. Would anyone be kind enough to share their experiences?

Mmmm there's an Amish restaurant just outside the city and they make this peanut butter spread, but it has Fluff in it. It's sooo tasty!

I am so done with summer. We've had heat advisory for the past 2 weeks and it's killing me!

I am fed up with summer, too! Bring on hockey season already!

Thanks for your responses everyone.

I have several meetings today for an animal shelter I volunteer with, so I will not be on the computer much (if anyone expects immediate replies to any questions).

This is the most recent exchange list based on August's draw.

1.* Ant+D+BabyA

2.* Canadiandggal

3.* Christi and Ian

4.* Colleens

5.* coraliesolms

6.* JLovesA

7.* Kathryn41

8.* Kayla*Mathew

9.* kizza

10.* lilacvioletiris

11.* OBX

12.* Pauley

13.* sdw

14.* SupportGeek

There is also Chickaflick, but she has stated that she is unable to participate in September's draw, so the new 'leader' may want to coordinate with her to see if she is ok to come back in going forward. I could also provide the main list of all past participants if you wish, in case anyone wants to follow up to see if people would like to rejoin.

If whoever decides to take this over could please email vjpostcards @ gmail.com, I will be able to get them set up with that email address, and make sure the contact information for the participants is made available to them.

One thing I'd like to note is that this all seems started under the assumption that just one or two people are responsible for all the missing cards thus far. I personally do not think that is the case (at least not by someone who just decided not to send the card on purpose), so perhaps that should be researched by someone who is concerned about this before conclusions are drawn.

Good luck with the exchange going forward.

You forgot me! But I just signed up, lol.

@ Kayleigh+Kyle

I do not know if the co-worker was attempting to interact in order to offer sympathy, nor do I have any clue on how this co-worker was raised. I hope that the co-worker was respectful of the situation - general politeness I mean - since they did not remove themselves from the area and conversation.

She was respectful enough, but it was awkward. I know if I had been in her shoes, I would have left, giving that it was a personal conversation between a father and daughter about a passing relative.

The retake is a bummer because he now has a job where he loads semis for a living and the skin on his fingers has been worn down. They were having some difficulty when he went in the first time. I was afraid this would happen.

Kyle got a letter saying they have to retake his biometrics. O.o have to go again on 9/2

How can I get in on this? And what are the general rules? This is quite a long thread and I didn't want to read 20+ pages to figure out how this may have evolved. It sounds fun though!

Thank you again to everyone for you kind words. It is much appreciated.

I have a rant related to his passing. I went to my dad's work to chat with him (we live with him & his wife and her children for the time being, but we try to stick to our part of the house for privacy) about his passing - it was my mom's dad, not his. And one of his coworkers, who is new (it's only my second time seeing her) is attached to my dad's hip. I presume she likes him, but who knows. Anyway, I go into his office and they're talking. They finish up and dad turns to me and we start talking about it, and this new coworker just sits there!! I mean, we were having what I consider a private conversation about my grandfather's passing, and she just sits there and trys to include herself in the conversation! I thought it was so rude!!

And another rant: my family & I left the hospital because things were looking okay with my grandpa at the time and we all went for dinner together. While we were leaving the restaurant, we got the call that things were going downhill and we should probably head back to the hospital. Everyone was worried, and my aunt said "He might already be dead and that's their way of getting us back to the hospital," and my mom (the baby of the family) couldn't walk and started shaking and was sobbing uncontrolably because of that comment. I was absolutely livid. I couldn't believe she said that! Especially about her own father! I understand that, yes, that may be a tactic used. However, it's not sometime you say out loud IMO. /rant

Thank you, everyone. It means a lot.

So true...cost us too much and so many errors and so many months of delays. and an NOID and RFE to boot..needless to say he was fired real quick.

What is a NOID?

My vent is that at 12:10 this morning, my 80 year old grandpa passed away. </3

I wish we could just up and leave this place like they did. Move to somewhere that has promise of a positive future.

Of course I'd need a job so we'd have 2 incomes to even attempt to pull such a thing off. It all comes right around to the fact that I don't have a GC.

What are you here on? I am on mobile so I can't see it on your profile.

My updates are sporadic, but I am on Twitter. @FromDaph

Followed! I'm @bluejacketsbabe

Oh, so I was wondering (sorry if this has been talked about before) if anyone who is in the States celebrates Canadian Thanksgiving? My husband and I did last year and we had a lot of fun! We've actually decided to make it an annual thing and we invite our friends over and have our own Thanksgiving dinner! It's nice because Kyle gets to celebrate the holiday when he would at home (although it's not necessarily on actual Thanksgiving day, usually on the weekend since we don't have the time off on Monday) and we get to celebrate Thanksgiving with one of the biggest things to be thankful for - our friends! Just wanted to know if anyone else did something like this or any other Canadian holidays or traditions after moving here.

I'm not on twitter but we have a VJ Canada facebook group if you're a facebooker! Visa journey Canada

Thanks, I am all on that!

Yay Kimbear!!!

Speaking of facebook... I just changed my profile pic. I spent ALL DAY today out in the sun at an air show, and a good chunk of yesterday afternoon in the sun as well. I am paying for it (and yes I wore sunscreen today!). I know we don't usually post pics of ourselves on here, but I can not stop laughing at this even though it's super un-flattering. So here you go; the aftermath of my weekend thus far.

Oh dear, that's terrible! I went to the state fair Friday and forgot to put sunscreen on my face and wear a hat, so my face was pretty red, but not like that!

BTW I know this is random, but I'm just trying to get started on the Canada boards and was wondering if anyone on here is on twitter. I'd like to follow some people in the same US/Canada boat as Kyle and I are. If that's not to weird.