SomberCat

I agree with everyone that this is only a coincidence, but you have to admit, it's one of the most hilarious coincidences ever!

Thanks for the support guys and girls! It's really helped me get through this intolerable wait I've unfortunately been subjected to. But, what can we do? The consulate is severely understaffed. They can only go as fast as they are able to.

Just a quick question, is the entrance to the consulate facing Rene-Levesque or is it down the little side-street (Ste-Alexandre)?

It's on the side street and is not at all how I pictured the entrance to a Consulate looking. Very plain and blah.

Best of luck! You'll be laughing afterwards about how nervous you are. Kick some a$$!

My vent today - my mother joined Facebook. Arrrgggh! I knew I shouldn't have talked them into getting rid of dial up. With dial up, accessing it was pretty much pointless. Don't get me wrong, I love her dearly, but the last thing my 13-year-old son and I need is to have Grandma in every aspect of our lives. *runs quickly to search through pics and son's postings for anything Grandma will have a hissy fit about*

hey does she play pirates or mafia wars yet?

Why, do you want to meet her? She better not be getting into anything else! Crazy 70 year old lady getting on FB. Then again, that's probably what my son's friends say about me - crazy 39 year old lady getting on FB. I can't wait until she sees my brother's page. I will no longer be the black sheep!

My vent today - my mother joined Facebook. Arrrgggh! I knew I shouldn't have talked them into getting rid of dial up. With dial up, accessing it was pretty much pointless. Don't get me wrong, I love her dearly, but the last thing my 13-year-old son and I need is to have Grandma in every aspect of our lives. *runs quickly to search through pics and son's postings for anything Grandma will have a hissy fit about*

Seeing as this is the Off Topic thread-Has anyone tried to break a serious caffeine addiction? I'm thinking of giving it a shot....

Although I'm not a coffee drinker, in my early 20's, I drank 6-8 cans of Mountain Dew a day. When I gave it up, I went through hell. I know that probably sounds dramatic, but man did my poor body suffer - massive headaches, couldn't keep a train of thought, female issue, sick to my stomach a lot, shakiness... it was worse than I thought it would be and by the time I was "normal", it was almost two months. I'm glad I did it though and I'd do it again tomorrow. Anything legal that makes me go through that kind of withdrawal is a little creepy.

My husband's been looking for someone to blame for the weight gain since his arrival, so can he blame you too Wyatt? I'm sure it has nothing to do with the ice cream he's been buying in bulk at Sam's Club.

Yea!!! It's about time we had someone else from this group get off of AP. BIG congrats!

I had the BP issues too with the fun and enjoyment of laying on my left side for 3 months of bed rest as medication couldn't control it. Then again, medication can't do much for an 11+ pound, 24 inch long baby laying on your aorta. lol Wow, only 80 days left? It's hard to believe it's been that long already. Wow. Enjoy your sleep now.

I wonder why my husband doesn't taste all of these differences. Maybe it's because he's a pig and he likes everything (love you babe ), or maybe it's because his taste buds are shot. The only thing he's ever mentioned tasting slightly different is Heinz Ketchup and he even said that's not a huge difference.

We're going back to Ontario on the 20th for a weekend visit - his first since moving in August. I'll be curious to see if he wants to bring anything back. I don't think any of you live even remotely close to us or I'd offer to pick some things up for you.

Hello Everyone,

My wife came in on the 17th of October and her POE was a non-event. She didn't enjoy the long journey but she is enjoying the little bit of Fall weather that we have left here in the heartland.

Did any of you add your spouse to your existing medical benefits?

My HR is telling me that I don't qualify for a Life Event Change and would not be able to make changes to my coverage in the middle of the year because IRS doesn't consider our situation a Life Changing event. I call BS. I think they just don't want to do the work.

My wife didn't work or had medical coverage in India.

If any of you have any helpful documentations or on line links that would help. Please do share. I would really appreciate the help.

Thanks once again....

Hi Lixer,

Glad to hear from you. I think your HR is full of ####### to put it nicely. I added my husband with no problem. The life event change isn't the fact that your wife finally got to move here, but the change is that you got married. If getting married isn't a life event change, I don't know what is! Truly, that's just crazy. I don't have any documents (other than our insurance forms of course), but seriously, marriage isn't a life changing event? I think your HR group is confused somewhere along the line.

My mind is really too far in the gutter to take this quiz.

Congrats eklondon!! Man, I'm SO happy for you guys - FINALLY. You, cmls, Holliday and I were all going through this at the same time and I've felt just awful for you. Personally, I'd email the consulate. Since it's Christmas, maybe they'll allow the visas to be picked up the next day... who knows. It's worth a shot anyway. They have some major issues there, but I don't think they're heartless jerks. Again, congrats!

SomberCat I just want to hug Papi!! He's so flippin adorable. I want a goldendoodle but I'm pretty allergic to dogs... Does he shed a lot and make people sneeze?

The beautiful thing about Goldendoodles is that they shed very, very little. They advertise them as completely non-shedding, but that's not really possible. I've not had anyone over that's allergic to dogs, so I'm not sure if they would set off allergies or not, but I'd think the odds are pretty small. Her hair got so much longer after that pic was taken (she kind of looked like an afghan), that we get her groomed every 3 months now and get it cut short almost like a poodle.

Another perk - it's the smartest dog (standard poodle) bred with the most trainable dog (golden retriever) and having had dogs for years, I can hands down say that this is the most intelligent, well behaved dog I've had in my life. I'd get another one tomorrow. Most days she's smarter than I am.

I have never for the life of me understood how to upload photos on here, so if this works, it will be a miracle.

http://s936.photobucket.com/albums/ad201/alaine11/?newest=1

For Krikit and the rest of the kitten lovers, these are my new girls Remy and Schilly. Remy is named after a Red Sox announcer and Schilly is named after Curt Schilling, a retired Red Sox pitcher. They are sisters although they look absolutely nothing alike. They're about 14 weeks old now. Our dog is a goldendoodle named Papi (pronounced Poppy), also named after a Red Sox player... I'm sure you've figured out our naming convention. Papi is two years old.

Wow, you've had a VERY long wait. HUGE congratulations!!

hi everyone, how is everybody doing? its been more than 2 months since my spouse been in the US. now shes complaining about the cold New England weather. we still didnt receive the ssn card yet though, hopefully its coming soon so she can apply for a driver's permit. :whistle: have a nice day everyone

Hey Kevin, good to hear from you! You should definitely go to the social security office. If she doesn't have her card after 2+ months, she's not getting it. It seems like lapses in the distribution of social security cards are happening all the time these days. We went to the office the same week my husband moved, applied for it there and had it in three days, so definitely go see them.

Congrats you two!

I'm so glad to hear your husband has some options Whidbey! I hope he gets the one that he wants.

cmls - I totally forgot you were waiting for the IR1. I'm glad it's in the mail and it sounds like things are wrapping up well for you. Good wishes for an easy POE.

Knowing where you live, I wasn't surprised that you don't own a car. Also, I realize there are many American cities where people do not own cars. Just because I live in flyover country doesn't mean I'm a complete rube. What I was questioning was that you don't know how to drive, but I see in your last post that you do indeed know how to drive. If you had never learned to drive, then I would have been shocked. Sorry, didn't mean to hijack your thread.

You don't drive?

Actually, travel insurance will work. You will simply have to pay the portion that OHIP would have paid.

Malrothien is correct. That's what my husband used to cover him. He got it from the company that handled his car and house insurance and paid $42 for a month.

Congrats Betsy!! Hope you're well enough to enjoy yourself... if you know what I mean.

Yea! Congrats! Glad to hear it went so well.

Update: No updates.

Update: Same as V.

For those die hard Red Sox fans, I'll ask you the question that my son asked me last night. Since we think the Yankees are the devil and we think Manny is a close second, who will we root for if the Dodgers play the Yankees in the WS? My answer to him is that I will root for no one - won't even turn on the games. How's that for being a bitter Sox fan?