HAPPY NEW YEAR!

From my window to your computer - Happy 2014 - Hope it's a good one!

8 months of adventure

My husband has been here 8 months. What an adventure. I am picking up some Albanian, at least I am understanding more when I listen to my hubby talk to family. I am shy to speak the words, though. Hubby has learned a lot and is adjusting well to America. It's still a learning experience for him, and for me. Driving, for instance....I thought it was rather easy here, it's flat, and the roads go north/south or east/west. If you know the names of the main roads, and you are driving on one of them, eventually you will come to an intersection of one of the others. Easy peasy. NOT if you grew up in a city with hills and virtually no street names! Apparently at one time Prishtina had no street names. People lived on this hill or that hill or somewhere between, but always with LANDMARKS, not street names. So my poor hubby is still struggling with the expanse of flatness here, with the absence of landmarks. Yeah, there's GPS. He would be totally lost without it.

Culture shock---there is still some of that, like TAXES. Being self-employed, I've been pretty much out of the picture regarding the kind of taxes that come out of a regular paycheck. In Europe its common for people to be paid "under the table".  So neither of us were prepared for how MUCH would be taken. I think the hardest thing for hubby, and maybe for a lot of foreigners, is learning about how many laws and restrictions we have here. Hunting license, building license, etc. In Kosovo or Albania, if you need to add on to your house you just do it. Over there, if you are hungry for wild meat you just go out and hunt it. I feel like I'm constantly reining my hubby in, "no you can't do that, omg no, not that either".

On top of that, now we have the Obamacare looming. Thankfully the state of Indiana decided not to drop me, at least until April. With the Indiana insurance, I have 100% coverage. I pay my small monthly premium. If I had to switch to Obama care, even with the tax credit my premium would have tripled. It would cost between $20 and $50 to see a doctor, and I can't even figure out the prescription "coverage". And a $6,000 deductible? Who are they kidding? It's all a mess.

But in spite of all the road blocks, laws, restrictions and so forth, my hubby loves it here. America is a huge country. Foreigners learn about us from books, movies and youtube. No wonder they have so many strange ideas about us. No wonder they think our streets are "paved with gold" and every corner has gangster shoot-outs. Sometimes reality can be disappointing as well as comforting.

This December...

...is stinkin' cold!!! It's like January, but no snow. Thankfully it was sunny today. Hubby and I went shopping, picked up some nice dishes and some European food we have been missing. It's fun to drive around at night and enjoy the Christmas lights. Downtown Prishtina is lit up but I'm not sure how much decorating is done on the residences. It's common for even the Muslims there to put up a tree and buy some presents for the kids. Nobody worries about what to say or do, they just all get together and enjoy life.

November

It's been raining and then it turned to snow. Well, it's November already. Hubby is happy...his first AMERICAN snow! As if our snow and Kosovo's snow is any different lol

Hubby and I have been praying together. That's nice, and a new experience for me (praying with another person----I always prayed alone before, or in a congregation). It's good to remember to bless the food before we eat, and to thank God for all we have been given. God is good.

The new tree

The new tree is finally showing some good color. If the sun pops out before all the leaves are gone I'll try to get a better picture, as it is being lashed around by rain and wind in this one. We had 2.69 inches of rain last night.

A chilly night

Country music on the radio.

I love my husband so much.

People of The Book = Jews and Christians

“Do not argue with the people of the book except with that which is better and do not argue with those who have oppressed you. Tell them, we believe in what was revealed to us as well as that which was revealed to you. Our God and your God is one in the same and we submit to Him” (Qur’an, 29:46).

Friday...more digging

We didn't leave until 10 pm. We dug out all the pipe from the septic tank to the house and replaced it. A family member who is a plumber came to help. Then we moved into the basement. First the floor was jackhammered. Then dug. There we found the problem. Tree roots had grown into the plumbing, under the basement floor. The roots were so thick they burst the pipes (there were cracks in them). So the floor was jackhammered back to the floor drain and the pipe replaced. The hole still needs to be filled in. Maybe Sunday.

The septic tank and trench leading to the house

The trench, with the old pipe. My daughter and her guy are looking at something, probably roots

The tank was getting pumped out. It smelled better out here lol

In the basement, new pipe going in

Digging

Today we drove out to my daughter's house to help dig out her septic system. Well, no, we weren't digging in poo. We are digging out the pipe from the tank to the house. We also removed the dirt from the top of the tank. It rained this morning, so we were digging in sticky, heavy clay. My daughter's guy came to help too. He and my hubby did most of the digging. We need to go back tomorrow to finish.

Lovin' the mild weather!

October hardly seems like October. We have had a very mild start to the month, lots of opportunities to paint and fix the outside of the house before winter. My hubby is doing an amazing job, considering the house was neglected for the past 10 years. He has filled cracks and painted windows and the eves and soffets all around the house.

On a completely unrelated subject, I watched Diane Sawyer Interviews Malala Yousafzai This Friday: ABCNEWS.COM - "They thought that the bullets would silence us, but they failed," the 16 year old said.

It was really good. What a brave young woman to stand up against the taliban and stand for the right to an education for all girls. What she stands for is what Islam is supposed to be. The world is with you Malala! May God protect you always.

Nope, I won't live under sharia law

I am learning more and more. For one thing, I thought Islam = sharia law. But no! There are many Muslim majority countries who don't use sharia law, or abolished it, and others that use some of the laws to govern personal matters. For the most part, these countries have abandoned the old barbaric ways much the same as Christians no longer practice the barbaric punishments in the Old Testament.

First of all, lets look at the Balkans, my first and only experience of visiting a Muslim majority country. Albania and Kosovo. This list also includes Bosnia, and Turkey, which abolished sharia law in 1924.

I visited Albania and lived for a short time in Kosovo. You will rarely see a headscarf in Kosovo. Women only cover when praying. Kosovo is secular, meaning, like America, there is a separation of church and state. That means the government can't tell you what religion to practice. It can't tell you not to practice, nor that you must practice, or even what to practice. Many people misunderstand that, thinking that removes God from the country. Not true. That removes the government's authority to tell you how to believe. In Albania I saw old women in villages who all looked like Mother Theresa, but the cities are modern. In Kosovo, women are free to wear what they want.

Now, look at the Legend. The countries shown in purple have full sharia law. You can read about individual countries in the list. I count 13 countries with full sharia law. I count 34 countries with sharia law for personal matters but otherwise have a secular court system. I count 27 secular countries and 3 with mixed laws depending on the area of the country.

It appears to me that sharia law is more of a cultural law held mostly by Arab countries. Islamophobes here in America rant about sharia law being a great threat to America. Well, I wouldn't want to live under sharia law either. But I think people fail to separate Islam and sharia. As I said before, I erroneously thought Islam = sharia, but I was wrong! Yes, there are sharia countries where stoning and hand cutting is still practiced. Yes, it's barbaric! And yes, they will tell you that if you are against sharia law then you are against Islam. NOT TRUE!

Tossing all Muslims into the same box as these backward extremists is the same as declaring all Christians the same as Hitler, or the same as the Crusaders, or the same as in the Dark Ages when people were tortured in dungeons (although they will point out they have a very low crime rate). What happens is an across the board fear of all Muslims, Islamophobia. It marginalizes many of America's citizens.

Muslims have been in America for a long time. Read this short article by the History Detectives.

"When Columbus made his journey to the United States, it is said he took with him a book written by Portuguese Muslims who had navigated their way to the New World in the 12th century.

What is clear is the make up of the first real wave of Muslims in the United States: African slaves of whom 10 to 15 percent were said to be Muslims." - Islam in America, The History Detectives

Learning the truth is always the right choice.

How to spot a Muslim

By their clothes, of course! Get lots of tips here:

Muslims Wearing Things

I was reading old posts....

I am so thankful I have my hubby here. The days are getting shorter and cooler. It's that time of the year when I tend to get reflective, moody sometimes. But my new life is so happy and busy I don't have time to bed sad. Tonight we cooked together. Hubby likes to show me his Kosovo dishes. Sometimes I cook something American he's never tried before. Sometimes it's hit or miss, depending on our tastes. For the most part we like each other's foods.

Albanian Beans

1 small bag of small white beans, washed and cleaned
2 T Oil
Salt to taste
1 heaping T of Hungarian paprika
Medium onion, chopped

Add beans to cooking pot, add water, add salt.

Simmer beans until tender.

When beans are done, chop a medium onion and brown it in oil. The pieces can be white with brown edges, but the smaller pieces should be brown for it to taste right. Don't burn the onion. Turn off heat. Add a heaping tablespoon of paprika to the onion and stir it in until it's no longer lumpy. Spoon some liquid from the beans into the onion pan and stir. Then pour and scrape all of the onion mixture into the beans. Stir and serve with lots of bread. It's tastier than you think!

Note: don't stir the paprika directly into the bean water. It will clump up, becoming nearly impossible to stir in.

Projects

List of accomplishments in the (near) 5 months since hubby immigrated.

• Old paneling removed from walls and ceiling
• New wallboard put up & mudded
• Gigantic moldy hole in the ceiling cleaned and patched
• Old rotten picture window removed
• New picture window installed
• New ductwork in hallway (thanks to my daughter---the heating expert)
• Sidewalk and porch cracks cemented
• Hole in back yard filled
• Rotted fence removed
• Ants and earwigs banished from house
• Eave vent nailed on underside of eaves to prevent sparrows from nesting in them

To do list.

• Paint wood window and door sills (outside) done
• Scrape and paint eaves. done
• New fence & gate for side of house
• Build drop ceiling for hallway to hide ductwork
• Build wall and access door for furnace room
• Paint walls and ceiling
• Rent dumpster
• Clean out garage and remove old shingles
• Install new roof on garage
• Finish kitchen (yikes---another big job!)
• New carpet (last)
• Sell house

So...this is written in the Quran...twice

Surely those who believe, and those who are Jews, and the Christians, and the Sabians, whoever believes in Allah and the Last day and does good, they shall have their reward from their Lord, and there is no fear for them, nor shall they grieve. [Quran 2:62]

Surely those who believe and those who are Jews and the Sabians and the Christians whoever believes in Allah and the last day and does good -- they shall have no fear nor shall they grieve. [Quran 5:69]

The true Quran is written in Arabic. It can only truly be understood if you read and understand Arabic. All translations are open to interpretation, so there are several explanations of the above text.

Let's look at three interpretations of Quran 2:62

Those who believe and those who are Jews, Christians and Sabeans, [in fact] anyone who believes in God and the Last Day, and acts honorably will receive their earnings from their Lord: no fear will lie upon them nor need they feel saddened. - T.J. Irving

Those who believe (in the Qur'an), and those who follow the Jewish (scriptures), and the Christians and the Sabians,- any who believe in God and the Last Day, and work righteousness, shall have their reward with their Lord; on them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve. - Yusuf Ali

Lo! Those who believe (in that which is revealed unto thee, Muhammad), and those who are Jews, and Christians, and Sabaeans - whoever believeth in Allah and the Last Day and doeth right - surely their reward is with their Lord, and there shall no fear come upon them neither shall they grieve. - M. Pickthall
---------------------------------------

It is interesting to note that Muslims are required to believe the Torah (Old Testament), Psalms and Gospels! And I wonder how many non-Muslims who thought it might be ok to desecrate the Quran know that Muslims revere ALL the Holy Books as revealed by the One True God, the Creator. For instance, this is the forward written in the front of one translation:

Please Note: The Quran sometimes written as "Koran," is the holy book of the Muslims, who believe that God has revealed His word and message to humanity throughout the ages. For example, we believe that Moses was given the Torah, David was given the Psalms, and Jesus was given the Gospel. In the  same way. we believe that Muhammad was given the Quran. Muslims therefore treat the holy books of other religions with great care and respect. For instance, we do not read these books in the bathroom, place them on the floor, or handle them unless we are in a state of ritual cleanliness. It is our request that you treat this book with the same respect and handle it as you would your own scripture.

 So...if Muslims are not afraid to read the Bible.....why are Christians afraid to read the Quran?

The myth of religious freedom in America - our sad history swept under the rug

A very important article we should all read.

Americas True History of Religious Tolerance

EarlyTimeline:

• 1564 establishment of a Huguenot (French Protestant) colony at Fort Caroline (near modern Jacksonville, Florida) 
• 1565 the Spanish commander, Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, wrote to the Spanish King Philip II that he had “hanged all those we had found in [Fort Caroline] because...they were scattering the odious Lutheran doctrine in these Provinces.”
• 1600's Puritans banned Catholics from the colonies, including all other non-Puritans. 
• 1659 - 1661 - 4 Quakers were hanged in Boston
• Throughout the colonial era, Catholics, especially French and Spanish Catholics were discriminated against in the matters of property and voting.

In newly independent America:

• Massachusetts - only Christians were allowed to hold public office, Catholics were only allowed to do so after renouncing the Pope's authority. 
• New York 1777 to 1806 - Catholics banned from public office.
• Maryland - Catholics had full civil rights but Jews did not.
• Delaware - required oath affirming belief in the Trinity.
• Massachusetts, S. Carolina and some other states had state-supported churches.

1779 - Thomas Jefferson (as Virginia's governor) drafted a bill that guaranteed legal equality for all citizens of all religions, including those of no religion in the state.

The bill did not advance until Patrick Henry introduced a bill in 1784 calling for state support for “teachers of the Christian religion.”

Future President James Madison stepped in and laid out reasons why the state had no business supporting Christian instruction. It was signed by 2,000 Virginians.

Among Madison’s 15 points was his declaration that “the Religion then of every man must be left to the conviction and conscience of every...man to exercise it as these may dictate. This right is in its nature an inalienable right.”

Madison also made a point that any believer of any religion should understand: that the government sanction of a religion was, in essence, a threat to religion. “Who does not see,” he wrote, “that the same authority which can establish Christianity, in exclusion of all other Religions, may establish with the same ease any particular sect of Christians, in exclusion of all other Sects?” Madison was writing from his memory of Baptist ministers being arrested in his native Virginia.

Patrick Henry’s bill was defeated 12 to 1. The Virginia legislature took up Jefferson’s plan for the separation of church and state.

1786 - the Virginia Act for Establishing Religious Freedom became law.

After the bill was passed, Jefferson proudly wrote that the law “meant to comprehend, within the mantle of its protection, the Jew, the Gentile, the Christian and the Mahometan (Muslim), the Hindoo and Infidel of every denomination.”

Madison wanted Jefferson’s view to become the law of the land when he went to the Constitutional convention in Philadelphia in 1787.

The U.S. Constitution clearly stated in Article VI that federal elective and appointed officials “shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution, but no religious Test shall ever be required as a qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.”

"This passage—along with the facts that the Constitution does not mention God or a deity (except for a pro forma “year of our Lord” date) and that its very first amendment forbids Congress from making laws that would infringe of the free exercise of religion—attests to the founders’ resolve that America be a secular republic. The men who fought the Revolution may have thanked Providence and attended church regularly—or not. But they also fought a war against a country in which the head of state was the head of the church. Knowing well the history of religious warfare that led to America’s settlement, they clearly understood both the dangers of that system and of sectarian conflict."

"It was the recognition of that divisive past by the founders—notably Washington, Jefferson, Adams and Madison—that secured America as a secular republic. As president, Washington wrote in 1790: “All possess alike liberty of conscience and immunity of citizenship. ...For happily the Government of the United States, which gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance requires only that they who live under its protection should demean themselves as good citizens.”

He was addressing the members of America’s oldest synagogue, the Touro Synagogue in Newport, Rhode Island (where his letter is read aloud every August). In closing, he wrote specifically to the Jews a phrase that applies to Muslims as well: “May the children of the Stock of Abraham, who dwell in this land, continue to merit and enjoy the good will of the other inhabitants, while every one shall sit in safety under his own vine and figtree, and there shall be none to make him afraid.”

"Late in his life, James Madison wrote a letter summarizing his views: “And I have no doubt that every new example, will succeed, as every past one has done, in shewing that religion & Govt. will both exist in greater purity, the less they are mixed together.”

"The anti-Catholicism of America’s Calvinist past found new voice in the 19th century. The belief widely held and preached by some of the most prominent ministers in America was that Catholics would, if permitted, turn America over to the pope. Anti-Catholic venom was part of the typical American school day, along with Bible readings."

1832 - mainstream Protestant majority fuels wrath against newly founded Mormon religion, a mob tarred and feathered Joseph Smith.

1834 - a Massachusetts convent was burned to the ground by an anti-Catholic mob.

1838 - Missouri Governor Lilburn Boggs ordered all Mormons expelled from his state. 3 days later rogue militiamen massacred 17 church members, including children, at the Mormon settlement of Haun’s Mill.

1844 - Philadelphia, anti-Catholic sentiment fueled the Bible Riots in which houses were torched and 2 Catholic churches were destroyed and at least 20 people killed

1844 - a mob murdered Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum while they were jailed in Carthage, Illinois. No one was ever convicted of the crime.

*quotes are from the article linked at the top of the page.

Left out of this article is the internment of thousands of Japanese American citizens during WWII

September 11

Always a painful day, and in an odd coincidence I was reading the book last night and the author was talking about 9/11.

I am reading this book, it is amazing, everyone should read! Seriously, in this day and age, when cultures are mixing, yet we still don't understand each other, have heard many bad things, many false things (on both sides), we all need a way to understand each other.

A Deadly Misunderstanding

People of the Book

I don't recall hearing this term before, but it refers to the three followers of monotheistic (one God) Abrahamic religions, Judaism, Christianity and Islam. All three religions received divine scripture from the One Creator who is called Elohim in Hebrew, Alaha in Aramaic, God in English, and Allah in Arabic.

Now let's clear up a misunderstanding about names.

In pre-Muhammadan times, Arabs worshiped a moon god called Hubal, whom they also referred to as "Al-ilah". In Arabic, the word ilah means "god". Al-ilah means "the god" (Al means The). After God revealed divine scripture to Muhammad, converted Arabs began praying to the One God, the Creator, pronounced in Arabic as Allah.

Now, listen to this. Our word, "God" is derived from the German pagan word gott, the name of a water spirit. The Latin word Deus, Spanish Dios and French Dieu all descend from the Greek word Zeus. When Christians pray to God they are not praying to a pagan water spirit or to Zeus!

So how then can we accuse Muslims of praying to a moon god?

Ok, explain this....

Some, many, (I don't know what percentage) of Christians have an aversion to the Quran in varying degrees, maybe ranging from dis-interest to outright feeling that it's sacrilegious to touch it. Some, many (again, I don't know the percentage) believe that Allah is "some other god" but not certainly "my" (a Christian's) God. I can write this with certainty because I have been there myself, and have talked to people who believe the same.

So why then do Muslims have no fear of touching and reading the Bible? Muslims are taught to believe all the scriptures that came from God. They understand that the Gospel was given by God to the "People of the Book".

Amazingly, the Torah, the Bible and the Quran are similar. I guess the most glaring difference is that the Jews rejected Jesus and the Muslims love Jesus. Let that digest in your head for awhile.

I will get to the subject of the "People of the Book" later.

Jesus in Islam

Most Christians don't know that Islam considers Jesus to be the promised Messiah, a word from God, born of the Virgin Mary to bring a new covenant to the people of Israel. The Arabic word for Jesus is Isa. The Arabic word for God is Allah. It is important to note that Arabic Christians also use the word Allah. Jesus spoke Aramaic, and used the word Alaha when he spoke about God.

The word "God" translated into other languages (thanks to Google Translate) - this is interesting. 
Affrikans - God
Albanian - Zot
Arabic - Allah
Aramaic - Alaha
Bosnian - bog
Croatian - bog
Dutch - God
English - God
Esperanto - Dio
Filipino - Diyos
French - Dieu
German - Gott
Greek - Theos
Haitian Creole - Bondye
Hungarian - Isten
Indonesian - Allah
Irish - Dia
Italian - Dio
Javanese - Gusti Allah
Khmer - preahcheamcheasa
Latin - Deus
Lithuanian - Dievas
Macedonian - Bog
Maylay - Allah
Maltese - Alla
Norwegian - Gud
Polish - Bog
Romanian - dumnezeu
Russian - bog
Serbian - bog
Slovak - Boh
Spanish - Dios
Swahili - Mungu
Swedish - Gud
Turkish - Tanri
Ukrainian - Boh
Vietnam - Thien Chua
Welsh - duw

Reading...

....the Quran through Christian eyes, discussing it with a Muslim who knows the Bible. Wow! Interesting to compare the scriptures.

Pretty much by late August...

....I'm just waiting for fall. Summer seems tired, dusty, buggy, full of spiders and other bugs, heat and humidity, air pollution, pollen, mold spores, you name it. After the first hard frost the air clears, it begins to look clean again. Yeah, I know it means winter is coming. My favorite month? October, then spring. I can't pick a month for spring because here it might be May one year, April the next, or even June. But most certainly summer is July. August is spider month. September, too, it it stays warm enough.

What is spider month you ask? Webs....at night. I'm afraid to walk outside at night unless I'm armed with a flashlight and a broom. I will not, I repeat, NOT walk into an orb web. The panic and fear attack I would experience would probably put me in the hospital. Yeah....it's that bad for me. My daughter just laughs and touches them while I stand at a distance, trembling and pale. Now a spider...without the web...I can take a tissue and grab it (and flush it). And those little black fuzzy jumping spiders? I don't mind them. They aren't web builders.

The only thing my mom could figure out is that when I was a baby the silk ribbon on my baby blanket frayed into hundreds of gossamer threads, and my mom found me tangled in them, screaming. Early imprinting? Whatever. The fear won't go away.

Happy Anniversary

To me & my hubby!

In case you were curious...

....the Albanian alphabet and how to pronounce it. I love listening to my hubby speak. Being from Kosovo he speaks the Gheg dialect, which is different than Tosk, the official Albanian dialect. Our 2nd anniversary is coming up and still I only know maybe a dozen words. Hubby speaks many languages, but he has trouble understanding some Americans when they speak. We tend to speak "sloppy", like saying "budder" instead of "butter". Also there are accents and dialects. Once someone told me their address and it sounded like "say-er". I couldn't verify it online. Finally, after she texted me her address I saw that it was "Fair". I have heard everything here, from southern drawls to Boston to something weird where people say "hay-yand" instead of "hand" and "hay-yed" instead of head. Talk about butchery.

warm, worms.....warm worms...?

Ahhh...so I have an accent...who knew. Hubby said he forgot to drink his Red Bull, so he was going to leave it in the car. I told him he should drink it, because it will get warm. He thought I said "worm". We agreed we often get lost on each other's accents. Albanian is phonetic. Each letter is pronounced ONE way, mostly. If you know how to pronounce the letters you can pretty much say the words. Of course there are some letters that make sounds that don't exist in English, so Americans tend to fall flat when trying to pronounce them. And many American ways of pronouncing things are very difficult for Albanians, and our mixed up ways of pronouncing the same letters all sorts of ways are confusing. It certainly makes for colorful conversations :)

Bugs & spiders

We have most of the problem under control now. We have a spider I have never seen before. There was one in the bathroom. Then one outside on the side of the house near the ground. Then another in the bathroom. They are all dead. Ewww. Big, like the body was 1/2 inch long and short legs. They were reddish-brown and hairy. Not the brown recluse. I saw one of those and killed it. Not a wolf spider. I creeped myself out looking and looking at spider pictures and I can't find it. I guess if I see another I will need to take a picture before I kill it. Yeah....like that's going to happen. I have arachnophobia for sure.

Anyway, the big difference between houses in Europe and the USA, unless you have a brick house, then you  probably have a wood-frame one. Wood-frame houses have a bajillion places where bugs can enter and hide between the walls. In Europe you just seal up the cracks, inside and out, easy peasy....no entry.

Ants....they come in looking for water. We have everything sealed in containers or ziplock bags and put the garbage out immediately. It has helped.

Earwigs....we only saw a couple since the massive siding-banging spraying episode.

There is still sooooo much to do to this house and yard to get it ready to sell.

Cool & dry

We have are having a run of real cool weather, while the rest of the world is warmer than normal. We are taking advantage of the cool weather to get some yard work done. It's waaaay too dry, though. We are keeping the bird bath filled, so the birds have some water. Living room is coming along slowly.

It's been too hot! The living room is mudded. Needs to be sanded and mudded again. We had to spray for bugs. We kept getting earwigs and ants in the house. This spring I bought a pretty pot of pansies. But lately the blooms have been reduced to chewed stubs. I picked up the pot and HUNDREDS of earwigs went running everywhere. They don't seem to eat Impatiens but there were hundreds hiding under those pots as well. I tossed the pansies. Why feed those suckers.

So we bought some barrier spray. Then we cleared all vegetation that was next to the house. Then we started spraying. Hubby bumped the side of the house and omg THOUSANDS of ants and ant eggs poured out from behind the siding. So we changed tactics: bang on the house, spray like crazy. Every few feet or so dozens of earwigs would pour out, like scarab beetles in an Indiana Jones movie. It was so gross!!!

It looks like the heat spell will break this weekend.

More progress on living room

New window

Sheetrock

The new window is in, now to close the spaces on each side

So busy, so happy!

We are happy. Hubby tells me he is so happy. We are busy working on the house. Wallboard will be going up soon. Here is the ceiling with the boards down. Lots of patching to do. It's nearly done. Hubby has been working on it every day.

Few believe me when I tell them

Few people believe me when I tell them that in Kosovo Muslims and Christians live side by side. They tell me, oh, there must be a conflict, you just don't see it. Bullpoopie. Kosovo is about 80% Muslim majority, and it is in no way a "hell on earth" that one of my blog visitors naively supposed. Now you can add Jews to the mix of people accepted in Kosovo. Read this article by Steven Schwartz - Kosovo Revives Its Jewish Heritage

So....if my hubby ever needs a doctor.....

We both hope he can get a job and we hope it comes with health insurance, but we all know how hard it is to find a job with health insurance. I was looking at the Healthy Indiana Plan, which is my medical insurance. It is the state of Indiana's health plan for self-employed and low-income people that have no way in h-e double-toothpicks of getting health insurance any other way. I pay a monthly premium that is based on my income, so in a way, it is means-tested.

So anyway, hubby would need to be a citizen to qualify for the full plan that I have. As a Legal Permanent Resident he could sign up for emergency care, and they do stress EMERGENCY---such as "if you don't go you die emergency". To sign up for that, everything gets tied into the USCIS, whom, you may or may not know, is the keeper of my signed Affidavit of Support that says if hubby receives any means-tested government help then the government will come after me to pay it all back. The Indiana plan is the best insurance I've ever had and I'm thankful I have it. I'm thankful that my hubby is healthy, but I worry....what if he needs to see a doctor...what do we do?

Living room Makeover

Years ago first hubby and I put up some really dark paneling. Then years later we had a bad roof leak and part of the ceiling caved in. First hubby's solution was to nail the wrecked ceiling back in place and cover the nightmare with ceiling tiles. Unfortunately the tiles in the corner began to sag some years ago, so to prevent them from caving in, I had to brace them in place. Since hubby #1 didn't seem to care to fix it, everything stayed. The ceiling ties were shabby and not even straight. The old, dark paneling was a mess. Fast forward to present.
BEFORE:

The east end

 The west end with a computer desk and falling tiles

THE DEMOLITION BEGINS:

The east end, or front of the house

The west end showing the ceiling and the damage. Removing the paneling also uncovered mold, which I am cleaning. I have always had allergy problems when sitting at that corner desk. Is it any wonder?

Close-up of the damaged ceiling

I am so thankful my new hubby is so pro-active and non-judgmental regarding my living situation. We are going to hang new wallboard (sheetrock) over the existing walls. We are thinking the damaged ceiling needs to be replaced. We aren't sure how to proceed because we can't decide....should we remove all the boards or put new tiles up? The boards are not going to support heavy sheetrock.

24 days

My hubby has been here 24 days. He has his green card. I have shown him someplace new (to him) nearly every day. We have taken walks, shopped together and cooked together. Today we went to the social security office because he still didn't have his card. The visa application has a check box with which you can choose to have your social security number generated and sent once entering the USA. It should have arrived in about 2 weeks. So I called, and was told he needs to come in to apply, that it is not issued automatically. The wait wasn't bad, maybe 20 minutes. Then documents were presented and hubby was interviewed...."where were you born....when were you born....what are your parents names....is this your current address". Then papers were printed and verified and we were told his card would arrive in 2 to 4 weeks.

I baked corn bread in my bread machine. It works perfectly! Cornbread in Kosovo in hard, heavy and not sweet. Sort of like a round brick. I was thinking he wouldn't like mine. He loves it! "It's so fluffy and soft and sweet! he said. His request...make more and add more sugar! LOL my hubby has a sweet tooth. Albanians eat a lot of bread. I love my bread machine! I bake bread every other day.

He's home....life is good!

I guess I have some catching up to do. Hubby flew into Chicago on April 30. I was at the airport by 11:45 am. His plane was supposed to land at 12:30 but it was delayed until 1 pm. I heard customs could take anywhere from 15 minutes to 2 hours to process a new immigrant. After waiting seemingly forever I asked the guard. He said customs was taking up to 3 hours. Finally, just shy of the 3 hour mark, I found my very tired hubby. We caught the 3:10 pm bus home and began our life together.

2 days!!!

The curtains worked out. They are lace, cheap lace, but at least both windows match. I needed to put 4 panels on one window and then buy 3 more for the other window to make them look right. I'm happy. Unfortunately when I washed the bedroom curtains they frayed. I knew they were fragile, so I took utmost care. So at this point I don't know if I'm throwing in the towel or buying more curtains on Monday. I am happy to no longer have pets in the house. As much as I love cats, I could never have lace curtains with cats.

Soon to be 3 days!

It won't be long, and I've been busy shopping, buying snacks and other things I never buy for myself, like chips, peanuts and pop, and making the house ready for my hubby. I have been planning to replace the living room curtains for some time. I bought some but once I got them home I realized I didn't like them. Took them back, bought different ones, and I'm still not sure.....I'm running out of time (and money lol) so I guess it's time to just say to heck with it.

Stumbled on this today...from BBC News

I was thinking the same thing....just when the country was healing and it looked like people were getting along....here we go again.
Boston Muslims on the marathon attack suspects

Interesting....worth reading:
Is Islam the Enemy of Christianity?

And this article addresses another question:
It is Politics, Not Religion, that Teaches Hate

I just wish the fear, misunderstanding and hate would stop. I wish the attacks would stop. They do nothing to change America's opinions about wars or whatever those people are protesting. They just create more hate and fear and mistrust and misunderstanding.

One week!!

One week until my hubby arrives. One journey near completion (immigration) and another one beginning, our life together in America. All the fees have been paid (filing fee, visa fee, affidavit of support fee, green card fee, lawyer fees). In two years we have the I-751 fee (Removal of Conditions), and then in 3 years, if he wants to file to become a naturalized citizen, there is the N-400 fee. If my hubby becomes a naturalized citizen and then decides to move back to Kosovo, he must still file taxes as long as he is a citizen! If he gives up US citizenship he can never, ever come back. Welcome to America, land of the fee and home of the brave. LOL I just thought of that this morning.

On a more serious note, the day we have been waiting for is near. We are so happy, but on the other hand we know this is a journey that is different than just two people meeting and falling in love. My husband is coming to a country he has never set foot in before. Foreigners tend to have unusual ideas about America, formed through watching movies and YouTube. I know, I have been asked the questions. Explaining America is like the blind man describing an elephant. What he describes depends upon what part of the elephant he touches. America needs to be experienced. It's almost impossible to explain.

Eye exam

My health insurance called me up a couple weeks ago and told me I needed to have a diabetic eye exam, and that my health insurance covered it. Turns out my in-network provider is a nice place I am familiar with because my mom went there: Williams Eye Institute My mom had cataract surgery there. The doc said he didn't see any problems with my eyes (good news!) but I did mention that my eyes are red and sore all the time and they seem dry, especially when I sleep. He said they have a new machine available toward the end of May which will analyze the chemical components of one's tears to aid in treatment. I also found out an eye exam (for glasses) only costs $45. Wow, reasonable. The doc gave me some eye drops to try, since I seem to have such a problem with them making my eyes even redder, and I made an appointment for next month. My glasses are another story....no-line progressives, always pricey. But my hubby will be here, and he can help me pick my frames. yay! 10 days. My hubby is happy, relaxed and packed lol

Rain...lots of it

We have flooding rivers, some streets are closed. Columbia Avenue is closed over the Little Calumet River.

 Wet morning, thankfully no flooding here.

Epic ad from ULINE came in my email just now. Sand not included lololol

Letting Go

I had a best friend in California and we lost touch after I was married. I found her again through her parents. She told me she lost my address because she threw all my letters away when she moved. We wrote some more, and then I lost her again. I'm still at the same darn address I was when I got married the first time (gads how pathetic is that!) So....today I threw her letters away, just like she did mine so many years ago. But she will always remain dear to me, even though I may never find her to see how she is doing.

We had fun times. Her name is Margaret. I'm sure her last name has changed. She lived in Long Beach. We met in Hollywood. She and her girlfriend Chris were at a teen fair thing I don't remember the exact name. We hooked up and became friends. We spent our free time in Hollywood, hoping to bump into celebrities. We found out we could get free tickets to teen TV shows, and we did, and saw many celebs perform, met a few. We snuck backstage a few times at concerts. We never drank or did drugs or any of the free love crap, but I figured out how to stamp my own hand in ink so I could get into the Hullabaloo Club (it was 21 and over and I was underage). We saw the Animals perform! Margaret worked at the Century Plaza Hotel and met the Young Rascals. She dated the drummer, Dino, for awhile. Yeah, there were lots of stories in those letters. My past is my past. I met Mark Lindsey outside a radio station. He was tall. He bent over and planted a kiss right on my lips. And then he was gone. Margaret, Chris and I were groupies for the Seeds, a local L.A. band. We went to so many of their gigs they actually looked for us and waved when they saw us. Once Sky Saxon (of the Seeds) pulled me up on stage. I was mortified. And my shin was bleeding. Backstage Sky took his handkerchief and cleaned my leg. Then he autographed the hanky and gave it to me. I still have it.

April 30

My hubby is flying home to me on April 30!



I will write more later. I just came home from the Conference in Little Rock and I am so very tired!

YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Type 1

I know I posted a combo picture before, but I wanted to show you this cute scarf I found. It looks great with the sherbet orange blouse I bought a few days ago.

In case you were wondering, Type 1 is part of Carol Tuttle's Beauty Profiling. It's fun, and it gave me permission to stop wearing drab grays. Honestly, I used to wear only drab colors even though I already knew I only looked good in spring colors.

Beautiful weather FINALLY

72 degrees!!! It's cloudy now but we have rain coming. We need it so bad. It's as dry as a popcorn fart here. Woke up early to my hubby's sexy voice on the phone. His second trip to the embassy is in 5 days. I am busy sorting through old papers I should have sorted through years ago (they were stuffed in boxes....egads I'm disorganized). Soon I will have a place for everything and everything in its place. I've always wanted that. It's been a long learning process. My parents always lived in teeny tiny houses and had lots of arts and craft projects stacked up in neat piles everywhere, so I just never learned how to really do it right. Living with my husband for 6 weeks in 2011 was my first chance to live my dream.

When I came home I looked around and realized....holy crap I have too much stuff and I don't need it all. The first order of business was to box up all of my younger daughter's belongings that she left here when she moved to Australia. Then in the spring of 2012 my older daughter and I drove it all plus the pets to her new home in California. I have to admit I have not cleaned non-stop. I burn out easily, simply not knowing how to organize. Several books and lessons from the FlyLady later I have a better grip on things. Two good habits I learned from the FlyLady is a clean sink and a made bed. I am happy to say unless I am sick, I never go to bed without finishing the dishes and never have my morning coffee until the bed is made. I have actually shifted to doing the dishes after dinner instead of right before bed.

My Goal --- a company-ready house at ALL Times. How cool is that! My Albanian family lives like that. Why can't I? I have seen houses like that here in the USA. I mean, not EVERYONE needs to run around frantically stuffing stuff in closets and dishes in the dishwasher (or oven if you don't have a dishwasher) and frantically washing the bathroom sink and brushing pet hair off of everything just because you got a phone call that someone is coming over. I mean, as much as I loved my mother she never taught me anything about keeping a house. Very soon I will be living the uncluttered life. The pets? Oh....they all belonged to my daughter. I just fostered them while she lived in Australia all those years. I am enjoying a pet-free house. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE cats. But my house is cleaner without them.

Culture Shock...it's coming

"Culture shock is the personal disorientation a person may feel when experiencing an unfamiliar way of life due to immigration or a visit to a new country, or to a move between social environments, also a simple travel to another type of life."  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_shock

I know it will happen to my hubby but I don't know to what degree. Thankfully he has an Albanian friend here in Indiana who is going to help him find a job. Having someone to talk to in his native language who has been here long enough to know the ropes will help him tremendously.

And there is a Balkan store here in town that has many foods that looked familiar to me after shopping in Kosovo. I can buy the salty wrinkled black olives and more than one variety of feta-type cheeses that all taste the same to me lol lol. We need that for making burek. It's so yummy!

My hubby knows how to cook and he will teach me to make burek, or as he calls it, pita. It can be made with 2 different fillings, meat or spinach and cheese, which is my favorite. I told him, "I'm sorry but feta cheese is very expensive here." And he said, "That's ok we will use normal cheese." Normal cheese in Kosovo is some other type of feta, to me anyway. So I was trying to explain to him about cheese here in America being more like what they have in northern Europe. And by the way....Albanian burek is very good and it NEVER gives me a stomach ache or heartburn like spanakopita.

I also want to learn to make Baklava the way his mom does. It is so very good and it's not overpoweringly sweet like the Greek kind with the honey in it. And speaking of Greek, what the heck is it with the Greek yogurt everywhere? My daughter and I tried it and it was awful. The Albanians obviously have much better food than the Greeks.

His large and very close family.....I know he will miss them.

Shopping

I haven't done it in awhile, but it was time to add some new things.

Colorful tops, scarves and a purse. I love the pale gold color, but it looks silver in the picture.

Deep River Park...nature walk with my daughter and friends

 Deep River Park

 Saw Mill

 Saw Mill

 Looking out from the Saw Mill

 Something growing in the woods

 Signs along one of the nature trails

 Chickadee

Osage Orange tree

Late winter in northwest Indiana just looks brown. Brown tree trunks, brown bushes, brown leaves on the ground and brown dirt. We enjoyed the walk anyway...fresh air, mild weather finally after such a cold March. We plan to return once things start growing and the leaves are on the trees.

Happy Easter weekend everyone

Today looks like it will be pretty nice, a bit warmer than it has been. I'm meeting my daughter and her boyfriend and we going for a walk on the nature trails in Deep River Park. If I get any good pictures I might post one or two later.

I made another count-down ticker. I hope this visit puts a visa in his hands.

My long distance phone service

I sent an email to Telrite after I finished with the embassy and then went back to bed, since I had been up since 4:45 am. I woke up just in time to get a call from Telrite with confirmation that my long distance has a problem and they are working on it.

It's 5:50 am

And I'm up, because I wanted to try calling the embassy directly. Again, busy signals. So I went online to check my long distance account. Everything seems fine....haven't gotten a bill in awhile but it shows my balance is 88 cents. It's through Telrite, a really cheap service (yeah I know...you get what you pay for). So I thought....ok....let me try the USA number with my cell phone (I can't call overseas with my cell, not without it costing over $2 per minute). I honestly didn't think anyone would answer but they did, with the same accent my hubby has (smiles) and I got his appointment...April 11 and 11 am....yay!!

Wow.....April 11, 2011 I was sitting in the lawyer's office doing a consultation....I asked her, what should I do if we find we really love each other when I go to meet him? She said, "Marry him."

Hubby has the new documents!

Now if I could only get through to someone at the Call Center to make an appointment for him to bring the papers to the Embassy. I have a USA number to call. I have been calling ALL DAY. beep beep beep....that's it. Nothing but a busy signal. My hubby will try calling the embassy directly tomorrow.

This about sums it up

...from Facebook, credit unknown

Conference

I found out this morning I am flying. I found out this evening I have a ride lol. No sure which way I'm going. Leaning toward the ride because I can take more stuff.

Paperwork is done

Now we wait, again. When hubby gets the papers one of us will call to make an appointment. Then the embassy will send an appointment letter. We are hoping for April.

Amidst all this craziness

I've gotten a possible job offer. It's not set in stone, but contingent on another person deciding to retire. The offer is from one of my website clients, who is a well-established local business. If it happens, it won't be until summer or fall. But I have a lot of things to think about. Pros and Cons. Pro---I could pay off my debts, increase savings, afford to buy all the things hubby needs to fix up this house without pressure on him, because honestly, until an immigrant boosts their language skills, it's hard for them to get hired, unless they speak Spanish, and that's one language my hubby doesn't know...yet. Con---well, it's not working from home, which I really really like. It's more work and maybe not even something I want to do. And it has the potential to screw up my health insurance with the state. The state I live in has a health insurance plan for low income individuals, based on income, and I buy into it. It's not free, but it's affordable. I can't be without insurance.

The job is sort of full time but not quite and he is open to making it flexible to fit in with my current job, which basically can be done any time during the day, and many days there is nothing to do, at all. One crazy thing about my current job, I'm sort of "on call" but I'm not paid to be on call. I'm "on-demand" tech support, shipping, webmaster and purchasing agent. All really kewl but I'm lucky to get 50 hours per month. So, anyway....lots to think about.

In other news, the phone number for the call center here in the USA for the Macedonia embassy is still just busy busy busy. But hubby called the Macedonia number and talked to someone. So I guess the appointment will be set through the Macedonia number.

I am rethinking.....

I am rethinking making an appointment before hubby receives the new papers. For one, I'm not sure how hard it is to reschedule. And....if the right people at the embassy don't get the message, they could just think he didn't show up. We just can't have any more omg what now moments. My hubby's interview took place exactly 465 days after the USCIS assigned his priority date. Another month to do things right means he can't go to the conference with me. I really wish that could happen. But this week the lawyer will prepare papers, then my daughter and I need to sign. Then they will be sent. Then hubby receives. Then I make an appointment. Then hope and pray he gets his visa, then he calls me and I book a one-way flight. I need about 2 to 5 days out to get a price I can afford. Lufthansa has the best deals, but they don't have the option to book a flight for the next day. Tuesdays and Thursdays are the best deals.

The waiting....the stress

All the papers are with the lawyer. She wasn't in today, so she will see them Monday.

The normal sequence would be:
Lawyer completes papers
Joint sponsor signs
Papers are sent to hubby
Hubby receives papers (in 10 days up to 4 weeks)
I make appointment with embassy
Hubby brings papers to embassy, gets visa
He flies here (maybe mid to late April?)

What I'm hoping for:
Monday I call embassy and try for an appointment the last week of March)
Lawyer completes papers
Joint sponsor signs
Papers are sent to hubby (via FedEx at the shocking price of $150)
Hubby receives papers in 5 to 8 days
Hubby brings papers to embassy, gets visa
He flies here (no later than the 1st week of April in time to come with me to the annual conference)

Am I freakin crazy? When I call the embassy, if there is no time-slot the last week of March then the plans are gone. Lawyer can mail the cheaper and more sane way via regular mail and I have my hubby home sometime after the very lonely and boring conference, to which I will need to fly, because I can't drive to Little Rock, but hubby can.

Done!!!!

Praise God we have a joint sponsor!!!!!

After much discussion....More delays

I have discussed matters with the lawyer and the only sure-fire way for my husband to receive his visa without further stink from the embassy is to find a joint sponsor. The embassy rejected my Affidavit of Support, even though I meet the requirements. "Give me your tired, your poor?" Hooey. Show us the money. You know, I understand the reason for that, but it burns me there are 11 million illegal immigrants in this nation who DON'T have a sponsor and they make it ALL SO MUCH HARDER for those of us doing it the legal way.

I need my Hubby here

All the paperwork is with the lawyer. Then somehow everything needs to be sent to my husband so that it actually ARRIVES in a timely manner. Thankfully the National Visa Center sent his appointment letter as a PDF file via email, because the hard copy arrived the DAY BEFORE HIS INTERVIEW - ONE MONTH LATE. So the papers will need to go FedEx. It will probably cost about $150. And then I need to call the embassy and make an appointment and hope its soon after the papers arrive. I need my hubby here no later than the first week of April. I have a conference to go to April 12-14. I need to work. I can't do it all alone. I really really need him here before the conference.

Visa pending more documents

My husband needs to show some documents which the lawyer will send. The embassy said he can have his visa in 3 hours after they are satisfied with the documents. Everyone, I repeat, everyone, is being turned away at the embassy in Macedonia. Some are approved on the second visit. Of course visitor visas are almost impossible to get, so those people come back 4 or 5 times, maybe they never get them.

Tonight

Tonight will be tomorrow in Kosovo.

2 Days!!!

Tomorrow night it will be hard for me to sleep. Hubby is leaving for the embassy very early because he needs to travel to a neighboring country for his interview, which will be about 1 am my time. I think I will be up until he calls or sends a message. APPROVED APPROVED APPROVED is what I want to hear!

Interview in 4 days!!!!

I was so nervous, but in the past 2 days I have felt at peace. I am not so naive as to think my hubby's visa approval is a shoe-in, but still, I feel at peace, and excited to begin our life together.

Last night we were discussing how we can go about fixing the garage. It involves renting a dumpster, scraping off all the old shingles, maybe replacing some decking, taking the opportunity to empty the junk out of the garage (throw into the dumpster), finish the roof, then on to other repairs. And I need a new garage door

Then we talked about where we might want to move. Hubby was asking about all different states, the climate, etc. I hate humid. Him too. I love the west. I grew up out there. But move there? I don't know. I hate despise and fear friggin tornadoes. We never had them out west. We had earthquakes. It's funny that Dave hated, despised and feared earthquakes. Yet the few (very few) times we had a tornado warning here, while I was tossing stuff out of the closet so I could hide, he was standing on the porch looking for it!

Be still my heart!

6 days!!!

7 Days!!

Seven days till interview! Hubby is ready. He thought he could take a bus to the embassy but he just found out it wouldn't get him there in time. So he and his brother will drive to the Macedonia border, park, WALK across the border and take a taxi to the embassy. I don't know why they can't drive all the way there. I will ask the next time we talk.

The weather here is still cold. I seem to only write late at night lately, when I'm sleepy. I've been thinking a lot about how my life will change once hubby is here. Life will change for hubby, too. We talk about it a lot.

Cold night tonight

I can feel the chill in the house. I drank a cup of warm milk. Now I'm going to bed because I want to be under a cozy pile of blankets with a toasty warm rice bag heating pad at my feet. Yes, I heat up the foot of my bed with a microwavable rice bag. It works! Before I started using it I COULD NOT warm up my feet. Even socks didn't help. I would hold my feet in my hands (didn't work very well). Or I would alternately tuck them into the back of my knee (not so effective). Then I remembered the rice bag that belonged to my mom. Wow! What a foot saver! Just Google "rice bag heating pad". You will get lots of results. I'm thinking to make one, for hubby's side of the bed.

9 Days!!!

9 days till interview, medical exam completed today :)

Happy 5th Anniversary Kosovo

And hubby's interview is in 11 days!

Interview in 16 days hubby's time

I was so good to wake up to his voice on the phone this morning :)

In other news, I'm baking homemade pizzas for my neighbor across the street on Wednesday.

Work on the house is moving slowly. The things I wanted done won't be completely done before hubby is here. I know he would much rather do the work himself anyway.

Doesn't it seem mouse wheels collect dust and fuzzies? If I could figure out how to open this mouse I'm sure I could clean it. Or ruin it. LOL

18 days till interview!

Exciting! And we have so many plans. My boss is holding a company conference this year! First one since 2009 at the Natchez State Park in Tennessee. Still don't know the location of this year's conference. Hubby is a good driver, I mean really good, and he LOVES to drive. They drive on the same side of the road and sit in the same side of the car as we do. So the transition will be easy.

The main difference, here we have more stop lights, stop signs and police. We have fewer people walking everywhere, crossing streets whenever and wherever they please. In Kosovo there are few street lights, many round-abouts and mostly just a lot of speed bumps on the MAIN ROADS for cryin' out loud instead of police! I think I only saw one stop sign in all of Prishtina. Most intersections have nothing other than a slightly busier street intersecting with a less busy street. Everyone just drives AT IT from 4 directions and slows down, courteously allowing the heavier traffic to pass while nosing their car in until the other guy stops and lets them proceed. It's all like a courteous traffic jam---no road rage.

This would not work in America! But we have the lights and stop signs to control the traffic. I was explaining this to hubby and he said, "American drivers are better drivers." I replied, "No, we just have more laws and lights and signs...like herding cattle." He laughed. Honestly, the traffic in Prishtina is similar to downtown Chicago or downtown New York. Hubby drives a stick shift! In this crazy traffic! Traffic moves there like a school of fish, artfully dodging and darting in all directions but never hitting one another (well 99% of the time).

It's amazing that Albanians can all drive among each other like this and no one gets angry, and that nosing into traffic causes others to yield politely. When we were in a round-about in Prishtina I saw a vehicle sitting there, the mystified driver wondering how in the heck to enter. Must have been a foreigner. I would have done the same.

Interview in 19 days!

Hubby's medical exam is scheduled for the 19th. Thankfully his doctor reconstructed his immunizations based on when and where he went to school. Everyone's medical records were destroyed when the hospitals were sacked and burned in the war. Thankfully the embassies know that, and allow reconstruction of records.

I can't wait till hubby is here!!! He sent me this link to some Kosovo Recipes. I know how to make the beans (but I don't use veal), the veggies and the salad but not the Flija. Hubby says we will cook together he will show me how :) he is such a sweetie. He also knows how to make baklava the Albanian way which is WAY better then the too-sweet Greek way. His mom made it for me and found out I love it so guess what, next day she sent a whole plateful lol!!!!

The Immigration Journey

The immigration journey requires

And money. I have no sympathy for the 11 million people who are here illegally.

Soon!

Medical exam scheduled for the 19th

21 days until interview! The interview will take place 465 days from the date I filed the I-130. Who knew it would take over a year.

Fishing Story

When I was married to my first hubby his parents had a waterfront cottage near Briggsville, Wisconsin, on a sleepy body of water called a slough, which is, as I remember it, a long, narrow lake with a slight current. Actually it was part of Neenah Creek that had been dammed by the Native Americans for growing wild rice. The western bank was ringed by cottages. The opposite side was swampy woods populated by deer and hoot owls. 

It was morning, the mist was still rising from the water. The sun was warm and there was no breeze. It was quiet. You could hear a pin drop. My husband and his dad had taken the boat out to do some early morning fishing. I'm not sure the actual name, skiff, v-hull aluminum something? It had a small motor, and oars. They had rowed and drifted some distance away to the Big Bend when my mother-in-law and I wandered down to the pier with our coffee. 

Suddenly the silence was split with GET YOUR LINE OUTTA THE WAY!!! #@@$%$#@ PULL IN THAT @#$$# ANCHOR!!! @$$%##$ DON'T TOUCH THAT!!!! GET THAT OAR OUTTA THE WAY!!! $%#%$%#$  %%$#@#$

My MIL and I are watching in amusement as my FIL is playing a fish that is literally pulling the boat back toward us! My husband was dutifully trying to get all objects out of the way of the line while trying not to rock the boat too much all the while his agitated, red-faced father was cussing loud enough for everyone to hear him a mile away! 

We held our breath the moment when dad was shouting at son to net the fish! My poor hubby was dammed if he made one slip and lost his dad's prize. Judging by the cussing he was certainly between the net and a hard place. All ended well with a sigh of relief when the fish was landed. The boat had been pulled about the distance of a couple football fields at least, all the way back to the pier. FIL was out of breath, smiling from ear to ear and hubby held up his catch. It was a blue channel catfish. I don't remember the exact weight but 29 pounds comes to mind.

So that's my best fishing story.

Just a little immigration humor

Someone on the immigration forum posted this, said this is how they picture the immigration service centers. I thought it was funny. No disrespect to the government workers who process thousands of visas every year. But for us who are waiting and waiting to immigrate our beloved LEGALLY this is how it feels:

Countdown to My Hubby's Visa Interview

INTERVIEW DATE FEBRUARY 28!!!!!!! We are excited. Hubby can't wait to get it over with (little bit of stress---everyone has it). If your first reaction is yay, he can get on a plane right after the interview, right? The answer is NOOOO. When he is approved (I'm not even saying "if") the visa will be issued about 3 business days later. I say "about" because nothing is promised. The embassy may decide to make him wait longer while they double-check our papers. They say never buy a ticket until you have the visa in your hand.

The abbreviations:
USCIS - U. S. Citizenship & Immigration Service
I-130 - form to apply to bring an alien spouse to the USA
NVC - National Visa Center
AOS - Affidavit of Support
DS-230 - the visa application

Our timeline:
17-Aug-2011 Our Wedding Day in Kosovo
07-Nov-2011 filed I-130, paid fee at lawyer's office
21-Nov-2011 I-130 received by USCIS this is our "priority date"
28-Nov-2011 case updated (noted on website)
21-Apr-2011 Expected Approval date (5 months)
10-Jun-2012 contacted USCIS via email about delay
22-Jun-2012 email from USCIS - security checks pending
23-Aug-2012 APPROVAL! Finally after 9 months
05-Sep-2012 NVC case created
17-Sep-2012 NVC case number arrived by email
21-Sep-2012 paid AOS and DS-230 fees to lawyer
22-Sep-2012 I leave for my second trip to Kosovo
24-Sep-2012 AOS and Visa fees show as paid online
02-Oct-2012 returned from visit to hubby with signed DS-230
08-Oct-2012 brought papers to lawyer
31-Oct-2012 signed AOS
02-Nov-2012 police cert lost, hubby mails new one
16-Nov-2012 received new police cert in the mail
21-Nov-2012 papers sent to NVC
13-Dec-2012 NVC requests passport photos - resent
10-Jan-2013 CASE COMPLETE!! via email
15-Jan-2013 case leaves NVC (notified by email)
18-Jan-2013 Skopje embassy receives (DHL tracking)
28-Feb-2013 interview - Result_________
xx-xxx-2013 visa issued
xx-xxx-2013 Port of Entry - Chicago O'Hare


 

I finished the book awhile ago

But I couldn't bring myself to write more. The story ended in Switzerland, where the peacemakers were ruling in favor of the thugs while the suffering continued. He felt it was time to get out of Bosnia before he was killed, like some of the other people he knew. I really didn't want to pick the book up again to write about it. I emailed Peter Maass and thanked him for writing such a profound book. He thanked me. I did not, however, ask to put excepts from his book into my blog. I most likely will go back and edit them out.

Looking ahead, I decided to type Sarajevo into Google. I found a website:
Sarajevo Official Web Site

I am almost done with this book

This book is truly a journey into the dark side of humanity, punctuated with the light of the good who struggled to do the right thing. It is an in-depth insight into the complicated enigma of the Balkans. And Peter Maass understands it better than most. I will tell you what it is not. It is not a story about the Arab Muslims. It is not a story about the Islamic terrorists. In order to understand what happened in the Balkans, you need to understand Balkan Muslims.

Emir is a Bosnian Muslim. He doesn't drink alcohol, pray or even go to a mosque. He favorite music is Guns N' Roses, Neil Young, and AC/DC. He reads Mark Twain and speaks English. He said he does not want to live in an Islamic country.
Reference page 242, Love Thy Neighbor, A Story of War by Peter Maass

But the sad truth is that America held back from helping. I can't pretend to know enough about politics and policy to explain why. Peter offers a lot of insight throughout the book. It is not my goal to copy the book into my blog. Peter Maass understood the ordeal of the Bosnian Muslims very well. His ancestors would have liked to consider themselves Germans, or German Jews. But the painful truth was in the end they were only Jews. They had to leave or die.

"Emir had made the same mistake. He thought he was a Bosnian, or a Bosnian Muslim, but in the end he was a Muslim, just a Muslim, and other people, stronger ones, wanted his land and were willing to kill him for it."
Page 239

Peter wrote about Selma, a young schoolteacher. She wore blue jeans and had blond hair and blue eyes. He goes on to describe her job, helping refugees fill out questionnaires about war crimes. On the wall next to her desk was a picture of Ali Khamenei with a 600 word statement in Bosnian assailing Western countries for refusing to lift the arms embargo. It also said that Iran was ready to help.

Peter writes what Selma says, "'We had illusions about American democracy,' Selma said. 'How can we believe your democracy when there are atrocities happening here and you do nothing? When Clinton sends American weapons, then we'll put his picture on the walls.'"
Page 240

Peter questioned Selma about sharia law, asking her if she wanted to wear a chador and loose many freedoms (in line with the strict Arabic Islamic law). She seemed to be in denial, maybe thinking Iranian Muslims were as easy-going as Bosnian Muslims. She was wrong, of course. Within a few months women in her village were wearing scarves.

I thought of the "dammed if we do, damned if we don't situation Hillary Clinton recently got in with Syria. We must have gotten it right before the war moved down to Kosovo, because they love us there.