Naughty blogger!

Goodness gracious, forgive me for my absence!

Last week my parents were in town and there was so much going on I barely had a moment to nap, let alone sneak away with my lappy to blog.  My apologies!

My parents decided to come a day earlier than scheduled to avoid delays that Hurricane Irene inevitably caused in the DC area.  It seemed like a good idea at the time, but we were doubting its value when their flight was 12 HOURS LATE because of an unexpected stop in Iceland due to mechanical problems.  I find it ironic that I've made the DC to London trip many many times and have only been inconvenienced by lost luggage, screaming babies, malfunctioning entertainment units, and cramped seats.  But my parents, who only got passports in 2007 to visit me in London, and who are quite content with their yearly vacation on the Eastern MD shore, traveled to London Heathrow via Iceland.  I'm impressed, that's one passport stamp I don't have!

We had a lovely week together and were lucky to get decent weather.  It's been 90-100 degrees F in the DC area this summer so Sussex was positively freezing in comparison to them!  I was just glad we didn't get too much rain, as it's been pissing it down ever since they left!

On our itinerary was Sunny Worthing (and surrounding neighborhoods), Brighton, Arundel, and Rye.  We had a lovely BBQ at the in-laws', went antiquing in Arundel, saw The Lanes, Museum, and Royal Pavillion of Brighton (and got donuts on the pier...nom nom), walked and cycled around Worthing and saw the museum (yea my mom likes museums, she's a history nerd), saw "That'll Be the Day," a rock-n-roll revival show in Worthing, saw a Bank Holiday Weekend parade along the seafront, and took an incredible trip to Rye (Eastern side of East Sussex).  Plus, I had fun cooking for everyone and showing off my culinary skills to the man who showed me the way! 
Cheers to the hubby for taking the week off from work and renting a car so we could see all that and more!  It was great fun.

I sure hope they had a fun visit and will come back again so we can explore more of England together!  It was sad to say goodbye, but it won't be long before Thanksgiving will be here and I'll be there! 

EXCITING NEWS!

Last week I had an interview with a nearby domiciliary care/home care agency and it went very well.  On Friday I got the call that they wanted me to start ASAP!  I thought my eyeballs were gonna pop out of my head from excitement.  I'M AN EMPLOYED PERSON IN THE U.K.  This has been the missing puzzle piece in my settlement here and I'm so chuffed that things are falling into place.

The 411 on the job:

• Domiciliary/Home Care agency providing care and support to older and disabled adults in the community out of their own homes
• My role is a team leader/manager who will support and supervise the direct care workers and work with the local community residents and health/social care agencies to develop new referrals/business
• 5 MINUTE WALK FROM OUR FLAT.  Amazing! 
• That's all I know right now, I'm sure it will develop as the weeks go on!

I'm so chuffed, I start Thursday!  I'm nervous, y'all!  I left my last job in March to finish planning my wedding and deal with all the immigration stuff, I am SO READY to get back to work, but just anxious to find my place and settle in.  It's always a bit weird starting in a new place, I guess.

In other news, things are coming together with our new flat, we have a moving date now (3 weeks, eek!  Gotta find boxes!).  I'm pleased that we won't be going far, it's literally right next door to where we are now.  I just hate the process of moving, it's a pain in the ass.  But we'll get through it!

Suddenly last Sunday I had this feeling like things were finally settling in.  Since I moved to England and have struggled to find a job and find my place here, I always felt like I was just living in my husband's world sometimes.  Like I was just visiting.  But now I feel like I'm developing my own life, schedule, friends, goals, etc here and it feels good.  I suddenly feel kind of grown up for the first time ever.  That's weird to say.  But it's fun, I'm so excited to see where the next few months takes me and takes us as a couple! 

As always, thanks for reading. 

Amanda <3

I did the math

Y'all, I am a sad sight to behold. I've just checked my email for the 47th time (no spouse visa yet), I'm sitting in my duckie boxer shorts, and eating breakfast at 6:00pm. My daily nail-biting is compounded by the fact that I'm unemployed and don't exactly have much to fill my day with. It's quite pathetic.

Anyways, my point is, I have A LOT of time on my hands.

A more ambitious person might go to the gym every day, do chores, or at least carry the dirty clothes pile blocking the door 3 feet to the hamper for which it was created. Not I!

Instead I have chosen to obsessively check American Expat message boards, make obnoxious posts on the UK Consulate in New York facebook page, and check processing time stats every 3 hours.

I have made an interesting calculation that pisses me off...

This is the current statistics for settlement visa processing times posted on the UK Border Agency website:

These stats are based on the month of March. That's 237 cases in one month. Sounds like a lot, right? Not really.

If there's 20 working days in a month. That's 11 cases in a day. REALLY?!
Come on now, you can surely do better than that. I assume theres more than one staff person assigned to this type of case. Even if there are two people, they should surely be able to make a decision on at least twice that amount.

Consider this.
It should take no more than 30 minutes to look at the supporting documentation and determine if this is clearly a legit couple or not. If yes, stamp APPROVE on it. If no, pass it along for a second opinion. So, in theory, one staff person could make a decision on 14 cases in one working day (I am being nice and giving them an hour for lunch). I would like to think they have more than one person working on this.

Ugh I am just making my brain hurt. At the end of the day, it doesn't make my case process any faster. Blergh.

Sorry y'all, I hope to make a more cheery post later.

Smooth Sailing Thus Far!

Folks, today was a great day. Wedding and immigration stuff was all going my way today! First, I took my parents to see Milton Ridge this morning. I was pretty nervous cause I loved the place and wasn't sure if my parents would be on the same page. They were skeptical at first but soon fell in love with the place and its charm. Once I get Kieran's final approval, we'll put a deposit down next week YAYAYAYAYA!! I can't wait to send out "save the date" cards now that we have a place.

Then, I got home and found a notice from USCIS in the mailbox! Unbelievable! I just sent off that application a week ago! I hope this is a sign of fast processing times to come. Basically it was a notice that they had received the application and were processing it. Yay! So far so good



When I got home I also had a long phone chat with a college friend who is getting married in the fall. It was nice to catch up and commiserate with the stress of wedding planning. Definitely made me feel more sane!

I can't even wait to start my new job on Monday. Having some time off has been super restful, useful, and somewhat productive--not counting the 35% of the time spent sleeping (no regrets!). But I love having a schedule and purpose to my day! Plus, I'm going to be doing a job that I think I am really going to enjoy. I am a social worker and my background is in aging. My last job was more political in nature and it just wasn't the right fit for me, even though I am interested in public policy. This job, in contrast, is going to be more direct clinical practice with older adults, so I think it's going to utilize my social work skills and be more rewarding overall. I sure hope so! It's always a little nerve-wracking starting a new job and being the new person, so please send your positive prayers and vibes my way!

I hope everyone is having a great weekend. In DC we are having unbearable heat!! I think I got 2nd degree burns from touching my car's steering wheel! Stay cool, kids.

Love,
Amanda :-D