Not a lot to report this week as there are currently other priorities right now, this is even a scheduled post and I’m hoping I get time to link it up before heading out of the door but more on that later.  This is my desk this week, or at least it was my desk on Sunday which was the last time I stepped in to my room, and it does appear to be covered in Snowflakes doesn’t it!!  Yes, I’m still on a Christmas card making kick (although not all my cards are of the Christmas variety), I’m still enjoying making them.  Party because there’s still snow on the ground and we haven’t been above freezing yet so far this month, it’s definitely very wintry out there still.  Last week in a comment, Bernie hit the nail on the head though, when she said it was nice to concentrate on individual cards and have time to make them and colour them without the pressure of the looming big day.  And she’s SO right.  By November I’ve almost stopped making individual cards and have had to switch to much simpler designs and mass produce them in order to have enough for our needs and to also send some back to a friend in the UK who has a coffee morning or two for charity.  So that’s my excuse anyway!!

 

It’s clickable by the way, if you’d like to have a close look at all the snowflakes on my desk!  I don’t think there’s much here that requires an explanation, but shout if you have a question about something.  And this officious looking document is what’s been taking up a bit of my thoughts over the last few days.  It’s the appointment confirmation for our Green Card renewal which is taking place (hopefully!) today at 9am, which is why I’m not here and you’re reading a scheduled post!  This will also slow up my WOYWW commenting this week as I have no idea how long this will take.

 

 

Used to be the Department of Immigration, but now it’s the Department of Homeland Security, sounds a lot more intimidating doesn’t it!!?  And you might notice that I’m replacing an Alien Registration Card, I think someone’s been watching too many episodes of The XFiles.  So, while you’re tucking into your elevenses and perusing the desks of the world, I’ll be somewhere in Downtown Detroit (with Andrew though, we’re both being ‘processed’ at the same time), getting a retina scan, fingerprinted, being interviewed, mug shots taken and a biometric exam!  I have no idea what a biometric exam is but as long as it doesn’t involve them wearing latex gloves I’m OK with it!!  And I’ve had to take the morning off work too, so had to tell my boss what was going on, especially as my current Green Card expires in February and I can’t live or work in the US without it….. and the poor bloke has completely freaked out!  He’s convinced himself that the next time he hears from me I’ll be 35,000ft over the Atlantic heading back to the UK because they’ve deported me!!  Let’s hope he’s got that one wrong!!

 

***Update at 10:30am… we’re done and dusted and back home sitting by the fire with a big mug of coffee, and that’s after a 45 minute drive to get back home!  Our appointment was at 9am and we were in and out in no time.  All very friendly and welcoming, no uniforms and no intimidation or worries.  The interview was filling in another very small form followed by one question to confirm something I’d written, followed by a 10 minute wait and then fingerprints and photographs.  Nothing else was required.  When I asked about the other things the lady said some people needed everything done again, others had data on file already (retina scan), it all depends how frequently you leave the US as they do a lot more checking when you come back into the US these days.  We last traveled internationally less than a year ago so they had records for us.  So, all in all, very quick, very easy and lovely people to deal with.  Our current cards have been extended until July via a sticker on the back, by which time, the new ones should have arrived in the post from the central office in Nebraska, and then we’ll be Permanent Resident Aliens again for another 10 year!***   And a HUGE thank you to Annette (Voodo Vixen) for linking me up this morning!

 

For more desks, pop on over to Julia’s which is where we all start this weekly hop from.  There’s a WOYWW button over on the right, on my sidebar.