Weightless

An amazing thing happened to me on Wednesday morning.  It all started my alarm went off as usual at the ghastly hour of 6 o’clock in the morning.  I got up, walked a few steps to my alarm, hit the snooze, and dived back under the covers.  As I settled back into my warm bed, a strange sensation came over me.  My mind was calm, my thoughts were clear, and I felt as light as a feather.  The immense weight on my shoulders that had been my constant companion these last 4 years was gone.  So, this is what it felt like before my world came crashing down around me?  It’s amazing the ability we have to adapt to our surroundings and adjust our expectations accordingly.

Alberto called me last night to talk about what will happen next.  I told him I had sent an email out to Lance to find out when we will be engaging immigration yet again, although I suspect it will not be until after the sentencing in November.  I also let him know that Brian had stated that he didn’t believe that Alberto would be serving the full 240 days.  Most people only serve about 2/3 of their actual sentence, which means Alberto could be out as soon as the day of the sentencing hearing.  If you do the math, 2/3 of the 240 days is only 160 days.  As of today 155 days have passed since his arrest at the border, and if you add the three days he had in custody from the original arrest, Alberto has served a total of 158 days to date, which means he ‘could’ be released on Friday.  However, since he has not been formally sentenced Alberto will remain in custody until that time.  At least that is my understanding of the legalities.

At about 2:30 am Ashley came downstairs and crawled into bed with me.  After getting herself comfortable she says, “Mamí, tengo que ir a potty”.  I flew out of the bed and rushed her upstairs to the bathroom.  We made it just in time!  Congratulations Ashley, you actually got up to pee in the middle of the night!  I was so happy (since this meant I did not have to strip her and her bed to wash everything immediately) that I managed to not sleep for the rest of the night.  Ashley wanted to come downstairs and sleep with me after her accomplishment, and proceeded to squirm around and push me over to the edge of the queen size bed.  I waited until she was asleep and carried her back upstairs to her bed.  She’s only been in bed with me once when my alarm clock went off and that is not an experience I care to repeat.

When I finally decided to get out of bed around 7 am, I had an email from Lance.  He said that we cannot do anything immigration wise until after the sentencing hearing in November.  The ball is in immigration’s court and Lance said he will speak with Enforcement and Removal Operations after the hearing.  He copied his assistant, asking her to add an appointment to his calendar for 2 days after the hearing to call and discuss our case with ICE.  He also said we are cutting Brian out of our conversation at this point as his involvement is extremely limited now that the criminal case has been resolved.  That’s fine with me since I expect him to start harping about his bill again any day now.  The check is in the mail Brian!!

My mission, should I choose to accept it, is to make an appointment to see my psychiatrist even though I know this is going expensive.  When I enrolled in the reimbursement healthcare plan at work, what didn’t occur to me is that I never have money.  Even though I pay less for a monthly premium, I’m going to have trouble paying my half of the medical bills.  Open enrollment is next month, and although my payroll check is already begging for mercy I will be switching to the traditional plan.  After that I am going to put my gym membership to good use and get myself into a (less rounded) shape!

“When you get into a tight space and everything goes against you, till it seems as though you could not hold on a minute longer, never give up then, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn.”

Harriet Beecher Stowe

Ciao



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