Hashtag Srsly Ppl

I am now officially a cranky old lady. I took Ashley to the doctor this morning because her face looked awful; she woke up in the morning with little red dots all over her face and a red patch around her eye. The doctor declared my baby was suffering from a bad eczema flare up with a dash of heat rash just to make things more interesting. By the way, if any divine entities read my blog, have pity on me and stop making my life more ‘interesting’. The Doctor prescribed a special antibiotic cream for the skin around Ashley’s eye, something that wouldn't hurt or cause damage to her eye, and then suggested I put her lotion on at every opportunity.

Since they were celebrating the August birthdays at school today, I made her go to school directly after the appointment. We got lucky and found her teacher right away since they were having a fun day outside with all sorts of fun activities. Ms. Johnson was in the classroom for a cool down after having taken a quick bathroom break. This is only significant for the fact that Ms. Johnson is now 7 months pregnant with twin girls and has all my sympathy. If I had the time, motivation, or even just my own place I would have thrown her a baby shower.

And then I got mad. I got terribly MAD.

Today I received an email from the Customer Assistance Office (CAO) which I believe is in response to the inquiry that I submitted to the CIS Ombudsman (CISOMB) office. The email simply stated that the response to my inquiry was attached, but I felt my heart stop when I saw the title of one of the two attachments. Obviously I opened the attachment titled “MENDEZ_DENIAL_NOTICE” first because I needed to know what the denial was in regards to. I was beyond relieved when I saw that it was nothing more than a copy of the original notice we received back in July 2012, so I opened the second attachment to see what response the government sent me that required a copy of the denial notice. The letter read something like this:

Just give me a push

I am often amused by the males of our species and today I witnessed something that ranks pretty high on the usual scale.  I was walking back to my desk from the kitchen, minding my own business, when I walked past a window and became engrossed in the drama unfolding in our parking lot.  Exterior scene, nearly empty parking lot at mid-day.  A scruffy-looking man in his mid 20’s and his car, a Honda hatchback that has seen better decades, is visible through the window.  It appears that he is having car trouble.  Enter the curious employee.

‘Scruffy’ had the door on his car open and was pushing the disabled vehicle across the parking lot.  The end destination was apparently the very busy street right in front of the building.  He pushed the car into the street, jumped in the driver’s side seat and attempted to start the car.  When nothing happened Scruffy seemed more concerned that the engine still wouldn’t turn over instead of the amount of traffic whizzing by mere inches from his bumper.  After wildly gesturing his frustration at the willfulness his car was demonstrating for one and all, Scruffy got out to push the car back into the parking lot.  It was at this time a male coworker noticed the disabled vehicle and rushed over the help push the car back into the parking lot.  After a few moments of discussion, Scruffy and his new apprentice pushed the car across the parking lot and back into the street.

He who shall not be named

I don’t want to talk about what happened in Connecticut last Friday.  I feel like the media has covered the matter in way too much detail as it is.  Truth be told, I want to complain about the media coverage.  They were interviewing children as they came out of the school building for crying out loud and posting pictures of them sobbing while walking away from the school with their hands on the shoulders of the child in front of them!  We knew the name of that individual before we heard the names of any of the victims.  Those that were on Facebook saw the creation of what seemed like 600 new pages/profiles devoted to the name the media gave out first, who turned out to be the shooter’s brother.  This sick individual became a celebrity the moment the first shot was fired, even if it was only because of the hate and rage at their actions.

When you look at the reaction of the public, everything has degenerated into a flame war.  Some want to increase gun control laws.  Others say that arming teachers is the answer and best way to keep our children safe.  The arguments are broken down into factions: gun enthusiasts, gun control seekers, atheists, über-religious, and the parents like me that are at a complete loss of words.  I don’t know that more gun control laws would make much of a difference; someone that is bound and determined to wreak havoc will find a way.  When it comes to religion, stay out of this type of situation completely.  Lack of religion in our schools did NOT cause this.  The remarks about the children receiving the best gift possible for Christmas, meeting Jesus, were completely insensitive and inappropriate in my eyes.  The comments stating this *proves* that religion is nothing more than the opiate of the masses is equally insensitive. 

‘Get Out of Relationship Free’ Card

I know my mother-in-law doesn’t necessarily talk to me about the family issues, but I really don’t like being taken by surprise by problems.  My husband asked me if I knew why Dacia left her boyfriend and said that he was told there had been abuse within the relationship.  Now I know Dacia’s father Ignacio has been abusive to my sister-in-law and Dacia has pleaded with her mother to leave him before, so I was surprised to hear this.  I promised I would find out what I could and tell him what I’d learned at our next visit.  I talked to my mother-in-law and she told me that Roberto had hit Dacia several times and even cut her once with a razor when they had been fighting.  I was shocked, but the only other thing Gisela could tell me is that Dacia’s father told her to come to Mexico with Junior.

As luck would have it, Dacia decided to visit her uncle today so I had the opportunity to speak with her alone.  I didn’t ask her about the situation on our way to the jail, but instead used what she said to Alberto during the visit as the foundation for my own questions.  She asked me about traveling to Mexico and what Junior would need to fly, or to cross the border in a car.  She wouldn’t be able to fly to Mexico with Junior if he didn’t have a passport, but they could cross the border in a vehicle as long as she had a certified copy of his birth certificate.  I told her it was in her best interest to apply for Junior’s passport and postpone traveling until she had it, but that apparently is not an option.  It’s something she needs to take care of as soon as possible or Junior will have trouble getting one in the future if the USCIS decides to claim he stole someone else’s identity.  I asked her why she was leaving all of a sudden and she told me she did something stupid; she went out with another guy.  I asked if the relationship could be fixed or was Roberto abusive.  She told me Roberto wants her to come back to him, but she doesn’t want to be with him anymore because he’s too jealous.  She stated that he wasn’t abusive to her or their son; she just didn’t want to deal with his jealousies anymore.  She sheepishly told me that she wove a story for her Abuelita about abuse because she was afraid that Gisela wouldn’t let her come home if she knew the truth.  I said something about the fact that Roberto is a Mexican/Chicano male, implying that she should’ve known he would be somewhat jealous.  Alberto was the same way when he was Roberto’s age, that’s why I quit working at McDonalds – we were fighting all the time over stupid things.

Let there be tacos

I don’t know about you, but I like to keep an eye out on the plight of the immigrant in other states besides the one I reside in.  Maybe I’m looking to keep my options open should I ever decide to leave the frozen north, but I feel better for it.  The latest news is from East Haven Connecticut, where four police officers have been arrested by the FBI in regards to human rights violations and racial profiling.  Joseph Maturo, the mayor of this town, was interviewed about the accusations and accusations.  He stated that the officers ‘were innocent until proven guilty’.  When asked about his plans for outreach in the Latino community, Maturo thought for a moment before saying, "I might have tacos when I go home. I'm not quite sure yet," he mockingly responded. Since that comment he has apologized for being insensitive and claims that his comment was taken out of context.  You can decide for yourself by watching the interview at this link.   The response of the community and its supporters was hand-delivered to Maturo’s office at 1:30 pm Thursday in the form of 500 tacos.  The article says that the tacos were later delivered to soup kitchens in the area to feed the people in need, although it doesn’t say whose idea that was.  I think the point was made though, and I hope it makes someone jockeying for position in the presidential race think about the state of our country for a moment.

My bank lovingly received my paycheck this morning, only to hemorrhage 90% of the funds in a matter of hours.  I’m hoping to be able to file my taxes this weekend, although I’m on the fence about how to do them.  Should I use Turbo Tax like I did every year before we got married, or go to the accountant in the same building as Lance’s law firm that I used the first 2 years after we got married.  My cousin Kim would normally do my taxes from H&R Block since she would give me the friends & family discount.  There is no way I would pay what they would charge me otherwise, my receipt last year said I saved $240 after paying $20 for my federal and state returns.  I can’t afford to pay that much for essentially the same services I get through Turbo Tax.  The accountant would even be cheaper!  I will receive a decent refund again this year, but sadly the majority of the funds will go to paying off collections, paying down debt, and going into reserve for immigration.  Whatever is left over will be used to buy something fun for my loved ones.

Waiting My Turn

Hello again dear readers.  I must apologize for letting so much time pass between posts, but nothing super exciting or stressful is happening at this time.  I feel a little freedom in being able to say that nothing super stressful is happening, but I also know that in a matter of days (24 to be exact) our world will change yet again.  I am counting the days until the trial takes place knowing that this could be the beginning or it could be the end of everything we have been fighting for.  I imagine this is why I haven’t been sleeping well lately.  Not to say that I have been productive during the time sleep eludes me, I’m simply not motivated to do a damn thing.  I have a bedroom to clean, spiders to slay, and several projects that I have halfway completed.

Ashley is going on her fourth week of Preschool and she loves every minute of it.  The program she is going to is run by the YMCA, and the teachers are absolutely wonderful.  The problem is that she is attending a 3 day per week program because of availability and affordability issues, so the two days of the week she goes to my mother-in-law’s house are pure torture for me.  Just this morning she latched onto my leg crying, “¡Mamí no! ¡Quiero ir a la escuela! ¡Mamí no me dejes!”  So right now I am trying to work some financial wizardry to figure out how I can afford 5 days per week at Preschool.  I am already on a financial scholarship offered to families in need by the Y, but my weekly fee would go from $67.20 to $109.20 which is outside of my price point.  If there is availability, I may take the time to speak with the Director of the childcare programs to see if there is any way I can get additional assistance.  I would like to take a moment to ask everyone out there to donate to organizations like the YMCA which are devoted to strengthening communities.  You can donate to the YMCA of the Greater Twin Cities at this link (https://www.ymcatwincities.org/donate/).  Another wonderful organization that does an enormous amount of good locally is the Greater Twin Cities United Way and you can make a donation at this link (https://www.unitedwaytwincities.org/give/).

Potty-trained Preschooler on the loose

We managed to get Ashley potty-trained just in time for her to start going to Preschool this Wednesday.  She is enjoying it from what I can tell, and the teachers have mostly good things to say about her.  She loves to help clean up, but she has trouble keeping quiet during ‘rest time’.  She hasn’t had any accidents and doesn’t seem to be scrapping with any of the kids in her class.  This may be just the thing to help Ashley move onto the next step communication wise.  It would be nice if she started using full sentences to tell us what she needs or wants.  I just feel bad that I don’t get off early enough in the day to go and pick her up myself.  Mondays will be different though, if we continue going to visit Alberto as we have in the past.  I really don’t know how this is going to work out though, what I do know is that I’m going to have to think extra hard about where I need to go after work every day.

I received a letter in the mail on Friday from Alberto.  I love it when I get mail from Alberto because I know when he wrote that letter he was thinking of me.  I was just thinking the other day that I should get a nice box to put the letters in so I can keep them safe, although to be honest with myself they end up staying in my purse anyhow.  Alberto is miffed at me because I was supposed to call my mother-in-law this weekend to find out who is going with me to visit on Monday and I forgot as usual.  I happen to forget things all the damn time, usually if it involves something I don’t particularly want to do like call my mother-in-law.  I bet at this very moment I am forgetting something that I was supposed to do which will cause Alberto to become exasperated.  I do remember, since he reminded me tonight, that he requested that I find him a prayer book.  I found what I hope he was looking for on Amazon.com, and I’m somewhat irritated that shipping cost more than the book itself.  I think I’ll keep that little nugget to myself, Lord knows I don’t need to give Alberto any reasons to get annoyed with me since he’s proficient at that all by himself.  I’m also supposed to come up with song lyrics for him, but one of the bands he’s listed doesn’t appear to exist.  We’re already discussed this particular song and band, and he’s stubbornly refusing to acknowledge that he has the name misspelled.

And suddenly, nothing continued to happen...

It’s been really slow since my last post therefore I don’t have much if anything to write about.  There’s enough for a longish summary, so here we go!  The weather forecast states it will continue to be disgustingly humid in Minnesota until the flying monkeys arrive to attack the massive upper-level ridge that has us trapped this heat wave.  The humidity is so high that you sweat rolls down your face after being outside for 5 minutes!  You feel like you’re in sauna, only in verse since the only respite is an air-conditioned environment.  In the Fall, Winter, and Spring we complain about the snow, ice, and those idiots that forget how to drive every year.  During the Summer we complain about the humidity, road construction, and the rough sledding conditions.

One of the more interesting things that happened lately was on Wednesday last week when I got a phone call during the day.  I answered the phone in English for the first time in weeks only to listen to some guy stammer for several seconds.  I tried again in Spanish and this guy proceeded to talk a mile a minute.  The guy was calling regarding the visa application looking to speak with Alberto.  I informed him that Alberto was not available to take any calls at this time and I advised him to contact our attorney.  He read the attorney’s phone number to me for validation and then stated he would be contacting Lance immediately.  I was puzzled by this call, so I emailed Lance with the information I was given as well as the phone number from my caller ID.  I googled the phone number and it came back as a relay number for the National Visa Center, however I suspect he was actually working within the American Consulate of Ciudad Juarez since he evidently did not speak English.  Here is a clear example of why I find the immigration attorney so irritating at times.  Lance replied to my email, “This is odd indeed.  Let me call.  I suspect it is about scheduling and no more.”  He writes as those he were composing a telegram.  Maybe he was abducted and replaced by an android like Data from ‘Star Trek: The Next Generation’.  Either way since we are not processing anything on the immigration front at this time, I found him to be more amusing than anything.  Later it occurred to me this could be the result of my latest email to the Senator’s office requesting assistance.  So far I haven’t heard anything back, but tomorrow or Thursday I will poke at Lance again.

Insert Title Here

I took a half day at work today since I have to work on Saturday.  I can only work 40 hours in a given week so when I neglect to plan ahead for just this occasion, I end up with a half day instead of a full day off during the week.  I had plans at one point to meet some people for lunch, but when that fell through I had a backup plan that took the cake.  I made myself an appointment at Massage Envy and found heaven in an hour for $39 plus tax and tip.  The majority of the time was spent on my upper back and Sarah managed to beat my knots into submission.  I felt good for the first time in about two weeks!    After my massage was over and the sales girl was giving me her spiel about their membership program and my recommended wellness schedule, I reluctantly declined membership since $49 per month is not feasible.  See how low I have sunk that a paltry $49 per month is undoable?  Maybe if I go every three months the $65 per hour long session will seem like a good investment.

My next stop was lunch, and there was a Chipotle just down the strip calling my name.  I entered the restaurant and stopped cold right inside the door.  What the hell was the music they were playing?  It sounded more like new age instead of Mexican.  I approached the counter with apprehension.  What is this?  Where are all the Hispanic men and women that could correctly pronounce ‘carnitas’ and ‘barbacoa’?  It was then I remembered the reason I had avoided Chipotle for so long; the mass firings in December 2010 of the Latino workers who made Chipotle one of my favorite restaurants.  Where is the Hispana who chatted with the hugely pregnant white girl that spoke Spanish?  I even showed her baby pictures since I was there so often since Alberto had cravings for Chipotle at least once a week.  She is gone now, replaced by new workers who have sucked the joy out of my burrito. I have officially scratched Chipotle off my list of desirable fast-food options, and I will now have a moment of silence for my loss. ***SILENCE***  Ok, I’m done now.

A lesson learned and something to consider

Life continues to catch me off guard at the oddest times.  On Tuesday my sister-in-law Aide told me that her abusive ex-husband is back in Minnesota again.  My first thought was ‘I hope you’re not planning to go anywhere near him without protection’.  I did ask her why she’s mentioned it, and Aide said that it was something I should think about.  We had been discussing how to raise money to pay for the remaining immigration appointments and travel arrangements, but it took me a moment to remember that Marcos owes me a fair amount of money and a sincere apology.  It’s an interesting story that may serve as a warning to any women in my position to not allow yourself to be taken advantage of.

Back in January of 2005 Alberto purchased a van that he was going to use for work.  He bought the vehicle from his boss, who insisted that someone transfer the title before anyone else drove the vehicle.  Being that I trusted Alberto, I signed the title when he asked the favor of me with the understanding that he would be the only person to ever drive the van.  Marcos was working with Alberto at the time and for some unknown reason began a slander campaign between the boss and Alberto.  Marcos told Alberto that the boss didn’t want to work with him anymore and that he should stop coming to work.  Alberto who is really a trusting soul, believed everything Marcos had said to him and so he left the van at the boss’s house after the last conversation.