Go Date: September 28

This has been a stressful time for me.

There have been many times in my life where I have been in what I call a liminal stage. Not one for choosing a conventional route (not sure I would even recognize one if I saw it), the path of my life has taken me in all sorts of interesting directions.

Right now I am sitting in the Starbucks in Safeway in Camrose. My sister delivered to me some bad news the other night: the Internet for the first month I was here cost $156.57. !!!! This is what happens when someone who is used to having a wireless Internet connection and to which said person is addicted to said Internet connection is subjected to a less than ideal condition. As a result, I have determined that I will no longer connect my computer to Internet at her house. So I come into Camrose, buy a cup of over-roasted coffee, and do all my Interneting for free.

Something else I have been barely managing without: Microsoft Office. Say what you will about Microsoft, but it is the standard for a number of institutions in which I have developed my computer skills in. I had it on my last two computers. In the spring when Kirsten's father presented us with this super fancy high-tech laptop that I am typing on now, it never occurred to me that it didn't have this piece of software on which I rely so heavily.

Public libraries are useless for my word processing needs. As funding for public libraries has diminished, libraries are no longer able to afford the expensive licensing fees that Microsoft demands. As a result, public libraries opt for Open Office, which is free.

I have used Open Office, and I would like to say that it has just as much functionality as Microsoft Office (here I disclose it has been five years since I have used Open Office), but when you are used to one thing and then try to use another thing with different settings, it is a bit disconcerting. All of my office documents are in Microsoft and I do not want to convert them to Open Office because no matter what, the formatting never transitions smoothly.

So I found myself then, unable to open up the most recent version of my resume. I have a printed copy of it, but who wants to type it out again? I might just have to do that. Sigh.

I also haven't had access to a printer. So when I relocate to North Carolina next month, there will be a few things that become priorities: Internet connection, Microsoft Office suite, printer. In that order.

Oh, did I tell you? I'll be leaving soon.

So here's what happened. Dan had applied for my green card several months ago. He was told in early June that it would take an average of 75 days to process the application. That means approval should have come around this week we're in. A week or two later (in early July), they asked for a passport-sized photo from me, so we figured there was progress.

But then two months went by and they (the State Department or whoever processes these things) never cashed the cheque Dan sent along with the application. He was growing very concerned and was going to go to Charlotte, where this processing was supposedly happening, to find out what was going on.

Then hurricane Irene hit. No traveling for a while.

Dan spent three hours on the phone yesterday and made the decision to cancel my processing. I nearly lost it. WHY? He decided it would be more expedient if he just flew here and drove back to North Carolina with me. It will mean I can't work legally in the United States right away, but at least we will be together.

So there was some excitement and confusion. I think I spent the better part of yesterday in a state of shock, actually. See, originally the plan was that my mum was going to be making this trip with me, that it would take us 5-7 days to drive across the continent. But there are other issues. We are going to formally import the Ford I've been driving, we have the cat, and I won't have the green card. So Dan has to be with me. I haven't yet told my mum she won't be making this trip and I know she'll be crushed; she's been looking forward to this for months. It was the trepidation over telling her that prevented me (somewhat) from getting excited about my impending journey.

I get to see my husband! Dan will arrive at YEG (Edmonton International) on Wednesday September 28th. I will pick him up at the airport. We will drive to Home Depot and get the supplies we need to rig up the truck so that it will fit all my stuff and have a tunnel for the litter box (don't worry, I'll blog about that later). We will have supper (soon I can revert to saying "dinner" when referring to the evening meal!) with my sister's family and my mother, then we will load up and depart that night. It should take about six hours to get to the border.

Not sure how long we will be at the border, but it will likely be in the wee hours of the morning so hopefully not too long. Sam will hate it. Another six hours should get us to Missoula.

We will stay the night in Missoula at the family condo. Then we will depart and drive pretty much straight to Kinston, stopping for food, bathroom & fuel. Dan is suggesting we stop at a major center near home, find the closest IKEA, and get our queen-sized bed.

I've been without Dan for three and a half months. I have been in a state of uncertainty and instability for a bit more than that. I get to see my husband in three weeks! We will have a whole week to ourselves to catch up and get reacquainted. Then I can start my new life. My own kitchen. My own laundry. My own space. And then I can finally, finally start putting down roots. The relief about this has washed over me and even though I could hardly sleep last night from being excited, I feel like a new person. I still dread telling my mother, but soon she'll come to understand that this is the best way and really, the most important thing for me and Dan is that we are together, no matter what.