Henrik had his green card appointment. He fussed about it the entire night before, organizing a file and notebook of photographs and documents with more diligence than I’ve seen him tend to anything EVER. He wanted to leave really early for the appointment so we couldn’t be late. We stopped for a coffee so we wouldn’t be ridiculously early and with unforeseen traffic backups we arrived right on time, paid the stupid $5 cash for parking, proceeded through the security checkpoint and to the second floor where we were called by a nice interviewer who was working there after retiring from a 20-year Navy career. The appointment lasted less than 10 minutes and was painless. Since Henrik is now able to work and travel, it’s pretty much as things were — though we have much less money coming in the household and neither of us have health insurance. At least we know Henrik won’t get booted out of the country and I’ll have more time to learn Swedish in a comfortable fashion.
We have a lot of plans and ideas for the realm of real estate things and plan to begin sharing them on January 1 2008.
Kula recently had a tumor on the side of her belly removed and her teeth cleaned. Her fur is slowly growing back but she still has a soft and very cute naked patch by her tummy and she doesn’t really like us messing with it or looking at it. Henrik discovered that although she’s afraid of squeaky toys and doesn’t like balls or fetching, she likes to chase small limes. Another oddity is she really loves to eat raw baby carrots.
Pawka also had a vet visit and is reportedly well. It appears he may be older than I thought; age can’t be confirmed because he’s a rescue. He had vaccinations, an ear cleaning, and a pedicure. He’s due for another vaccine and needs to get his teeth cleaned and some extractions. Two days ago he lost his collar so Henrik got him a new shiny, smooth, orange, reflective, Mod looking collar. Our home is turning more Mod as time passes but that’s another subject.
Summer going, Autumn coming
My days and nights have been filled with work and play this summer; downtime for casual writing, and my energy for it, has been limited. I’m sure there will be more writing with the coming of Autumn and Winter when outdoor activities are limited.
Interview Done
Today was the day for our interview and we arrived to the USCIS just on time. Although I knew I had all the paperwork (and all the copies) I was still slightly nervous. That was unwarranted, since we had a very nice ex-navy man doing the interview. He was just formal enough, and I was a tad surprised that he swore us in before we started. But he wanted the the whole truth and nothing but the truth, and that was what he got.
Now I have to wait for that plastic card…
More water adventures
As an annual tradition (this is the second time) Denice and I go out with the US Navy when they are here for Seattle Seafair. This year we went with the frigate USS Rentz. It was a much smaller ship than USS Chung-Hoon, which we sailed on last year, but the weather was unbelievable. I was in shorts and t-shirt from early morning until afternoon. OK, it was a bit chilly as we were hading north into the wind, but going the other way… Man, it was like a vacation.
In the end they did cook us a big barbecue on deck, and although it was good it was not like last year. But I’m up for going boating again next year.
A day on the boat
Originally uploaded by Henrik
Some days are made for sailing. Tuesday was one of those days. Denice and I had business in Everett, and what a luck that our boat is moored there as well. The day was f-a-n-t-a-s-t-i-c. Warm, sun, clear blue skies and wind!
Although it’s only our third or fourth sailing trip together I cannot get over how Denice seems to be born to sail. She steers great, catching the wind just right, learns new things very fast and seems to have no fear of things most people fear when they are new to sailing. That is “tipping over” among other things.
Pretty soon I’ll be able to just sit back and have her do all the sailing.