At last '08

I haven't posted for the longest time. Since just before I finished (and won) NaNoWriMo, life had been fraught with one difficulty after another and I have been kinda reeling under the onslaught.

1. My Green Card application was denied as the proposed employer was deemed by the INS to be unable to support salary payments. What a nightmare the next three weeks were as I tried to save the situation. I was told it was possible to appeal and that if I had an approved employer, things might be saved - this turned out to be not true - the appeal could only be on the same basis as the initial application.

2. As the denial had nothing to do with me, a second application stood as good a chance of succeeding. So I ditched the old agent, found a new one after hours of internet research, lorryloads of emails and several crackly transatlantic phone calls, and received a viable new job offer just before Christmas - its' with a LTC facility in Greenwich, Connecticut. The offer is good, the company solid, the benefits and starting salary excellent. So now we start the I-140 application process all over again.....

3. Complicating things is a little thing called retrogression which basically means No Green Cards for anyone at all until the INS has cleared its backlog of cases. :(( Lobbyists are working to improve things and get much needed health care professionals back on the green card track but the chances are that nothing will change until after the US presidential elections in Nov '08.

4. The sale of my house collapsed just before Christmas. :(( Which means a complete rethink of all my plans for '08, most of which hinged on having a substantial amount of money in the bank generating interest with which to supplement our monthly income.

5. On the plus side: My darling son surpassed all expectations when he passed his school-leaving exams with a B aggregate and university exemption. I am so proud of him!!

6. Also on the plus side, I've started a new blog project for '08 - the aim is to post a picture a day every single day for a year, capturing small slices of everyday life for posterity. You can see it HERE.

And that's about it for now. No writing has been done since the end of NaNo .... but lots and lots of reading and DVD viewing to offset the stresses of life. So my creative well is slowly being refilled and that has to be a good thing!