Today was "mixed up" day . . . nothing happened as planned! :) First of all, I woke up with a screaming headache. Sweet Pea was up more than usual during the night and I was somewhat distraught and still reeling over the previous day's court hearing "happenings". Also, the power went out several times in the night and the generator was turned on. Each time, the noise of the generator fried my already raw nerves. The power outages continued throughout the day (just a way of life here) and my headache continued. :). So, I needed to take a "time out" today. Uppa D helped with Sweet Pea and I "tried" to get some much needed rest in the morning. Yes, I went off and forgot my headache medicine, but I eventually got Sadeem to take me to a "Chemist" shop (drug store) and I got some Excedrin Migraine. That seemed to eventually help.
One outstanding item from the court hearing was the signed court order. I still needed to sign (including purple fingerprint!) the Permanent Guardianship order for it to be officially official. However, the document has not been issued yet. This is because there is a new judge presiding over my case and even though he has ruled and announced that I am Permanent Guardian of Sweet Pea, he has delayed the official document order. He has told my attorney that he needs "more time to review". I'm told this delay is only because he is a new judge and I should not worry about him revoking his decision. We will get it! But . . . I
am concerned.
Sadeem was to call today if/when the order was ready to sign. So, I was up and ready early, waiting for the call. We waited for most of the day, but never received the call that the order was ready. Finally, Sadeem called late afternoon and said that the judge sat on his bench for only an hour today, then he took "leave" of court the rest of the day.
Our original plan for the afternoon was to take the final documents, the court order, I-864 and I-600 to the US Embassy so the visa could be issued Monday or Tuesday of next week. But, without the court order, there was no need to go to the US Embassy. So we will need to wait . . . for the court order. The Pakistani court system works 6 days a week, so there is hope that the order will be ready tomorrow, Saturday (10/10/09) . . . and the judge will be "on his bench". However, regardless if we get the order tomorrow, we will have to wait until Monday to go to the US Embassy, since the embassy adheres to a US custom of Saturday/Sunday being a "weekend" and offices are closed.
I guess I should bring everyone up to speed on the US Embassy side and the issues of my lost "physical file". The "rest of the story", so to speak! :) My file has been found, however I'm still unclear on exactly which I-600A they are using. You see, I have had to do multiple updates to my I-600A. With every paid I-600A application, you receive one free extension. I have had 3 different updates. In July 2006 I was initially approved, 18 months later, I had to update since the I-171H expires after 18 months. So, in January, 2008, I received my "1x free update/extension" from my 1st paid I-600A. So, 18 months later, June 2009, the I-171H expired again. This time, however, I had to pay the I-600A fee (had already used my free update!). You can begin the update process 90 days from expiration date, so I began the update process in May, 2009 for my June, 2009 expiration. I received my update in July, 2009. Then, I had a country change in August, 2009. Again, with any
paid update, you have a "1x free update/extension". So, I used my "1x free extension/update" for my country change.
Whew! I know, a lot of updates!
But, when the US Embassy contacted me via email on Thursday, they said they have my electronic "physical file" and the case number is a "MOS" 2009 number, so that leads me to believe they are using my 2nd actual paid I-600A application that I submitted in May, 2009 (remember I had to pay for that one!). I'm not sure that they ever received the initial July, 2006 approved I-600A from Russia, as they originally thought they needed.
I did find out on Wednesday night (10/7/09) when I called the National Visa Center that the supervisor "took it upon herself" (her exact words) to resend/upload again, on Tuesday 10/6/09, my updated file from 8/24/09 when I did my country change. I am thinking (just trying to piece it all together) that the 8/24/09 upload from the NVC with my country change
did not make it to Islamabad and the re-upload on Tuesday (10/6/09)
did make it.
In any case, I have an official email from the American Citizen Services Unit of the US Embassy that states they have an electronic "physical file" with my name as petitioner for our adoption. YEAH! What that means is . . . once we get all the documents submitted, there shouldn't be any delay in issuing Sweet Pea's visa.
Now . . . we just need the Permanent Guardianship Order!
So, what else is going on? . . .
We constantly are plagued with power outages, usually 4-6 times a day, lasting a few minute to an hour until the generator can be turned on. This is such a normal way of life here in Pakistan. But, it makes for using the laptop somewhat difficult. We really can't count on working a very long stretch of time, so what I have began to do, is write using MS Word and the laptop on battery, then when we do have Internet connectivity, I past the post into my blog. Uppa D has tried to do work, but has found it somewhat difficult to do, but it is working ok. You constantly have to save your work for fear of a power outage at any time! We have also missed several Skype sessions with home because of the power outage. Once we are able to finally Skype, the 1st thing Nicky now asks us is "did you have a power outage?" LOL! But, all-in-all, we are sooo glad that we have the laptop and the Internet! We really don't know what we would do without that link back to home!
We ended our Friday (10/9/09) with a visit to the Foster Home again in the evening, which helped my headache tremendously! We had been plagued with power outages all day and I desperately needed an outing! :) So, Sadeem came by and asked if we would like to go to the foster home. There is a 12-month-old baby girl that has just arrived in foster care and Nanny Kathlene is taking care of her. This baby girl is just precious and we had such a good time visiting with Nanny Kathlene's family. I wish I could show pictures of this precious little girl, but I cannot . . . but she is just
precious. She has worked her way into both Uppa D and Mama's hearts. Such a doll!
So, Friday was not anything that we had originally planned it would be . . . but nonetheless, another day in Pakistan!
Here are a few pictures of the last couple of days . . .
Instead of going to the court hearing on Thursday, Mama did laundry . . . we do use the laundry service, but Mama still likes to wash a "few" delicates by hand!
Our "friend" the Mr. Generator . . .
Foster Home . . . a wonderful, loving place . . . for children to heal!
Love to ALL . . . from Pakistan!
~Hugs
Mama, Uppa D & Sweet Pea
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