the forgotten signature.

well. aderito's passport request came. there was much rejoicing. then, he fedexed everything here to me... the letter, passport, pictures. i went through everything and made sure that the paperwork was filled out, the pictures were in thier separate envelopes. then, off to buffalo my mom and i went. it's cheaper to just drive over the border and send it off from fedex over there. i was so excited to have it sent off to new york!! i was so excited to go home and call aderito so we could celebrate! i was in mid-celebration... when i realized that aderito had forgotten to sign the passport request paperwork. ugh. i called fedex quickly... but, it had already been sent off. so, now we wait. will new york send everything back... and aderito will fill out and SIGN the request this time? will new york be ok with the paperwork not being signed and give aderito his visa? who knows. i keep checking his email to see if they send another request... so we can get it right this time. i think that it's totally valid for me to feel like i've been in immigration limbo for the past 6 months. it's not fun. i hope that i'm able to get out of it soon... and onto a higher, more stable ground.

how is work... you ask? well. umm. perhaps we should talk about something else. if it does happen to come up in conversation... all that will be said is that it is a means to an end. that's it.

the eating has went wonderfully! my lunches have been plentiful and healthy. i drink 2 liters of water during the day. and umm... dinners at night have went well too. tonight was salmon and potatoes. i felt good about the lack of vegetables... i ate many veggies today already for lunch and snacks.

ok. back to the work conversation. i was totally wrong about the hours i would be working. i made it clear that i will only work during the day. so, my shifts are... 9-5 monday to friday. i can handle that. as well as every other saturday 10-6. i can handle that too. however, the week i work saturday... i don't get another day off during the week... nope, that week i have to work 6 days. ick. that means this weekend i have to work saturday. but, easter weekend... i get 3 days off. giddy up!! i love that! i plan on baking that weekend. we have a shitload of bananas that need to be transformed into bread. yum.

i miss aderito extra right now. i think that it's because last year i saw him in september and then only had to wait until december. that's 3 big bad months. nothing at all!! this time... i left him in january and i won't see him again until july. eff. that's a long time. it's not the longest we've ever went... but, seriously.... it's toooo long. initally we said that he would only vacation for 2 weeks this year. but, i'm not sure if that's possible. seriously... away for 6 months and together for 2 weeks?! and then during that time he thinks that i should keep working. blahhhhhh. no way. no chance. i think i need some chocolate.

and that's exactly what i am going to do... i am going to eat chocolate. cadbury flake. and then... call aderito. i also may or may not be watching dancing with the stars.

the day before: work

yet again... i'm sitting in bed watching tv. desperate housewives. it's not super interesting, kinda keeping my attention. however, my mind keeps wandering to tomorrow morning.

you see... tomorrow is the day that i start my new job. ha! i should just say... i start a job. it's been a while since i've worked. i was laid-off december 2008. aderito was working a lot... and we were able to save money, even with me not working. and well... 2009 was the year of travelling. cuba, portugal and then bermuda. in between all that was the crazy gathering, sorting, filling out of paperwork, and hoping. lots of hoping. that pretty much filled up last year. so, now... i need to work. my mind needs keep busy, my body needs to do something, and we need to really save moola for the big move next year!

i'm a bit nervous about starting this new job. it's not a difficult job. it's just the unexpected. i love to know what's going to happen. i do not like surprises. at all. i do love expectations... lay them out for me... and i will do anything to meet them and exceed them. why i wasn't like this in high school, i don't know. i get to wear clothes to work. not that i worked naked before. it was always chef uniforms i was wearing, and of course the restaurants i have worked in didn't allow any sort of personal style. so, this will be a nice change... kinda. i have to wear "business casual" clothes. i went and shopped on thursday, found a really nice pair of pants... and black flats. hopefully i will be conservative enough. i'm excited to check everyone else out, see how far i can get away from the business part and closer to the oh-so-wonderful casual.

this is going to sound... not nice. but, every time i start a new job... i worry that people are going to want to be my friend. i'm nice, outgoing, super friendly, and funny. which bodes well in a work place... but then people want to hang out with me. i just want to work, go home, talk to aderito... and plan our plans. i have friends. i have people that i like already. goodness. thinking this is my head is a whole lot different than typing it out, and reading how wretched i sound. i do want work friends, i just don't want them to be my out-of-work friends. is that bad? it's bad.

a new job means change. so, tomorrow will also be the beginning of eating healthy. i made a big huge quinoa salad filled with veggies to take for lunch all week. i bought yogurt, and fruit, and raw almonds to snack on... i will NOT get caught up in the office junk food. oh! i also have a water bottle that i picked up today, i hope to drink more water too. as for quick healthy dinners through out the week... i think that i'll figure something out. thankfully my shift is over at 4pm, it will take about an hour to get home. i have a feeling that this will be a good trial week, but that i just might have to make a dinner plan. i like plans. systems. schedules. when they are on my terms... and planning dinner. definitely up to me! however, i won't complain if my mom cooks... she made some killer barbeque chicken last night!

somewhere in there i need to find time to walk... or move in general. when i get home from work? i think that's the best time. there is no chance that i am going to be getting up at 6am to work out... getting up at 7am will be hard enough!

time to close down the computer. get comfy in bed. watch a bit more nonsense on tv... and hopefully my eyes will close easily, and my mind will stop making that whirring noise.

closer to being together...

monday are brutal for television. ick. i am ashamed to admit that i am indeed watching "molly and jason's wedding - the bachelor". my excuse is that i need closure... i watched jason's season of the bachelor from the beginning, i see to see it though and watch the wedding. ha!

oh yes. immigration. well. i called ottawa, and asked what was going on with aderito's medical results. the woman on the other end was NOT happy that i had her phone number... i apologized and told her that i was told she was able to tell me what was going on... when she finally conceded, i didn't have the proper file number in order for her to find the medicals!! ugh. so, that ended up not going well. thankfully, i am a bit of an immigration forum addict. there was a case that started a bit before mine, and was processed in record time. this person was super pro-active and sent a fax to ottawa, and requested that the medicals be sent onto the consulate. i sent this person a message, and she was so sweet and kind!! together with two different fax numbers, she also sent a copy of the fax that she had sent to ottaw!! perfect. so, i faxed ottawa... and heard a response from them the next day!! woohoo!! march 2nd, i checked aderito's email... lo and behold there was an email from new york!!! yes! it said that his passport request was in the mail!! yay! how wonderful! we are waiting for aderito to receive that letter still, from north america it takes about 2 weeks for a letter to get to aderito. it's mostly bermuda's fault... they are pretty slow when it comes to mail processing. ugh. so, by next monday aderito should have that lovely letter in his hand!! from there he has to do a bit more paperwork, a few more pictures, and then it all gets sent to new york!! weeee!! new york then puts a visa into his passport, and sends a letter of confirmation of permanent residence. and then... when aderito is here he lands, we start paperwork for his sin card, health card, everything!!

of course, aderito won't be staying when he comes in july. he will be going back to bermuda... his contract isn't over until october... and even then he can stay for another 3 months after his contract is finished. i think that i will go to bermuda again this year for christmas... only this time aderito will come back with me!! where we will go from there... i have no idea.

i've been doing so much research trying to figure out where aderito can work. there are a few construction companies in toronto that request the employee be able to speak portuguese on the job site. hopefully one of those jobs will work out for aderito... and depending on which job he gets... we will decide where to live. it's going to be north of toronto, as much fun as it would be being downtown right in portugal village... it's far too expensive. yikes!!

ohh!! i've found a job. it's bizarre... because it's far from what i've done over the past 10 years in the kitchen. it will be so nice to work, i'm ready anything. to wake up at a normal time. and well... to make some money. it would be nice for aderito and i to have some money saved up for when he moves here.

guess what time of the year it is? time for nikki to start moving her ass a bit. i'm really ready to start riding my bike again. i would like to start running. two years ago, i started running a bit. i think this will be the year that i start running full time. i have shoes. all i need is an ipod, and i'll be good to go. oh. and i would prefer for the snow to melt first too. then, i will run. i don't really have any other excuses. i live in a pretty good area, with a trail that's really close. i just need some.. motivation. ha! oh boy... do i even need motivation.

tomorrow i'm having lunch with 2 of my favourite people. i'm excited. hopefully i'm able to get some sleep tonight!!