Shrinking the Atlantic

IT'S FINALLY ARRIVED!!

THE LETTER WE'VE BEEN WAITING FOR ARRIVED TODAY!

I really must have some psychic abilities that I have to learn to harness better once I leave this job. Pete was sure (wanting to be sure) on Wednesday that the letter would arrive on Thursday. As I emailed him Wednesday night I told him I wasn't feeling it for Thursday, but that in fact, I was fairly certain it would arrive Friday.

Guess who was right? ME!

The interview date is set for August 11th. He received this letter today exactly 5 weeks after the last thing was sent to the US Consulate. He needs to make an appointment with one of three 'approved' doctors in Paris for the morning of his appointment, which is scheduled for 1 pm. He is three hours from Paris, so I guess they took that into consideration! From everything I've read, they approve or reject your visa the same day as the interview, so we will know immediately and there is no reason he should be rejected--so he could be flying himself and his dogs and his few possessions over here for good as early as August 15th!!

What is amazingly beautiful and poignant is that it is almost exactly one year since he came to visit America for the first time. Last year he arrived on August 19th and stayed for one week, a week in which we became absolutely certain we should marry.

This last two weeks has been excruciating for each of us. Every day he’d email me to say there was nothing in the post. Every afternoon we’d IM and try to be upbeat. Every night we emailed one another about how much we missed each other and wanted our life to start together already. We were getting tired of writing…the time for writing had long passed and the time for action had begun. Why weren’t we together yet?

Today we both felt our shoulders relax a bit. Today new life has been breathed into us. Today is a good day.

There are 20 days until his interview.

There is only 1 more week of work for me at this job.

I’m dancing out of my chair over here!

Comments

[nick]

I am so f***in happy for you both,so now your countdown begins!!!!Big smiles from me!!!So 20 days and then the trip across the pond,happy,happy,joy,joy!!This is so great.

I will talk to you when I return home from The Gap.(so happy for you)

love
Nick

[Mollie]

good for you!!!! that is exciting! I hope everything goes through quickly..

[Mar]

Sounds like all the stars and planets are lining up for you - woo hoo! Here's hoping there are no more unexpected hurdles for you both.

[DMouse]

Fantastic news!

[Rachel]

Congrats! This is absolutely wonderful news.

[Leggy]

Yeah- I'm so happy for you. Lots of good stuff happening for you in the next few months.

[Emily]

Wheh wee! Awesome!!

[Sandy]

YAY!!! I'm chair dancing right along with you!

[Cecily]

I'm so happy!!!!!! I can't wait for him to be home!!!!!!!!!!!

[julie]

Hurrah! I am so happy for you- it's been awesome reading and hearing about how great your life keeps getting!

[Amanda B.]

Joy! Sweet kiddo, I am excited!

[Starling]

Congratulations!! What wonderful news! I've been out of town and away from the internet for a couple of weeks (gasp, it really was harder than I thought it would be) and was so hoping the letter had arrived! One step closer, and a very big step at that -- Between that and the soon to be freedom from work misery, I bet your smile muscles are getting a real workout! Good practice for the wedding!! Congrats again to you both!

[Heather]

Okay, so I'm crying and jumping up and down at the same time. I am beyond excited for you two!!! And August 15 - AWESOME! You do realize that's like 3 weeks away?!!! YEAH!

[Lala]

Hoo yeah! Finally Nick's comment and the post are in sync and I understand them. Oh, and the news is FANTASTIC! Am I screaming loudly enough?

[Elise]

YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Catherine]

HOORAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Beth]

Yeah!!! How exciting!

Dear Psychic Psarah,

Please send me some winning lottery numbers!

Thank you,

A Beta Mom

[Sheri]

woohoo! This will probably be, by far, the best news I will read today!!

Congratulations my friend!

[Emma]

That's wonderful news, sorry I didn't catch up sooner!

But at least it means there's fewer days till the interview!!! which is even better!

[Jen]

Whooopie! Congratulations! I've got my fingers crossed for you guys!

[Chrissi (friend of Cecily)]

Sara....I am a friend of Cecily's and just happen to see she mentioned this is her blog today. First off..congratulations. Secondly, we have a similar story and I wanted to pass along that it all has a happy ending. Today is moy 3rd wedding anniversary to the most wonderful man. I met my husband 9/20/01 in London. I walked into a pub and he was standing at the bar. Long story short, we fell in love by the time we met in Paris 6 weeks later...it was a million forms for INS and the consulate, only 10 trips back and forth to see each other and on 7/20/02 he moved to this country with his fiance' visa. The only hiccup we had was that when we went to INS on 7/22 to submit the form for hiw work visa, we were informed it would take 6 months (due to 9/11 changes) and should marry right away. We already had planned a big wedding for October so on 7/26/02, we were quietly married in Maryland (no joke) and kept it a secret for 3 months until our "real" wedding. Dreams do come true and I hope that you are together soon!!! If you ever have any questions, please email me. Good luck!!