All about My LIFE

I just turned 36 today.

I thanked God for giving me another year of my life.

Before I slept last night, I harked back to my colorful and interesting 36 years of my life on earth. I had an unhappy childhood. I had very short adolescent years. I became a parent before I reached adulthood. I became a single mom at the age of 21. I was a single mom for 12 long years before I remarried. What a life!

I lived with my grandparents when I was a child. It was a hard life for me. I have always wanted to be with my family. There were many times that I struggled to escape while on our way to the bus terminal going back to my grandparents' place from a summer vacation with my family. One thing that I couldn’t forget during my childhood was when Super Typhoon "Nitang" hit Surigao City. It was a traumatic experience for me as a child. And the aftermath of that event was a food shortage. I experienced too much poverty.

During my high school days, I lived with my Aunt, I mean, Aunts. Two years in my father's younger sister and another two years in his older sister. That time I got a lot of suitors and I already got a boyfriend. I did not take my study seriously though I belonged to the prominent class section called "Experimental Class" or "Crack Section". All students in the class were considered "smarter" than the rest of the class sections. But I never cared about it. I was a rebellious, irresponsible and selfish teenager in my time.

At the age of 18, I already have Jen. I was married to a person whom I thought the right man for me. I really thought he was the man, well, I was wrong. But I was lucky to have a very supporting and understanding parents-in-law. They provided everything we need even after Jun was born. The marriage didn't work. It just made us all miserable. That time, I started to get interested in reading books/novels and writing. There were times that I tried to make a short story inspired by my own experience but I couldn't concentrate having 2 little kids so I resorted to writing poems. My first poem was entitled "Life is so CRUEL". It really was!

I firmly believed that there is always turmoil in every relationship but as long as both parties would hold on together, everything would end up okay. Ours didn't work. It is because both of us gave up for so many reasons. My kids and I moved to my parents’ house. Funny, I was not at my parents during my childhood and adolescent days but I was there during my adulthood and stayed there for good.

My colorful life began when I became single again and when my father passed away. I was a government worker, a college student and a struggling mom to my two kids. I was a "barkadista" and I thought that without friends, I am nothing. I worked during the day and went to school during the night. When I got home, I checked my kids' notebooks to see to it that they made homework. I woke up early to prepare their breakfast and their things for school. As "barkadista" as I was, I always gave time to hang out with my friends in a Karaoke bar or to their house and got drunk sometimes, yikes! I had a lot of escapades. I made allot of mistakes. I did not listen to my mom. I was such a bad daughter to her. I have had several relationships mostly flings in my 12 years of being single. I tried to have someone who would love me and care for me and for my kids as but it turned out that none of them was the one for me.

For those struggling and shaky long years of my life, I could say that I was a good mom to my two kids. They grew up to be responsible and smart kids. They can do any household chores. They both belonged to a special class in their elementary and high school years and they were both achievers. Ate Jen is now 18 years old and she really is a big sister to her brother Jun, who is now 17 years old. They are very close to each other and most of all they are God-fearing teeners. I am very proud to say that I definitely RAISED them well.

When I met hubby, things eventually changed into allot better. I mellowed down. I didn't go to any bar as I used to. I did not hang out with allot of friends anymore. I became more compassionate to others. I became more considerate, more caring, more understanding and most of all; I became responsible in the truest sense of the word. When I met him, I have found out that I have so much of real and genuine love inside my heart, which made me a better person.

My life has ups and downs. I am sure yours has too. Always remember that "It is not the failure that will determine your destiny but it is your next step and the next that will tell the story of your life".

Life is what you make it!

I am Back to School Again!

Last Tuesday, September 2, my teeners and I have registered/enrolled in an ESL (English as a Second Language) Class in a Community College here. It is absolutely free. This program is run by the College School but is funded by the government.


Hubby was at work so Jen drove the car going to school. We were all scared because her driving was illegal since she only has an Instruction Permit- no Driver's License. We were hoping no police car in the vicinity! We thanked God that we got to the parking lot safely.

Nathalie waited for us outside trembling and shaking because of the cold wind blowing in her skin. We hurriedly went inside the school to get rid of the cold air outside, brrrr!

Anyways, when we got inside the classroom, there were already 3 people ahead of us and I thought they were Mexicans. Teachers were inside too. They were very nice and accommodating. One of them gave us forms to be filled out and she helped us in doing it. We kept on grinning because we felt like we were 1st graders J we were asked on our educational attainment, on how did we learn English words (from home or school?) and how did we know about ESL programs, etc.

Afterwards, one of the teachers gave us information on the whole ESL Program through Power Point presentation and we liked her because she was funny and enthusiastic.

I have learned that the ESL program is open to all, not only for foreigners like us but also for native Americans who want to improve their English, who wants to learn about Basic Computer, Mathematics, Key Boarding, Grammar, Phonics, etc. Woow. I was impressed! This is one thing that I like being here in the US. Hmmm.

And I forgot to mention, they also have subject about Immigration and Citizenship and even DMV Written Test Review!

We were given series of tests for them to know our level of knowledge and they were impressed on the result of the tests. We passed the tests with flying colors, yeheey! :)

They had coffee and cake for FREE inside the classroom. I was wondering why they are free. I heard that one of the teachers baked the cake. We did not eat our breakfast so we took a slice of cake and tried the mocha-flavored coffee. The room is "air-conditioned" and we ran outside and exposed ourselves under the heat of the sun to keep us warm, while eating the cake and sipping the coffee, hehehehe!

Everything was done before 12:00 noon and they allowed us to go home and told us to come back on Monday.

Jun drove the car going back home and Nath was with us that time. When we finally got back home safely, we felt relieved, whew!

The regular class will start on Monday and we are already excited about it. Hubby would have his 7-day off so he would drive us to and fro. And we would be safe by then!

Biometrics

Biometrics- I simply understood it as high tech finger printing. It is one of the things you will go through in applying for a Status of Adjustment or a Green Card.

My son's apppointment is July 7, 2008 at 3:00pm, mine is on the next day at 8:00am while my daughter's appointment is at 10am on the same day.

Hubby was working that time so he asked his sister to come with us. We can reschedule the appointment as we are allowed to but Ricardo doesnt want to. He cannot wait to get another appointment again.

So my kids and I went to Reno last July 7 together with Carol, my sister -in- law, at around 9am. We got there at around 12 noon. We looked for the USCIS address first and have found it before we headed for lunch. But before we got there we lost many times already. We looked for a resto in the vicinity to eat lunch but we find nothing so we headed to the next street, turned to the corner and to the other street again until we found a place to eat. Then we got lost again more times, as in more times, shall I say 5,000 times (just exaggerating) going to the USCIS Office. USA has confusing roads and highways. They have Interstate 80 east and west freeway (even number) and 395 freeway, north and south (odd number) and there are different exits. If you happen to take the other freeway or exits, then it will be hard for you to get back to the same place where you took the wrong lane.You may drive ahead and look for another road to take you to freeway again or you have to go around 5 miles to get back again. It's really very confusing for me especially that I am very poor in sense of direction.

At long last, we got there in USCIS at around 3:03 pm. When we were about to enter the door, a man asked us if we have an appointment, we said yes and he asked what time, we answered 3:00pm, he looked mean and said "you are late". My sister-in-law apologized and admitted that its her fault because we got lost many times and that she was driving the car. Another man popped up and then he looked more mean because of the same reason. I was so nervous that we will get denied to enter the door but finally the first man said we can go inside if we have the appointment and ID Card or Driver's License.I gave him our 3 passports and Carol gave her Driver's license. We passed through the X-ray machine. Carol was checked 3 times because the machine buzzed when she passed. The man found out that it was because of her sandal's metal strap.

Anyways, the other man gave me a priority number for Jun. Although he looked unfriendly to me, I tried to ask him if Jen and I can have our biometrics also considering that we are family and we applied all together and so that we will not come back the next day and get lost again. I sensed that the man was still disappointed and displeased because of what happened but I talked to him straight to his eyes although a little bit hopeless already. But I believed in the saying "Everything is not meant to be but Everything is worth a try". And I did try. I was surprised when he gave me another 2 priority numbers! Carol was suprised too! Whew! I was happy that he considered my request. He was talking to me nicely that time. Thank you Lord! He asked me our passport and the appointment letter only then he gave me 3 forms to be filled out and said to fill them out shortly. The 3 of us filled the forms out hurriedly but carefully. We don't want to be in trouble again, gosh!

The following are the required data in the form. (I hope I remembered them all):

Name, Birthday (be careful because the birthyear is the first being ask not the month or date), Alien Number and Application Number( you will find these 2 numbers in your appointment Notice), height, weight, address, name of mom and dad, place of birth, country of citizenship, contact numbers then you have to encircle the benefits you applied, I encircled I-1485.

I was told to sit down in a chair in the corner to wait for the finger printing. The he requested me to stand up and he put liquid to his hands and told me to do the same before the finger printing. Then he held my fingers in my left hands and pressed it in a tiny window of some kind of a computer machine, then the fingers in my right hand. Afterwards, he took my thumbs and my other fingers one by one, rolled them from left to right until the computer says it is done already. Then he took picture using a web camera.Then he let me affixed my signature using an electronic pen stuck in the machine.

After a few minutes, he handed me the appointment I gave to him earlier with scribbled notes therein and said to keep it and dont let anyone to make a copy of it and wait for the green card in my mail. I am not sure if I heard the latter right. I was expecting him to tell me to wait for an appointment for interview because I came here using K3 Visa. I was too occupied to having conversation with him.

By the way, we were talking while doing the biometrics. I said I was grateful for his consideration and that I salute Americans for being a time conscious people unlike Filipinos. He was so nice to me and even shared to me that he is going to the Philippines next year (February) for a golf competition together with 9 other guys from here to compete from different countries. I jokingly said that I thought he's gonna meet up his fiancee there. He was smiling at me and admitted that somebody from here who got a business there in our country will introduce him to filipino lady. He said he is divorced for 12 years already and he heard that filipino girls are caring and wife-material, etc... I knew it.. He became nice to me when he learned that I am a Filipino.

After everything was done, we thanked him and said goodbye and before i forgot, I said goodluck to him for the golf game. He thanked me then gave me a hand shake.

When we were outside the building, we felt relieved! We are not gonna come back the next day!

Americans are always on time. When you have an appointment here you have to come on time or else you will get into trouble. Lesson learned.

So, don't ever be late!