Thursday, October 14, 2004

good morning... from Tulsa!

I got back on Tuesday evening, but I've been working non-stop since then because I had a big deadline. The weekend in Boston was good and I went to work on Monday but I didn't manage to get work done over the weekend days which put me behind (!). I finished what I was working on last night though and hopefully things will be more sane today and tomorrow. Yesterday, Brendan and I left here at 6 am to get to OK City for an 8:45 interview at immigration! So, that was our "green card interview" where we show them our bank records, tax returns, joint lease, accounts, insurance, etc., photos, correspondance... to prove that we have a real marriage and I didn't just hire Brendan so I could get a green card! It went fine, of course. A big tip-off: after noticing books on Jesus in the interviewers office shelves, he commented half-way through the interview that I looked like a Christian singer he knew but he couldn't recall her name. Brendan offered "Amy Grant" - like we too, were up on our Christian singers... I figured that if I looked like a Christian singer he liked, I might have an advantage (even though he just finished asking one of the questions on the form aloud: "Have you ever or do you plan to engage in prostitution while in the United States?"... even better, he then asked if Brendan planned to pimp me out). I think this is who he meant. And so we passed and now I should get my green card in the mail soon. That's a relief to have that done - I think the Boston office is much busier and processes things much slower.

So, it has been a really busy week. Jane picked me up in Providence on Friday after I was delayed a few hours. (The power went off in Tulsa b/c of a storm Thursday night, so we didn't wake up at 4:30, we woke up at 5:50 and my flight left at 6:05!! We got to the airport by 6:10 and I sweetly asked if they could do something for me. So, they put me on a flight going through Minneapolis instead of the original plan to go through Detroit. So, Instead of arriving at 11:30, I arrived at 5... long day). Sean and Jaime and I went out on Friday in Providence - to the Trinity, of course and that was good. I don't think I've ever spent time with them without Brendan, so it was great to do that. Saturday, Jane lent me her "Yama" SUV and I drove to the wedding at the Arnold Arboretum and then the reception and then back with Anna and Hamid to Newton to stay the night up there. Penny & Camil had all the out of towners over at noon for brunch at their house - they had bride's sister and boyfriend in from London, England, her mum from Barbados, her dad and his girlfriend of 10 years from Montreal, her late step-father's sister and aunt from Kingston and Ottawa, Camil's parents live in Ajax, Camil's sister and new husband live in Kingston... friends from Chicago, more family from Ontario... so lots and lots of Canadians! Anyway, it was a very non-traditional wedding but it was nice, different.

I went back to the Jane & Neil's on Sunday and we sat in the yard - beautiful day... watched the llamas (!) for a while and then went in to sit by a big toasty fire.

Monday, October 04, 2004

Our weekend was somewhat quiet - we had Chris and Ashley over to our place on Friday night... found out that Ashley was fired from her job in August so that probably explains why they haven't come out / why we haven't seen her in a while. She didn't seem too embarassed by it or anything (I think I'd be mortified in a similar situation). She's just happily collecting unemployment, going to aerobics classes and taking a class toward a vocal performance degree at the Tulsa Community College.

I'm so glad that Paul (who we see much more often) is dating Katie (the teacher)... she's just a lot more like someone I might make friends with on my own. So now, that's 2 of 4 guys (including Brendan) in the PhD program who have dependent wives/fiancees that don't work. I thought 1 of 4 was a high percentage!

Friday, October 01, 2004

Brendan turns 30, Oom-paa-paa band plays

Brendan is turning 30 on October 26th and by some strange coincidence, the Tulsa Oktoberfest is being held from October 21st through October 24th. I'd like to surprise Brendan with a little impromptu celebration at this fine Tulsa event...

I've arranged to get a table reserved in the "Bier" tent on Saturday, October 23rd and have the oom-paa-paa (ok, polka) band play happy birthday at 2:30 pm. I'll be bringing in a birthday cake as well.

Please let me know if you can make it Oct 23rd with your significant others, if I can't get a quorum together for the afternoon time then I'll call off the table reservation. This is a SURPRISE, so please don't let on (it's really not going to be challenging to get Brendan to Oktoberfest under false pretenses).

-Joanne

p.s. If the Red Sox are in the World Series (knock on wood) and a game coincides with this plan, then there *will* be a keg in our backyard and we will be hosting our own private J&B Oktoberfest. :-)