Live to work....Work to live....

Efren and his friends that he went to college with in Venezuela keep up with each other through email since they are now spread out in several different countries around the world. That's what happens when you're an exchange student and meet your future wife, I guess. ;) The topic they have been discussing recently was basically that people in our society today, for the most part, live to work and work to live. Because of the way the world works the "work week" is Monday through Friday 8-5 or 9-6 what have you with Saturdays and Sundays off. If you're lucky your job MIGHT allow you 2-3 weeks of vacation time a year....out of 52. Step back and think about it for a second. I know I hadn't really ever considered it strange because this is commonplace. We grow up, graduate college, and then start our careers, all the while knowing that at some point we will enter the mighty work force. The guys started talking about this and realized how backwards it seems. We all spend soooo much time working, when do we get to enjoy each other and live life...not live work. There are professions that are the exception, nursing of course being one of them. Not only do we only work 3 times a week but we get to make our own schedule. For the most part we work just as many hours, but we get several days off at a time. What if the rest of the working world was like that? What if companies let their employees work 10-12 hours a day but only 3 or 4 times a week?! On top of that, what if we ALL got to pick which 3 days of the week we wanted so that the other four could be spent with our families? At my current position at the hospital I am required to work a certain amount of hours per six weeks. It can be anytime within those six weeks. If I cram them all in at the beginning, I could have up to 5 weeks completely off. I am SO blessed with that opportunity....but what if all jobs were like that?! Get your work done and then go enjoy your family or take a mission trip, or as our friend on the "Cash For Gold" commercial did, take "the vacation of a lifetime!" (Sorry, we only have 5 channels, daytime TV is where it's at, and the same Medicare and Platt College commercials are played C-O-N-S-T-A-N-T-L-Y).
Sometimes it seems like we live to work, and for some people, they work to simply live. I don't think it will ever change because society says that is the "norm."I wish it would though. Life is too short to work so hard and miss something. Make every moment count.

Just think, if we had flexible schedules, Wal-mart wouldn't be so hellish on Saturdays and Sundays and there wouldn't be such a thing as rush hour!

A Big Red Stamp of Approval

So today was the most anticipated interview day! We received a notice in the mail more than a month ago informing us that Efren and I needed to show ourselves at the Department of Homeland Security on 1/23/09 at 12:45 in the afternoon with everything legal ever issued to us throughout our entire lives. Ok, maybe those weren't the exact words, but that is what they meant! Good thing my husband pays incredible attention to detail and is so organized! He had everything from the title of our car to pictures of us (looking like we are really in love) to an indepth medical exam...originals and copies of everything! Wow, it was a huge folder.
We showed up at homeland security at 12:15...excessively early, you say?? I agree. But there's no arguing about it, we are gonna do it his way. No problem. Early is always better than late, right? On time works too. Anyway, in hopes that we might be called first of all the 12:45 appointments we get through security and find our seats at 12:20, before the 12:30 appointments arrive. So now we wait. and wait. and wait. for all the Jose Manuels and Ikabana Sotubas to get called before us. Everytime the door opens we hold our breath....nothing. Until 1:45...FINALLY! They call Efren's name and we make our way back to the office of our interrogator. Good thing Obama closed that prison and did away with Jack Bauer-esque torture techniques because I'm afraid we may have gotten a taste. First we had to stand, raise our right hand, and swear that what we were saying was "the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help us...." yes help us Lord Jesus! The next several minutes were filled with pointed questions aimed at finding a loop hole in our relationship and proof that he paid me to marry him to get the green card. I believe the exact words were, "Cayce, do you feel like you have been had?" umm, no. "Well, there is gonna be alot of people mad if you are." umm, yes. "When did you meet? Where were you? What time of day? When was the last time you were in the US? Why did you come? Where were you living? Do you have any children? First marriage? Parents names? Shoe size? Boxers or briefs?" Ok...maybe I made a few of those up....but seriously it was nerve-racking! This woman has so much power over us at this moment and she won't even smile!! "Have you ever been in trouble inside or outside the United States?" To this question Efren replies," What do you mean?" "You know what trouble means!" The woman snaps back....yikes! Yes, right now I am feeling like I'm in trouble!
I am able to hear what is going on in some of the offices around us....giggles, laughter, jokes...seriously? I want to be in one of those rooms!
After 40 minutes of this lie detector test it was over. A huge red stamp reading, "APPROVED" was smashed over the top of our huge folder. REALLY?! I believe I kicked Efren under the table...ever so slightly of course as to not alert the officer. Who knows what she could do at this point, but I don't want to find out. She probably has a red stamp eraser in her drawer. She walks us out and it takes us getting out the door, past security before we feel like we really made it! Whew! YAY!!! 4-8 weeks or possibly sooner is when we were told to expect the green card. Praise the Lord. So many things could have gone wrong, but the Lord got us through! Thank you to everybody who has been praying for us. It feels great to be done with the whole immigration process. Now all we need to do is pray the actual card doesn't get lost in the mail!
Congratulations, my new US Permanent Resident!!

Goin' To The Ship!!!