Welcome to my first blog!

Hello. My name, at least as far as this blog and you all are concerned, is Delicia. I created this Blog as a way of alleviating some of my frustration, anger, and stress associated with my immigration to Canada.

Before I get into the nightmare that is so commonly referred to as the 'immigration process,' let me give you some of my history so you can understand the entire situation. I am a 43 year old, white, female. I am a U.S. citizen, born and raised in the Minneapolis, MN area. I had the typical protestant-ethic upbringing in a middle-class home. Both of my parents worked and it afforded me me some luxuries growing up. We had a cabin in Northern Minnesota where we spent almost every weekend. I had one older brother and both of us had our dirt bikes for the summer and snowmobiles for the winter. We water skied and enjoyed athletics, both of us belonging to the seasonal teams (baseball, basketball, competitive swimming, diving, etc). We both grew up, got married, had kids, worked at our jobs and did our best to be productive Americans and support our families.

I myself, got married and had 2 kids, 3 years apart. The marriage was horrible and ended in divorce after 2 years when I was 27 years old. (yep, you figure the math out here). I continued working hard and by the time I was 29, I had purchased my first house. I went back to school and completed my Bachelor's Degree in St. Paul, MN. Working full time and going to school full time while raising 2 kids alone is no easy feat, but it was something that needed to be done. Things weren't all that bad. I lived paycheck to paycheck like everyone else. I raised my kids similar to how I was raised, with that 'work hard and you will get what you work for' mentality. My kids got involved in sports and did fair at academics. Everything was so 'normal.'

Fast forward several years and I find myself spending the end of the evenings playing on line computer games. It was a great way to unwind and chill after the kids were tucked in for the night. It was my alone time. I was never a big fan of TV; I find most of the shows are boring or just to simple to be entertaining. I meet people on line, that play the same games. You get involved in idle chit chat, find out where they are living, what they do for a living, etc. Nothing too personal.

That is, until I met Mac. Mac became my best online buddy. We would team up for games and would have hours of fun. For about the first 6 months, we maintained that 'idle chat' and crack jokes, but never got too involved with our actual 'real lives.' One day, and honestly, I don't remember when or how it happened, but some time in 2000, we began exchanging views on religion, politics (yes, those old strange bedfellows), hopes for the future, and everything else that we could think of. Sometimes, we would log on these games and just sit and chat. The game became the background for the developing friendship.

Fast forward another 3 years to 2003. Mac and I hang out daily on line. We have added phone calls to our daily routine. I find about Mac's life in Toronto, ON and he finds out about mine in Minneapolis, MN. We decided it was finally time to meet in person and he flew out to Minneapolis to spend a few days. I ship the kid's off to their grandparents telling them that I had to work some crazy hours over the weekend, and Mac and I meet face to face for the first time. I was already in love with this quasi-mystery man by then, but making in 'real' was pure heaven. He spent just 4 days that first visit but the visits continued over the next couple years regularly. I went to Toronto or he came to Minneapolis, whichever worked out best for us at the time.

Now, it is 2007. We were married in October 2005, two months after I relocated to Toronto. I sold my house, donated my furniture to my eldest who was just starting out on her own life, packed up my car and we drove to Toronto. And here is where the story of the immigration nightmare begins.