I've lost that Christmas feeling

*envision Maverick and Goose singing ala Righteous Brothers here*

I was never much of a 'holiday' person to start with. I was never the one with the house all dazzled out in lights and light up santas and reindeer. I didn't have Christmas paraphernalia scattered all over the house. I never owned those little guest towels for the bathroom that had embroidered Christmas trees or candy canes on them. I never owned a Christmas scene snow globe nor a Nativity scene. I have seen 'Miracle on 34th Street' and 'It's a Wonderful Life' but I never liked them much. I do candidly confess that 'A Christmas Story' (the one about the boy who wants a Red Rider BB gun more than anything for Christmas) is one of my favorite movies.

But, for the first time in my life, I wish I were one of those people. I want to scatter holiday cheer randomly on everyone I see, just like fairy dust. I want to greet people in the store or on the street with "Happy Holidays!" and mean it. I want to spend days shopping for gifts for everyone I know, even the postman and the garbageman. I want to spend an evening in front of the fireplace with all the lights off, enjoying a nice glass of wine while sitting on the couch and admiring the beautiful twinkling tree. I want to sit there and discuss how the kids will have such a wonderful holiday and how nice it will be to see all the relatives while enjoying the scented holiday candles.

I want to buy new mittens and a hat and put on my snow gear and go outside and make snow angels and catch snow flakes on my tongue. I want to lick icicles like a Popsicle. I want to make a snow fort and have a major snowball battle with my family until we are so cold we can't feel our fingers. Then we can go inside and drink hot chocolate with those little mini marshmallows until our noses are no longer pink. We can sip our hot chocolate and gaze in wonder at all the brightly wrapped presents under the tree and ponder what are in those pretty boxes. Perhaps, when no one is looking, I will pick up a box or two and squeeze them and shake them, and try to deduct what it possibly could be. Whatever is in those mysteriously wonderful boxes is sure to be perfect.


We could spend the colder weekends in nice fuzzy sweaters baking cookies and cakes. We could make tins full of these massive varieties of goodies for co workers and neighbors. I especially like those peanut butter cookies with the Hershey Kiss plopped right in the middle. We can nibble on those warm, just out of the oven cookies and talk about everything unimportant but cheerful or sing along to our Christmas cd's.

We could sponsor a less fortunate family and take their 'wish list' to the store and buy everything they want, plus a few extras, so that they too have a wonderful holiday. We can donate some food to the food bank and put our spare change in the Salvation Army kettles when we see them outside the stores ringing their bells.

We could sit at our dining room table and write our Christmas cards to everyone we know. We could get those glittery cards that are so fun to look at. We could collect the cards we have received and paste them all over the back of our front door and when that is full, we can start taping them to the nearby walls in the foyer. Cards with pictures of snowy villages, candy canes, reindeer romping in the snow, and snowmen with crooked hats, children on a skating rink, and even the Budweiser Clydesdales.

We could help the smaller kids write their letters to Santa. In their little kid spelling and block letters, we could help them spell things like 'pony,' 'legos,' and 'sled.' We would help them address their envelopes to Mr. Santa Claus, Christmasland, North Pole and watch their faces beam with pride and hope as we walk down to the mail box and send those letters on their magical journey.

I would give anything to be able to do just one of these with my family this year. For at fate would have it, this year, I am separated from them all. I will spend Christmas Day completely alone. I will communicate with my family via electronic means, but it it no way replaces the warmth of their hugs and the soul filling feeling of hearing their chatter and their laughter throughout the house. So, today, I send off my own letter to Santa:

Dear Santa:

Please bring my family home for Christmas this year. This is all I want.

Sincerely,

Delicia

Closing the file on CIC

I shiver with anticipation to finally announce that my case is now closed, complete, and kaput with CIC. I cannot explain the relief this is.

On November 28, 2007, my husband received a check from CIC in the amount of $975.00. While it wasn't the full refund to which I think we are entitled, it is good enough for me. The check being issued to my husband does also corroborate my earlier suspicions that those paper worshiping government employees are not the most literate individuals walking the planet. If they were adept at their positions, they would have noted that the fees were charged under my card and not my husband's, so the fee is actually owing to me. Regardless, it went into the joint checking account in Canada and promptly withdrawn as cash in the U.S. and deposited to our U.S. savings account.

Which left me with the one issue hanging of this Form IMM 5021, Voluntary Departure Confirmation. Since the refund, formerly known as Nemo, was in hand, I had no worries about informing CIC of my current address in the U.S. So, I replied to their demand with the following correspondence.

December 4, 2007

Citizenship & Immigration Canada
ATTN: D.M. Salmon
5343 Dundas Street West
Etobicoke, ON M9B 6K5

Dear Sir or Madam:

I am in receipt of your letter dated November 16, 2007 requesting me to complete Form IMM 5021 (copy attached).

Please be advised that my son and I have moved to the U.S. prior to your request to complete a Voluntary Departure Confirmation. We departed Canada on land route via Sarnia/Port Huron, Michigan on September 24, 2007. I started a new employment position in Phoenix, Arizona, U.S.A. on October 1, 2007. I am currently in process for sponsoring my husband into the U.S.

I can be reached at: name
address
address
phone

Please let me know if you require additional information.

Sincerely,

signature

While the letter by no means expresses my true feelings and it definitely does not say what I would like it to say, it does the job. I told my husband a few days ago that I have exactly 2 visits to Canada left in my body. The first is to attend his U.S. immigration interview at the U.S. Consulate in Montreal and the other is to fly there to help him drive down for the final move to the U.S. once he is approved. Therefor, telling CIC how I truly feel about their sorry excuse for an agency could no doubt hinder those 2 final visits into Canada.

Farewell CIC! I hope I never ever ever in my life have to deal with you again.

My latest visit to Toronto

I mentioned a few days ago that I went back to Toronto to visit my husband and son over the U.S. Thanksgiving weekend. We had such a good time, and I thought it appropriate to get away from this complaining about the government (or lack thereof) and provide some details. I want you, Dear Reader, not to think that this is all I do all day, find fault with Canada and both the U.S. and Canadian immigration processes. Yes, I do have a job and I have a family and a couple dogs, and I do laundry once a week and run to the grocery store and stop and put gas in my car (as painful as that is with the current gas prices), much the same as everyone else.

I arrived in Canada on the Wednesday evening before Thanksgiving (U.S.) to pouring and cold rain. The temperature hung just above freezing and that is just miserable weather. I was processed through Canadian customs rather quickly even after telling the officer that I was there to visit my husband and son. He asked how long we have been married and I answered him, "2 years." Then I added that we were in the process for my husband to immigrate to the U.S. He nodded, and waived me on. No stamp in my passport though. In my previous trips in and out of Pearson, I always had to be very careful with the words I used with the Immigration Officer. It was nice be relaxed about the process (but I carry my complete CIC file with me, including FOSS notes just in case).

I had declared on my form that I was carrying $400 in gifts, which was a slight understatement. I had an XBox 360, extra game controller, and a copy of Halo 3 in my carry-on. So, needless to say, I got waived into the duty area. I waited in line there about 30 minutes before my turn came up. I explained to the officer what I had, and he took my form and waived me through. Seems as if they are only interested in alcohol and tobacco imports. I was thankful for not having to pay more for my son's birthday gift than I already had. Those XBox's are spendy things!

I found my husband as soon as I exited Customs and he was relieved to see me. He told me after that he tracked my flight and was going to give me 1 hour to exit Customs before he started trying to reach the MP as he was sure I would be pulled into secondary because of the poor experiences we had had in the past. It was so nice to see him. I had forgotten what a good looking man he was. He even brought me my winter coat to wear leaving the airport since I had left all my coats and heavy sweaters in Toronto as there is not much call for them in Arizona. That man is always thinking of my welfare, even when I don't appreciate it.

We went straight to the my in-laws, so we could play early Santa and give the XBox to my son and my brother-in-law. I missed my son more than I thought and was thankful to see him again after 2 months. Fortunately, he looked exactly the same, so I didn't feel like I had missed anything, except his crazy, goofy, self. We dispatched our gifts, hubby hooked up the Xbox, provided them another game, Call of Duty 4, and that was pretty much the last I saw of The Kid and my brother-in-law for the rest of the weekend. They had their faces into the TV playing those games for the remainder of my visit. I take it they liked it.

My husband spent the next few days going back and forth between our hotel (very nice and glad my hubby thought enough to get one instead of me staying at the in-laws) and my in-laws house. We caught a movie and dinner out a few times. My husband likes taking me on dates and I think that's wonderful. We cooked up a traditional Thanksgiving dinner on Saturday with all the fixins. I made a huge ham (preferred over turkey at my house) and it was yummy. My husband was eating ham salad sandwiches at work for the next week, but he wasn't complaining.

The hardest part is always leaving. It is like a dark cloud that plagues the entire visit, knowing that I have to go home without my men. But, knowing I was going to be intensely busy at work takes the edge off. We decided that since airfare is completely out of control over the Christmas holidays, we were both going to stay put and plan for my husband to come for a visit sometime in late January as an early birthday gift for him. I can't wait.

Here is a picture of the dog that stayed with my husband. The dog is originally from a sled dog trainer/breeder in Quebec and he is gorgeous. I bought him for my husband's birthday last year and we drove about 5 hours one way to go pick him up. It is rather hard to take pictures of him because he won't sit still for any amount of time. Talk about a dog with ADHD.