Catch-Up

Hey.  I thought I would attempt sitting and writing you to fill you in on what's been going on, progress, etc.  I'm not sure how I'm finding the patience to sit here; I have a million other things to do and only 2 days to do it.  I work every single day next week (an 8-day stretch) and I'm going to need all the energy I can get, which means my house has to be spotless because I'm not going to have time to clean it through the week.  Regardless, I've been wanting to write you for a while so here I am!  Now we just need to multiply me so I can be doing 5 things at once!

It occurred to me yesterday my paperwork is almost done.  Bittersweet, that is.  You put in so much concentration, effort and money that you're happy it's over, it's what you've been working towards...but...you get a drop from all that effort/energy.  And then you wait.  For what seems like forever.

Here's a basic overview of the process I've had to endure...
The Dutch consulate needs various information before processing my application for citizenship and my passport (passport is a helluva lot more simple than the citizenship, I'll tell you that off the bat).  They need basic information from me: proof of address, ID, Canadian passport, birth certificate (long form, please, not the card; filed for), etc.  What they needed from my father was a lot more complicated.  Well, not so complicated, but tedious and time-consuming.  I needed to file to Thunder Bay for a long-form marriage certificate of him and my mom, his Canadian passport, his record of citizenship papers which as I speak are rushed on their way to some government offices in Nova Scotia (and can take a looooong time to process, so please pray!!), a de-registration certificate that I had to file with the Dutch government in The Hague (I'm also waiting for his paper back; it's in lieu of an old passport that we couldn't find used to emigrate), and the birth cert. and marriage cert. had to be sent to Ottawa to be authenticated (yes, my legal papers have to be legalized).  Aaaaaall of this paperwork, when it returns to me, will be taken in person to Toronto, back to the consulate and handed in.  With, of course, a photo for my potentially-acquired Dutch passport.  Did any of that make sense?  Probably not, and don't bother trying to understand.  I'm still trying to after a month ;)

With what I've had to do and the money involved, I really can't complain and am very thankful.  I know other people have cases that are much worse, more time involved and more expensive.  You hear the horror stories.  Thankfully it's been fairly painless, barring a couple breakdowns and random "Oh my God it's really happening" reality checks.

And it's almost done.  I'm waiting for paperwork to return to me and as soon as I get everything, I go to Toronto.  And then I wait.  Excruciatingly, painstakingly wait.  It'll be out of my hands at that point and I have to give it all up to God.  I keep trying to trust in the plan, but it is challenging at best.  Ah well, what doesn't kill me...............................

 So, not much else to say.  Health-wise I've been on a completely whole-food diet (no sugar, no caffeine, no grains) and as far as my digestive tract, I feel fantastic.  I haven't used my meds in almost two weeks.  It's unheard of.  I'm really happy about that!  It's getting challenging at this point to come up with food and menu ideas, I'm *really* limited, so I'm trying to hang on and not get too frustrated.

Anyways, best to get to the chores.  Hope you have a great weekend.  It's supposed to be warming up a bit (FINALLY) in this part of the world, so try and enjoy the day!