Amanda Takes Off...

I did.

I met the President of the United States at work.

I'm a teacher. One of the least respected professions in America. ("Those who can, do; those who can't, teach.") And I met President Obama. Without even having to gate crash.

Yes!

I've actually known since Friday that "someone special" was coming to visit. Thursday and Friday the Secret Service scoped out the school. Friday they came into my classroom, which distracted my students, who were studying for a quiz. "Can you come back in a half an hour? They really need to study for their test," I said.

Meanwhile, Fairy Godmother thought they were from the renovations committee and pointed out the dangerous plate glass in our classrooms! Well, we are teachers, first and foremost concerned about the safety and study habits of our students.

After work, Fairy Godmother and I had to give our full names, dates of birth, places of birth, and SSNs to the principal. (See, Good Man, this is why you need to memorize your SSN.) So we knew Something Big was going to happen.

When I woke up, Diana and Good Man and done some sleuthing. "Have fun Obama girl," Diana told me. "You're meeting The President," Good Man said.

Today the teachers all had to park 8/10 of a mile down the street. A bus shuttled us to the school. The students who saw us were so confused. You could read their faces. Why are our teachers on the bus? Although we were dropped off in the back, we had to walk around the front, where we had to flash our badges twice within ten feet.

The front and back parking lots, as well as the side streets, were crammed with police vehicles. We entered the building to find policemen, Secret Service agents, and bomb-sniffing dogs. I later found out that students had been instructed to leave all personal items downstairs.

Wow.

Fairy Godmother and I collected the students who'd been chosen to meet the "special guest." We still weren't 100% sure what they'd get to do, so we practiced how they could answer some questions, and what sort of questions they might ask President Obama.

Finally, we were called downstairs. We were all wanded. Fairy Godmother and I were given fold-over lapel pins to wear, to prove we belonged in the room.

We waited. And waited. The students watched the men in the hallway "with funny things on their ear" talk "into their hands." Suddenly, a stampede of press suddenly entered the room, stood behind us, and started snapping photos. "I'm scared," one of my students said.

"It's just the press," I said, "It's OK."

"Are they like the paparazzi?"

"No, they're reporters. It's their job to follow The President and take photos."

One of my students wrinkled her nose. "Why doesn't he get a restraining order?"

A few seconds later, the President entered the room. "Hey! How are you?"

"Good," the students chimed in the sing-song student-mass voice.

"Good to see you," President Obama said, as he shook every hand in front of him. "What's your name... Good to see you." I watched and winced as my girls gave him dead-fish handshakes. I taught them better than that...

Fairy Godmother and I stood up when he got to us. Everyone laughed for some reason when I did, probably because I jumped up with a goofy grin on my face, but come on! I was not going to sit while shaking the President's hand!

Obama sat down, asked the students a few questions, and opened up the floor. The students asked him several questions (and no, we did not make up their questions for them).

Meanwhile, I was sitting approximately seven feet from him thinking, Am I really sitting in front of the President of the United States? Really?

I was.

And he was just as eloquent without a speech as he is with one. He was also great at putting things in kid-friendly language without being condescending.

And he slouched a little. (Fairy Godmother disagrees. She thinks he was just "leaning." I say he was slouching.)

After approximately 20 minutes, the President said he had to go. Suddenly the students swarmed him. He shook their hands, patted their shoulders, and smiled and nodded as they thanked him for coming.

After he left, someone else came into the room and said the President had brought a treat. Boxes of M&Ms (red, white, and blue, of course), complete with the Presidential Seal on them. Ha ha!

Presidential M&Ms and Proof I Belonged There

Amazingly, not 30 minutes after we left the room, his press conference was over and he'd left the building. Gone were the dogs, the cars, the media, the people toting around Very Large Guns. It was as if he'd never been there. Poof!

Even more incredibly, not an hour after he'd left, my students had calmed down and were back to Language Arts (mostly) like normal.

In one year I have attended President Obama's Inauguration, seen him stumping for Creigh Deeds, and met him in person.

I have now promised Good Man that for the entire year of 2010 I will not once say "you dragged me here, I would've stayed in Korea." As Good Man pointed out this weekend (when we were guessing it would just be Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, or Dr. Jill Biden, or Michelle Obama), if it weren't for him "dragging" me here, none of this would've happened.

Fair enough, Good Man, you get the credit.

Wow. I met Obama!

Good Man was approved for in-state residency today, which means he'll be getting a partial refund on his tuition. The green card just about paid for itself.

While digging out sausage from the fridge I found a wedge of brie that Good Man and I bought about a month ago. Its sell by date was the 11th, so I decided I should figure out how to use it. I was already planning on making pancakes this morning, so I quickly Googled "brie pancakes." I found several recipes, so I knew my idea was doable. Then I found a recipe for apple brie pancakes. I modified it for what I had on hand and my own level of laziness. We got 14 pancakes out of this recipe.

Pear & Brie pancakes

1 C unbleached all-purpose flour
1 C whole-wheat flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
a pinch of salt

2 cups milk
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 tbsp butter, melted

1 handful brie, rind removed (I ended up using about 3/4 of a wedge, which is a useless measurement, I know)
2 pears, cored and roughly chopped

In a large bowl, combine all dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients and mix. Add brie and pears and mix. The brie might be a little lumpy. It didn't seem to matter to us at all.

Heat skillet over medium-high flame. Butter the pan lightly. When the skillet is hot, ladle one spoonful of batter onto skillet. When top starts to bubble and edges are firm, flip and cook through.

Serve with or without syrup.

***

I prepared a 6-qt crock of lasagna for tomorrow. I stuck it in the fridge and then found out (getting more crock pot ideas online) that I'm apparently going to kill us by keeping food in a crock overnight in the fridge. Apparently I'll be keeping the food in the "danger zone" too long.

I did some research on making kimchi this weekend, and apparently kimchi only lasts up to 15 days in the fridge. (What?) Also, apparently I'm putting us at all kinds of risk for who knows what by not heat canning the kimchi. Of course, heat canning it would destroy all of the good bacteria/microbes in it—the very same microbes that make it so healthy!

I think Americans sometimes worry too much about food safety. I know people used to get sick from food-borne illnesses more often. I get that. But I suspect that had more to do with hand washing.

One of The Annoyances of Living in DC

Yesterday I got to the subway station shortly after 9 am. I noticed the parking lot had more cars than usual but didn't think anything of it.

Until I got the to the platform.

I was surrounded by birther/tea-bagger/death panelist/9-12ers.

They were carrying signs calling Obama Hitler and the like.

Ugh.

When the train finally came, it was packed with more of their ilk. Every single time we approached a station, one particularly lovely woman would scream "YAY! PAAAAAAAAAAAA-TRIIIIIIIIIIIIIII-OOOOTS" at the top of her lungs.

And although several of them were bitching about "those illegals" and signs in Spanish, they apparently couldn't understand English because they were sipping their Starbuckses and pops. Put the drinks away, twits.

What I found most fascinating is that they were all white. Every single last one of them. Apparently on 9-12 America was made up entirely of white people.

You know...there's something wrong with your movement if it is supposed to represent America and is made up of only white people.

I threw a pile of junk mail in the recycling corner of our kitchen and a plain white envelope slid out from it.

I picked it up and saw that it was addressed to Good Man and from Lee's Summit, MO. It was stiff. I know that Lee's Summit location.

"[Good Man]!" I started jumping up and down.

"Why are you doing like that?" he said.

"I almost threw it away with the recycling!"

Good Man opened the envelope and there was his green card. There was also a little Tyvek envelope.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

We recommend you use this envelope to protect your new card.

Nosotros recomendamos que usted use este sobre para protegar a su tarjeta.

Good Man grinned. "This is good."

The card isn't green. It's white with a terrible photo of Good Man, his thumbprint, and a series of numbers and codes across the front. The back is shiny enough to be used as a mirror and has the presidents (through the last Bush) across the top. Across the bottom it's got the 50 US state flags.

So now we're clear to travel to Stockholm. No need for an Infopass appointment to get a stamp in his passport.

Two weeks ago we found out that Good Man was denied in-state residency because he didn't yet have his green card. We did a second level appeal but the Not Idiot Turned Idiot in the international student office wouldn't accept our letter from USCIS as proof of his residency status. Tuesday when Good Man goes to school, that should change. He should be approved for in-state residency. "Should" being the key word here...

Thursday we received a letter that my bank needs Good Man's SSN before the 21st or they'd close the account. Now that he's got his green card, he can apply for an SSN—one time. (He could've applied with his EAD, but there would've been restrictions that he would've needed lifted when the green card arrived. Since the EAD card arrived so close to the interview date, we decided to wait.)

Today is our six-month anniversary (legal wedding). What a nice gift to receive.

For all of the horror stories I've read and heard about USCIS, from the date we mailed the application to the date we received the green card it was only 96 days. Nothing like the six to twelve months we were expecting. We got no RFEs (request for evidence). He didn't get stuck in name check hell. The interviewer didn't ask any really personal, inappropriate questions. We didn't use a lawyer (just Fiancé & Marriage Visas: A Couple's Guide to U.S. Immigration, which I highly recommend). And just like all of our friends and family said it would—it all worked out fine.

Happy anniversary to us!

Operation Immigration: Timeline

* To make this easier to read I will use * for new info.

6/1/2009: Mailed AOS/EAD/AP to Chicago Lockbox
6/3/2009: USPS reports rec'd
6/9/2009: Green registered mail with return receipt postcard rec'd
6/10/2009: I-485 check cashed (with no readable receipt number on the back of the check!)
6/11/2009: I-130 check cashed (with no readable receipt number on the back of the check!)
6/12/2009: NOAs rec'd for petition (130), green card (485), employment authorization (765), and advance parole (131); we now have his A-number; rec'd date 6/3, notice date 6/8
6/13/2009: Biometrics appt rec'd for 7/1
7/1/2009: Biometrics appt, in and out in 15 minutes
7/17/2009: USCIS website says that AP/EAD approval notice sent
7/22/2009: USCIS website says EAD card ordered
7/23/2009: USCIS website says EAD sent
7/24/2009: Rec'd notice for interview on 8/27 (Washington, DC location—which is actually in Fairfax)
7/27/09: Rec'd AP
7/29/2009: EAD rec'd
8/27/2009: Interview, approved on the spot
8/31/2009: Rec'd email notice that green card production was ordered on 8/27
9/1/2009: Rec'd email notice that green card production was ordered on 9/1 (again?)
9/3/2009: I-797 NOAs received for I485 and I130
* 9/4/2009: Rec'd email notice that the NOA for the I485 was sent on 9/4 (um, already got it, USCIS)
* 9/5/2009: Rec'd green card

Operation Immigration: Interview Prep

In addition to a copy of everything we originally sent in, we're bringing the following things (there is some overlap)—originals and copies:

We Are Who We Say We Are Proof
* His passport
* My passport
* His birth certificate, a translation, and a letter from the translator
* My birth certificate

He's Legally Here Proof
* I-797C Request for Applicant to Appear for Initial Interview
* I-512L Authorization for Parole of an Alien Into the United States (2 copies)
* EAD card
* NOAs and receipts for all original applications (I-130, I-484, I-131, I-765, appointment notice for fingerprinting
* I-94 (in his passport)
* I-20 (student visa acceptance letter)

We're Really Married Proof
* Certified copy of the marriage certificate
* Letters of support from Mom, Mark, Diana, and a co-worker
* Two dozen photos of us with and without friends and family from before our legal wedding, our legal wedding, our family wedding, and after our wedding(s)
* Copies of dental and health insurance cards
* A health insurance bill for a visit Good Man made to the doctor
* Wedding invitation
* Wedding announcement
* Wedding program
* Wedding card addressed to both of us from one of the sets of grandparents
* Thank you note from a cousin addressed to both of us for a wedding gift we sent her
* Note that my sister-in-law put in with the quilt she made, explaining that it's inspired by a hanbok
* Receipt for ring engravings
* Envelope addressed to both of us from Good Man's sister (Christmas gifts)
* Wedding registry print out
* Photocopies of our credit cards
* Statement from his bank showing we're joint
* Statement from my bank showing we're joint
* Verizon bill showing we share an account
* Lease
* Copies of our Costco cards
* Copies of the e-tickets for our honeymoon (scheduled in October)

We Won't Go On Welfare Proof
* My last tax return
* 2008 W-2
* Last three months of pay stubs
* Letter from my employer proving I'm employed at my income level