A Salute to the Military

Today is Veteran’s Day, here in the United States. Elsewhere in the world it is known as Remembrance Day or Poppy Day (Great Britain, Australia and most Commonwealth countries) and Armistice Day. A day of remembrance of those who have served in the military, those who were lost on the field of battle and those who are currently serving today. As I am on my way to becoming a new citizen of the United States, and married to a USAF MSgt (Ret.), I thought it would be appropriate to mention what this day means. In my opinion, in no other country are the military so highly regarded as America, which I find very sad.

My recent status on Facebook, and on Twitter says this:-

“Give thanks for all veterans and serving military personnel both in the USA, Canada, Britain and across the world. Whether you call it Veteran’s Day, Remembrance Day or Armistice Day, take a moment to think what it means to be at war, no matter which “side” you are on or believe is right. Sometimes to be free you have to fight, true, but war is war no matter who you are and lives are lost and changed forever.”

I have noticed in the US that the observance of Veteran’s Day focuses commonly on recent veteran’s and serving personnel, which is no bad thing, but it should be remembered why November 11 was chosen as this day of remembrance.

On the eleventh hour, of the eleventh day, of the eleventh month, the armistice that brought about the end of World War 1 came into effect. The “war to end all wars” was fought for four long years, 28 July 1914 until 11 November 1918. It resulted in a total casualty list, from both sides, that makes modern losses pale in comparison. These losses both military and civilian, were about 37 million: 16 million deaths and 21 million wounded. The end of the war and the victory of the Allied Powers essentially redrew the map of Europe and gave birth to the Soviet Union.

This is why we remember. There is no such thing as “a war to end all wars”. Should such an event occur it would result in the almost total annihilation of the human race.

Today’s military personnel serve with a constant reminder that their job has the potential to shape lives, governments and entire continents. It also has the power to extinguish life, both theirs and their enemy’s. No matter which side you are on, whether you believe you fight on the side of what is good and right (because such things are entirely relative), war is war. Blood will be shed, lives lost, families ripped apart and people damaged psychologically.

So take a moment today and ponder this. Proudly salute YOUR military, whether you are American, British, Canadian, Australian, French, German, Japanese, Russian etc … They deserve your praise and thanks for doing a job that not everyone has the mettle for.

But also remember that there is always someone, just like you, on the otherside doing the same for his or her military too. Perhaps someone who has also lost family members to warfare.

Last Leg of the Citizenship Quest

Monday November 2nd saw me driving two hours to Lubbock, TX to have my fingerprints taken (again) as part of my application for Naturalization. This makes for the fifth time, I believe, that the US Government has taken my fingerprints. They have more copies of my fingerprints than a criminals most likely. It would probably behove me to never even contemplate anything illegal: I would be busted within minutes!

After having my fingers manhandled and squidged onto a digital fingerprint machine I was released and given a copy of an USCIS publication “Learn About the United States: Quick Civics Lessons for the New Naturalization Test”. It came with an audio CD too, pefect for listening to in the car.

There are 100 questions on the Naturalization test and I will be asked about 10 of them. I have to demonstrate the following:- that I know and understand the basics of American history and government; and that I can read, write and speak English.

Having read through the booklet and self-tested online I think I can pass this ok.

Why don’t you test yourself here. Could you pass the US Naturalization Test?

NaNoWriMo 2009

This year I decided to take part in National Novel Writing Month or NaNoWriMo in an effort to finally get the first draft, or at least part of the first draft, of a novel finished. I’ve wanted to do it for the past few years, but life always got in the way. This year I am in a perfect position to do it: I have no excuse not to be able to reach the 50,000 word goal by November 30th. I am currently not working so have a lot of free time to devote to writing, in between housework, bellydancing and running errands. It’s still a balancing act, but I know I can do it.

At first glance 50,000 words seems like a lot, but it works out about 1,667 words a day. Much more manageable. I’m currently at my day three total of over 5000 words, it’s now day four so I will have to type out only another 200 to be ahead of the game for today.

Having never written a novel before I am a bit in the dark about the whole thing. I came to this with no plot to speak of and only a handful of flat, lifeless characters. I am letting the story write itself really. By the time I’m done I will have to go back and change the beginning, which is naff to say the least, but I just got to the meaty parts so the writing will hopefully come easier from now on.

Here’s a snippet of the story (bear in mind that it is unedited and was written late at night under the influence of copious amounts of caffeine):-

Humans are strange.

“Yeah well, go figure,” Frankie said then looked back at the animal in the stall, “Now what is going on? Where am I and why am I having a conversation in my head with a horse creature with a horn on its head, which claims it’s not a unicorn?” The words sort of spilled out tripping over themselves as Frankie’s grip on reality lost its balance.

You were captured. It is believed you are a spy. This is the temporary winter residence of the Aurelian Guard. I am a Re’em, my name is Bryndis. You are Francesca Scott.

“Um, ok Bryndis,” Frankie was rather taken back. “Wait, how do you know my name?”

I read your mind.

“Oh, right,” Frankie said weakly.

Go now, he has a short temper.

******

Good luck to all the 2009 NaNoWriMo contestants. Here’s to everyone passing the 50,000 word finish line!

The Perfect Scone

I promised a friend I would give her a scone recipe. This one is from the Delia Smith cookbook that I use all the time and they turn out pretty good (if I do say so myself!). This particular recipe is for your basic plain scone that goes with everything:-

Ingredients

8oz (225g) Self-Raising Flour

1 1/2 oz (40g) Butter or margarine (at room temperature)

1 1/2 tablespoons Sugar

A pinch of salt

5 fl oz (150ml) Milk

A little extra flour

 

Method

Pre-heat oven to 425 F

Sift flour into a bowl and rub the flour into it rapidly using your fingertips. After the butter is thoroughly mixed into the flour stir in the sugar and salt, then take a knife and use it to mix in the milk a little at a time. Now flour your hands and knead the mixture to a soft dough, adding a little extra milk if it feels at all dry.

Turn the dough out onto a floured pastry board or counter top and roll it out to a thickness of not less than 3/4 inch (2cm) using a lightly floured rolling pin. Take a 1 1/2 or 2 inch pastry cutter and place it on the dough. Tap it sharply so that it goes straight through the dought. Do not twist! Knead the dough together and repeat until you ahve used as much of the dough as you can.

Place the scones on a greased baking sheet. You can dust each one with a little extra flour or brush a little milk or egg onto the top of each one (I usually brush milk myself). Bake near the top of the oven for 12-15 minutes. When cooked the scones will have turne a crisp golden brown. Cool on a rack and eat them slightly warm. Eat as fresh as possible.

Scones do freeze well, but still eat them within a month.

Best way to eat them:- butter, jam (jelly to you American folks) and generous servings of clotted cream!

Shimmy, Shimmy, Hip Drop

Ok so I spent my weekend hanging out in the bellydance world at Tribal Alchemy in Fort Worth TX. For those of you who don’t know, my obsession is the graceful and extremely entertaining art of bellydance (particularly tribal fusion, but it’s all good).

10 hours of workshops and a performance later and I am in slight pain, but as I paid for the “abuse” I guess I’ll suck it up!

So, what is Tribal Alchemy? I hear you ask

It is a fabulous set of workshops and performances aimed at tribal fusion bellydancers hosted in Fort Worth by the fantabulous 4 Wenches (Obsidia, Just Trudi and Brandi and Katy of BellaNatana). This year they pulled out all the stops and invited some wonderful instructors. I ended up taking workshops with Rose Harden, Elizabeth Strong, Mira Betz and my new heroes Shakra. Let me tell you, they kicked my butt!

On the Friday evening I got to perform for the first time (with Andrea, my fellow Storm Trouper) on a stage in front of a bellydance crowd. Talk about stage fright! Argh! But we had lightsabers, so it was ok. We danced to All That Jazz from Chicago … with lightsabers … yes that’s right … LIGHTSABERS.

It was a ton of fun though. I learned a lot. I will be passing on this new knowledge to my own students … you have been warned!

Shameless plug time: I teach beginners bellydance classes in Big Spring and Odessa, Texas. Come join me!

Now …. Going to find my husband and beg him to give me a massage … ow my butt hurts!

President Obama: Nobel Peace Prize Winner

In October  it was announced that President Barack Obama won, and accepted, the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize “for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.” [Nobel.org]. A mere 9 months into his term as President of the United States it is an impressive achievement, but perhaps a little overly optimistic. After all, he actually hasn’t done anything yet to deserve this award.

Before I go further let me explain that I actually quite like the guy. I don’t think he’s the best thing since sliced bread, but I do think he was the right choice for Americans during the presidential race. Change did need to happen to shake the country out of its stagnation. That is not to say “change” always equates to green grass, fluffy bunnies and silver lined clouds in the sky. Obama never promised any of that to the American public (despite what many right-leaning Americans seem to think).

Regardless of my own opinions though, which currently mean nothing because I’m not an American citizen yet, I have to question why Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize. So far all I have heard from him is talk and good intentions. Nothing has actually happened to warrant this award in my opinion (unless you count the “Beer Summit”).

What is the Nobel Peace Prize?

The Nobel Peace Prize is one of five prizes bequeathed by the Swedish industrialist and inventor, Alfred Nobel. The other four Prizes are: Medicine, Physics, Chemistry and Economics. The Peace prize however is different, because it can be awarded on an immediate basis, rather than in retrospect several decades (in some cases) afterwards. This presents problems, because talking about peace is one thing, making it happen is something else entirely.

The award also has a monetary value, not currently known at this point (I believe the monetary value changes each year, but feel free to correct me on this if I’m wrong).

While I am pleased for Obama, this award could backfire on him. If he does not keep his campaign promises, if he fails to stop the Afghan and Iraq wars, if he fails to bring peace to the Middle-East (well ok, I’ll let him off the hook on that last one, because no one can bring peace to the Middle-East except the people who live there); then this award will be viewed as hypocritical.

At the very least I would like for Obama to take the money he was awarded from this prize and invest it into something beneficial for the United States. Perhaps something that would make him being a recipient of the award in the first place, easier to swallow.

Monster in the Closet

I’ve had a bad week this week. I’ve tried to keep myself busy to prevent dwelling on it too much. It’s hard though.

My husband, who suffers from severe depression with bipolar tendancies and psychotic episodes, was admitted to hospital last Tuesday. He’d been sliding downhill again for a couple of weeks, despite being on Cymbalta and an antipsychotic drug (that he had researched and prescribed himself as our insurance couldn’t get us in to see a psychiatrist anywhere near us). So last Tuesday I took him to see the Licenced Psychologist that I had been to see last year, because at the very least he needed to talk to someone who had the power to persuade him to do something. We got a referral to a hospital in San Angelo, which thankfully our insurance is covering 100%.

This is not the first time he’s been in hospital. He’s suffered with problems of this magnitude all his life. In 2005 as he was retiring from the US Airforce he had to be referred to The Priory in London. Within a day they had him dosed up on drugs that went into almost immediate effect. I saw him twice while he was in the hospital. The first time he had so much medication in him he was spaced out. The second time the dosage had been lowered and he was a pleasure to be with.

Not only that but The Priory kept the patients engaged with one-on-one consultations with a psychiatrist, group therapy session and a myriad of recreational activities designed for relaxation (including, Tai Chi, Yoga, art classes etc …). It was also set in a beautiful park setting that patients were allowed to walk through, with an escort. That’s a private hospital in Britain for you.

This time it’s different.

Firstly, I am not impressed with the hospital AT ALL. It looks and feels more like a prison. Secondly, my husband is not improving in the same way. Now the latter might be because he’s older and his body has adjusted to medication so it’s taking longer to switch him over. Or his imbalance in the chemical makeup in his brain is worse than we thought. However, the fact that his day consists mostly of sitting down and staring into space because there’s nothing for him to do is not conducive to him getting better. There are no art classes. There are no relaxation classes. There is no going for a walk under supervision. Having visited him a couple of times I’m convinced that if you didn’t have depression before you went in, you most certainly will have it by the time you come out.

But what do you do about it?

The hospital in San Angelo is called River Crest and is a privately run hospital, so they shouldn’t be lacking in funds. The majority of their patients are actually drug addicts, so I believe the design of the hospital progam is more for them, they don’t really have the facilities for adult patients with psychiatric problems without chemical dependency.

The other part of the problem that I am beginning to suspect is that the stigma of mental illness is alive and strong in West Texas. I cannot describe how disappointed I am with the system.

I think it’s time I got a bit more active in the world of mental health. I know there are charities out there designed to raise awareness and educate the public, but more needs to be done.

I just wish my husband will get better. I know he will eventually improve, but it really hurts to see him that way.

It’s not really my place to describe what he’s going through. He let me read some of his journal entries yesterday though. It upset me more than I would care to admit. I certainly didn’t show him how upset I was. He’d written some very dark things. Mostly filled with self-loathing. And he’d drawn pictures of the “thing” inside his head. It was like being on an episode of The Twilight Zone.

Although I have faith that he’ll improve and be able to deploy to Iraq with his new job, part of me is suddenly not so sure things will work out.

Oh and on top of all that … he told me that a physician had seen him yesterday as he had pains in his chest. The doctor prescribed medication for high blood pressure (in addition to his regular blood pressure medication). Apparently the doctor heard some congestion in the arteries of the heart after listen to his chest with a sethoscope. Just … great.

Steak & Kidney Pie

Pastry Ingredients

12ozs Plain Flour (All-Purpose Flour)

9ozs Fat – Margarine & Lard (I do approximately half and half)

Pinch of salt

Water to bind.

 

Main Ingredients

1 1/2lbs Chuck Steak (diced)

1 Kidney (chopped – only the outer edge, not the central section)

Water to cover

Beef stock

Mushrooms (optional)

This is my Mother’s recipe and one of my all time favourite British meals! It’s always best with the home made pastry, but if you are not good at making pastry (or don’t have the time) it’s acceptable to use store bought piecrusts instead.

Let me just make it clear that the kidney is for flavour. I personally can’t stand eating it by itself, but in this dish it is just yum-tastic! As you may have noticed there are no other herbs, spices or other seasonings. If you don’t put the kidney in, this dish will have no flavour, other than mild beef.

Method

Place the meat in a pressure cooker and cover with the beef stock dissolved in water (or substitute Swanson beef broth if you have to).

Seal this very tight and bring to pressure.

Turn down low and cook for 40 mins.

Alternatively: Cook in a well sealed casserole dish for 2-3hrs in a low oven.

Leave to cool overnight. Skim off any fat formed on top.

Pleace flour in a large bowl. Roughly cut the fat into the flour using a knife to cut against the bowl until the fat is faily small, but not rubbed in.

Add cold water, about 1/4 cup.

Using knife, bind together and add more water as necessary.

Use your hand to push the dough together, but don’t handle it too much. It should come away from the bowl cleanly and not feel sticky.

Place on floured surface and fashion into a rough rectangular blob. Roll out into a rectangle about 15inches by 6inches and fold into three, bottom up, top down.

Turn it a quarter turn to the right. Roll into rectangle again. Repeat fold and turn twice more. Sprinkle flour over it if it gets sticky at all.

Place into a plastic bag and place inside fridge for at least 30 minutes. It is important to keep the pastry as cool as possible. In hot weather it would be a good idea to make this early in the day before temperatures rise too much. Work quickly and don’t handle it too much.

Place meat into pie dish using a slotted spoon. Thicken the gravy (the broth that the meat was cooked in) and add a little to the meat. Save the rest of the gravy to serve with the pie. This prevents the pastry from getting too soggy.

Roll out the pastry from the fridge into a circular shape about 1/4inch thick. Cut a circle about 1/2inch wider than the dish and place over the top of the meat, trimming the edge to fit. Flute the edge with a fork or your finger and a knife to create a scalloped edge. Make small slits in the top of the pastry to allow steam to escape.

Brush on a beaten egg to glaze.

Bake in a hot, pre-heated overn for about 40 mins until the pie is golden brown. (Try 375 degrees F).

Flying Piggy Flu

What do you get if you cross the swine flu with bird flu? Flying Pig Flu.

I just crack myself up *snort*.

In April 2009 fear swept the world with the outbreak of the 2009 H1N1, otherwise known as “swine flu”. It was not long before everyone I spoke to were convinced we were all going to die from this apparently lethal strain of influenza. What a crock of fecal matter! Yes the H1N1 virus can kill. “As of 20 September 2009, there have been more than 300,000 laboratory confirmed cases of pandemic influenza H1N1, 3917 deaths, in 191 countries and territories reported to WHO.” (WHO Website).

 There are 6 billion people on this planet. Almost 4000 deaths, in the grand scheme of things, hardly justifies widespread panic. At the current moment the “swine flu” is no more deadly than any other strain of flu if you are a healthy adult (children, infants, pregnant women and the old and infirm are a different matter – although any influenza strain has the potential to kill).

One of my mother’s old school friends came down with “swine flu” in early August in Britain. She didn’t realize she had it until day 4 of her symptoms. It was like a mild case of regular flu. Nothing to write home about.

Now that’s not to say that people should not still remain vigilant. The H1N1 virus may or may not be the next big killer, but regardless you should still take care of yourself.

 Things to do:-

1) Keep your hands clean. Use hot soapy water to wash your hands and make use of hand sanitizer.

2) Avoid touching your mouth and nose.

3) Avoid close contact with people who are, or may be, ill.

4) Improve airflow in your house and office.

5) Try not to spend too much time in crowded settings.

6) Take care of your health: eat nutritious food; drink plenty of water; get regular exercise and plenty of sleep.

Symptoms:-

 • Fever

 • Cough

 • Sore throat

• Runny or stuffy nose

• Body aches

• Headache

 • Chills

• Fatigue

• Some people may have vomiting and diarrhea.

 • People may be infected with the flu, including 2009 H1N1 and have respiratory symptoms without a fever.

Above all read up on the facts from the CDC and the WHO. Know what the symptoms are and if you do get the flu get checked out by the doctor quickly. In all likelihood, if you are a normal, healthy adult and you get the H1N1 virus you will possibly have at worst a mild case of the flu.

My Immigration Experience

When my now husband retired from the US Airforce in 2005 and decided to move back to Texas to be closer to his children, it was either I go with him or stay in Britain and end the relationship. No brainer really. So we started investigating the possibilities.

I had two paths open to me:-

(1)    Get married in the UK and wait for up to a year before being able to join my husband in the States; or

 

(2)    Apply for a Fiancée visa, join my soon-to-be husband in the States almost immediately and get married within 90 days of landing on American soil.

 

We decided to go with the second option because we didn’t want to potentially be separated for a year (or possibly more).

I applied for my visa in May 2005. I was able to visit my husband on a tourist visa for 3 months but then had to return to Britain to complete my medical evaluation and interview at the US Embassy in London.

The medical evaluation included making sure all my vaccinations were up to date; having a chest x-ray to make sure I did not have Tuberculosis; a blood test to make sure I didn’t have HIV or VD; and a full physical examination.

The interview was a joke: half an hour waiting outside the embassy in the rain before they would let people in; an hour and a half sitting in the waiting area; and 5 minutes holding my hand up and swearing that the information in my application was correct.

On January 11, 2006 I received my visa and managed to fly to the States on January 30 where upon I had the extremely fun task of getting through Customs and Immigration at George Bush International airport in Houston.

Oh, and I was carrying my wedding dress with me on the plane.

We actually decided to have two weddings. An official one to get the paperwork moving for my Greencard; and a second one where I could wear my white dress and party with our families.

The official wedding was held in Fort Worth on February 18 of the same year.

Now, we did all of this without advice from an Immigration lawyer. We did think about it, but decided that we couldn’t afford that expense. So we check the USCIS website for the right forms and fees and completed everything on our own. Even though we are both intelligent and well-educated people, occasionally we’d have to re-read the forms several times in order to make sure we understood exactly what they were asking for! It really was quite stressful. Having a lawyer may have made things easier for us in hindsight.

I received my Conditional Resident card in October 2006 which was good for 2 years, then reapplied for my Permanent Resident card (aka Greencard), which I received this year. Now I am eligible to apply for Naturalization to become an American citizen.

It will be a relief to finally have all the blasted paperwork out of the way. Oh and we’re also down about $3000 – $4000 in USCIS fees once we pay for my Naturalization.

So there you go, in brief, is my immigration experience.

I skipped over the cabin fever I had during 2006 waiting from my Conditional card. I needed that before I could get my Texas driving license and Social Security Number. And I needed both of those before I could get a job! Let me just say I was getting ready to tear my hair out and questioning the wisdom of immigrating in the first place.

But I’m here now, and looks like I’m here to stay (sorry folks!). I’m even applying to law school in the hopes of learning in more details about immigration law. Who knows, maybe one day I can help other people in my situation.