Okayyy....Went down to visit my parents 4 weeks ago by plane, got in to Indy just fine, had a blast in Chicago with my mother...went to leave 2 weeks ago and I got held up by immigration in the Toronto airport for 7 hours. Apparently I was in Canada too long (duh, I have resident status...but apparently nobody told them or put it in the computers). So they run a complete background check and ask me about every goddamn thing they can think of.

I couldn't talk to Zook for 2 1/2 hours of that (by the time I got to see him our plane had already left), couldn't get to a phone for another 2 (the officer that was dealing with me had some kind of 1 1/2 hour meeting to go to in the middle of all this) and I only was allowed 1 phone call. DO I LOOK LIKE A TERRORIST?! I'm an overweight white girl in a t-shirt hauling around a 50 lb suitcase that was xrayed 4 times! Effin armed escort through the airport!

They took all my money and sent me on the next plane back to Indy with a small immigration pamphlet including a phone number that doesn't work in the states, my fiance had to pay over $900 to get a flight back with me (which was scheduled on a disconnecting computer on a $9 internet access pass...) and when he went back through American customs the little Chinese guy said he could only stay 2 weeks, fingerprinted him, took his pic and stapled a paper in the back of his passport. Greaaat. So now I've been kicked (not banned) out of Canada and sent back to Indy and stuck next to some fidgety Italian guy on the plane.

Get back to Indy, very shaken, have dinner...get sick. Shook the rest of the night and didn't sleep. My mother had her knee replaced and was in the hospital for 3 days, then I took care of her when she got home...wracking up a lovely $42k hosptial bill (not including physical therapy, dr's bills and various other expenses).

After all this we decided to get married asap, we were planning to wait a while, but this just kinda put things into perspective. Got married on the 19th and tried to drive back up to Canada with my dad on the 27th (2 weeks after returning to Indy, left on the 25th and spent the night in Gary, IN for dad's work then spent the night in Sault Ste. Marie, MI before heading to the border at 7am).

Zook gets through just fine...duh, he was returning home. My father and I had to go into the office while he runs checks on both of us. Dad thinks he's going to get charged with smuggling an illegal. He asks if I've ever been denied entry to the country...yes.... The guy says he will give us a day pass, that's the best he can do, so we can drop off my husband with his parents to return home. If we're not out of the country by the next day he can issue a warrant. Homygod. Dad mentions we got married, guy asks for proof. All I have is Zook in the car and the keepsake marriage liscence given to us when we got married (unofficial in so many words). Show it to the guy, he's runnin around copying shit, throwing papers everywhere...tells me I have what is called 'implied status' and that we have a family thing going on and they don't like breakin that shit up. Then what was that crap 2 weeks ago?! I believe being engaged is pretty close to being married.

He gives me a 1 year resident pass and tells me I can extend the stay by calling the numbers on the back. Gives me a huge book on immigration (and the guy in Toronto gave me a 1 page pamphlet with no info on it...) tells me to get started. Said that any other officer could have denied me entry and that his decision can change at any moment. Oh good. Feeling really secure here...

But I'm home. Place is a wreck; couches reupholstered in cat fur, the lawn is 2' tall, the solar lights are shot, the place is crawling with spiders, and the dog looks like she's molting. No air conditioner, the kitchen is covered in things my parents brought up before we drove down to Indy with them, we have an ant infestation, the basement is flooded and the house is hotter and more humid then the weather outside, but I'm home! Zook's mom got into an accident with a drunk hit-and-run 2 days ago, bringing the total usable vehicle count to 1...meaning we can't search for a job or get groceries until something is resolved with that...whee!