Citizenship: In Line for Interview

I have moved one step further in the Citizenship process.
This appeared today on the uscis website under my receipt number:

Testing and Interview

On May 31, 2012, your N400, APPLICATION FOR NATURALIZATION was placed in line for interview scheduling. When scheduling is complete, you will receive a written notice with a time and place for your interview. Please check the website for further updates on your case. 

The page then goes on to explain that the amount of time the application will remain in this step is determined by the number of cases ahead of mine. I better start looking over the Civics test again!

Woohoo!

A Sweet Song

A red cardinal bird came today on Ciro's grave. If you look closely on this image, you can see his beak is opened, as if he is singing. 

These birds make a particular chirp sound, that Ciro learned to imitate, so it was particularly moving that he was chirping right there. 

The X Factor

I had so much fun the other night at the live audience taping of the X Factor talent show. Now, I am not a big follower of this show, to be clear. I don't even know which tv network it is on nor when, and I also wasn't sure if they had more than singing on that show. I just know it's a talent show, one of several of that kind, with judges, one of whom is Simon Cowell. And I enjoy watching on those kind of shows some really good talent, and some people who come there obviously having no talent. So, when my friend Julie said she had an extra ticket, I excitedly decided to join her!

It was at the Frank Erwin Center, a huge place that fit 4329 of us in the audience. And this was just one of the four audition tapings in Austin. We parked downtown near my friend's work place, and took a cab. It turned out great because the line was already all the way around the building 45 min before the "arrival time" on the ticket. We actually only had "line vouchers", as everyone else in the line, which were just that, vouchers that allowed us to stand in line to get the real ticket. It was a bit hot that afternoon on the concrete with no shade, but I was just too excited to bother. It was just something out of the ordinary to experience, I was with a dear friend, we might be on tv for a second, I was going to see some celebrities, and hear some interesting performers. What's not to like!

The tapping actually started an hour after the time on the ticket, after everyone was seated and we, the audience, heard some "rules of conduct", welcomed the judges, and had some opportunity to take photos. Even thought the ticket said it will last 5 hours, which we really hoped was not true, the auditions lasted just over 2.5 hours. And the contestants didn't disappoint. The first one, a single mom, was probably the best, and has really set the bar high. It was hard for me to boo in the beginning, especially at the so-so ones, but there were few that were just so bad I had to close my ears. I am sure those will get special air time when the show airs.

We took a pedi-cab ride back to our cars, and it was another new, fun experience for me. All in all, it was a fun experience. Here are some photos.



Oh, and just one more thing. Julie and I were wondering out loud who got to sit in the front rows behind the judges, as those people will be on tv for sure. We actually laughed when 7-8 blonds paraded to the front row, and all set next to each other. They later separated them, to had a more mixed audience appearance, and alternated sleeveless with sleeved dresses. The lady next to us then said here daughter was there, and she was picked out of the line to go sit there. So, they actually picked "pretty people" out of the line to be on tv. Just so you know! :)

Introducing: Pricho

I am still not completely set on the name, so Pricho is his "working title" for now. :) Ficho-Pricho is one of the nicknames.

He is a Fischer's Lovebird, whereas Ciro was a Peachfaced Lovebird. I got him, somewhat unexpectedly, exactly 2 months ago, on St. Patrick's day. He was wearing his green for that day! :) He is 4 months old now.

I knew I wanted to get another bird after Ciro's passing. And I knew I wanted a lovebird. I was thinking of slightly different color, maybe more yellow than green, just so that it doesn't look too much like Ciro. And I wanted a male. Well, after few weeks of search in Austin, I discovered that Lovebirds are really hard to find here. Big stores, like Petco, Petsmart, and Thomilson's, do not offer Lovebirds any more because of some disease that is very common among them and is very contagious to other birds. Smaller stores also didn't have them, and I couldn't find any breeders in Austin that have them. I got in touch with several little pet stores I've never heard of before, bird rescue centers and such, but aside from budgies and cockatiels, they all deal with much bigger birds. I posted adds and requests on different sites, and the best I got was to wait until summer when the mating season is in full swing. I only found one place, Gallery of pets, who happened to get 3 chicks from someone with an abusive hen, and because the store was now handfeeding them, they jacked up the price to 4 times more than breeders in other cities! Not cool. Plus, those little ones were all green, like Ciro, and I wanted some yellowish.

I was willing to wait few months. In the meantime, I researched cages, as I knew I wanted to get a bigger one, and Ciro's cage was no longer in best shape. It was almost as hard picking out the cage as it was picking out my new car! :) Many bigger cages have thicker and more spaced out bars, which are not suitable for small birds. And I had a list of other requirements: both large and smaller doors, rounded top, removable grate, both vertical and horizontal bars,... I am very happy with the one I ended up getting.

Before actually purchasing this cage, I decided to check out a bird fair that was coming up in Temple. I've never been to a bird fair, but I read that they usually have birds, cages, toys, food all for usually much lover prices. I went hoping to maybe find this cage there, get some toy making supplies, and if I was really lucky, find the yellowish lovebird. I brought the small cage with me, for just in case. The whole experience was quite overwhelming. There were not that many exhibitors as I expected, so not that many birds, no cages similar to what I was looking for, no toy supplies, and no yellowish lovebirds. The lovebirds that were there were four blue masked (4 months), one all yellow lutino (1 year), and four Fischer's (8-10 weeks).



So, since I knew I wanted a young bird, so I can tame him quicker, only Fischer's were an option. I circled around, talked with my brother and mom over skype, touched to try to figure out which ones are male, asked around if anyone knew of Peachfaced breeders, and circled some more. The lutino happened to be owned by a lady I knew from St. Edward's choir, but it was too old for me, not the right color, and just not in the best shape. Finally, after about three hours of decision making, I decided to get one (out of two left by that point) Fischer's! The breeder, Stacey from south of San Antonio told me that she actually gets many of her birds from a breeder even further south, and that he has many peachfaced lovebirds, so I was torn weather I should wait or not. But I am happy with the decision I made. I got me (what Stacey thought out of those four, was) an 8 week old baby lovebird (2nd from the left on that picture above).

Day 5: standing on my hand and eating outside of the cage

He (I got him DNA tested two weeks later, so I know for sure I have a boy :)), has been really sweet! And such a quick learner. The first evening he was already eating millet spray as I held it inside his cage, the next day he ate if from my palm, and third day he was already willing to step up! I had the breeder clip his wings, so we don't run into a similar situation like with Ciro flying into a glass door on the 3rd day I had him, but I will not clip again once his new feathers come out later this year. Since he can fly only short distance now, and was young enough not to yet be too afraid of people, has been warming up rather quickly.

Now, after two months, he can step up from outside of the cage, fly to me for a treat, comes to my shoulder for a ride, lets me scratch his head (which is huge), give him kisses and pick him up in my hand (another big one!). He loves playing with (many) toys in his cage, enjoys shredding cardboard and wood toys I give him, is very talkative, and smart figuring out his foraging toys. I built him a tree stand, so he enjoys hoping on there, but still rather stays near the cage. I assume that will change when he gets more confident with flying. Right now he often lands on the floor, and I have to pick him up (good thing he wants to step up), so I think he feels a bit unsure when he gets too far from the cage.

The fact that I got him so young makes a huge difference. He just learned to fly and eat on his own a week or so before, so even though he was not hand-fed, he didn't yet have time to get afraid of hands and humans. It was much easier to build the trust bond with him than with Ciro, whom I got when he was 3 months old, and been sitting in the store for a month. He was wild! With Ciro it took me two months to just be able to put my hand inside the cage without him going all nuts. This little one lets me hold him already. Such a cute, smart little bird! I see a great future ahead of us. :)

5-Things Wednesday: The Road to Citizenship

This year I am FINALLY applying to become a US citizen. I has been a long, long process. After 14 years in this country, this year, God willing, I'll finally become a citizen. And that is actually not as long as people from some other countries had to endure. So, I am grateful that I see the light at the end of the tunnel.

1. The first step, that really is the one that can take decades, is to get a green card. You cannot start thinking about naturalization until you've become a permanent resident. I remember when I was getting ready to first move to the US, one colleague of mine what are the way to get the green card. She told me there are three: a) come as a refugee (which for me was no longer an option because the war in Bosnia was over), b) marry a US citizen (sure, I wouldn't mind!), c) through employment. The last one was my avenue. So, after 2.5 year of school, one year on temporary work visa, I first got a "permanent" work visa in 2002. Five year later, in 2007 I became a permanent resident and got a green card. Five years later, this April, I became eligible to apply for citizenship!

2. Unlike for the permanent residency, my employer doesn't cover any part of the cost of the citizenship application. To go through our attorneys would have cost me twice as much and required three times as many documents as if I applied myself. So, on April 13th I sent in my application, 2 photos, and $680 directly to USCIS. After them acknowledging the acceptance, I am now in the Initial Review part of that process. They had me come to a local office in North Austin for fingerprinting on May 9th. They also took my photo there, that will probably be the one used on the citizenship certificate.

3. Once I am cleared by the FBI (I don't actually knows how they check the fingerprints), they'll schedule me for Testing and Interview. At that fingerprinting appointment I received a booklet to prepare for the civics testing. There are 100 questions about US history and government, and I need to get 6 out of 10 right to pass the test. The other part of the interview is just some basic English test. The testing is probably going to be in San Antonio, and they'll schedule me based on how many application they currently have.

4. Then I wait to receive the formal Decision in the mail. I don't really know how long it takes them to make a decision after the interview.

5. But even after being approved, I don't become a citizen until the official Oath Ceremony. From what I've heard, the entire process from sending in the papers to the ceremony is about 5 months, so I hope this to be some time in September. I was actually hoping it to be a month later because my mom would be here and she would like to come with me. I think it's at least a half day affair, but most of it is just sitting and waiting for the ceremony to start.

After the oath, I should get the certificate in the mail. It will be very official!

5-Things Wednesday: Rocks, Dirt, and More Rocks

This project was on my to-do list for a long time. I have this 2ft wide path with pebbles next to the walkway between the garage and the entrance door. Over the last 6 years, it was getting more and more difficult to keep it orderly because there was no weed barrier underneath. The only way to pull the weeds out with the root was to use a little shovel to get under the pebbles. Every time I did that, more dirt was coming to the surface, and more rocks were getting buried into the dirt. At the end of last year, with other things on my mind, I completely gave up on removing the weeds from the path, and it was not pretty. I don't have close up pictures of how bad it looked, for obvious reasons, and this one was from last spring. The pebbles are to the right of the concrete path in front of the door.

The guys from Green 'n Growing, who planted the tree in the front, suggested it would cost about $200 to get new rocks in there. I didn't like that idea, of paying for something I thought I could do myself, so I finally started this project without much before-thought. 

Here is the project in five steps:

1. Just start it! I didn't really have a plan, and it was delaying this project from happening. I imagined it would not be a one-day endeavor, but I was confident I can fix it. I knew I wanted to save the rocks that were there, not have to buy new ones, which meant all the buried rocks have to come out. How exactly - I didn't know. So, one day I just started scooping pebbles from one corner.

2. After few scoops, I realized it's going to take quite some time. Even the surface rocks were mixed with a lot of dry leaves, mulch that was washed off from the flower bed, and weeds. I soon had to pick each pebble individually. One. By. One. Yeah, that first day, after couple of hours, I removed only about foot length of rocks. 

The surface rocks were fairly clean, but I still had to rinse them in the yard clippings buckets that had holes on the bottom. All the clean rocks I stored in an old recycling bucket, and it turned out that was just about how many rocks I had. 

3. Once I removed the surface rocks, I used a small rake to dig the pebbles from the dirt. This was a looong process! The ground was soft enough after recent rains, but that also meant the rocks were covered in muddy dirt. So, those needed extra rinsing. At first I thought it would make sense if they're rinsed over the rocks that have not been picked up yet, instead of throwing that washed off dirt and small pebbles that fall through the holes, elsewhere. But that only made the mud worse.  Those other rocks were much harder to dig out from the extra layer of mud.

I didn't take pictures during the process of taking the rocks out, but it was a mess. A Mess. It took me and mom, who helped immensely, about a month to pick out and clean all the rocks. I would dig them out over the weekend or some evenings, and then she would rinse and rinse them during the week. We tried different methods; several buckets, oven grease pen with holes, and finally me rinsing batches of pebbles in a pan. 

What a site for our eyes when all the pebbles were removed, and I finally rinsed the last one! Just looking at this dry, rock-free area brings peace after weeks of muddy mess.

4. The next two steps were a breeze. I first got some extra dirt to raise the ground level so to rocks would be closer to the concrete level. Since all the rocks I dug out filled up the recycling bucket, plus just a little bit extra, I calculated the volume of the bucket and the volume of the area where the rocks need to go. Based on that, I figured out how deep the area needs to be to house the amount of rocks I had. I know, I am the geeky engineer. :) Then I cut the weed barrier underlayment, and placed two layers.

5. And finally, the clean rocks went back in. The completed project: