Update

I know it's been awhile since I posted, but life has been hectic. I've had comments asking how we are doing and sad to say, not well.

My love and I separated a year ago and our divorce was final in May.

He still lives in my city, has a good job and an apartment. We are still friendly.
I would say the communication problem was our biggest one.

I often think of my time in Novi Sad, our friends and the good times. Thinking of these things make me sad and happy at the same time.

Several of our friends in Serbia have suffered from health problems and there have been deaths as well. Seems to be a lot of cancer. I can't help but wonder if our bombs or their own bombs from the various wars contribute to this.

This time in my life was precious and helped me grow as a person. We had our ups and downs and if I had stayed in Novi Sad we would probably still be together. The changes and pace of life in America were just too much. I became independent again and all of the things that American women are and he was overwhelmed by it. I ended up comparing him to an American man and that was unfair too.

If I had it to do all over again, would I? YES, but hopefully I would be gentler on my family and smarter about it all. And I would hope that I would slow down and savor the good things longer.

Welcome to the world of work

My love has gotten a good "starter" job at a local nationwide discount chain. This will give him the opportunity to work on his English and get out amongst people. He is such a friendly, people person that it has been hard for him to wait for his Social Security and green cards so he could work.

That wait is finally over.

He is able to walk to work - it's only about a 10 minute walk from here. He has the type of job where he will be trained in what to do and will have possible advancement to other positions.

In the previous weeks we have been enjoying our apartment, cooking at home almost everyday and going to some of the local festivals. Here is a photo of him and a new friend he made from a local TV station at the Mudbug Madness festival which celebrates the crawfish.



So, life goes on....we are happy and just working and getting settled here in America.

He is here!

My love is finally here in America with me. He flew in last Wednesday, due in large part to the efforts of Senator David Vitter and Congressman Jim McCreary's offices. I am so grateful to the staff of these true public servants.

This past week has been busy and I continue to look over at him in disbelief that he is really here with me.

When I met him at the plane a friend of mine from work and her husband came along and we waved big American flags and had a nice little greeting for him.

My son and he hit if off right away and I am very grateful for that. He is happy for us all to spend time together and that is so important to my son right now.

My love has spent some time doing a few "honey-do's" around the apartment and has been cooking for me. It's nice to have good Serbian food waiting for me when I come home.

In a few weeks he should have his Social Security card and Green card, so then he can get a job. He is not the type to just sit home. Right now we are just enjoying each other's company.

Thank all of you who were sending good thoughts our way. I am very happy!

Whiny,whiny,whiny

Well............ My love is all ready for his interview for his visa to come here. Only now the embassy is not scheduling interviews as people keep trying to BURN the damn place down!

No, really. They say it will be a month before they schedule him. This is such bull. I had hoped that things would move along and he would be here by the end of the month of March. But that was before the embassy had to close early every time there is a demonstration and before they had to go down to a skeleton staff.

I wonder if the people who do this vandalism realize how they hurt their own people? I wonder if they realize that blaming America for their problems is not going to help them in any way whatsoever as the last time I looked, Serbia was ruled by Serbians, elected by Serbians?

The good people of Serbia deserve so much better than all of this turmoil. I am truly sorry for anything that my country is doing to prolong any suffering. But, when you boil it down, anything that is going on in Serbia today is the result of bad governing internally over many,many years. Only the people there can solve this.

I just want my love here with me.

I Found It!

I found a job! A very good one, in fact with a major department store here in Shreveport. There are several ladies working there from Eastern Europe and Russia and I am so excited to meet and speak with them all.

I sent in the papers on Friday to bring my love here. These are the final papers,so as long as the embassy remains open things should move along quickly now. I hope and pray that he will be here by the end of March.

He says things are calm now in Novi Sad and I am so glad. I have been so worried about his safety. I still am. Things can change in the blink of an eye.

I truly love these wonderful Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian, Albanian, Hungarian et al people that I have met there and pray daily for their safety and well being. I wish there was a way for this conflict to end and end permanently so that they could move on and prosper.

I will always treasure my time in their country and hope that when/if I return that I will find them all in good health and doing very well.

February Update

I'm still looking for that elusive job. I have all kinds of applications all over town in Shreveport and Bossier City. I pray that something opens up for me soon. I know the perfect job is out there, I just have to find it.

Things are tough here between my son and my ex. My ex says that my son is not helpful around the house and lies to him about his chores, etc. I want to help. I know it is hard for my ex to be full time mom and dad as well as work in his own business. I take my son on the weekends, but he goes to high school in Shreveport and I can't drive him back and forth on the weekdays and look for a job as well. Gas is anywhere from 2.80 to 3.00 a gallon and I can apply online for many jobs so that saves me a little.

The media is not helping with their gloom and doom reports on the news every night. They seem almost happy when the economic news is of a downturn in the markets or fewer jobs being created. After coming back from Serbia, I want to tell them what bad economic news really is.

I think this is typical of election years in the US. No matter what happens, we will have a new President. George Bush can't run again...he is out. That is the sure thing. The only questions now are which party will be in power in Congress and which party will the President belong to. The markets and employers are nervous, and the media wants to sell papers and advertising time by fanning the flames to make the story better...meaning more gloom and doom.

You know, the truth is, no matter who gets to be President or who runs Congress, the real power in the US is held in the beaucracies and those people are government employees who never leave...can't be fired, don't have to worry about layoffs like regular people. Others come and go, but they remain and they "write" laws through beaucratic policies and regulations, most of which are not subject to review or revision by anyone. The US will go on as it always has, these people have the power and they provide the continuity...for good or bad.

Update

Well, I haven't had any luck finding a good paying job in Longview, so I am now looking in my old hometown of Shreveport, LA.

Longview is such a great little town...friendly people, not a lot of traffic, clean, etc. Problem is, because it is a small town there is only one mall there and not many jobs available in the field I am interested in. Oh well.........

Please,guys, wish me luck! I am so ready to get to work and get my husband here to the US. It is so very hard to have a long distance relationship. I worry all of the time about him and he worries about me. I can't express the sadness, the loneliness and the misery of being away from him. We speak on the phone every few days, and we email constantly, but that is just enough to keep me from going completely nuts.

The only good in this is that I see my son now almost every weekend. He is my bright spot.