Kalispell, Montana — Several people asked me how I manage a home with twin toddlers and a five-month-old infant while working on several blogs and finishing graduate school.
I don’t pretend to know the answers. I won’t even bother to come up with a list verse bragging about how I cook chicken cacciatore while breastfeeding the baby (seriously how is that possible?!). Finding time to have a shower is a challenge in itself.
Nine months ago who when we moved here from China, I was an emotional-mental wreck. I still am but not too much in the level where I wail in the middle of the day and demand for my Mommy. No more nannies and although there are babysitters, I can’t just get out of the house and hail a cab.
Here, you need to know how to drive. A cab is simply expensive and impractical.
We own a family van that fits six people and a classic 1965 Volvo that sits two. My husband drives the van to work. Since December, the Volvo has been sitting at home looking very attractive in her crimson glory but desperate for a driver who’ll take her out for a stroll.
I cannot drive.
I never had the interest to learn.
Back home, public transportation gave me the excuse not to learn the road scene. I get out of my house and there’s the motorcycle, the jeepney, the bus, the cabs.
Jeff has been bugging me to take driving lessons — at least let him give me driving lessons.
“Driving will be the death of me Jeff,” is my staple excuse. “I dreamed several times that I die in a car crash.”
There is truth in this.
But my dreams are just manifestations of my fears. I am afraid to try something new, which is a surprise because I am seldom afraid of changes. My adventurous spirit failed me this time or… is it me failing that adventurous spirit?
A week ago, my husband came home with a letter from US Citizenship and Immigration Services. I was afraid it’s another pink letter telling us to submit another set of documents.
But not that letter.
It was white.
Jeff tossed the letter to me and told me to open it.
I did.
It said I got approved for an interview at the USCIS office in Helena by the end of the month.
We cried.
You have no idea how challenging this permanent resident application has become. We’re just grateful we are now in this stage.
By month’s end, we’ll be packing the entire family and shove everyone in the van. It’ll be a six-hour drive from Kalispell to Helena. Jeff, unfortunately, will be driving the entire stretch because his wife is useless on the road. I’ll probably sing Carpenter and Abba songs (until he tells me to stop) to make myself useful.
“When you get your green card, we can open an account for you alone so you can start building up your credit score,” Jeff said.
I replied: “Social security number first and then, perhaps, driver’s license second.”
Jeff: “Learn to drive first.”
Ah, driving.
