Saturday, May 9, 2009

Good week!

In the last 7 days:
  • I found out that I passed my citizenship test, and I have a date for my ceremony! I'll become a Canadian citizen* on May 29th. This means that I'll miss out on voting in the BC election by a couple of weeks, but after 7 years of dealing with various flavours of immigration hassle, I'm not complaining!
  • I finally tracked down the cheque I was supposed to get in January, for some overtime I put in on a massive grant that had a budget for such things. Turns out they'd tried to just cut me a regular cheque, not realising that I was an employee and not a freelancer, and it got stalled when a different office found a match for my name in the employee list, but couldn't find my email address. Now they know who I am, they're going to add the amount to my next pay-cheque instead.
  • Another cheque is in the post! It's the first of the royalties from a long and difficult freelance highschool textbook writing project that ended in January 2008. I'll try to find out how much I'm allowed to blog about this ;)
So, yeah, I'm feeling pretty pleased with myself. Neither cheque is very large, but it's a great start, and means I get to write off all kinds of interesting things on my next tax return. And becoming Canadian is very important to me, so that's hugely exciting, not to mention a massive relief!

So, seeing as it's the weekend, let's have some fun!

We can haz captions?




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*well, dual British-Canadian citizen. Just like Mr E Man! I wouldn't have applied for Canadian citizenship if I'd had to give up my British.
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29 comments:

  1. Professor in TrainingMay 9, 2009 at 10:03 a.m.

    Caption: "Hey how 'bout a little bit of privacy, huh?"

    Congrats on a great week :)

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  2. ruchiMay 9, 2009 at 10:31 a.m.

    I'm so jealous of your dual citizenship. Was Mr E Man a British citizen before you two got married?

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  3. PhizzleDizzleMay 9, 2009 at 11:02 a.m.

    CONGRATULATIONS Cath! That's wonderful!

    And that last pic of your cats is freaking hilarious! I like PiT's caption.

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  4. AlyssaMay 9, 2009 at 11:16 a.m.

    Congrats on becoming a Canadian! Love the photos of the cats - I love when they just leave their leg up in the air like they can't even be bothered to put it down to put up with your shenanigans!

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  5. The bean-momMay 9, 2009 at 11:53 a.m.

    Congrats on multiple fronts, Cath! Esp congrats on your new citizenship!!! And to being a a textbook author!

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  6. ScientistMotherMay 9, 2009 at 12:12 p.m.

    congrats on the citizenship test!!! that is awesome.

    Caption "Whatcha you looking at willus?"

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  7. Amanda@Lady ScientistMay 9, 2009 at 1:04 p.m.

    Congrats! That's awesome! The first one reminds me of something like: "Wow! She can do that?!"

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  8. Cath@VWXYNot?May 9, 2009 at 3:07 p.m.

    Thanks all! I luvs ma bloggy friends!

    PiT, these cats have absolutely no concept of privacy. In fact, a friend who looked after them one time when we went out of time said they have "boundary issues"!

    Ruchi, yes he was - he was born in Canada, to two British parents.

    Phizzle, yeah, I liked it too!

    Mrs CH, my favourite is when she forgets about the leg sticking up in the air, and then turns around and attacks it a couple of minutes later. Like "what is this furry thing in my face? Get it away, get it away!"

    Bean-Mom, thanks! I haven't seen a hard copy yet so I don't know if my name is actually on it or not... it's for an online course for home schooled kids, but there is a proper textbook too.

    SM, yeah, I'm pretty pleased! I can't wait to be Canadian, eh?

    Amanda, I like it!

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  9. Cath@VWXYNot?May 9, 2009 at 3:07 p.m.

    out of town, not out of time. Jeez.

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  10. AnonymousMay 9, 2009 at 5:05 p.m.

    congrats on becoming a canadian citizen!

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  11. MermaidMay 9, 2009 at 8:45 p.m.

    Great week! I will have to think of an appropriate caption, but it kinda reminds me of DH and I when I am working out in the den. He tends to lie on the couch and watch/advise while drinking scotch and watching TV.

    ReplyDelete
  12. AnonymousMay 9, 2009 at 8:50 p.m.

    You must haz these: http://www.thinkgeek.com/geektoys/cubegoodies/abea/?cpg=ab

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  13. AnonymousMay 9, 2009 at 8:51 p.m.

    That anon@8.50 comment was from me.

    -Rainee

    ReplyDelete
  14. stepwise girlMay 10, 2009 at 2:06 a.m.

    Congratulations on passing the citizenship test! It must be great. Will you tell us about the ceremony? I have no idea of what that could be?

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  15. hggMay 10, 2009 at 6:23 a.m.

    Congrats on passing the test!

    Dual citizenships rocks, I'll have to give up mine if I want to have another one. Not that I really need a new one since I don't really know where I live anymore.

    ReplyDelete
  16. ScienceGirlMay 10, 2009 at 10:42 a.m.

    Congrats on the citizenship! I am a bit jealous you get to keep your old one, I had to give mine up :( Still have mixed feelings about it, although I know that was the right thing to do.

    I can see how it is a huge relief - enjoy your new shiny passport :)

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  17. challMay 10, 2009 at 11:06 a.m.

    woho!! Congrats!! Hope you have a great ceremony and enjoy getting that card? passport? Come to think of it, what do you get?!!? ;)


    ...and I have bragging rights !! woho for me :)

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  18. NinaMay 11, 2009 at 6:43 a.m.

    Congratulations on becoming Canadian! I am curious about the ceremony... Let us know!

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  19. Cath@VWXYNot?May 11, 2009 at 7:21 a.m.

    Mermaid, that sounds, um, helpful?

    Rainee, I actually got some of those for Mermaid last year!

    Stepwise, I will indeed blog about the ceremony. I know that we recite an oath of allegiance to the Queen, but that's just about all I know! (It's very amusing to me exactly how many people assume that I must have already sworn allegiance to the Queen. Nope, we do not do this in the UK!)

    HGG and SG, it's such a shame that not everyone can get dual citizenship. The Canadian government says that whether the ceremony constitutes becoming a dual citizen OR becoming just Canadian and automaticaly renouncing your original citizenship depends on your country of birth, and luckily the British government says "yeah, dual citizenship, do what you want, we don't really care". I know a few Americans in Canada who suddenly scrambled to get dual citizenship when the Americans changed their rules a few years ago, but my Auntie who moved to the US in the 60s had to give up her British citizenship.

    Chall, I think I get a card, and maybe a certificate, at the actual ceremony. I have to apply for a passport separately. You can bet I'll have the form filled out and ready to go that day!

    Nina, will do!

    And thanks again for the good wishes, everyone!

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  20. Bob O'HaraMay 11, 2009 at 11:53 a.m.

    *wanders in*

    Oh, congratulations! Does this mean you have less than a month to find a doomed hockey team to follow?

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  21. Cath@VWXYNot?May 11, 2009 at 12:22 p.m.

    Thanks!

    I've already chosen a team, and they're not quite doomed, although tonight's game is a must-win.Speaking of which, the Toon-Boro game is at 1-1 after 10 minutes... craziness. I'm checking the BBC site for updates every few minutes, and am in constant email contact with my Dad as we fight for our premiership lives...

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  22. challMay 11, 2009 at 1:29 p.m.

    Cath> I remember saying something about 7 games .... ;) Let's hope!!! I will try and get home in time for the silly thing to go into second period.

    and I really really want them to win. what was that? God doesn't care? nahhhh... they will win! we will do it!! (crossing fingers and toes)

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  23. Cath@VWXYNot?May 11, 2009 at 1:39 p.m.

    I'm gonna miss most of tonight's hockey game... stupid science. It's all Kyrsten's fault ;)

    2-1 Newcastle, 15 minutes to go! C'MON!!!!!!!!!

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  24. Cath@VWXYNot?May 11, 2009 at 1:51 p.m.

    3-1!

    SHEARER! SHEARER! SHEARER!

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  25. EcoGeoFemmeMay 11, 2009 at 5:35 p.m.

    Yay! Congrats on all counts!

    Does this mean we get to hear the citizenship story soon?

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  26. Cath@VWXYNot?May 12, 2009 at 7:10 a.m.

    Thanks! Yes, I'll tell all kinds of immigration stories once I have that precious certificate/card. You'll all be bored to tears pretty soon, I'd imagine!

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  27. Mad HatterMay 13, 2009 at 6:22 a.m.

    Hey, that's awesome. Congrats!!! So now you can come down here to visit, right?

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  28. Cath@VWXYNot?May 13, 2009 at 3:53 p.m.

    Yup, it will get a million squillion times easier to visit the US, once I get my Canadian passport anyway!

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  29. Wayfarer ScientistaMay 14, 2009 at 2:49 p.m.

    YAY!!

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