Daily Report: Update

Both of Epril's approved visa petitions, after being "lost in the mail" for nearly 2 months (from May 27 to July 20), finally showed up in New Hampshire and were entered into the system. Epril's Choice of Agent form and my Affidavit of Support have now been submitted. Although timelines seem to be sketchy as hell, we are looking at approximately 100 more days until Epril's interview in Manila — November 7th. Sigh. I guess we'll miss our hoped-for anniversary reunion on September 27th. Well, one can always hope against performance to date that things will speed up now and exceed stated statistics.

I had my pool cues sent back from The Philippines and I've been practicing. I found that the local bar that I went to a few weeks ago for 50-cent beers, that has the nice full-sized pool tables will, any time of the day, let you play pool for free as long as you buy a beer. That's an awesome deal. There is a pool hall also in the area, but they charge anywhere from $5 to $7 per hour depending on the time of day. Anyway, I've managed to get my game back to about 50% of what it used to be back circa 1998 so far.

I have had yet another opportunity fall in my lap, and this one seemed atypically providential... and also a bit deja vu: There was a certain point in my life where I was having a very tough time, and out of the blue I received a phone call... on a phone that never rang... in a place in which I never spent much time... but happened to be in front of that phone at my most needy moment. It was an old friend from college who offered to have me come back to New York City to work... and the rest is (my) history.

Fast forward to now, and my phone rings again, and there is the same old friend, whom I had lost contact with for more than a decade, who contacted me again with yet another opportunity. Actually, this opportunity requires a major amount of effort on my part, but it's an enjoyable effort. I've been getting up at 7 every morning, studying this stuff straight through until 5 in the afternoon, having my quick cocktail hour with my Uncle, having a nap from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m., and then working from 7 p.m. to 1 a.m. at my regular job. I haven't been this exhausted since college... and it feels good.

That's about it from here in Cougar Town. (I haven't even had time to watch an episode of Cougar Town in almost 2 weeks; maybe I'll enjoy one before going to bed tonight.) I'm seriously up to my eyeballs in stuff to do. It was only Epril asking me to write in my blog that had me dedicate this time before going to bed to write here instead of reading my book. But I'm afraid that really is all the time I have now.