YES. AND NO.

Yes.

The days are once more beautiful and I am once more feeling happy and all feelings of sorrow and discontent are now gone. Just when I thought I have reached my lowest low and could no longer see the silver lining, Ruther did me a huge favor and yesterday (it was around 1pm) called the office where we applied for our visa extension. After a few minutes of talk (with me hardly breathing I might add), Ruther tells me that our application was approved and the postcard is on its way here. I was so relieved I didn't know what to do. I didn't want to not do anything because I was afraid I was just going to cry and cry from happiness and Ruther would think I was a nitwit. After going to the supermarket to buy rice (this was around 5pm), I came home and found the postcard lying there on my feet! I shrieked for Ruther and he laughed because I was so worried that the postcard was lost or we were not going to get it and then yesterday, after waiting for days and days, it came. And AFTER we called the office! I suppose it wanted to torture me a bit. But really, it's just such a relief to know that my family will be together this Christmas as we hoped and prayed. God is really good.

This is what I had hoped for and now, I can look further into the future and plan for more family togetherness. That seems to be my ultimate goal and hopefully, with hard work, careful planning and Divine intervention, that will become a reality.

.....

Ethan seems to be in a nose-picking phase right now. And it's really making me cringe. Nikki would not put his finger in his nose even if his life depended on it but Ethan would pick away any place, any time. And really, (there's no subtle way of saying it) it's just so embarassing. I try not to fuss over him because he's the type of child who does it even more when you try to dissuade him from doing something. But still, I can't help but shriek "Ethan! Stop it!" or "Nooooooo!" when I see his finger wiggling away in a nostril. Argh!

Yesterday my heart nearly stopped when he came to me complaining about his nose. I didn't understand at first but when I took a peek I saw a small silver ball inside his right nostril. Oh my goodness! I thought that only happened in the movies but apparently, my son loves to discover new things and is creative in his own cute way. It was a good thing the ball was not small enough to fall into the nose and not big enough to be stuck inside the nostril. I got it out in a few seconds but I kept the toy (where you use that small silver ball) and now I'm hoping he'll no longer put things inside his nose. (This was actually the first time.)

Hopefully, there will no longer be any scary accidents in the next few days.