Happy Anniversary, and fun at Immig......

Today, Aug 14, marks a special anniversary. Seven years ago today we got on a plane in Pensacola to head to this country. Funny how some dates stay with you. A friend told us before we left, "keep your sense of humor, and think of it as an adventure." Well he was right and it has been. Sometimes a great adventure, sometimes a tedious one....as in this week. We were due on the 11th to report to immigration for our "90 day" report. Rather than driving there, which is about an hour, we thought we would mail it in, which is acceptable and we did that, last Friday. Special mail so it would get there in time. On Monday the 10th, the Imm. Officer called me. "Khun Jody" she said.....and explained that all the papers were not in order--I hadn't sent some copies of certain pages in our passport. Not only that, it turned out that the stamp on our little piece of paper said 1 August. I thought it said 11 August. (The stamp had smeared a perfect little square next to the "1" which I mistakenly interpreted as another "1" and therefore, the 11th. oops.) And she says, well that means you are "on overstay." Trust me, overstay isn't good, and means a big fine. Nehemiah here. I apologized and said "Excuse me, I am sorry, the stamp is not too clear, I thought it was the 11th. " aghgghghhhhhh. She said, "Oh never mind, you come tomorrow to our office (the 11th) and it will be ok." Trust me, we left bright and early, and went in HUMBLY....and the Lord was merciful. She overlooked our big mistake (you must understand, a blurred stamp that we didn't check into IS our mistake, not the fault of their defective stamp) and not only that, she stamped our next 90 day report as being 90 days from that date (the 11th). Not back to the first. Well, that's what I remember. I think I will go and check again!! Thank the Lord for a good ending to THIS "adventure"!