i was totally ready to pee in a cup...

i can't believe i didn't tell you this already! oh.my.gosh!

during lent we got the appointment notification for our "biometrics" to be taken by the u.s. govn't as part of our permanent resident ("green card") process. on the one hand, YAY!, because things are moving forward! on the other, YIKES!, because what the heck are "biometrics"?! it's not a friendly sounding word, that's for sure. so, one chilly tuesday morning, carefully dressed ("does this look like we're trying too hard?" "do we look responsible?" "do we look like terrorists trying to look responsible?"), we headed over to the USCIS center in durham to have our biometrics taken. i was totally ready to pee in a cup, have my blood drawn or even have some sort of government issued retinal scan!
after entering through fiercer than airport security, we settled into a room with a group of other nervous & carefully dressed people, all awaiting their name to be called. we filled out a form that asked for our height, weight, eye & hair color (hair color : blonde black brown red grey white unknown - who has unknown hair color?!). and finally, when they called our name, the biometrics portion of the appointment. honestly, i was disappointed. digital fingerprints & photo. that was it. i had psyched myself up for what was basically a slightly more involved dmv process - and you know what? it was considerably shorter than waiting at the dmv! and at the end of it all, the u.s. government asked me to fill out a comment card. how sweet! i told them that the process was surprisingly friendly & fast.... you get farther on a kind word, right? :)

so, off we go! biometrics - check! next step, permanent residence.... please, God!