Crossing Over

Well, the moment we've all been waiting for has finally arrived: I have everything I need to land as a permanent resident in Canada. A few weeks ago the immigration folks asked me to send them my passport (thank God I had gotten a passport card too when I renewed), and they put a visa in it and sent it back. Now all we have to do is get my crap out of the storage space we rented in Washington, make a list of it all including the value of everything (that'll be fun), and bring it to the border. Yesterday, Jeff and I went to talk to the customs folks at the crossing where I'll be "landing," and both sides made the process sound so easy. Let's hope it is. On the American side, all I have to do is submit paperwork to officially export my car into Canada (not sure why they care about my car, but whatever). This is the crossing that I go through every day to go to work, and the officer who always gives me a hard time about my KY plate was making fun of me, telling Jeff how sick he is of seeing my KY plate go through. I cannot wait to get a BC plate--the KY plate has been subject to much questioning and confusion. It will be so nice to just go through the border, show them my passport, drive away, and not have to explain my situation or show them a bunch of paperwork to prove that I'm actively immigrating. As time has gone on, it's gotten easier and easier to get through as many officers know who I am, but it still can be a pain in the ass from time to time. Now I'll finally feel somewhat normal, like I'm not doing anything wrong or shady (which I'm not, but sometimes I feel that way when I get heckled), and that I'm entitled to be in both countries.

On the Canadian side, we just have to bring my crap to the crossing, do a bunch of paperwork, they'll probably search my crap, and then put something else in my passport that shows I've immigrated. I'll get my official "permanent resident" card a few weeks after that. We're thinking we'll do the landing this weekend. I can't believe it's almost over! I hope to take some pics and will definitely write about it. Yey!