Hello everybody! I'm back for my part 2 of my year in review (2025). I didn't feel like it was such an eventful year, but looking back at it, it was actually quite eventful. At times it felt like more than I could handle. But I made it through! From now on all will be better...
So let's dive right into it!

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July - August - September 2025 - When all Shit hit the Fan all at Once

My daughter (the 17-year-old one) and I had been talking about her visiting friends in California for some time. Actually, she was talking, I merely listened and kept putting it off. When she first talked about it, I didn't feel she was old enough so we kept talking about it, and I promised I'd talk to her friends' mom too. I knew the people too, so it wasn't like she was going to visit strangers. The one thing that worried me was that she was going to fly into LA by herself. I would have rather taken her there myself. And then, in the first week of July, an opportunity presented itself. Another friend had moved back to the US, Colorado to be precise, and asked her if she could visit there for a few weeks. Her mom would come here and fly with her.
I felt much better about this, since she was going to fly with an adult, and after that, flying to California with a national flight from Denver would be easy peasy.

We only had to get everything done for her in a week...
She'd been talking to a boy she knew through her friends, and this was her 'boyfriend' for some time now. Until then, there was nothing to worry about, but since she was going to meet him now in California, it was now a different story. Now, I'd rather not give my kids anything from Big Pharma, but dealing with teenage prenancy would be a whole other ball game, so three days before she left, we had to see a doctor here to get her on birth control...
Aside from that, I needed travel insurance for her, and the visa waiver (ESTA) for the US, lots of different forms so she could travel...etc. Another $800 just to get her there.
And no, I'm not made of money. Of course, while she was there, she also needed pocket money...
If I would have known what I know today, I wouldn't have let her go just yet.
I would have gone to Hivefest instead, because what followed pretty much ruined her trip, our planned trip, and forced us to go to The Netherlands instead. The latter for no reason, because I listened to my lawyer...

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What it came down to: after two months in the US, she and her boyfriend had planned a day out to an aquarium. He'd parked his car where he wasn't supposed to park and it got towed...
Aside from the hefty price he had to pay to get his car back, my sweet daughter left her wallet in the car...with her ATM card and residency card inside. The tow company seems to have a long history of scams and theft as I later found out via Yelp, because it was the tow truck driver who took her wallet...
I know this because he used the ATM card 4 times, and when I traced where it was used, it went directly from where the car had been parked to the tow company's address.
I managed to reverse the charges to the card, but of course, the residency card was gone...
And as it happens, this is a HUGE issue for a minor...

The embassy wanted to help her quickly, but I'd have to fly to LA since she was a minor...
Then wait for an appointment, and another 2 weeks or so, to receive a stamp in her passport so she could fly back to Mexico. Since I can't afford to stay in LA for two weeks or more, we had to find a different solution.

By that time, my eldest daughter asked if she could buy her a ticket to the Netherlands. Alright, so instead of filing a police report in LA, it'd now be better to do it in the Netherlands (and tell them she lost it there). However, the (Mexican) embassy wasn't very helpful and they couldn't tell me how long it would take for an initial appointment. Then another appointment 2 weeks or so later. This could mean that it could be weeks, if not months that we'd have to be there...
Either way, I decided to book my flights and hope for the best...

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We were going to be staying with my sister who lives in my home town. I had some other options to stay with my other sister, my sister in law or my brother, but all these options meant we'd be far away from the rest of the family and my friends, and I didn't want to travel more than I had to.
Now, I can't say my sister was thrilled...
She's been living on her own for such a long time and then my eldest daughter lived with her for 1.5 years...Then my youngest daughter stayed with her for a few weeks. So when we came, she'd already had enough of visitors...
Not that it was bad. It was actually nice to be there and she works a lot, so we didn't annoy her too much. But still. I understand it wasn't ideal.

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Following the wrong Advice and more Dumb-Assery

I'll try to keep it short: Right when we arrived, I spoke to my immigration lawyer, and she tells me (in a recording, so I had proof) with a happy voice: "Oh, but you don't have to go to the embassy...
You can just show the immigration officers the police report and translation, and they can give your daughter a letter for the immigration office, so she can get her new card."
This was the worst advice she could have given me...

Either way, I would have wanted for my daughter to stay until we left as well, but by that time, her older sister had enough of her (as she was staying there). So she booked her ticket back to Mexico without asking me if the date was OK. Well, by that time, Sinatra (the younger one) also wanted to go back home after being out of Mexico for 3.5 months.
So I did what I could. Prepared a package of documents to give the immigration officer, with a letter explaining what had happened.

My girl is REALLY smart, but sometimes...Pfff. Anyway, she arrives in Mexico and calls me right away when she gets home. With the message:
She: The lady just took my passport and never asked for the documents...
Me: But where did you have the documents?
She: Under my arm.
Me: I told you not to hand anyone the passport, but slam the documents on their desk and make sure they read the letter...
She: But she never asked for them...
Me. By this time close to crying and very frustrated: Of course, she doesn't have a crystal ball, and she wouldn't know that you've lost your residency card...so she wouldn't ask for the documents. That is why I told you to give it to them right away!***
She: But this isn't my fault. She didn't ask...
Me: Well, send me a photo of what was done in the passport."
She sends it...Stamped as a tourist.

ALL my hard work to get her her residency done for nothing. My trip to the Netherlands: for nothing.

She was now registered as a tourist again, which mean we have to start the whole procedure all over again. And all of it before she turns 18 in May. US$ 1,000 down the drain.

Later, I figured, it's not really her fault alone. The lawyer should have never advised to do it that way, and my eldest shouldn't have booked her ticket OR we should have left with her at the same time...
Either way:

This really sucks.

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And More Dumb-Assery - as if this wasn't enough!

Just before my youngest and I left for the Netherlands, we went to Immigration to get both my sons their residency. This was in September.
We got my eldest son's done without any issues. This time, we didn't have to go back, and all was done in the same day. YAY!

But when it was time for my youngest son's residency, the immigration officer pointed out that MY name was different in his birth cert vs my passport...FUCK!
Yeah, that's right. Somehow, the registration officer in Ireland decided to put my name different.
SO, the thing is: my parents called me Miriam. But in my birth cert and passport, it says Maria Anna Antonia. This was quite normal back in the day, but somehow they only did this with me. Not with my siblings. I swear they hated me haha.
So when I registerd his birth, the registering officer SHOULD have put my official names...
She didn't. She put Miriam Maria Anna.
This is an issue for many, many reasons.
It's hard to fix and I haven't figured out just how. It'll take time. So for now, he'll be just a tourist here...
To be continued on that one.

But here it goes for my eldest son.
Only ONE week after he got his residency card, we met with some friends in town.
Up until then I was holding his card...But somehow this time he wanted to keep it in his wallet.
I'm not sure what type of brain fart it was that I had that agreed...
He has a 'man' bag. So the wallet went in there. If it had been his pocket, it'd been better...
Anyway. We had lunch with our friends and went to the sports park afterwards.
Their mom and I had a coffee, we spent about an hour or so there and left in a taxi.
AS SOON as we came in, I asked where the bag was...
My dear son panics and promises that the bag is in the house. Looked ALL over the house. Nothing.
He was sure he had it when we left the park...
So he left it in the taxi.
How nice.
Of course, I had no idea which taxi it was, and most likely, someone who came after us could have taken the bag...
So after all the crap with my daughter, now we'll also have to replace his card. Another $100 for that, and who knows, probably a few hours at the immigration office...