Another Friday Night

Good evening, friends!

So another week has come and gone. Actually -- another month has come and gone! We've made it to February, people! Can you believe it?! Time flies when you're having fun, right?  ;-)

So, like I said, it's Friday night again -- not that it matters at our place. The hubby always works nights and I work every weekend. I know what you're thinking. Great... *SARCASM* Yup. At our house the weekends are just like any other day. Unfortunately, Mommy doesn't get to spend a full day with A or a romantic evening at home with B because of our conflicting schedules. I wish there was some other way to make things work and still manage to have some good old-fashioned family time. But this is what seems to work for us at the moment and hopefully it won't be like this for the long-term. Family dinners and movie nights are long overdue around here! ;-)

Today was the day that our applications for adjustment of status with immigration (USCIS, 2011) finally made it into the mail. Woohoo! Yay! *HAPPY DANCE* I am much relieved, to say the least. It was a bunch of tedious paperwork and I'm so glad that it's over. I would estimate about forty hours of filling out paperwork (completing forms, checking them, re-checking them, and then checking them again); gathering all supplemental documents required for the various forms; getting pictures taken; and going to doctors' visits (having TB skin tests, getting blood drawn, and receiving vaccinations). After all that hard work and endured pain (by the little man, mostly), the packet was finally put together and ready to go. This afternoon we stopped by the post office to drop the envelope off and as we left, so did the packet. So -- off it goes!  :-)  Now, a couple of weeks and almost $3,000 dollars later, all is said and done. The next part of this process is to wait, and wait, and wait. It's okay, though. I could use a little break.

2013.02.01 @ Lazy Friday Night

Description: That's me (G) after a long day of running around town trying to get those documents in the mail. Now I can relax and take the night off from paperwork.  :-)

Poor little A injured himself last week after our initial doctor's visit for the immigration stuff. The kiddo had done so good all day -- he visited with a doctor where he got poked with a needle and was super brave at the hair salon when he got his hair cut (which he absolutely hates to do) -- but fell out of my truck once we had finally made it home. Let me set the scene... After seeing the doctor and getting his hair cut last Thursday, I bought my son an ice cream sundae at McDonald's to reward him for his bravery and good behavior. As we are getting out of the vehicle outside of our apartment, A's foot got caught and he fell out of the truck -- head first -- right onto the concrete and I thought I would have a heart attack. Of course, he had his hands full (an ice cream sundae in one hand and a bottle of apple juice in the other) and did not think to let go of anything to shield himself during the fall. Why would he, anyway?! Goofy boy. Mommy was almost certain that her child was going to end up with a black eye, an all-over bruised face, and a huge bump on his head, but the healing process has been quite stunning.

2013.02.01 @ A's Stages of Recovery

Description: Here is a comparison of A's injury from the day following the fall and then again this evening, seven days later. Isn't he healing great?! I sure am relieved. *WHEW*  :-)  Isn't that smile lovely?! He melts my heart like a stick of butter.  <3

In Wednesday's post I also forgot to mention that Uncle G and Auntie M are expecting! Not only are they expecting, but they now know that they will be having twin girls in June. Congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. G! This is so exciting! We have not had a baby in our immediate family since my son was born. And he is now going on his sixth year. It's about time we had a new addition.  ;-)  Maybe Mr. H and I will have another of our own sometime soon. That would be fun. I think A could use a sibling or two, you know. *WINK WINK*

I have decided that I will embrace this new month and take the opportunity to get back on track with my fitness regimen. I went ahead and weighed myself this morning and started my day with logging my new weight on the Lose It! (FitNow, 2012) website. I more than love that application! It has helped me so much in my personal struggle with weight loss. I have now been a member of Lose It! for just over three years and with the help of my friends in the network (that hold me accountable for logging both my meals and exercises as well as encouraging me to make healthier food choices) I was able to lose a total of fifty pounds. I have always been a skeptic when it comes to dieting, but I didn't even have to diet to lose the weight. All I did was make myself aware of the nutritional values of food, watch my portion sizes, and incorporate more exercise into my life. That doesn't sound too hard, does it? It's not. Trust me. Although, unfortunately, I have been stuck on a plateau where I can't seem to drop any more weight for about a year now and it's driving me nuts. I think I need to do something different for a while that can help to kick-start my progress again. Any suggestions?! I'm open to (almost) anything.

It's getting pretty late and I should probably be asleep by now. But before I go, I will leave you with this...

The Thought for the Day:

Good night, y'all! Have a great weekend.  :-)

-- Gigi

References:

FitNow, Inc. (2012). Lose It!: The best, most seamless weight loss system available.

          Retrieved from: http://www.loseit.com/new/what-is-lose-it

USCIS. (2011). U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services: Green Card (permanent 

          residence). U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Retrieved from:

          http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.eb1d4c2a3e5b9ac89243c6a

          7543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=ae853ad15c673210VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD

          &vgnextchannel=ae853ad15c673210VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD