Weigh In

My second official weigh in and I have to report a gain. That sucks.

I did gain a couple pounds after my sweet indulgences last Friday night, but I was back down to my weight from the week before by yesterday. Today.....I'm up 1.6 lbs again. Good chance it is water weight (too much sodium yesterday) but.....I guess if it is, I'll just show that much more of a loss next week - right?

I am babysitting tomorrow and Friday - looking after my daughter's dayhome child....a sweet little 3 year old boy. Kathryn and Vinjelu have gone on a mini holiday to Banff, AB.

Update on the job situation:

Our employer (in Houston) hired an immigration lawyer to deal with the border guards.

After some correspondance and telephone calls, and moving 'up the ladder' in Homeland Security, the lawyer is still convinced that they have 'broken their own laws' and cancelled the visa wrongly.

Homeland Security is not convinced, however. They maintain that what was done was right AND they refuse to let the lawyer see the statements that they had Jim write out while he was detained.

The next step is to send another letter, more 'strongly worded' to the next level of supervisors.

Our hope is that our lawyer can clear Jim's name, since as it stands, the record shows that he has been working illegally in the States. (Even though he applied for and was granted an official visa by the border guards at the same station that has now cancelled it) .

The day all this happened (last Thursday) Jim decided to come home through Calgary so he could stop in at the head office of the company he used to work for here in Alberta. He has been in regular communication with these people since we left last fall. He has worked with many of these men for several years - one of the head guys (call him MB) worked for the same company as Jim way back in the 80's.....so there is history there. The men in this office consider Jim to be a friend and vise versa. He wanted to stop in mostly for the comradeship, I think.

He was very surprised, given the current condition of the oil and gas industry in AB, to find that MB needs to hire 2 men for the winter season. He was quick to offer one of those positions to Jim. Jim asked for a few days to see if things could be worked out at the border since he did not just want to jump ship, so to speak.....but after a few days, and much prayer, he took the job.

So, we are again employed - beginning January 2.

The up side is:

- we are employed
- Jim will be working within 2 hours of home (which will feel good, if you know what I mean)
- he is again working with men that respect him and know him and will keep him working if at all possible
- he is no longer living and working beside a plant that has constant upsets of extremely sour gas (I hated that).

The down side is:
- he will be working every day that he is able, all winter (Must be done so that we can save enough to keep us going in the spring)
- No more 2 weeks at work then 2 weeks at home.
- The oil/gas industry in Alberta shuts down for 1 - 3 months over the spring then the summer months are usually pretty slow - depending on how wet it is. We have no idea whether he will be able to work after March 21 when Spring break up begins.
- If we want to have a few evenings together, I will have to find someone to take care of our dogs and then travel to where ever he is staying and hang out in his motel room all day until he is finished work and returns for the evening. This is nothing new....been doing it for years....but it is not as nice as we have had it since April.
- BUT he is working....for people he likes and respects....for a company he likes...close to home

Anyway, that is the news on that front.....hopefully, the lawyer will be able to clear Jim's name in case he needs to go south again for work.

In other news.....

Hubby had a gall bladder attack on Dec 5 and spent the night in the hospital. He spent the next week eating NO fat at all (not an easy task) but when he was in Calgary, he just 'had' to have a Peter's buger and shake. (If you are from AB, you know what I'm talkin about). No adverse effects from that so he is back to his usual diet (fairly low in fat and calories). Today we saw the doctor who gave him the results from the Ultra Sound he had done a few days after the attack. He does, indeed, have (several) gallstones but the doc told him that if it isn't bothering him, leave it be - which is what he wants to do anyway. Nevertheless, he will have to be a bit more diligent about what he is eating so as not to bring on an attack.

DIL Lana, who feels like she is about 12 months pregnant, has been extremely tired, losing weight (even though it is the last few weeks of the pregnancy) and has no energy since obviously Baby is taking most of the calories and nutrition....I mean, Lana is on the thin side to begin with and here she is, losing weight when she should be gaining. Rob and Lana planned ahead and had all their Christmas preparations DONE by Dec 1 so at least she isn't having to stress about that. Her mom has been staying with them for the last 2 weeks so that Lana can get lots of extra rest. She will stay until after Baby is born. The due date is Dec 21 but really, we've been expecting it any day since the first week of Dec - she's been having regular, painful contractions for 2 weeks. Hopefully, I'll be announcing the safe arrival of my newest grandbaby VERY soon.

So, mostly good news.....except for the gain.