Immigration Renewal

Today MJ and I finished putting all of our paperwork together for our I-600A application again. Here is Catie laying on some paperwork, but it is not the immigration paperwork. (Catie likes to lay on top of any paperwork that is lying around.) After we checked and double checked, we went to the bank to have a couple of forms notarized and then to FedEx. The immigration office should have our paperwork in hand by tomorrow afternoon at the latest. Whew! We completed another obstacle. We had to refile this paperwork because it expires in February and it needs to be current when we arrive in China. Hopefully it won't take long for our paperwork to be renewed. I think it will be at least 6 weeks before we get the I-171H back. This is the form that is needed in China and we need it before we travel, so if we don't have it by the time we get the referral, it is ok. We just need it back before we actually go to China.

We also had an adventurous day. The car we took today to run our errands is our dependable one, or so we thought. We made several stops and at our last stop the car decides it does not want to cooperate. Thank goodness we were very close to home. We stopped at a local shopping center to pick up Subway sandwiches for dinner, since we had been on the road and it was dinner time. I did not feel like cooking after all of our errands. We got back in the car and it would not turn over. Only the radio would come on. MJ was convinced the battery died, but he was unsure because he thought it was odd that it would go bad so quickly. Well, here we are outside in the cold weather with only a jacket on. Our only option was to walk home and get the other car, because that is where the jumper cables were located. So, we walked home in the cold weather. I could not feel my hands or nose and my legs were numb too. We got home and he called our local car shop (this place is family owned and they are good mechanics). They told MJ that his diagnosis sounded like a dead battery and this was not uncommon. They instructed MJ to try and jump the car. If we could not get it running, then they said they would come get it. Then we got in the accord and headed back to the parking lot. We had to reposition the dead battery car so he could jump it, I had to get in and steer while he pushed the car. It was hard to turn that steering wheel, but we managed. We finally got the cars in position when MJ realized that he took the cables out of the car last week. Why? I have no idea. So he left me there with the dead battery car while he ran home to get the cables. This was a real eye opener for me.

Let me tell you. I stood in the cold by the car with the hood up for 8 minutes. I saw about 8 trucks drive past me, with men in them. There were also several cars that drove by. Not one person stopped to ask me if I needed help. I sat there thinking, what if I was on the side of the road. Would some one stop and help? I guess they figure you can use a cell phone. But, I sure thought how rude our society has become, that not one person could stop to see if I needed any help. I guess everyone is too busy with their own lives to get involved. I mean, is one second of generosity or concern going to disrupt your busy lifestyle? Ok. I am getting on my soap box and I don't want to go there. Anyway, MJ came back and we prepared to jump the cars. Then a kind person walked over to MJ and asked if he wanted some help. MJ graciously accepted his help and they were able to get the dead battery car started. We both thanked the kind man for his assistance. Then we called our local car shop back to tell them that we were on our way to drop the car off so they can put a new battery in it tomorrow. We should have the car back tomorrow afternoon sometime.

Moral of the day: always have a cell phone with you! Who knows if someone will be kind enough to help you when you get stuck somewhere.

This will be a story to tell Meghan someday. We will tell her about all of the obstacles we have had to overcome in order to become her parents! Ok, now it is time for me to go channel some positive energy! Oh and by the way, our sandwiches were still yummy after all that ordeal!