Houston we have a problem

Finally! Here are a few pics from the trip : )

Greetings from Margaritaville

As promised, I would share some rather unflattering pictures of David from this weekend in Key West. Ok, so he won't let me in case he runs for President, but I am sharing a few of all of us from our wonderful weekend. We first stopped at Robbie's in Islamorada on the way down-in case you've never been stop on the way down to KW-it's mile marker 75.5. You pay a few bucks to go out on the docks and feed these ginormous tarpon-I'm talking 6-7 feet long and 150 pounds. I had a great video of David trying to feed them, a few of them jumped out of the water and D squeeled like a 6 year old school girl. At least he got close to them, I was a total chicken.

The rest of the weekend was a whirlwind, it was our friend Ty's first time in KW, so we wanted to show him every inch (of the island you naughty fools-although it is KW and we did try to go to one clothing optional bar but it was empty). We rented bikes and cycled to all of the mandatory historical spots. We were dying of heat, and most of our stops were of the National Lampoon's Vacation type (take a picture and run). I won't bore you dear people with every detail, but there were some highlights: we went to this great shack by the water called Bo's Fish House-it looked like it was falling down and held together with chewing gum, there was a dirt floor, cats running around a few manaquins (sp?) laying around too. Note the picture of David sitting by the one that looks like a giant Ken doll. During the sunset at Mallory Square that evening, Ty somehow ended up in a Straight Jacket briefly in a part of one of the sideshows. I took a few pictures of the gorgeous sunset right after, not a bad job, is it?

Quick thank you to Jamie and Ted who were great hosts! They live in a fabulous house right north of Key West and let us stay there for a few nights. You are the best!

Sept 11th

Today marks the 5 year anniversary of a very horrible day in our country's history. It is one that I pray we will never see the likes of again. Everyone, in their lifetime experiences at least one moment in time so shocking, they forever define the moment by where they were, what they saw, what they felt... where were you when Kennedy was shot, or when the shuttle exploded , Pearl Harbor... every generation has at least one. I was not yet born when the JFK assasination occured, I came along decades after D-day, and barely remember the Challenger tradgedy. I am just grateful my child did not have to witness the 09/11 event. She is probably not even born yet.

I will always remember exactly where I was on that Tuesday. I was working at NCCI and the whole office, like every other one across the country, stopped. When I heard that a plane hit that building, I went numb. I have never been so terrified in my life. The office and everyone in it grinded to a halt as we all crowded around computer screens watching live video streams from the twin towers, the silence and gasps as the first tower crashed to the ground. We were all too stunned to continue to work. My brother was working at the Pentagon at that time. My manager let me go home so I could get in touch with my family. Because cell phones were virtually down that day, it took at least 6 hours for my brother to finally be able to contact my mother. Yes, many people died at the Pentagon that day, just over 200, but I thank God that the plane hit a section of the building that was all but unoccupied. It could have been much worse for them, and for my family. My old manager had a brother who was a NYC police officer, he died in the WTC that day. My family was blessed. My brother and I are much closer now I think, and a part of me believes it has to do with this day. I don't think he reads my blog, but if you do, I love you Bo Bo.

On this 5th Anniversay, may each of the surviving family members and friends of the victims of 9/11 find peace in their life and the ability to truly survive and continue on with life.

Margaritaville Bound

Gosh, my little blog has been so boring and un-funny, I can't even bear to read it lately! Really nothing new and interesting to report-adoption or elsewise. Time for a quick vacation (sans family, although I love them all...um yes sans family would be nice). We are headed to Key West aka Cayo Hueso in a few days. It will be so nice to shop-eat-drink-tan-sleep-repeat(not necessarily in that order) for three whole days! If I'm lucky I'll have a few pictures of D is some comprimising situations to post.

After this trip, we'll have to stay put for a bit because our little one will be home soon. No, not that little one. The dog-little one. Well, he'll only be little for a few weeks. I forgot to mention to D that labs can get to be 100 pounds. Shhhhh.......

Till next week!

Ernie was a big wuss

If you listened to the local media, Ernesto was a cat 5 monster. I have plenty of friends who put up shutters and are no doubt spending the day in their little caves. I am so glad, and so is D, that we decided to leave the shutters to collect at least a few more weeks of dust and cobwebs in the garage. Ernie didn't pack much of a punch, wind or rain-wise, but we still had a small hurricane, I mean tropical storm, I mean tropical depression, ok... passing shower gathering at our neighbors. They all played a card game and I played a few rounds, but mostly I passed the time stalking the new puppies. Here are a few of the now week old pups. They are starting to resemble some sort of canine. If you want to see what Finnigan will look like, there is a picture of proud papa Kiro(yellow in Japanese). Notice they all have pinkish brown noses just like their daddy. I think that is really cool because almost every yellow lab has a black nose, so Finni will be different. I hope the next 5 weeks fly by, I can't wait to bring him home!

The good, the bad, and the ugly

First the good: Meet Finnigan, the newest member of our family. Well, he will be in 6 more weeks. He is a yellow lab pup, but right now he looks like the cross between a guinea pig and a chihuahua. He's only 5 days old right now. Oh yeah, David caved. And I can't rotate the picture, I am a dummy. The little girl is our neighbor Shiori-one of the little girl's who are the owners of Finnigan's mom and dad. I can't wait to watch him grow! Of course, I already stocked up on toys, fancy bowls and other stuff. I've gotta spoil him, he's gotta follow in the footsteps of Quincy, the best dog ever...

The bad: We may have another guest, well, I am certain of it. His name is Ernesto and he is, or will be by tomorrow, a hurricane.

The ugly: I know, I know, stop reading Rumor Queen. The newest, most horrifying word is the the CCAA may impose new restrictions, and strict ones at that, immediately. By immediately I mean no grandfathering in those with log-in-dates. Some of the restrictions that are rumored about would kick us, and 50% of everyone else right out of the program. Like the soup nazi, NO BABY FOR YOU. Seriously, you can just lock me up right now if that happens. So, please, say a little prayer, wish on a rainbow, even rub your voodoo doll if you must, but just send good wishes this way. I need it.

August referrals are here

Well, the CCAA manages to get through a whole 9 days this time. Woo-hoo. They have been averaging this for the last 6 months. At this pace, we are looking at a 3 year wait. Ay-carrumba. I just opened a fortune cookie from the restaurant last night-it says "You will soon be crossing the great waters"-yeah, whatever.

Adoption for Dummies

Last night we met a few other FCC couples at Pei Wei for our bi-monthly dinner. After we finished eating, us gals decided to surprise out hubbies with a "Adoption for Dummies" trivia game. I was very proud of David, he came in a tie second place. Ed, who is traveling to get their little Samantha next month with his wife Wendy, won the game with a tie breaker question. His grand prize was a 6 pack of beer. The other boys good booby prizes-candy and slim jims. It was a riot. I think Pei Wei staff hates us, one of the girls went to the bathroom and came back and said "dear Lord, I can hear you guys from inside the stall", nice. Well, I guess since we are such a rowdy crowd we'll have to go to Chucky Cheese, but I am trying hard to never step foot in there, kid or not! I think the boys are threatening to give us their version of a trivia game, it'll probably involve questions on playboy centerfolds, NASCAR and computer parts.

Here is a picture of the boys after the game with their prizes. It looks like they have been drinking, but all we had was tea and sodas! The girls picture wasn't so flattering, my hair was all frizzy from the rain, so I'll pass on posting it.

One thing that came out of our dinner...we decided we are going to the airport at midnight when the Spector's come back from China with their baby and we are wearing our pj's and slippers (that is slippers, not strippers, Ron). We'll do it again in September when Ed and Wendy come back. It'll be so nice to see friendly faces when you get off of that 20 plus hour flight!

Happy 4 month anniversary

Ok, so I haven't celebrated monthly anniversaries since David and I's first year of dating back in college. I haven't eaten ramen noodles or drank nickle beers since then either. Alas, here I am looking forward to the 24th of each month, counting the days sloooowly, sloooowly. For everyone who promised the time would fly by I have one thing to say to you...Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire! Tomorrow will mark 4 months since the day we were LID (reminder for those of you international adoption for dummy readers-LOG IN DATE). I am in my second of probably eight trimesters-or octomesters more like it. I look pretty damn good for being 4 months (paper) pergnant, not even a pound have I gained! Of course, this is partially an effort by (shameless plug warning)-the detox treatment I got at my friend Amy's new spa Radiance (it's on the corner of Congress and Boynton Bch Blvd by the Pier One-tell her Kristen sent you : ) ).

We will celebrate with our fellow FCC gang at Pei Wei tomorrow night. The wives thought we'd make a trivia game for the guys since they are pretty much clueless abut the whole process. I am far from the only one who did 99% of the research and the paperwork and just said "sign here". People ask D what our LID is and he gives them a deer in the headlights expression. I think I'll start with the Jeapordy $100 questions for him-Ok, David-This is the country we are adopting from . Um, what is um, um, shut. I'll pass. More later on who won.

Sun, sand and boogies

D and I headed to Sanibel during the past weekend. It's a very quiet little island on the west side of Florida and it reminds me alot of what the Keys looked like when I grew up there. Not alot to do, just some island shopping, sunning and not much else. It was nice! We stayed with my brother, sis in law and their munchkins (3 now, 2 more on the way). We rented bikes and mozzied(am I spelling that correctly?) around the island. Here is a picture of the lighthouse and the beach. Had to include a few pics of baby Micheal from this morning, I caught a few candids of him on the other side of the patio door. What a cutie!

Quilt square update

I just counted...I have 108! Yeah! But, if you didn't get me yours(hellloooooo family on both sides...) I am still pleading to include one from you!

And the long wait continues

More confirmation that our wait will be a very long one. Our big China agency only just predicted that the CCAA will only refer two weeks of LID's per month from now on. That puts us at March 2008 for a referral and travel in May or June 2008-which is when the Olympics in Bejing are being held. Not good, not good. Putting fingers in ears and saying "la,la, la,la, la...I can't hear you...la,la,la,la,la...."!

A Few Good Eggs

Reading a really funny book right now that is helping me deal with the whole infertility thing. The first few months after our LID, I kept thinking "yippeeeee...we are off to China eventually!". Now that a few months have passed, the initial excitement has worn off and my thoughts have turned to: "we may not get to China for a few years and the fact that everyone around me is pregant and probably will be a time OR TWO more is really getting me down, man".

I picked up the book "A Few Good Eggs" and it has definatly helped me cope by allowing me to realize that my feeling of "womb" envy are quite validated. The book kinda like "taking Charge of Your Fertility" meets "Sex in the City". It goes on to say that it's ok if I turn down alot of baby showers right now, particulary if the person isn't one of my close friends. For close friends, the book says, suck it up and put a smile on your face. Now, for those of you reading this whose shower I did turn down this year (Neal, Janna, Sori), I really did have other events planned for that day. I have witnesses, I have alibis! It's ok to vent a little when someone else gets pregnant, but not to the person who is actually pregnant. I have been doing well so far by living up to these rules of infertility living. Right? Right?

Another section of the book titled "when people you love say stupid things" really had me cracking up. I have heard so many of these comments, especially number 1 and 4, and I heard both of these on Sunday. So, here is "what not to say to a friend experiencing infertility":
1. Just don't think about it, and it will happen!
2. Maybe you're trying too hard. (Which is the same thing as, don't stress about it and it will happen. That has NOTHING to do with old, sleepy eggs and two headed sperm-yes, it's a real thing)
3. But I bet it's fun trying (sure, it's a blast and so romantic with the thermometer and all)
4. Just start to adopt-then you'll get pregnant! That happened to my friend's sister's hairdresser's cousin's teacher.
5. You are really lucky-you can do anything you want. We never get to go out anymore.
6. Don't worry, your'e still young. (Actually, now that I am 33, my eggs are going faster than a speeding bullett-sorry that is the most clever thing I can come up with on my Benedrly haze)
7. Anything new on the baby front?
8. Are you keeping your legs up after sex?
9. Does your husband wear boxers?
10. Are you taking your temperature?
11. Are you using and ovulation predictor kit? (I had someone ask me that a few weeks ago, I said rather sarcastically before I could stop myself "No, what are those?". I have in actuality spend hundreds on those in the course of two years)
12. You should probably have more sex.
13. You probably need a vacation.
14. I get pregnant just by looking at my husband. (I used to get this a-lot)
15. Give it time.
16. You can have my kids, they drive me nuts.

One in 5 couples over the age of 30 experience infertility. If you know a married couple and they don't have a baby within a few years of marriage, there is a good chance they are having issues. Maybe they just don't want kids yet or ever, but chances are they are having issues and don't feel like discussing it. I am an open book, too much so sometimes, but others aren't. I now know not to ask the dreaded "So, when are you going to have a baby"?

If you have a friend who is experiencing infertility the best thing you can say is "I don't want to keep asking you about the baby stuff, if you need to chat/vent/cry, please know I am here for you".

That is our lesson for today, class!

Bon Festival

Last night we attended the Bon Festival at the Morakomi Japenese Gardens in Delray. For those of you who don't know, Obon (Bon Festival) is a Buddhist event and one of the most important traditions for Japanese people. It is the period of praying for the repose of the souls of one's ancestors. People believe that their ancestors' spirits come back to their homes to be reunited with their family during obon. I thought of my Dad and Quincy and Aunt Teri quite a bit last night, even though I am not Buddest nor Japenese (really, shocked, aren't you?) We had a great time, even though it was 182 degrees at 7 pm. Of course the reason I really wanted to go was to see all of the little Asian girls dressed in their kimonos. And plenty I saw! Our neighbors were there, and their little girls are part Japenese. They had their summer kimonos on and spent most of the night playing some Japenese game that allows you to catch a goldfish (not unlike those days at the fair trying to throw ping-pong balls into the goldfish bowls). I swear I am going to kidnap one of them one day, I am in love with them! Ok, patience Kristen, and her mom might not be too happy. I was going to post a picture, but it is taking an hour to download!

FCC friends

David and I have been so lucky to be in a circle of a great bunch of couples who are also on this crazy adoption roller coaster. We started getting to know each other at the end of last year through "waiting families" meetings and discussed everything from serious subjects such as attachment issues to not so serious subjects such as should the $3500 cash we are required to take to China be shoved in our bras or in our underwear. In the past few months we have "kicked it up a notch" to use Emerril's line. We now get together once a month or so and have dinner or a bbq. Not only do I feel like I have a special connection to these people because of the adoption, but all of our little girls will be good friends as well. It's so important that our daughters have their "Chinese sisters" to relate to and bond with. I am very much looking forward to that chapter in my life. I just wish it was happening quicker(we have the latest LID of the group) , but in the meantime, I'll enjoy watching all of our FCC friends bring their babies home!

mean hubby!

So, there is now another pregnant girl in my building...that makes 7. Her name is Missy and she is brown. She would give me her baby, but David said no. Now before you read that sentece twelve times...Missy is a chocolate lab and the daddy is a yellow lab. Her human parents will give us one for free! But no....David is a big meanie, he doesn't like the shedding. I have to do some serious whining over the next few weeks! Wish me luck!

Cheeseball Alert!

So, D and I started dance lessons of the latin type last night...samba, salsa, rhumba, swing (yup, it's considered a latin dance). Go ahead, laugh it up. This reminds me of one of my favorite scenes from 40 year old virgin.."Hey, you know how I know your'e gay?". It was a blast though. I thought I would do horrible, since I got kicked out of ballet when I was 4. My coordination has somehow improved during the last 29 years! I was actually quite impressed with myself, so was David. Even the instructor told us that we moved ahead much more quickly than 90% of his students. Then again 90% of his students are well, 90 I think.

Anyhow, if anyone is interested, they have three private lessons for just $20. It's a good "waiting for referral" distraction! We signed up for 20 lessons, we should be ready for season 5 of "So, you think you can dance?"! HA!

One small step....

Yesterday we received a nice surprise in the mail, it was the long awaited "brown envelope" . The brwon envelope is a letter from the American Consulate General in China acknowdedging that we have been approved by the INS to adopt an orphan from China. It doesn't really mean too much, it's just nice to know that they still have our file. The CCAA just moved offices over in China, and I was paranoid that our file would end up in a black hole! Right now, the reveiw room is going through the November 2005 files. Once our file is out of the review room(hopefully by the end of the year) we can breathe easier. After the review room, it goes to the matching room, which will take months and months and months. I believe we are still on track for an early 2008 referral, or early 2007 if we are lucky.

I added a new link on the right...it's a website desined specifically for April 2006 DTC families such as ourselves. We are called the Flying Tigers. It's nice to be able to chat with people who are in our same timeframe. We also do quilt square, kids books and secret pal swaps, it certainly helps to pass the time!

Everybody Hates Chris

No, not the show...never watched it. I am talking about the lovely little storm brewing by Puerto Rico and moving towards us. I feel like we just took our shutters down, and we did, just 9 months ago with Wilma. We are well prepared this year-we have a monster generator(good, becuase I just bought 3 weeks worth of groceries since David apparently couldn't find the store while I was up north). As Jimmy B would sing in one of his songs...tryin to reason with hurricane season.....

Back to the sunshine state!

I am so happy to be back to "cool" weather! It was 102 degrees when I left Maryland this morning. Holy Crap! It was too hot to do anything up there, so we couldn't do as many touristy things as usual, but I'll save those for when David and I drive up in the spring. We did get to go down to the Inner Harbor, went shopping and went to the Science center to see two Imax movies in 3-D. Saw a bunch of my family on Saturday and went to a very cool up-and-coming neighborhood called Canton for dinner and drinks last night. I had a prikley pear margarita and a quesadilla stuffed with crab, spinach, shitake, roasted red peppers and goat cheese. As if that wasn't enough to gorge myself on, we hit Vicarros(the famous Italian bakery) for a chocolate dipped cannolli afterwards. I cannot wait to get my butt back to the gym. The jeans that I had on the way up are too tight now. Embarassing but whatever.

On a very very ecstatic happy note, our friends Wendy and Ed received their referral yesterday for their daughter Samantha. She is too cute! The orphanages just love to dress the kids like they are going snowmobiling in Antartica for their pictures! I'll try to add a picture when I can, but I need to ask if they mind first!

Ok, off to unpack and smootch on my honey!

A small adoption update

Here is an article in a New Mexico newspaper. Finally, one congresswoman has listened to an adoptive family's plea to extend the 171H. She is going to try to get this bill passed. I really hope it does, I can't imagine having to redo EVERYTHING again and spend another 4 grand on all of the paperwork since our moneytree blew away with Hurricane Wilma last year:


Wilson Helps New Mexico Families with International Adoption
Introduces the Helping Families Adopt Orphans ActWashington, DC – Congresswoman Heather Wilson today announced she has introduced the Helping Families Adopt Orphans Act, legislation to aid families adopting orphans from foreign countries. “This legislation updates a policy on international adoption that makes sense, given the longer wait times families now experience in processing the adoption of orphans,” said Wilson. “This problem was brought to my attention by a constituent, and it is a simple change we can make to build strong families.”Andrew and Constance Johnson of Albuquerque had written to Wilson in May about the possibility that their I-171H form would expire before their adoption of an orphan from China was complete. “We wrote to Heather Wilson about our problem, and to our surprise we got a call from her office two weeks later saying she was introducing legislation to fix our problem,” said Constance Johnson. “My husband and I want to adopt a child from China, but we worry everyday that our paperwork will expire before we have our child. Reapplying would be expensive, time-consuming, and burdensome. The 18-month expiration no longer makes sense.” The legislation would extend the validity of the I-171H “Notice of Favorable Determination Concerning Application for Advance Processing of Orphan Petition” form to at least two years. This form is issued by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service, an agency of the Department of Homeland Security. It is the final form needed to adopt international orphans and is the ticket to adoption for many families. The form is currently valid for 18 months, although the time needed to complete the adoption process has significantly increased over the last few years because of delays in travel approval, visas for orphans, and additional processing time to gain approval by foreign governments. The I-171H form has an application fee of $545, plus $70 per person for fingerprints. Several other forms are needed before receiving approval, including a home study to ensure the home is safe and stable, birth and marriage certificates, health and financial records, criminal background checks, and other information. The entire cost of international adoption can be thousands of dollars. If the form expires before the adoption is complete, a family must reapply and re-submit all applicable forms, fees, and evaluations. This can be prohibitively costly for many hopeful parents.

Waiter, there is a fly in my suitcase

Well, I am up in the great state of Maryland, enjoying a very relaxing week with my family doing not much of anything. My mom's house has a nice big back yard with a fabulous garden and gazebo. I have been sitting back there most of the day and reading. In the morning I have been getting up early and walking/jogging through the neighborhood hills. I thought I was in decent shape, but my calves are killing me from the inclines-no hills in the sunshine state! Last night we went to some funky art museum called the American Visionary Art museum. I guess you need a certain vision to appreciate that kind of art-most of it looked like a 5 year old painted it. We all kept looking at the "art" and then at each other and stuttered "Ohhhh-kaaaay?" After our rather short visit to the museum we headed to Little Italy in downtown Baltimore. It's a sin, but I have never been there in all of my visits up here so I insisted. Little Italy consists of 6 blocks of nothing but Italian restaurants and pastry shops. We finally settled on one place that looked exactly like the basement of the castle where we stayed at on our honeymoon in Italy. I loved it. They had a prix fix menu that included cesear salad, veal piccata and a ginormous piece of Tarimusu(I ate every last bite). I felt like Fat Bastard (Get In My BELL-AY) afterwards. Good thing I walked the hills this morning!

Oh, what is the title of this post all about? The first night here, about 1 am, a fly got into my room. I was up until 2:30 chasing it and trying to give it it's rightful death. I was trying so hard to not wake up the folks, but it's quite difficult since I was up and down on the bed, swatting at the curtains, the lamp, the ceiling fan, the ceiling. I finally allowed it to meet it's dimise by spraying it with a half a can of hairspray. I should have thought of that in the first place.

Well, gotta run, have to go to the drugstore, I need to replace the hairspray!

Book Worm

I certainly have been catching up with my reading lately. As I have written before we don't(gasp) have cable, and as with cable, there is usually shit on tv(I can say shit, our pastor said it during the sermon said it this morning, it was really funny and he turned bright, bright red...oops). Anyhow, I am a super quick reader, a speed reader if you will.

My favorite book this summer was a gift from David, I mean the kitties, for my b-day. It was called "The Memory Keeper's Daughter " by Kim Edwards. You can read more about it here but it's about a man in the 1960's who after his wife has twins, one healthy boy and one girl with down syndrome, asks the nurse to take the girl and drop her off at an institution. The father tells the mother the girl was stillborn and it deeply emotionally impacts her. The nurse, who is single and wants a child decides to raise her on her own. The decision the father and the nurse made that night provide a very interesting story line(s), The father and the nurse keep in touch with letters but don't meet until 20 years later and the end of the book. It's a really good read.

I am reading Authenticity by Diedre Madden right now. It's ok, a book has to be pretty bad for me to stop halfway through.

Next up I'll dive into a Bridgit Jones's Diary type book...Goodnight Nobody by Jennifer Weiner.

I am off to Baltimore tomorrow for a week to visit my mom, so I'll be doing LOTS of reading while I am off of work and just relaxing! Poor D has to work all by himself!

Hu Yong Yi

Ok, how great is this artist? I have to have one of his prints to go over the crib, or maybe for the living room?

More B-day pics

Apparently, one can only add 5 pics at a time...so here are a few more of the Cottage and one of the Sundy House brunch for your viewing pleasure.

Birthday Memoirs Part 3

Went to the Sundy House on my actual day with friends from Michigan-April and Zack, but forgot my camera. Went to Sol Kitchen for dinner then to GiGi's for some dancing.

For the big celebration, about 30 of us gathered at the lovely Cottage in Lake Worth.

There was even a magician who stopped by and made us elaborate balloon animals and did amazing card tricks- some with fire. Check out the picture of the magician and David with the deck on fire!

On Sunday I had a "girl's brunch" at the Sundy House. Ate too much food, drank too many mimosas. Perfect day with my girls!

Till next year!

Birthday Memoirs Part 2

I always include July 4th as a part of my b-day since it's just 2 days away. De Ja Vu-we went to Tom's place off of Atlantic to watch the fireworks on the beach. You can see at least three fireworks displays up and down the beach with the main one straight ahead. I love Florida. Tom made an awsome "pre-game" dinner and "special" lemonade. Thanks Mr.T!

Birthday memoirs Part 1

Thought I'd share a few photos from my birthday week! My friends certainly had me partying till the cows came home!

This is from the balcony of the RiverWalk hotel off of Las Olas in Ft Lauderdale. We stayed there overnight, enjoyed an scrumpoius dinner-note the mini chocolate cakes-yum, and then had brunch and mimosas at the Jazz Fest the next day. Ronnie liked the golden lion at the entrance of the hotel, and yes I know the picture is upside down, but I am nowhere near a techie so it's staying.

Quilt progress

84 down...16 to go.... It's looking pretty darn good!

I want this!!!!!!

Damn, my birthday passed. Happy Battle of the Boyne Day is this week, according to my Tim McGraw calendar (I am embarrased) . Anyhow...I want this.

A few random things about moi.....

Ok, probably a little too much about me, but I am not too big on secrets....

1. I DETEST ricotta cheese , the texture of it makes me gag. Yes, I will refuse lasagna easily. My Italian grandparents would be ashamed.
2. I once broke my ankle and foot in three places-on a stationary bike. I was like 11 and clearly retarded.
3. I am petrified of escalators and will go out of my way to find stairs or an elevator to get to any lower level. Dude-my aunt fell down one when I was 3 and I fell on top of her-now you know why. Doesn't explain the fear of ricotta though.....
4. In college I got stood up by Steve Guttenburg. I also got my fake ID taken from me that same night for having a coca cola(yup-straight) in my hand. Yeah-that was a college low-point evening. It's a good story-I'll have to share it with you-over a coca-cola(I'm "legal" now).
5. My dad dated my step-grandmother before dating my mom. My brother is a year younger than my mom. I have a neice who is 10 years older than me. No, I did not grow up in West Virginia, why do you ask?
6. I can never chew gum for more than 30 seconds. I will spit the gum out and then grab another and repeat. I wonder after an hour where that damn new pack of gum went.

CCAA news

Ok, I know I haven't posted anything about the adoption lately, because well, there is nothing to share and nothing is new. The latest word from the agencies and the CCAA is that the CCAA can process only around 700 applications a month. They are receiving around 2000. You do the math, it's too hard for me(not mentally hard, just emotionally). Ok, if you can't do the math, it'll take them around 3 months for each month of LID's. So we won't see funshine's face until 2008-maybe? Argh. So-my coping skills for this adoption drama, in case you can't tell is to JUST NOT THINK ABOUT IT! I haven't even so much as opened the guest closet to oogle the baby clothes. I refuse to purchase anything for at least another year. BTW-alot of boys were referred last month to families who requested girls. Which is another reason I can't buy anything else, it may have to go back and that receipt will long expire. Baby Amelie may in fact be baby Max.

So, I am sorry to disappoint for those of you hungry for any adoption updates on our front. I'd like some updates too. For now I'll have to entertain you with snippits and pictures from my over-active social life. I celebrated my b-day 5 times. I am not complaining, I love it-I just wish at the end of a crazy night I came home to my precious daughter(or son?). Then again, if I had her home I doubt I'd be celebrating 5 times-maybe 1 or 2 at the most. Trying to keep repeating to myself "enjoy it while you can", but it's not very reassuring! Soon, Kristen...soon.

Color me happy!

I love surprises! My great friend Heather surprised me with this today from Red Envelope. I can't wait to wear them with Amelie!

Didya catch Dateline?

I just got finished watching Dateline and since it's an hour till the best show ever-Grey's Anatomy-I thought I'd share some thoughts on tonight's Dateline story. It was about a bunch of couples who were infertile and were desperate to have a baby. They all used the internet to do research on adopting and all of the couples found a mother wanting to give up her baby. The unfortunate part of the story is that the pregnant mother duped each of those couples. She told each and every one of them that she chose for them to be the parents. She scammed the poor couples for "rent money", "grocery" money and gift cards. Dateline followed her and her girlfriend after they got the money and watched them dine in fine restaurants and splurge on baby items for a baby they clearly intended on keeping. They did the whole hidden camera thing with one of the hopeful couples and the pregnant mother talked for hours with her about giving up the baby. Man, was she ever convincing. So, now these couples have an empty nursery(one of the couples actually was referred and given another baby a month after the interview). It was so sad, I was bawling(doesn't take much these days). It could have easily been David and I had we decided to go the domestic route. I know for every case like that, there are 100 families who do end up with a baby, but still. The most disgusting part of this story is that police have nothing to charge her for and she doesn't have to pay back any of the money, that is the law. I think somehow they could charge her with fraud but I guess not. For all of the crap D and I have been through, it's nothing compared to these poor families. I just can't beleive someone can be so evil and cruel and hope somehow justice wins.

Hope for Bio baby yet!

Ok, so I still have 30, er make that 29, years to get pregnant:

LONDON (Reuters) - A 62-year-old child psychiatrist has become Britain's oldest mother after undergoing fertility treatment abroad, a newspaper reported on Saturday.

Imagine for a moment

An Accidental Adoption

(I "borrowed" this from another mama blog-it's no big crime, everyone is doing it! ha!)

You hear all the time about "accidental" pregnancies, can you imagine couples who experience "accidental" adoptions?

Picture this:

Honey, sit down. I have some news for you.

What is it?

Well, I don't know how to say this, so I'll just come out with it. I went out to the mailbox today and ... well, we got an I-171H.

A what?!? An I-171H? As in, we're going to have a(nother) baby?!?

It looks that way.

But how? We've been so careful! I put away all the blank I-600A forms. Didn't you hide our homestudy update?

Of course I did. But don't forget, there was that one night...

What night? (pauses) Ohhh, that night. But it was only once. We were just messing around. I didn't print clearly. I didn't even use ink! (pauses again) But it was kind of fun. (giggles)

It was, wasn't it? I'll never forget how cute you looked getting your fingerprints.

So now we've got our I-171H, eh? But that doesn't always mean you'll adopt, does it? I mean, shouldn't you see the agency or something, make sure everything's okay?

I already did.

And?

I'm five documents along.

Five documents!

And they're all notarized, certified and authenticated okay?

Just great.

There was one small scare when the agency couldn't see the Notary's middle initial, but it showed up just fine under the magnifying glass.

Thank God. And you, honey? Are you feeling okay?

I'm feeling fine. As long as I know you're happy about this.

Happy? I'm thrilled! It's always a shock at first when something like this happens, but of course I'm happy.

.....hehehehe :)

I am an Ass...or maybe a Whale

As noted by one of the other adopting blog mama gals, right now, the referral wait ('gestation') is running around 345 days. We are currently at 78 days-but who's counting(oh, me).

At this point, I won't even mind having a lot in common with an Ass, or even a whale(that's about 15 months) - just keep me away from those stinky Elephants! :)

Hippopotamus -- 240
Horse -- 336
Ass -- 365
Whale -- 457
Elephant -- 624

You Know the Wait is Getting Long When....

Ok, so it's only been 2.5 months of waiting, but I am already sympathizing with some of these:

You Know the Wait is Getting Long When....

Somebody posted this in one of the groups, I thought it was cute and oh so true. Some of these I wrote myself, the others are copied. Still funny though.

You know the wait is getting long when:

1. The nursery closet starts bursting because you decided to buy her just one outfit a month.

2. You start calling all the Chinese names in the phone book asking them if they have any relatives that work at the CCAA.

3. You have switched from dressing up your 20lb bag of rice bear to dressing up your cat.

4. Your agency informs you that you really aren't required to call twice a day to make sure that they have your correct phone number on file.

5. The Fed-Ex truck is no longer allowed to drive down your street, because someone keeps chasing the truck.

6. Neighbors duck into their homes when they see you walking to the mailbox - especially after you decked the last person that said "Have you heard anything yet?"

7. You start wondering if it would have been faster to have actually dug that hole to China instead.

8. You have practiced packing your luggage so many times that you have to buy new luggage because the zippers have worn out.

9. What started out as a cute hobby of putting out a ladybug house in the garden, has turned into a wholesale business of selling ladybugs worldwide.

10. The highlight of your day, sadly, is to run to the mailbox to get new quilt squares.

World Cup Widow No More!

I am actually quite proud of myself. I found myself sitting and watching at least 5 or 6 games with the hubbins. I even asked thoughtful questions and learned a bit. Soccer isn't nearly as daftly boring as I thought it would be! Just don't tell D I said that. Our little secret, ok? I am however, very very glad the next WC is another 4 years away.

Changing my birthDAY

Ok, so for the umpteenth year in a row, I am changing our celebration plans. It rains 9 times out of 10 on my birthday. We had big plans to celebrate tonight outdoors at the Cottage, but no...Mr. Weatherman says it's going to downpour. So, we'll do it next week. I am not too disappointed, I had a fabulous week already! Have I mentioned before that I heart my friends?

I am changing my birthday to a less rainy month-say February. While I am at it, I am changing the year too. My new DOB is 02-14-82. Come join me to celebrate my 25th on V-day next year! While I am at it, I am changing my weight(down) and salary(up) too!

Go shorty, it's your birf-day

Well, this week I celebrate the big 3-3. I thought by the time I was 35 I'd have a couple of rugrats running around, but I have made peace with the fact that our house is disturbingly quiet(especially with Q's passing, sniff sniff). I am appreciating my time sans little ones right now. As a birthday gift, our friends took us down to Las Olas in Fort Lauderdale and got us a room and took us to dinner. We had a fabulous time. We even got a few mimosa hours in on Sunday at the Riverfront park before a tropical system moved through. Thanks to all who braved the weather. For those who didn't get to come, I hope to see you on Friday. I am celebrating the whole week long(I am still 32 until 4:30 am on Thursday).

On a disturbing note, I just found out that I share the same birthday as George Dub-ya. Ew. I seriously can't believe in the who astrology phenomenon now-there is no way in hell I share any characterisitics with-well-I'll be nice and just call him Mr. President. Sly Stallon aslo shares my day as well as the twins from that terrible 80's show "Sister, Sister". Can't I have anyone remotely cool share July 6th-say I don't know, George Clooney, Janis Joplin, Bono, even Bill Clinton?

Hopefully next year a miracle will happen and Amelie will celebrate my 34th with me! Now that would be an amazing b-day gift!

How to waste 2 hours without realizing it

Ok, so I am finding it very hard to concentrate today because I am missing the boy so badly. I did stumble upon this which got my mind off of the funk for several hours. You see, D and I don't have cable (gasp) and don't have VH1, so looking at all of these 80's videos brought me back a good well, 15 or more years. If you love to remember these old songs, go visit the site.

I remember some of these like it was yesterday...A-ha-Take on me...George Michael-I want your Sex(I can so see now why my mom had a FIT when this came on MTV-very racy for even back then)...Tom Petty-Free Fallin and of course Chris Isaak-Wicked Game. Of course there were some ultra-cheeseball vidoes that were bad even back then but I had to watch and laugh: Stevie B-Dreamin of Love, Glenn Medeiros-Nothin's Gonna Change my Love for You and then there is the ever emberassing Eddie Murphy-Party all the Time.

What is your favorite? Mine isn't listed...Lita Ford-Ain't no Big Thing. Go ahead, waste some time and brain cells, it's worth it!

Amazing friends!

Although D and I have had quite a few streaks of crap luck in the past few years, topping off with the loss of Quincu Guiness O'Malley two days ago, we are very very blessed with our amazing friends. My counter is full of flowers and beautiful cards. My wine rack would be full of new bottles of wine too from all of the offers to come over with wine yesterday, but we just weren't into having company. Poor D is taking this so hard. I am holding up much better than I thought. I think because I have been through the loss of pets before, the loss of a good friend Jim and of course my dad. This is D's first real loss, and although lucky not to experience it until age 36, my heart just breaks for him. Q was his best friend in the world. We work from home and instead of a smoke break he would take a 5 minute "snuggle break" with Q.

It is just too quiet in our house now. I miss our boy so much and wonder if I will ever be able to not cry when I walk into the house and not see him bumbling down the stairs at neck-breaking speed. Even Higgies(the cat) hasn't eaten in two days. This is the first time our 20 lb fatboy has ever skipped a meal. It was his best friend too. Hopefully he crossed that rainbow bridge and my dad is taking care of him until we come and meet him again.

Goodbye Quincy, you were loved.

Our sweet, adorable, amazing little Quincy passed away last night. He was only 3. The vet believes he had a heart attack due to his Addison's disease. We are just heartbroken. Probably more so than alot of people who lose their animals. We were with him 24 hours a day and took him on all of our vacations and to most of our dinings out on Atlantic Ave. We loved that boy more than alot of people love their kids. The real kicker is that it happenned 5 years to the day of my dad's passing. I just feel like God is testing us sometimes.

Thank you for all of your thoughts and prayers.

Darwin Award

I should not be allowed to use candles.

You know that little sticker on the bottom of all(or at least on Yankee candles) that says something to the affect of "do not let candle burn all the way down or else the glass will burst, burn a big gaping black burn hole on your expensive bedstand and leave shards of glass stuck in your carpet"?

I did not heed it's warning, nor the one that states "do not leave candle burning while unattended".

Lesson learned.

You think I would have learned not to play with candles after D and I nearly burned our apartment complex down back in college. We lit a candle on the back of the toile', right underneath a hanging hand towel. We thought it was all steamy in there from the hot water, like a scene from a soap opera(excuse the pun-SOAP opera-never mind). Yup, we were morons. Still are, apparently.

Soccer Widow

This one is for you Ana-and all the other soccer/football/basketball widow's of the world:

This last week I have made a new best friend: my I-Pod. You see, the World Cup has started and I am married to a latin. That means at all times the game is on as loud as it can go. D announced that he would be working part-no make that spare-time during the month of June. Because we work from home, I needed to be able to concentrate while proceeding to keep the business on track. I cannot do it with GOOOOOOAAAAAAAALLLLLLL, GOOAAAL, GOOAAAAL, GOOOOOAAAAAL, GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLL is being screamed at by the announcer (ok, and David too) every flippin 10 minutes. So, my I-Pod, the Killers, Jack Johnson and I have become one. I am so racking up blackmail points for when I want to take days off to say do more important things than watch some stupid soccer game-like getting a pedicure or having lunch with one of my several teacher friends who have the summer off.

It's not just the soccer games, but because of our limited cable abilities(go ahead and laugh Crackin'), the only channel the game is on on our huge 10 inch tv is the spanish channel. The thing is, it's not your regular football halftime discussion with 4 overweight ex-pro coaches and players but rather one overweight announcer, a mariachi band and a gaggle of big breasted bimbos(seriously, one had knockers so huge they were each the size of my head and she was wearing what looked like a toddler's bikini top on them). On top of this, dear hubby printed out a set of rules for wives during the world cup. This list was sent from his brother. Hubby then sent it to poor Ana's husband (poor Ana, not her husband). He yells "Yellow card" whenever the poor dear breaks any infraction. At least he has to leave the house to go to work! Lucky, lucky girl! On to the rules, some of these include:

3. If you have to pass by the TV, please crawl on the floor and without distracting me. If you stand naked in front of the TV, make sure you put your clothes on right after because if you catch a cold, I won't have time to take you to the doctor during WC month.

4. During the games I will be blind, deaf and mute(lie, he isn't mute when he yells GOOOAAAAL) , unless I require a refill of my drink. You are out of your mind if you expect me to listen to you, open the door, answer the phone or pick up the baby that fell fromthe second floor-won't happen.

9. Tell your friends NOT to have any babies or and other events that require my attendance because a) I will not go b) I will not go c) I will not go

Lastly, here is a picture of dear hubby and our furbabies he is holding hostage during the 114th game. Notice he is snuggled on a bed, which is in the guest room, which is right next to the office. Yup, he has to watch it 10 feet from me because it's more comfortable than the downstairs couch. Is it almost over yet?

Exciting post

Ok, not really. But I wanted to share a recipe that I have made several times in the past few weeks for different events and it has received rave reviews. A few people have asked me for it, so here it is:

Greek Lasagna
prep: 20 min bake: 55 min stand: 15 min

1 med onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 can (14 1/2 ounce) vegetable broth
1 Tbs fresh or 1 tsp dried rosemary
1 can(14 ounce) artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
1 pkg(10 ounce) frozed copped spinach, thawed and drained
1 cup black olives-chopped
1 jar (16 oz) Alfredo sauce
9 uncooked lasagna noodles
3 c. shredded mozzarella cheese
1pkg(4 oz) crumbled herb and garlic feta cheese

1. Heat oven to 350. Spray 13x9 baking dish with cooking spray

2. Spray 12-inch non-stick skillet with cooking spray or olive oil, heat over med-high heat. Vook onion and garlic about 3 minutes until onion is crisp-tender. Stir in broth and rosemary. Heat to boiling. Stir in artichokes, spinach and olives, reduce hear. Cover and simmer 5 minutes. Stir in Alfredo sauce.

3. Spread one fourth of the artichoke misture in bottom of baking dish, top with three noodles. Sprinkle with 3/4 cups of the mozz cheese. Repeat layers 2 more times, spread with remaining artichoke mixture. Sprinkle with remaining mozz cheese and top with feta and a pinch of rosemary.


I have added chopped chicken to this as well, but you will need another 1/2 jar of alfredo sauce.

Bon Appetite!

Oh Oh, we're Halfway there, Oh oh, livin on a prayer...

Sorry, bad Bon Jovi referance.
I have over 50 quilt squares! Woo-hoo! Keep them coming, I still need 48 more! Get your buns in gear! Yeah, that means you my slacker family. Not one from my family, can you believe it! Where's the Donald-you're fired!

What the heck is a Up-per?

This weekend we celebrated our friend Ty's one year anniversary being in Florida in style. Ty and his sister and my good friend Heather are from the U.P.(upper peninsula) in Michigan and refer to themselves as Up-pers(pron. you-pers). Apparently the residents of the U.P. are a complete 180 from those in our neck of the woods(Palm Beach, Boca Raton). Heather is very creative and for the surprise we donned beards, flannel plaid shirts and these weird hats. We also had fake bow and arrows, Boone's Farm, a game of skeet on the tv, swisher sweet cigars and lots of other fancy, classy stuff. D and I bought him a bottle of Reunite for his class act night with the womenfoke, some slimjims, and an ancient bottle of Black Velvet whiskey-fer speshal okashuns, ay you hoser. A picture is worth a thousand words so here are a few. It was a very fun time! It was also a bit of a hurricane party since we got the outer bands from tropical storm Alberto!

Pregnancy vs. Paper Pregnancy (P vs. PP)

Before getting “pregnant”:

P: 10 minutes of Foreplay

PP: 6 months of insurmountable paperwork

Winner: Pregnancy

Fat Feet:

P: Swollen Ankles from water retention

PP: Swollen Ankles from running up and down the Couthouse and the USCIS’stairs

Winner: Tie

The Bulge:

P: Growing belly due to the growing “weight” o the bay

PP: Growing belly due to the growing “wait” of the baby-because all the pints of “Chunky Monkey” ice cream consumed after reading bad referral rumors

Winner: Pregnancy-at least 20 pounds will automatically be dropped on the “BIG DAY”

New Threads:

P: Lots of cute new maternity clothes that you have to wear for only a few months.

PP: For each month the CCAA tacks on to the wait, your dress size increases by two, again due to Chunky Monkey.

Winner: Pregnancy-see the Bulge

W(h)ine:

P: No alcohol for 9 months.

PP: Each month added to the wait by the CCAA turns you one step closer to having to join a 12 step program. Except I believe recovery is for quitters, and I am no quitter! Ha!

Winner: Paper Pregnancy

Bring on the Chunky Monkey and Pickles please:

P: Your dear husband will gladly go to Publix at midnight to make you happy.

PP: Your lazy husband says “Go get your own damn Three Blind Moose Chardonnay and Chunky Monkey”

Winner: That’s obvious

“Sick” day:

P: Can take days off for dr appts and fake some sick days.

PP: Fat chance

Winner: Pregnancy

Nice to Meet you:

P: 9 months till “metcha” day

PP: 18-24 months plus plus plus plus till “metcha days”

Winner: Um, pregnancy

Labor Pains:

P: Give or take 24 hours of Labor Pain, eased by meds, laying in bed.

PP: 24 hours of flying, switching planes 4 times, attempting sleep with Tylenol PM

Winner: Paper Pregnancy by a slim margin

Friendly strangers:

P: Conversation w/ clerk at Babies-R-Us: “Oh congrats, how far along are you?”

PP: Conversation w/ clerk at Babies-R-Us: “Thank you, come again”, me: “Thank you, by the way, I am expecting too!” You try to work your excitement into any conversation!

Winner: Pregnancy

More reasons to make me : )

Most of the times I open our mailbox I find a quilt square or three from the April06DTC group I joined. I am "swapping" squares with 47 other adoptive moms to be and have received squares from Norway, Puerto Rico, Australia, and most of the states. I love those, they make me happy. But what makes me ecstatic is the ones I receive from family and friends.

This week I received wishes from 3 wonderful families. A Big Thank you and Hug goes out to these families.

On Monday, Carol and Tracy A. gave us an adorable wish that said "May you always feel the love your parents had for you before they even held you in their arms". This was sweet because as a part of our church small group, they listen to us whine, I mean talk about the wait. Carol is my #1 reader : ) -I love how she fills me in each week with what she read on my blog, it makes me keep writing even when I think no one is checking it out!

On Tuesday, our good friends Myra, Jerry and son Ty sent us three separate wishes. Myra actually embroidered the wishes-one has a magical wand, the other has the cutest goldfish-very Asian inspired. We love this family-it's actually D's college roomates parents, who are so much fun that we still do a bar crawl with them once every other month!

And yesterday, I got another sweet surprise. Ana and Ron, another adopting couple sent a "laugh" wish and the cutest fabric.

Hopefully these pictures will show up here, but I know they won't be in order. I'll never be a blogging expert-I actuallu somehow magically deleted every stinkin photo on the blog the other day! I'm so smart.

How to make a girl cry...

On Saturday I received an unexpected and hugely wonderful surprise from the sweet and very fun Zakos family-April and Zack in Michigan. They sent me two beautiful quilt squares with Chinese lettering embroidered on them, they also made a matching pillow with Amelie's name stiched on the front and a wish for her on the back. If you are reading this, I can't thank you enough, it is such a lovely and heartfelt gift! Here is a picture of it....




Also, Amy C has been a busy beaver making me a bunch of cute squares, I told her we'd have to make an extra quilt just from auntie Amy! She is very creative and says she has more for us!

These past three weeks we have received about 30 more in the mail-two from Norway, one from Australia, one from Puerto Rico, and bunch from Canada....I have all of the ones from our April 2006 DTC group shown here...we have 44 so far, almost to our halfway goal!

FCC BBQ

Thank you Lee and Becky for a great bbq. We have waiting family meetings one a month, but it was good to have it in a more casual atmosphere. It also gave us a chance to meet more families who are already home with their darlings! The food was fabu too! Here are two little pics for your veiwing pleasure-one of some of the girls-it was Sarah's b-day-you can see the cupcakes I made with homemade ganache icing in the pic too. They almost didn't make it too the party-I wanted to eat them all. The other is of us "waiting" couples. Wendy and Ed (on the right) were LID 07/05/05-so they will be getting their referral in the next month or two. I am so excited for them! On the left is Ana and crazy Ron. They are one fun couple! Kim and Todd, if you are reading this, we missed you!

All better now!

Ok, I'm back. A few things helped me back to my state of "ignorance is bliss" this week. In no particular order: 1. Time to heel from the "twins" shocker 2. Prayer 3. My wonderful friends who listened to me whine and didn't offer any bad cliches, just offered a gal's night out when in need-love you guys! 4. A bbq at our FCC friend Lee's house, there were no less than 10 adorable little girls adopted from China there. Just looking at their faces and hearing from the moms and dads how long and worth it the road was to their daughters. 5. A chemical peel care of Amy M's new medi-spa -Radiance (yes, Amy, this is a shameless plug-Radiance is located at the SE corner of Boynton Beach Blvd and Congress). I felt a few years older these past few months, but damn if I don't look a good 5 years younger now!