Mackinac Island: Horse Poop, fudge and one fabulous wedding

Heather and Dan are finally married!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The whole gang partook in Planes, Trains and Automobiles last week up to Mackinac Island. Actually, scratch the Trains and Automobiles and substitute Ferries and Horse and Carriages. The six of us did have to sprint through the entire Detroit airport to make our connecting flight in under 8 minutes, but that's another story......

Once we finally reached our destination we were in for a lovely wedding vacation. The water surrounding the 8 mile around island is crystal clear and the weather could not have been lovelier. The only mode of transport is bike or horse or on foot. We all got our share of exercise, but piled back on the calories through food and spirits.

The wedding itself was a beautiful outdoor gazebo event. The cocktail party the night before was held at the Grande. The Grande is a huge old hotel that boosts the longest patio in the US.

A picture is worth 1000 words, so here are a few to tell hte rest of the story!

Artisic Vision

Wanna see my Christmas gift to my hubbins?

I am getting these photos that I took and edited enlarged and framed. I love photoshop and these photos now look like paintings!

Happy (?) 17 month anniversary

17 months down, ? ? ? to go.......

Now there is word on RQ that one agency is getting preferential treatment and people who are clients of that particular agency are getting their referrals months ahead of everyone else. And here we all thought in the beginning that China adoption was the most black and white way to go.....

Fortune cookie

Tonight we were feeling very lazy after a crazy hectic weekend and ordered in from Pei Wei. David's fortune in his cookie said "Your dream will soon come true".... on the back it read FATHER with the Chinese word for it. Pretty cool, huh? My Chinese word was March. March 2008 referral would make me pee my pants with excitement, March 2009 not so much.

I tagged myself

Grab the book nearest to you, turn to page 18, find line four, and write what it says. From "Falling Leaves", a book I borrowed from FCC mom Lee about a girl growing up in China in the mid 20^th century.
"Shanghai shining imported motor cars were speeding down….."

Stretch your left arm out as far as you can. What can you touch?
Annie, my crazy Goldendoodle (I am writing this while laying in bed on the laptop)

What is the last thing you watched on TV?
What Not to Wear at noon while taking a lunch break (working from home has it’s perks!)

With the exception of the computer, what can you hear?
The rain pouring down outside. We are under some tropical system-could become a tropical depression soon

When did you last step outside?
About a half hour ago I decided to take the dogs out to pee in the pouring down rain. Of course a minute after I came inside, it stopped. Now I have two wet dogs, one of which is snuggling next to me on my freshly washed sheets. Oh well.

What were you doing?
See above.

Before you started this survey, what did you look at?
Another FCC mom’s blog. Gave me inspiration to do this questionnaire. These are good when there are no adoption rumors floating about.

Did you dream last night?
Yes, actually it was around 7 this morning, I dreamed that I went to the grocery store and when I came out I saw that I left the dogs in a hot car. They were alive, just hot, all their hair fell off and they were almost dead. Geez, what a way to start my day with a terrible dream like that. What was that about? I have wicked nightmare's at least twice a week. Last week I had a dream an alligator climbed in the window of my car and ate Annie. What is with my nightmares about my car and my dogs?

When did you last laugh?

In my salsa class tonight.

What is on the walls of the room you are in?
A cross and three abstract taupe and aqua-ish colored pictures that I am not crazy about but match my new duvet. .

Seen anything weird lately?
A bit about OJ Simpson on the news. I turned off the tv because the scumbag doesn’t deserve any media attention

What is the last film you saw?
Knocked up. Twice. Oh, saw Anchor Man on tv Sunday after/during the Emmy’s. I always think I don’t watch that much tv, guess I do.

If you became a multi-millionaire overnight, what would you buy?
Buy a time machine that would catapult me into the future to Gotcha Day! Seriously-Move to a bigger house. Pay off our debt. Give lots of money to Operation Smile and Half the Sky. Help family. Buy two new cars. Go on vacation to the Tahitian Islands. Put the rest in retirement.

Tell me something about you that I don’t know?
I hate ricotta cheese. It’s late and I can’t think of anything more creative. That will have to do.

If you could change one thing about the world, what would you do?
Have the ability to impeach Bush.

Comment to President Bush.
Can you take an early retirement idiot?

Would you ever consider living abroad?
Maybe. If the opportunity arose. Ireland perhaps?

What do you want to say to God when you get to heaven?
Thanks for letting me in! Can I meet Sinatra now?

BTW....was fooling around with a picture I took of Fergiegirl today....rather Warhol-ish isn't it?

Help, I've fallen and I can't get up!

No new adoption news. Sorry kids. However, I do have another little story to share with you to make you laugh out loud (at my expense, of course).

Last Friday I went to the Grocery Pit, aka the Winn Dixie south of my house. I always always always go to Publix because the dregs of society can usually be found at the former store. I was in a hurry to pick up some potato salad for a bbq so I ran to WD. When I reached the deli area, where said potato salad could be found, I slipped on some I-don't-want-to-know-what-that-is on the floor and fell hard on my ass. And my flip flops broke, yes both of them. The top and the bottoms separated leaving me to walk, no shuffle, on just the bottoms. To make matters worse, the 80 year old Indian manager of the store is screaming at me to fill out some accident form. After about his 6th request, I barked back at him "FOR THE LOVE OF GOD I AM NOT GOING TO SUE YOU LEAVE ME ALOOOOONE!". The old dude followed me all the way to my car, which was a 20 minute trip considering I had to shuffle at a tortoise pace the whole way. My butt was bruised, but not as bad as my ego. Ay carumba!

Time of the month

No....not "that" time of the month.....it's referral time! Although they only did 4 days this month, I suppose I should be positive and say we are 4 days closer. Oy vey.

We are keeping plenty busy putting our house on the market and looking for something roomier. I probably won't be blogging much this month, don't miss me too much!

Not sure what to think.....

This was on RQ yesterday. I am really not sure what to think about this.....

I am again seeing children with repaired special needs being referred to parents who are in the non-special-needs program. This cropped up last year and then seemed to fade away, but now it seems to be making a comeback.

So far these include things like heart surgeries, and extra digits (toes, fingers) that have been removed.

It can also include a repaired cleft, which to me is a bit scary for a family expecting NSN since children can require multiple surgeries for this until their faces stop growing and changing. Also, children who have cleft issues can have problems with other organs in their bodies. The same “issue” in utero that causes the cleft can also make some of the internal organs not develop properly and some parents who adopt a waiting child with a cleft do not know their child has these other problems until they are home with them.

A few agencies are now starting to warn clients of the possibility of being referred a child with a repaired special need so I’m assuming they have heard something from the CCAA that tells them this is will be the new policy.

FCC Brunch

Thank you Lee for hosting a wonderful brunch yesterday. Here is the (not quite) Red couch picture of (from left) Brea, Natalie, Mattie, Sammi and Gigi. This was Gigi's first big outing since they came home from China last Tuesday? I can't wait until Amelie is on the couch too!

Better chance of winning the lotto....

What? Getting a referral in 2008? Yeah, that too! But what I am talking about is changing our request from a girl as young as possible to twins. Yup, finally convinced David that we should ask for twins. Worse case, we still get one beautiful little girl. Best case, we get two. From what I understand only one in every 2000 referrals is a twin referral, but you never know!

August babes

Referrals came out yesterday-7 days of LID's-again. Seems to be the ongoing trend. I now have 156 LID's ahead of me. So 156 /7=22.28. So I have 22 and a half more months to wait. At least I am under two years now!

Summer Reading

Last month at our FCC meeting, our "troop leader" lent us all out books to read. I am in the middle of the last one and if you enjoy reading novels these are three wonderful ones:

. Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress (Dai Sijie) about the lives of two teens, childhood friends who have been sent to a small Chinese village for "re-education" during Mao's Cultural Revolution

.The Waiting Child (Cindy Champnella) An extraordinary true story of human resilience in the face of tremendous odds. Adopted by an American family at age four, Jaclyn goes to her new home with a great burden. She had to leave behind a little boy who had been under her charge at the Chinese orphanage. Jaclyn inspires two families, several agencies, and two governments to cooperate to reunite her with 'her baby.' Everyone who reads this story will believe in the power of love to change the world.

.Snow Flower and the Secret Fan (Lisa See). See's engrossing novel set in remote 19th-century China details the deeply affecting story of lifelong, intimate friends (laotong, or "old sames") Lily and Snow Flower, their imprisonment by rigid codes of conduct for women and their betrayal by pride and love.

I am reading the Snow Flower book right now and was teary eyed reading about the footbinding. It is a probability that my daughter's biological grandmother or great-grandmother was made to go through this torture in the name of "beauty".

She ate what?

I don't want to bore you to tears, my dear readers, with all my dull stories of my animals' antics. However, I have no child antics to bore you with so here goes. Let's play "Guess what Annie ate this week?" Last week it was dental floss and a half pan of brownies. This week my dear neighbor was watching her while we were at Mai Kai. She put a ceramic water bowl in her crate, no biggie, right? WRONG. Friggin dog ate a 2 inch chunk out of it, and I am not being generous or exaggerating with the size. That night I did not sleep, sure she was going to start vomiting blood at 3 a.m.. Nope, she pooped it right out the next day. I swear I could see her sweating when she did her duty. That could not have felt good. My mom had a good idea "why don't you just put a muzzle on her"? Nothing, and I mean nothing is safe! Someone at the dog park told me goldendoodles don't grow up until they are 3, so fantastic, I have two more years and two month of this? She'll just start behaving when we go to China I guess!

Mai Kai

In all the years I have lived in the area I have never been to the famous Mai Kai. Last week we finally went for my friend Heather's 29th (I am being nice in case you are reading this Heather) birthday. When we stepped inside I felt like we were in the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. The food was amazing, as were the potent Hidden Pearl drinks. We had a table right next to the stage where dancers performed routines from Thailand to Hawaii. Hope you had a good night Heather!

The start of my 6th trimester

We just passed the 15th month mark of waiting for sweet Amelie. I am really hoping against all hope that we are passed the halfway mark. I think I'll explode if we are not. The last few months they have referred out from 5-7 days of LID's at a time. What does that mean? There are 161 LID's before us. 7 into 161 equals 23. Twenty three more months ahead of us at this pace. Putting us at a June 2009 referral. Everyone, please pray for a speed up for us!

Gigi's Gotcha Day!

Congrats to Ana and Ron who finally have their daughter Gigi! They had their gotcha day on Monday. She is a cutie!

This was how my day started

As usual, my morning started out with two dogs and one cat jumping on the bed to say good morning-at the same time. However, this morning, I noticed in an instant that there were small gasoline smelling paw prints on my pillow. My dumb cat Higgins got into the oil pan in the garage that my husband used to change his oil in his car. Higgins usually goes right through the cat door to use the litter box and then comes right back in. Early this morning he had the bright idea to use his pad paws as a stamp and ink pad. Needless to say, there were black oil paw prints all the way up the stairs and into my bed. So, fatboy Higgies got the first bath of his 7 year life. I needed a new bed set anyhow. Hello Bed Bath and Beyond!

Did I mention that Annie ate a half a pan of brownies yesterday and a few yards of dental floss? Of course I didn't know about the floss until it, um, came out the end it did not go into.......

Thank you Fliss and Sherry!!!!!!!

My new FCC friend in Melbourne, Fl, Felicity, sent me a wonderful cd with songs about adoption. What a wonderful surprise I had to find this in the mail! I have to admit though, I can't listen to it when I work because I get so teary eyed listening to the words that I can't see the computer screen! Thanks again Fliss! Hopefully in the next few months we can meet up and "do lunch"!

And speaking of Thank You's.......I finally got together with my good friend Sherry who volunteered to put together my 100 good wishes quilt. We went to go to the fabric store, but it was closed, so we stopped at Baja for some sangria and tacos. After we looked at all (140) squares I brought with me, we decided the quilt was going to be ginormous (yes, this is a new word according to Webster's) and we will have to do some creative cutting to have them all fit!

Busy week!!

It has been a whirlwind of fun this last week. My amazing girlfriend's Heather, Ronnie and Concetta threw me a fabulous birthday party on Saturday. Heather turned her house into a funhouse complete with indoor shuffleboard...and golf and ping pong outside. My camera is long dead so I don't have any pictures to share yet.

Yesterday I attended Ana and Ron's farewell brunch. I can't believe it's time for them to get Gigi already. Follow along with them with the link on the left......

We brought the beasts over to Heather and Dan's house after to go swimming (I came over to help clean up, but my good friends did that for me too-they are the best).....this is poor Annie after her mean mom threw her in the pool. She looks happy, but she was not a happy camper! I thought retreivers were water dogs? Guess not all of them?

Hey big spender

I finally made my first big purchase with the help of my wonderful mother. I was so afraid that they would stop making this and I love it so much that I don't care if it sits in the closet for 18 months before I take it out of the package. It's called "Wabi Sabi" and it is so me! Am I crazy not to want bears and bunnies in her room? It was a little pricey but I justified it because alot of her other stuff will be hand-me-downs. Kuddos to Fliss with my same LID month who bought an amazing stroller at E-Bay for half price....think I will follow her lead. Nothing but the best for Amelie-so long as some of it is on sale!

Last night we had a little send off for Ana and Ron who are going to China to meet Gigi in 10 days. The guys went bowling and beer-ing while the girls went to Wendy's and ordered from our favorite Asian dinner, chatted and played with baby Brea and Sammi. The kiddos took a bath together....I am sure 12 years from now when they are teenagers they will be thrilled that this picture circulated on the world wide web!

I could have written this!

This story sounded like us to a "T"!


http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17937816/

Birthday celebration and One month closer

Happy Birthday to Me! Looking forward to a day full of fun! My friend Traci and my Godson, her son, Jake are meeting me for lunch. Later in the afternoon we will be meeting friends from Michigan, Zack and April, at Watercolors for a Zackery Daquiri. Tonight we are headed to GOL for a dining experience I have been looking forward to for months!

It's also Fergie's birthday today too. I tried to take a picture of her in her tiara, but she was having no part of it!

On the adoption front, the lovely CCAA referred just one week again this month. What cracks me up is they have reviewed all of the May 06 files. It took them 4.5 months to get through April, our month and just a week and a half to get through May. What is that all about?

Because nothing is new with the adoption I bring you.....

POSSIBLY THE VERY BEST CHICKEN JOKE EVER!!



A chicken and an egg are lying in bed.

The  chicken is leaning against the headboard smoking a cigarette, with
a
satisfied smile on its face.

The  egg, looking a bit pissed off, grabs the sheet, rolls over, and
says,
"Well, I guess we finally answered THAT  question...



If  anyone needs it explained - read it a second time.

Figures my brother sent me this.....

Beast Update

As for the girls, they are wonderful. We had a scare with Fergie a few weeks ago. We had to take her to the ER vet twice, she was vomiting blood. This gave me flashbacks of Quincy, especially since it was the same ER vet we took him to when he passed away. She is fine now. Just a dog flu bug that was going around. She is so mellow that I check to make sure she is breathing every hour since she doesn't do much but lay around. She will play hard for an hour with her sister and then will sleep for hours. Just a Wheaten thing!

Annie is still eating everything....cell phones, remotes, my MP3 player, part of our dining room table. Last month she pulled a big ceramic cat dish off the counter and proceeded to chew it, there was blood on the tile, the couch and a part of the wall. It was like a crime scene. Smart girl she is, huh? I thought if we left her uncrated for an hour while we gone, what was the worst that could happen? Ha ha! And she never stops harassing the cats and Fergie. I can't for the life of me find the off button on her. I have met several other Goldendoodle and Labradoodle owners at the park, and they all say that their furbabies were just as big of troublemakers until they were at least two. If she does stop to take a two minute nap she usually plops her 50 lb body on top of her 30 pound sister with a thud. Not the politest mutt in the world. Did I mention her garbage fascination? She brought me a tampon applicator the other day. How nice!

We could be dancin' yeah!

David and I are still having an amazing time with our dance lessons. We have pretty much been concentrating on two dances....the Foxtrot and Salsa. As much as I love the Tango, you really can't find a place to dance it other than in the studio. You can Foxtrot to any slow song and can salsa anywhere down here. It's a great calorie burner and you can work up a sweat in an hour of practice. Our instructor taught us some fancy move the other night where I have to be bent in half while turning 180 not once but twice. I thought I was on the mad teacup ride after a while. I am not a born dancer, but we are starting to look better than we did before. Until a few weeks ago we looked like we were doing the Elaine dance from Seinfeld!

Time for the RQ roller coaster

People have compared the RQ rumors to the Charlie Brown-Lucy kicking the football cartoon. Every month there seems to be bad rumors, followed by good, followed by actual bad news regarding the amount of referral days. Referrals come out generally the first week of the month and are preceded by rumors the few days or weeks leading up to them. Yesterday a nasty rumor came from an agency that only TWO TEENY days are expected next week. Today the rumor is up to TEN DAYS which would be amazing. The more they do, the closer I get to an 08' referral!

In the meantime, D and I are keeping extremely busy! My calendar is booked up until the third week of August with baby showers, birthday parties, wedding showers, bachelorette parties and a trip to Orlando-Universal. And during the week we have ballroom lessons, adoption meetings and dog obedience. I highly recommend to anyone adoption from China to keep yourself so busy that you can't remember which day is which!

Ok, I am still a bloggy novice, can't for the life of me figure out why the font is twice as big at the end compared to the start of this post!

A speed up in 08'?

According to the Rumor Queen (all hail the rumor queen!) the CCAA just held a meeting with agency representatives. There was alot of good information that came out of that meeting but the two items that excited me the most were:

1.The CCAA feels that in 2008 they will be back to something closer to 15 days per month.

2. The CCAA hopes that families do not give up hope. Families waiting will get a child. They hope for patience and understanding.

So, there will be a child from China in our future and if they do get back to half months starting in January, but continue with 5-7 day months until then, that still puts us with a referral by next Christmas. I hope they keep their word. They haven't been spectacular when it comes to that, but I will take any shred of hope I can get!

14 down, anywhere from 12-22 to go.

On Sunday our official wait turned 14 months or 427 days old. As far as gestation periods go, if I were a giraffe I would be ready to pop out my little bambina. But I'm not a giraffe. So the wait goes on.

You know you have been waiting too long......

Top reasons I know I have been waiting too long for my child from China

1. Those Baby Einstein DVD's I bought may be as obsolete as the 8-track by the time we bring her home

2. I am going to have to see if any international flights offer senior citizen discounts for us

3. The baby name I choose, because it was unique and #843 on the popularity list, will be in the top 5 names soon.

4. I am afraid to paint the baby room in case the paint completely fades.

5. I am going to have to buy an additional carry on suitcase for our hemorrhoid and memory boosting medications.

Anyone think of some more?

I'm back!

Alright, alright, I am back to the bloggy world! I may have lost all my readers, but here goes.

I decided to let me deflated ego take a break for awhile a few months back while we were waiting to get out of the review room. Well, guess what? WE ARE OUT! Only 4.5 months of review room anticipation. Of course, the CCAA decided to slow way down once they got to our month. Figures. I have been a nervous wreck for months on end, but as each day passed without a call from our agency asking for more info, I figured no news is good news. I was right. Whew!


Hmmmm.....what else has been going on? Oh, Ana and Ron got their referral for Gigi. This is one SERIOUSLY CUTE KID! Ana's shower was this past weekend and they should be heading to China in July.

What else, oh...not so fun news, David and I have to redo all of our adoption paperwork in order to get a new 171H (the document that allows you to bring in a foreign child into the US). Luckily, a good deal of it may be free this time around. And at least I know what to do this time!

Oh, and I met two other adoptive mom's to be in Maryland last month. I am hoping that we will be traveling together to China since our dates are very close!

Now some pictures of Gigi and of Gigi's mama at her shower last weekend!

Bloggie Break

Just as I was priding myself on doing really well with the whole wait, the CCAA referred two whole days of referrals this months (Oct 25th and 26th). TWO days. Seriously. Since we aren't until April 24th, I can't imagine how long it will take. I am going to stop speculating for a bit (2009, 2010?). I am taking a break from blogging and all else to do with adoption. We will be heading to the airport to great Miss Brea tomorrow night, but after that I am going to have to just mentally step away from all things adoption and China for a bit.. Not forever, I just figure it's better than getting down about the wait..........

Magic 8 Ball

For all those who want to know if they will get their referral by a certain time, you are in luck! The Magic 8 Ball is at the bottom of this page!

The twins

Finally was sent some pictures of my new neice and nephew. Ain't they cute! Meet Allison and Gregory.....


On another note, I can't believe it's April already. In just 3 weeks it will be my one year LID anniversary. The latest RQ rumors have us at a 3 year wait. WHAT!?! I need to stop reading RQ for a bit, don'tcha think!

More pics of Brea

Could she be any cuter? They say she is a very big girl, she looks like it in this picture, even though she won't be 1 for another month and a half!

Introducing Brea!

Kim and Todd arrived safely in China and on Sunday they met their precious baby girl Brea! We will all go meet them at the airport when they come back next week. I can't wait until they are home!

Two down, Three to go.....

Within our FCC group, we have been a part of a smaller "clique" of 4 other couples that we adore. Wendy and Ed came back from China with Sammi late last summer. Our friends Kim and Todd left yesterday to get Brea. On Friday Ana, Wendy , Andi and myself went to Kim's to help her pack and take some notes. You can only take over a 44 pound suitcase each for the three week trip- and you have to bring gifts to everyone in the orphanage. Needless to say one needs to be very creative with the packing process! We had alot of fun helping her pack and can't wait to be some of the first to greet Brea into the country at the airport when they get back!

This picture is of the other gals late Friday evening. All packed and ready for Brea!

Mafia connection

David and I helped some friends with their new business venture at the Palm Beach Boat Show this weekend. David was coming out of the sales center and another friend took a picture.

I think it looks just like he could be Tony "the Butcher" Larosso and the FBI took survallience of him after he just made someone "sleep with the fishes".

What a riot!

Meanwhile, I just ran downstairs to check out something that smelled like it was burning. I put a kettle on for some tea a half hour ago and forgot about it. I had the tea bag in there and because it burned through all the water, I got there just in time to see the tea bag go up in flames. Think I am a little sleep deprived? Ha!

Mean people suck-part 2

Ok, like wasn't bad enough that this dumb girl made the rude "Chinese kids aren't even cute" comments to me last week. I ran into her again when I had to go in my friends store to pick something up.

Setting: Friend's business

Cast: Me, husband, dumb girl (FoaF-friend of a friend-now to be called Idiot FoaF or IFoaF), and other Friend of same friend but she is smart and sweet (hmmm, I will give her the acronym SaSFoaF)

So.......

Me (entering business): Hey girls, is A in?

SaSFoaF: No, sorry. You guys look nice.

Husband: Thanks!

IFoaF: Hey, what do you guys do for work anyhow?

Me: We own our own mortage and financial services business

IFoaF: Oh, fun, I need to make some more money. Could I do that?

Husband: Sure, we could always use help, we could talk about it.

Me: (silently kick him)

IFoaF: So, are you planning on working next year when the baby comes home?

Me: Very part time, we'll see.

IFoaF: I was thinking of starting a tee-shirt business. I could make you one with a Chinese Takeout Box and a Chinese kid coming out of it-it can read Chinese Take Out.

SaSFoaF: (rolls her eyes) Um, I don't think that would be very PC

Me: (blood pressure going up) She is right, I don't think the other adoptive parents, nor do I, think that is funny. Besides missy (nervous laugh), you are already on thin ice with me after your comments last week.

David: Honey, we have to go, we are running late.

IFoaF: I just don't know why you guys don't get a white baby? Why get an Oriental? (I swear she really did go there, again)

David: I , um, have to make a call, um, outside. Bye ( SaSFoaF)

SaSFoaF: (Looked as though she wanted to crawl under the desk)

Me: Oriental is for rugs, not people. I just, wow, you are misinformed. Bye, (SaSFoaF). Let A know we stopped in.


WHAT WOULD YOU HAVE DONE?

And one more makes 11.....

Saturday will be 11 months of waiting since LID. Since I won't be home except for sleeping hours the next 4 days, I thought I would mark this in the blog now.

So-11 months now. In some ways it has passed extraordinarily fast, in other ways it seems like an eternity. I have been coping well the last few months, and you can probably tell by my posts. I wonder how we feel at the one year mark? Time will tell.

Everyone wants to know-- how much longer? When we were paperchasing we were told A would be home for Christmas 2006. After we were LID last April we were told it was probably going to be spring 2007 . In the summer of 2006 we were told around Christmas 2007. Now we are being told she will probably not be home before spring 2008. So, although I would like to believe we are half way through the wait, realistically no one really knows. I am now telling people July of 2008. It can't be longer than that, it just can't be!

Dunce Award

So, here's a good one to make you laugh. Today I went to go get spray tanned and as a part of the process, they make you wear a shower cap. The girl put the fan on me and left the room. I got dressed after a few minutes and went to the front desk to check out. The people behind the counter said good bye and have a nice day. A few minutes later I was driving down the road singing to Lucinda Williams with the car window down. I looked in the mirror to see my new tan and Voila----still had the stupid shower cap on. Nice.

Twins update

Just a quick update on the girls, they are doing dog-gone great! Ok, that was lame. Annie has gained 50% of her weight since we got her 6 weeks ago-from 22 pounds to 32 pounds. Fergie has stayed the same-also 32 pounds. Annie is the star or her obedience class. She was the only one out of 10 pups to repeatedly do the "come from 20 feet and sit" trick. I am so proud!

I love this picture-a bit blurry, but it shows their funny side!

Annie is still not quite over the carsickness, but we are working on it....

People are strange

and mean. Here is an exerpt from a conversation I had Friday night. I am still a little upset about it, even though D is telling me to get over it. I handled it quite well and just took the higher road and walked away, but still!

Setting: St Patties Gathering Friday evening

Friend of a Friend (FOAF): Oh my gosh, hi how are you?

Me: Great, how are you?

FOAF: Good, how is the adoption going?

Me: Ok, thanks for asking. It's taking a really long time, we probably have one more year.

FOAF: Why don't you adopt through the US? There are so many babies here.

Me: Actually, the children in China need homes just as bad, and their chances for a good productive adulthood are much slimmer than for orphans in the US because of the programs the US has. Also, the chances of the child from China being drug of alcohol addicted are much lower.

FOAF: Yeah, I don't get the whole China adoption craze, I mean, they aren't even cute.

Me: Um. (Backed away stunned and walked away).

Green Day(s)

Being of a wee bit of Irish Heritage I celebrated St Patties Day in a big big way. Friday we went to a little (and I mean tiny) Irish Pub right by our house. We had about twenty of our little ol' gang in the tiny tiny corner of this itty bitty bar. The band that plays is full of 60-80 year old men and they are a riot. We sang many a sing along songs such as the Unicorn song, Danny Boy and And She Was, and of course Alice.

The next day we crawled out of bed, drug ourselves to dog training class (I am commited) and then off to Atlantic Ave to see the parade and play all day. No pictures yet, my camera died mid Bahama trip, but someone will send me some.

I really hope Miss A is here with us for next St Patties day. I will put her in a 100% Irish shirt and shamrock antennas. Of course it will be a much shorter day on the Ave, but that's ok!

Brea's shower

Yesterday Ana and I went to one of our fellow waiting mom Kim's baby shower. Kimand Todd will be traveling in the next few weeks and we are so happy for them! Brea will be such a little princess with her gorgeous outfits. Hopefully those will all make it to Amelie's closet, us waiting folks have no problem with the hand-me-downs! Kim, I hope you feel better before your trip-you aren't suppossed to get sick until you get back! : )

Fellow April LID'ers

I decided to catch up on my fellow April LID'ers group and there is much talk about this long wait. There are many waiting parents out there who are just not coping well at all. A few are seriously considering pulling out. This saddens me so much. As much as I get all worked up about the wait, I know that we are halfway there. I can't imagine not going to China, even if it takes another 2 or 3 or more years. Most of us in this group have tried for years to start a family and to turn back now is just unimaginable to me. I think alot of the people who are on the fence already have a few children, but I really hope they all stick with it. Some greater force led them there and I hope they stick with it. If any of you guys are reading this-Keep the Faith and cyber hugs to you all. This will be the LAST year without our little ones-and this year is a quarter of the way done-you can do it!

Adoption Update

In the past month and a half, the CCAA has referred out 11 days of LIDs. 11 whole days. Wow, guess we are getting our referral in Two Thousand and Never. ChinaAdoptionForecast.com just estimated a Feb 2008 referral for us. It just keeeeeeps geeeeeting slooooooooweeeerrrrrr.

Aaaaand we are still not out of the review room, they got through another 9 days in the review room in the last 4 weeks. Big woop. I know it was just Chinese New Year over there, but can someone light a firecracker under their butts please? We are still 24 LID days away from review. That could take another 2 months. I feel like time is standing still. So glad I knew nothing of these latest figures while in the Bahamas, I would not have relaxed like I did!

The neighbors must think we are nuts...

So I have been doing alot of research this past week on a very specific issue that I have been encountering. And then my poor neighbor dealt with it this weekend as well. Annie, my onrey little goldendoodle gets carsick. EVERYTIME. While we were away, my neighbor took her to obedience class for me (how nice was that?), and Annie puked all over her front seat as soon as they rounded the corner. That's special, isn't it? At least she is housetrained finally.

After much research I found that dogs who get carsick are dealing with an emotional stressor. Poor things thinks everytime we get in the car she is going back to the pound. So, to remedy this we sit in the car each night in the driveway with Annie in the back and go nowhere. Next I have to back out of the driveway, then the next day go around the block until we make progress. Oh the things we do for love!

I can't believe it's been a month and a day since I brought them home. Fergie hasn't gained a pound, she has probably stopped growing now that she is 9 months. Annie gained 7 pounds this month, but she doesn't look too much bigger to me.

Here are pictures of them when I like them the most (nappy time)! I highly recommend a little puppy love in everyone's lives!

A few more pictures from Paradise

Gotta love the "Protect Ya Ting" Aids sign! And don't you love the lighthouse right next to our weekend house?

What Adoption Wait?

Nothing like a few sun and rum soaked days in the Bahamas to make one forget about the long wait. We had an amazing time over there, the house we stayed at was right across from Anna Nicole's, so that made things interesting. The weather could not have been better, we were right on the ocean, the weekend was just perfect! We went to Paradise Island, the Straw Market and had a lovely dinner at Luciano's. Thanks again and Happy Birthday Dan the Man!!!

Bahama Mama

Off to the Bahamas tomorrow! Yippee! Maybe we will get to go to Anna Nicole's funeral bash too. Yeah, ok. Well, off to pack, will post some pics when we get back!