Adventures in Babysitting-the sequel

A week ago I received an e-mail from Wendy and Ed, who got back a month ago from China to adopt their baby girl Samantha. They asked if we could watch Sammi for a few hours this afternoon. They sent this e-mail to David and I, as well as two other "waiting families" Ana and Ron & Kim and Todd. Well, they should have know that since we are all living vicariously through their lives as parents of an adorable little girl from China that we would all say "pick me, pick me!". I did in fact, respond in that exact manner. So, instead of choosing one couple to do the task, we all went over to watch the bambina. Well, Ron had last minute final plans that involved no diaper changing, but we didn't let David and Todd in on that dirty little secret so that they would still tag along with us womenfolk. So that left us with 5 adults and 1 small child, and therefore there was no napping. At least not for the small child. My husband did fall asleep on the couch for a bit, but who could blame him with the awful Dolphins game that was on (that is another story, what are they now, 1-6, seriously...I am burning my cute little dolphins tank top, or at least peeling the logo off, I digress again) . For a much more amusing take on this day...click on Ana's blog...see Gigi's Page over on the right. I am too pooped to be ha ha funny tonight. After all, our day started with just D and I teaching Sunday School to 15 kids. I liked the afternoon adult/child ratio much better! I will leave you with a few pics of our day with little miss Sunshine. She really is the best baby I have ever watched!

Need more assvice

Nope, this isn't about the adoption and how to keep myself from going nutso-but I have another factor in my life that may push me over the edge as well. My, make that Dave's; 12 year old cat, who has never scratched any furniture or done anything ill-behaved, has suddenly decided to start pissing and crapping on our couches. This morning was about the 6th or 7th time in the past two months. I don't know what brought it on, there is no new stresses for him to be concerned about, the dog is gone, no kids to taunt him (yet). Seriously, David is so lucky it's his cat, because if mine did that (and my perfect little Higgins would never ever do anything wrong), I would give him a new home. Under the wheel of my car. Any idea what a pain in the arse it is to remove the cushion covers, febreeze the crap out of the cushions, leave them in the sun, wash the covers 10 times and repeat twice a week? This is why I am a dog person, you can't exactly punish a cat like you can a dog and have them "get it". Not to mention the deep 8 inch scar on my thigh I have from trying to pick him up. Evil little creature. Yes, I know Ronnie, cat soup does sound like a good idea.

No sugar coating here

My lovely agency just sent out their bi-monthly newletter. For the first time (probably because of all the pressure us anxiety ridden parents are placing on them) they are being honest and up front about the timeframes. As you can see, based on our 04/24/06 LID, we are looking at an Oct 2008 referral and then traveling Dec 2008-Jan 2009. We started the process in July 2005. Once again, this wonderful, delightful, optimistic cheerful news makes me want to go down a lunch of chocolate, wine and prozac. Holy crimidy. And other not so nice pleasanties I can't write in case my church friends are reading. But believe me, I am cursing and throwing things as I write this. Anyone want to give me some assvice as to how to get back to my happy place?

August-08 LIDs: 3/31/2006 4/9/2006
September-08 LIDs: 4/10/2006 4/19/2006
October-08 LIDs: 4/22/2006 5/1/2006
November-08 LIDs: 5/2/2006 5/11/2006
December-08 LIDs: 5/12/2006 5/21/2006
January-09 LIDs: 5/24/2006 6/2/2006

Too much time on my hands

If you have a minute...check out this facial recognition website. I did a few pics and another less flattering one pulled up Bridgit Fonda and Jennifer Love Hewitt. I used to get told all the time that I look like Brigit Fonda. I'm not complaining, poor David had Sean Astin and George W Bush. Poor guy!

Warning: Joke in very bad taste to follow

My brother sent me this:

Q: How can you tell the difference between a Democrat and a Republican?

A: A Democrate uses bookmarks, while a Republican prefers his pages bent over.

Bad, I know. I actually tried to contact Foley's office to help me with out whole USCIS/I-171H mess. His office never got back to me. I should have sent David into Mr. Foley's office dressed as a school boy. We'd be in China by now. I wish I'd known then what I know now!

And speaking of Chinese culture

David and I went to the coolest Asian boutique yesterday. He bought a really great black "pajama" outfit and some numchucks(I can't spell and I am too lazy to use spellcheck). It has a big black dragon on the front. He is going as Bruce Lee for a "Dead Entertainers" Halloween party we are attending. I'll be Rita Hayworth, but I'll get into that after the event....

I tried on a few of the dresses in the store, just for shits and giggles. I thought I'd get one for the Chinese New Year and Harvest Moon festivals. Let me 'splain something to you Lucy, if you are ever feeling thin and want to change that thinking, go to one of these stores and try on the clothes. I kid you not, I was an XXL. I wanted to cry. A large is a size 2, a XL is a 4 and so on and so forth. Who are the small's made for, smurfs? Mediums are for the Nicole Ritchies of this world. Not to mention, they are made in the shape of a box. By the time I found a size to fit my booty, I could have taken a tire off of my car, put my body through the middle of it and sit it at my waist, and it would have fit around the middle. Maybe they would make good maternity clothes since the hips and waist are the same size. Anyone knows anyone who can sew? I'll have to have a handmade one! Guess the only shopping I will be doing in China is for pearls and jade, not that that is a bad thing!

Celebrations

I have many many fond memories of the holidays with my family from age two and up. I cannot wait until we start our own traditions with Amelie. In addition to Christmas, Thanksgiving and Easter (and the all popular Groundhogs Day, ha, ha), we will have the opportunity to celebrate several Chinese holidays as well. Many FCC families feel strongly about incorporating Chinese culture into our children's lives, but not shove it down their their throats. It's a very delicate balance. We intend to introduce the Chinese Holidays to Amelie and gently encourage her to take Mandarin language classes. If she becomes more or less interested in all of these things, we will allow her to delve into them more, or steer away from them, whatever her choice is.

One of the big Chinese holidays that just passed is the Harvest Moon Festival. The Moon festival (also called the Mooncake or Mid-Autumn festival) falls on October 6 in the year 2006. What is the Moon festival? Every year on the fifteenth day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar, when the moon is at its maximum brightness for the entire year, the Chinese celebrate "zhong qiu jie." Children are told the story of the moon fairy living in a crystal palace, who comes out to dance on the moon's shadowed surface. The legend surrounding the "lady living in the moon" dates back to ancient times, to a day when ten suns appeared at once in the sky. The Emperor ordered a famous archer to shoot down the nine extra suns. Once the task was accomplished, Goddess of Western Heaven rewarded the archer with a pill that would make him immortal. However, his wife found the pill, took it, and was banished to the moon as a result.

Luckily for us, we don't have to try to create this festival by ourselves. The FCC community does a fantatic job recreating this event in Palm Beach County. I am very much looking forward to attending with our daughter!

Dave's blog

David started his very own blog. His is a little more heartfelt, a little less sarcastic and a not full of much-ado-about-nothings like this site! It's deep man. Hey-ya gotta have balance. Check it out! www.ouryangnu.com Like mine, except leave out the blogspot part

dog days

After another night of sneezing, itchy red eyes and a runny nose, we decided to let Henry to go another family this morning. A freind of the previous owner who has a few kids and a fenced in yard just lost their boxer to a car accident last week. We decided to give him to their family. I miss him and his big beautiful blue eyes, but he will be much happier there. After all that drama begging David for a dog. We are wheaten people anyhow, it'll happen again : (

Welcome home Sammi!

Last night our good friends Ed and Wendy and their baby Samantha returned home to the US from China. Several of us crazy FCC families went down to the airport to greet them with big signs and alot of noise. We are planning on making this a tradition. We are so happy for them...finally, a family at last! Congrats!

Almost home!

We saw the puppies today! We saw the puppies today! I think I decided to name our new little monster after my grandfather Henrico and call him Henry. It just seems more fitting than Finnegan but the jury is still out. What do you think? All 9 of the puppies were outside running around, but ours would take just a step or two then fall asleep on the grass. I hope he just has narcolepsy and isn't unhealthy! We'll go see him one more time Saturday before he comes home with us next Wednesday.

Here are a few pics of him. In the last one, he was drinking some water when one of his sisters came and sat on his head. Too cute!

As the world turns

I can't believe it's been a year since we turned in our application to our agency. My life seems like a soap opera in one very peculiar way. No, my husband is not having an affair with my evil twin sister, nor did I just come back from the dead and find my best friend married to my father, who it turns out is not really my father but my brother or perhaps my uncle. You know how if you watch a soap opera once a year, it's like the same thing is happening, nothing is really moving forward? It's like the writers drag out a story line for like, years at a time. Anyhow, I do lately feel just like that. Any progress with your adoption? Nope. Is your file in the review room? Nope. Any word as to how long it will be? Nope.

Ah well, maybe my life is more like the movie Groundhog's Day.

Well, starting next week I'll have another distraction from the wait. A soon to be 70 pound drolling shedding panting smelly lovable distraction. Can't wait!

CCAA Roller Coaster

Good news this morning, the CCAA referred/matched 18 days worth of LID's this month. Over the last 6 months, the days referred ranged from 5-9 days. So, maybe it won't take 2-3 years. If they keep this up, it will take 19-20 months. Yesterday was month #5 in the waiting game for us. If I was pregnant pregnant and not paper pregnant, I'd have a big belly and be more than halfway through. So, we still have a long way to go, but at least temporarily there is a little brighter outlook.

The CCAA just finished reviewing December 2005 LID files and word has it they are already looking at some March 2006's. Ours is April 2006 and I can breathe out, just a little, when we are past that stage. (In case you are confused, your file goes through two stages over there, the review room and then the matching room). David was never able to obtain the elusive "certification and authentication" stamps from his home country. I have a bad feeling the CCAA is going to demand this, and it will be back to South America for David so he can get that done. Keep your toes and fingers and everything else crossable, well, crossed!

Happy couple

This weekend I had the honor of co-hosting an engagement party for our good friends Wendy and Claus. It was luau themed and it was a success! Too much food, but never too many laughs were had by all. They are getting hitched on the same yacht that D and I had our reception on 5 1/2 years ago, so I will actually get to enjoy the wedding from a guest's point of view! Ours was such a whirlwind, that as much work as I put into it, I barely had time to sit back and completely take everything in. I can't wait until thiers. Hopefully the way our dance lessons are going, we'll be pretty good by then!

Speaking of dancing, I am totally hooked to Dancing with the Stars! I loved it last year, but now that I know the basics(and maybe a little more) of the Tango, Foxtrot, Cha Cha, Rhumba, Salsa, Waltz and as of today's lesson the beginning of the Hustle(stop laughing, really stop now, you are hurting my feelings : ) ), I really appreciate the moves the celebrities make. Plus, have you seen the legs on these dancers? Holy moly! Of course, that is their life and since no one is paying me to dance and I can only spend a few hours a week in the studio, the weight isn't exactly dropping off. Probably doesn't help that I come home with the munchies and eat half a bag of lime tortilla chips. I am sure those dancers satisfy their hunger with a tic tac and a half a grape. Whatever!

Itsy bitsy bits of hopeful news?/ I heart Clay

If you have wandered over to the Rumor Queen website(and why would you unless you are adopting), for the first time in a very long time, there is an aire of optimism regarding the wait. Many people are hearing through the grapevine that the wait is going to stabalize from 14-18 months. That would mean at 18 months, we would have a referral next October and travel in December. THAT would be fan-friggin-tastic. Eighteen months sounds like heaven compared to the 2-3 year wait. Not getting my hopes up yet, but at the least the woah-is-me syndrome has subsided a bit.

Then there's this, a letter I received from House of Representatives member Clay Shaw:

Thank you for contacting me with your support for the Helping Families Adopt Orphans Act (H.R.5888). You will be pleased to know that I am a consponsor of this bill.

H.R. 5888 was introduced by Rep Heather Wilson of NM on 07/25/06. As you know, the bill would direct the Secretary of the U.S. Dept of Homeland Security to ensure that an individual may file an orphan petition for at least two years after approval of an advanced processing application.

H.R. 5888 was referred to the full House Judiciary Committee. Please know that I support H.R. 5888 should it come before the full U.S. House of Representatives for consideration.

Thank you again for contacting me.

Sincerely, E. Clay Shaw, Jr Member of Congress

New puppy pic

Here is my little man at just 3 weeks. I just want to eat him up!

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!