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!