To blog or not to blog, that is the question!

Now that I am DTC (yippee!) what am I supposed to do with this blog for the next 10-12 months? Originally I made the decision to do this blog so that I could chronicle my adoption process. I’m not much of a journal writer (with an actual pen and book) but I seem to be able to type like a mad woman. LOL. So do I continue this blog, but only put in entries about adoption-ish stuff? I mean, sure we have all my feelings and junk, but who really cares about that? OR do I just digress for the next few months and ramble on about the rest of my life? OR 3^rd option, start a whole different blog that is just ME stuff, and no baby stuff, although that is harder and harder to do, as I now intermingle baby stuff in my everyday life.  Thoughts? Comments?

 

And TIM, thank you for coming out of the closet. HA HA HA HA  I mean the lurking closet of course. It’s nice to see you visiting!

 

 

HEE HEE HEE!  

DTC FINALLY!

I have my official DTC date of November 25th. My agency had told me last week that my stuff was going to ship on Wed, but apparently they LIED, and it didn’t go out until Friday. They aren’t even sure if it is in China yet, so keep your fingers crossed that it gets there safe & sound. It doesn’t sound like my agency has any intention of telling me when or if my dossier made it there ok, as I had to call them today to get an answer about the DTC, so I suppose I will be calling them again Thursday or so to be sure I don’t have to have a stroke. I did hear today that there is a big push to get everything logged in by Nov 30, and I don’t know how the heck that is going to happen, since its 3 days away. But I guess that is the goal. Wish me luck. At least it is officially on its way, so that is one more check to make on the list.

Really, I know I sound ticked off at my agency (and I am) but really I’m so glad to have an official DTC date. Its really happening. Hopefully this time next year Emily will be home with me, and I’ll be freaking out about motherhood, not about paperwork!! LOL

I'M THANKFUL FOR....

Today I have a lot of things to be thankful for. I even made a list!

• I'm thankful that my family (and me too!) are all healthy in body and spirit.
• I'm thankful that my sister had a beautiful baby boy this year with no complications. :-)
• I'm thankful that I have a job I love, working with people that I like.
• I'm thankful that I have lots of friends in my life who are good people, that I care about, who care about me too!
• I'm thankful that I am DONE with all my paperwork for my dossier.
• I'm thankful that in one year, Emily will be here with us, celebrating her first Thanksgiving.
• I'm thankful that my dossier is going to China TODAY. yay!

I hope everyone has a safe, fun holiday, and that they have as many reasons to be thankful as I have.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

A Harry Weekend

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire was a terrific movie. Really, it was fabulous. If you are a Harry fan, you MUST see it on the big screen. If you are not a Harry fan, well, I feel sorry for you, because you are missing out. It’s not too late to become a Harry fan, and you really can see this movie without seeing any of the others and not be lost at all. So go. Watch the movie. Eat some popcorn with Milk Duds. Part of the reason I had such a good time was that all my Potter friends were there, Jill, Jake, Carrie, Melissa & Shannon. I love that my grown up friends don’t think I’m a dork for liking Harry!    The other cool thing about this evening was the weird extra bonus we got at the movie theater. We are sitting there, watching the dumb commercials they have playing before the previews start and a theater employee stops the films and says, we have a special treat for you. A dude comes out in a cape (think hobbits) and he starts playing a digeridoo (sp?). Then he stops that, lights these balls on fire and starts swinging them over his head and around and round. It was crazy! Some kind of Polynesian fire dance, although he was definitely not Polynesian. It was…interesting.  It was cool to watch, but I sort of felt like the guy must be desperate for attention if he is trapping movie theater goers into watching him light stuff on fire. I mean, it pretty much screams LOVE ME, LOVE ME! But maybe I’m reading too much into it.  Anyway, the movie was great, so even with the weird dude, it was worth it.

 

The other fabulous thing that happened this weekend was that my nephew got baptized. He did great and slept through most of the mass, even the water on the head bit. He can scream like the devil himself is branding him when he has a mind to, so we were grateful that he slept. Plus, I got to visit with my sister and BIL, and they are fun, so all in all it was a good weekend. I’m WORN OUT today, but I should be alright in a day or two.

 

 

 

 

Colin with his silly hat on. Check out his fat little cheeks!  

Me holding Colin right before mass yesterday. He's all dressed up in his Baptismal outfit.  

HOBBIES

As you can tell, the arrival of the brown envelope has put my head up my butt. I completely forgot 3 major things

1)     Thanks for all the hobby suggestions!!  Although I can cross-stitch, it’s not really my thing. It takes too long… I mean I really admire the works that Erica has done, (and if you haven’t seen them you should, moira’s little world link on the right)  and Amy’s stocking for Ruby was fabulous, no doubt about that. But let’s face it, I’m too impatient for that kind of work.  HOWEVER, I did find some small-ish Christmas ornaments that are cross stitch patterns and I’m going to start working on those next week. It’s ok if I don’t get them done by this Christmas, because I have a WHOLE YEAR.  I’m also going to: try a jazzercise class, volunteer at the red hot turkey trot, register for some baby items, finish every single home repair project that I started and stopped in the last 6 years, finish an afghan I started in 1998, work on Emily’s Life-book and go roller skating with Shannon R. (I promise)

2)     This weekend my nephew is getting baptized, and I get to be the Godmother. oOOH AHHHH. I haven’t seen the little guy in a few weeks, so I’m really looking forward to getting in a nice long visit. There will be pictures posted on Monday, so no worries about that.

3)     I FORGOT TO DO THE HAPPY FRIDAY DANCE!!  It’s Friday, It’s Friday, yay yay yay yay yay!!!

 

OK. NOW I’m done. Have a great weekend folks.

 

 

The Brown Envelope

Today is going to be a good day. It’s Friday, which is always good. The Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire movie comes out tonight, and of course, Harry fanatic that I am, I already have tickets to the 10:30 show. In fact, there is a whole group of us going, a Potter Party if you will. I’m very much looking forward to that.  AND yesterday when I got home from work and checked the mail there was this lovely item in there. THE BROWN ENVELOPE. I was actually on my cell with my Mom at the time, and I had to hang up because I was too excited and I didn’t have enough hands to hold the dog’s leash, hold my cell phone, and rip open the envelope at the same time!!  So I have a CASE NUMBER people!! And someone in China is telling me hey, you are all approved and junk, and here’s yet more paperwork for you to fill out for Emily’s visa!!   I was a little confused, because I’m not DTC yet, (although I should be any day now) and I didn’t think you got this notice until after you were logged in and stuff. I called my agency last night to ask for an explanation, and even though I called before 5, no one called me back. Have I mentioned how much I don’t love my agency? Hopefully someone will call me this morning.  Anyway, I’m very excited. I know I will still have to wait a year until I can hold Emily in my arms, but it feels pretty good today.  WOO HOOO!!!

 

 

 

LOOKIE!! I got it! THE BROWN ENVELOPE!!!  

oh no

China confirms first human bird flu cases

 

Can we say Crap! Boys and girls?   Human bird flu, if it spreads as predicted, could mean even more delays in getting Emily.

Normally I love the news, I love CNN, MSNBC. I’m a big believer in freedom of the press. However, today, I wish they weren’t so informative.  Please pray that this is an isolated incident.   

 

 

 

Confessions of an Impatient Woman

I have no patience. Really, honest to God, I have NO PATIENCE. I get irate just having to repeat myself to people. It makes me want to shout PAY ATTENTION MORON, I’m talking here!!!  For this very reason, I am not a party kind of person, I detest small talk, where you answer the same 5 questions over and over and over again for like 4 hours. It makes me insane.   With that being cleared up, let me say that this whole wait a year for Emily to come home is about to make me crazy. And I’m only like 2 weeks into it. Last night, I was in Target with Shannon. We walked by some adoption jewelry, which normally would make me stop and look, sigh that no one ever thinks of the single adopter, and walk on. Instead, I started crying in the middle of Target. ME. Crying in public. I never do that. I mean never. It just suddenly stuck me that the most I have to look forward to in the next year is buying some cheap adoption jewelry from Target. THAT’S IT! I mean, ya okay, I have a house, and friends and a family, and a new nephew to love on which I adore. All my limbs work. I can breathe without being in pain.   But no baby for me for a whole year!!! It’s so unfair!  I don’t know how I’m going to stand this. I really don’t. I didn’t sleep worth a damn last night, and there is nothing I can do about this. Nothing. (well nothing that doesn’t require medication!)  And as Queen of Impatientville, I’m just freaking out here!!!   

So this is where you all come in, my loyal blog buddies. I must have a hobby. I must have something to do, some sort of project, or activity will occupy so much of my time, I won’t realize how long the wait is. So come on people. I am counting on you to help me through this.  And preferably, something that involves other people, so that I will learn how to tolerate small talk before I am forced into Mommy & Me groups. Really, I don’t want to be the mom everyone dreads because I’m biting their heads off. LOL

 

Oh and thanks to Shannon, who reached out to hug me around the neck in Target and ended up dragging me down the aisle, almost knocking over a display rack. I’m sure that the video of that incident will make the office Christmas party of Target employees. Ha ha ha…in any case, it made me laugh a LOT, so that stopped my meltdown. So thanks for being such a quick thinker!

 

 

Monday, Monday

Well today has been filled with work, not fun. But hey, I guess that is what they pay me for, right?  I was asked today by my adoption agency to get a copy of the agency license of my home study agency, since they are two different entities. You would have thought they would have asked for that BEFORE I was allowed to do my home study with them, but whatever.  I’m using Nathanson’s Adoption Services as my home study agency, and they have been fabulous. I recommend them to anyone who lives in the Charlotte, NC area.

 

Not much else adoption related news to report today. I’m a little concerned that with the delay my fingerprints will expire before I get to go to China, but I guess that is something that I will just have to wait and see on. They should be good until Oct 2006, but that might be cutting it close. We’ll see.

 

Other than that, not much to report from here. I had a good weekend, went to the movies to see Pride & Prejudice, which I thought was very good. Definitely a chick flick, but still good. I only cried a bit at the end, but I was not the only one in the theater getting weepy by any means. It such a good story, and Mr. Darcy was soooo handsome. *sigh*  Men in real life are nothing like this guy. It makes me sad watching movies like that, because it just sets an impossible standard which no man alive could live up to.  Maybe if I had eaten some candy during the movie I wouldn’t have felt so bad. But alas, the line was too long, so there was no chocolate around to perk me up!!  Heed my warning girls, bring chocolate to see this picture. It’s a requirement!

 

 

TRANSLATION TIME!

I just got off the phone with my agency. I finally broke down and called them, to make sure my dossier was received and to see if there were any issues. For once, the chick I spoke with was NICE and encouraging even. And she even told me that she had sent me an email earlier this week to say that she had gotten it and everything looks GREAT. Whew!! I'm not sure about the emails, since I never got them, but since there were no problems, I'm going to let it go.
ANYWAYS...the good news is my dossier is there, and it looks Great!
The better news is that they sent it to be translated YESTERDAY.
The BEST news is that they plan to send it to China between Nov 20 and 30th, and she said they would rather send it earlier because China fiscal year end is the end of Nov. SOOOO next week I could get the news that my stuff is enroute to China!!! YAY YAY YAY! Happy Dance!! Smile and gloat!

I heard that this whole adoption thing was an emotional roller coaster. They weren't kidding. The past few weeks have been rough, but I just feel so much better that they got the paperwork and it looks good and it's going to China really really soon!!! It's such a big load off my shoulders. I didn't even realize how worried about this I was, but it's like official. I'm going to be a Mom.
I need more kleenex, for the happy tears!

Patience Grasshopper

First let me say that I am not a crazy Christian. I do however go to church from time to time. I went to Mass last night as a matter of fact. (If you are Catholic, you have a variety of church going opportunities; you don’t have to go at the butt crack of dawn on Sunday. God is there on Sat & Sunday nights too.)  Anyways, I went to Mass and was enjoying myself, feeling good. Then the priest spoke the homily and you will never guess what it was. BE PATIENT! God works on his own time table, not yours, and you need to have patience in this lifetime. I’m surprised the whole church didn’t whip its head around and look right at me, for surely those words were intended for MY ears!! If ever I needed a reminder that this whole adoption thing will go as it is supposed to go, and not the way I WANT it to go, it was this week. I was sad and frustrated and disappointed to find that process was going to take longer than I wanted.  And then it was like a big gigantic light bulb went off over my head in the middle of church. (More like a giant spot light) and I got the message. BE PATIENT SHANNON! Things will work out the way they are supposed to, when they are supposed to.  So now, I feel better. Not fabulous, but much better.

Other reasons that this week is going to be great: my best friend Erica gave birth to a beautiful baby girl on Sat. Welcome to the world McKenna!! I have many stories about your momma to share with you, when you’re older. Hee hee  Plus, that day was also my sister’s birthday. So HAPPY BIRTHDAY ERIN! Only 363 days left until you are 30.  (payback’s hell,  ain’t it? )  My cold is much better too, so breathing is fun once again.  And now that I’m breathing, I can do the happy dance that my dossier has been submitted to my agency. WOO HOO! No more paperwork!! YIPPEEE!!!

I hope everyone is having a great Monday just like me. If you aren’t, well send me an email and I will tell you a joke or something. Life is good!

 

 

 

Friday at last!

I’ve never been so thankful to see a Friday. I’m worn out, and I have a nasty cold. Sore throat, runny nose, coughing, feel like I’ve been hit by a bus cold. Maybe that is why I have been so cranky this week. In good news, I’m DONE with my dossier and I’m putting the package in the FedEx box today at lunch. JOY AND HAPPINESS!! It will go to my agency to be reviewed and then hopefully it will find its way to China this month. I’m glad to end this week with a little good news.

I think I’m going to be spending this weekend in bed, or on the couch with a box of Kleenex. But as long as I’m done with the paperwork, I’m glad to be there. J

PS...you will see that I changed my ticker. I was too depressed to leave it up there counting down days till I meet Emily, since it seems that there will be a LOT more of them then I want! So I changed it to a holiday theme. Maybe in a few months I'll feel ok about how long the wait is going to be. But this will do for now.

MORE moaning and groaning

I am getting ready to whine in a big way. If you don’t want to hear it, STOP READING RIGHT NOW.  (don’t say I didn’t warn you!!)

 

So I went to Target last night to print out my digital pictures. I love Target. It is like a mini Disney World, surely one of the happiest places on earth. I have often said that part of my paycheck should just automatically go direct to Target, because I spend so much time/money there. Unfortunately, Target let me down. I strode up to the photo making machine and it was BROKEN. *sigh* So needless to say, I didn’t get pictures printed out last night.  Since this was the SECOND Target that I have dragged my memory card to without successful printing completion, I’m going to have to go to Plan B. Plan B is Shannon R’s house. LOL She very kindly offered to let me upload the photos there and then I can order than from some place on line. This will probably take a couple days, but I’m just going to do it and get it over with. I might, if I can find the time, search through the boxes of old photos I have and see if I can’t find any pictures that I already have that will just work without having to deal with all this nonsense.  I was pretty disappointed last night, and was thinking in my head that it was a sign from God that I shouldn’t be doing this adoption thing in the first place. Don’t you ever just picture God up in Heaven, going MUUU HA HA HA HA HA, let’s see her deal with THIS!!!!  Normally, I don’t think God picks on people, but last night I was not thinking normally!!  I’m not at the “going postal” phase yet, but I’m starting to think it’s a REAL possibility.

 

 

 

 

Confessions of a Procrastinator

I do not like paperwork. I just don’t like it. Even though I know it is the closest that I will get to being pregnant, I DETEST it. I know that at the end, it will be worth it, but right now, I’m fed up with the following: almost every government agency in two countries, the fed ex folks, photo copying in general, my agency in particular, using staplers, and making check lists.  I’m also tired of trying to super clean my house so I can take decent pictures of it.  It’s too much work for one person.  I mean, if all I had to do was this crap, I would still hate it. But trying to do this stuff and work two jobs, participate with my brownie troop and oh I don’t know, HAVE A LIFE, I’m just fed up.  I just want my Emily to come home!!!  This is too hard! It shouldn’t be this difficult. Ugh. MOAN AND GROAN!!

 

There. I feel slightly better.  I did manage to get passport photos taken of me during lunch. I already have my passport, these are for my dossier. The only thing I have left to do is find suitable family life photos.( And pictures of my clean house. GRRRRRRRR.) Since I have no family that lives with me, I guess these will be pictures of me on the phone, or me sitting on the couch and watching TV. Fabulous.  Can you tell I’m feeling kind of cranky today?!?!?   The pictures are the LAST thing to do for my dossier. And the thing I have postponed the most, because looking at pictures of me is not fun. And taking pictures of me is even less fun than that; which puts it in the category of freaking miserable.  Wish me luck.