Absentee

I’ve been absent from my blog for awhile. No particular reason, just not too much going on. Well, ok SOME things are going on. Here is a quick update!

• I’m getting ready for my home study update which will happen next Tuesday. I’ve been trying to clean my house up (again) and make it look like a responsible, caring adult who is fully capable of caring for a small child lives there. I hate cleaning!
• I’m paper chasing (again) and getting letters of reference written my friends and making appointments to see my doctor and finding out where I can get my criminal back ground check run again, just in case I’ve turned into a criminal the last 18 months.
• Tony & I spent last weekend in Chapel Hill at his brother’s house. His brother was actually out of town, but his parents were in visiting and staying with Tony’s nieces and we had a good time hanging out with everyone and helping with the kiddos. I also got to see my sister and BIL and my nephew, who btw, is getting cuter and funnier every single day.
• Tony is going to the SUPER BOWL this weekend. It is all he can talk about. I am very excited for him because he is going to have such a good time. He is a total football fanatic and is just beside himself with excitement. Plus, he promised me a t-shirt, so that’s good for me!
• It is referral time once again.  Looks like they should be here today or tomorrow. I’m not as excited this go round as I was last month and I can’t figure out why. Last month I was glued to RQ, trying to figure out how far they would get and when they were coming. This month, I’m checking in but I’m more just vaguely curious. Maybe I am burnt out from the whole thing, or maybe I’m just ready for it to be my turn already. It appears that they will get through Oct 14^th this go round, which means only about 2 months left in front of me. WOO HOO.
• I have totally slacked off on my one New Year’s Resolution, which was to buy one baby/travel item a week until I go.  I hope to rectify this by going to Target tonight with my friend Jody. Maybe I will be brave enough to buy diapers. Maybe.

 

 

 

 

 

Yay!

I feel almost normal. It is nice to be back. J  My face looks a little rough, all the skin around my nose is cracked and peeling off. (disgusting, no?)  But I feel so much better I don’t care. Well ok, I care, but not much.  My skin will heal up in a few days, and hopefully by this weekend I’ll be back to my normal self.

 

Meanwhile I pushed my home study update back a week, because I’ve been useless the last 7 days. My house looks like a tornado of used Kleenex and empty cough drop papers has gone through it. So I need to seriously do a major cleaning before I have anyone over to my place. My social worker is coming Feb 6, so that should be enough time to undue the damage.  The great thing about living alone is you can be a total slob when your sick because really, who cares?  I don’t. So I throw all my Kleenex on the floor. I’m AIMING for the trash can. It’s just really hard to throw Kleenex with any sort of accuracy. And I’m sick, so I should get like a handicap radius of say 5 feet around the trash can. That should all count as in, right?!?   

 

 

 

Snot Factory

I have become a snot factory.  I am so gross, I can’t even stand to be around myself. My face is like raw from the Kleenex. (and I’m using the Puff’s plus with lotion, but it’s not helping much) 

 

WHINE. WHINE WHINE.  I feel so yucky!

I'm SIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIICK

I have the plague. Ok, it's not really that bad. But I do have an upper respiratory infection. It could be worse. I thought I had strep throat, but the doc ruled that out today. WHEW!! But I started a z-pac today, so I should be feeling better in a day or two. I'm home and in bed, which is fine with me. I like my bed. My bed likes me. And Rascalpie, my beloved doggie LOVES it when I stay home from work, because then he can lay in bed next to me and get unlimited snuggling time with me. He is such a sweet dog. Makes staying home sick a lot better.

Hope all of you are feeling alright. Yay, it's Friday!

Me & Tony. He looks so happy because his beloved Patriots just won!




Tony & I on the waterfront.

The view from our terrace.





Rainbow Row

Charleston, SC

This past weekend Tony and I went to Charleston, SC. We had a FABULOUS time!  The weather was beautiful, perfect for walking around. In fact, I even saw people in shorts and one lady in a sundress. In January!!  It was crazy how warm it was. We had a great time. We stayed at the beautiful French Quarter Inn which I highly recommend to anyone who wants a romantic place to stay. Y’all. This place was gorgeous! Plus, it came with so much fun stuff. Champagne at check inn (which we drank) Wine & cheese in the afternoon (we had that too)  Breakfast in bed. (Yup did that!) And we had a fireplace in our room!! OK, so we couldn’t really get it to work, and it was like 76 degrees so who needs a fireplace, but still. It was very cool feature!   Other than the super posh hotel, we had a lot of fun just walking around, shopping, eating and reading every historical plaque we passed.  Lucky for me, Tony is a history geek also. It is really interesting to stand in places where folks signed the Declaration of Independence.  And to walk through cemeteries that had tombstones from the early 1800s.  We really enjoyed ourselves and had a great mini vacation. I have to say that Charleston is one of my favorite places to visit. We are already talking about coming back next January, but of course, with Emily!

 

Photos to come, stay tuned!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Good Grief

She's a proud parent now, but if she wanted to do it again, she couldn't. Will strict overseas adoption standards rule you out too? Tune in Thursday.

Apparently I need to write MORE angry letters. I’m angry just thinking about her doing this as a topic. Dumbass.

Paula...the Continuing Saga

So I watched CNN last night to see if Paula apologized for being an idiot. She did not. However, I am slightly mollified because she had someone from Families with Children from China on there and he presented a good viewpoint. I am very glad that at least one of her panelists apologized. I have sent angry emails to Roland Martin. Apparently, you can't fix stupid though, so I am moving on. I probably will take a break from watching CNN for the next few months, since I no longer find them to be a trusty news source. And, I stand by my guns in thinking that Paula should be fired. As the face of the show, and a journalist, she should have had the ability and integrity to investigate the story before going live, she should have invited competent, knowledgeable guests and she should have steered the conversation away from racial slurs. Her attitute on last night's show that it was all her panelists' fault, well, that's just poor decision making on her part. She should have sucked it up and send an "i'm sorry". It would have gone a lot further with me.

That's it on this topic. On to other things.

Why Writing Angry Letters Works

RE Paula Zahn Now Panel on China Adoption:

Apparently  they (CNN) had decided to run a new panel on China adoption
“to redress the issue.” - which will air tonight 01/08/2007
(Paula Zahn Now AIRS: 8-9 p.m. ET on CNN)

The rumors are that they have invited new speakers, including someone from
the Great Wall Adoption Agency, the president of the Organization of Chinese
Americans (a national group with which FCC is forging ties), a Chinese
journalist, and someone from FCC or another adoptive families organization.

 

We’ll see. I’m not holding my breath, and my angry letter capability will not go unused if necessary. There better be a big fat apology in this show!

 

 

 

13 Months LID

Today makes 13 months since I was LID.

 

I don’t even know what to say about that. I certainly never thought I would actually wait this long in the begining. And then later, I thought well surely after 13 months I’ll be getting a referral any minute now.   I certainly never thought (until recently) that I would be sitting here at 13 months LID and wondering if it’s 6 or 8 more months until I get my referral.  *sigh*  It’s going to be a crappy day.  I don’t feel that great, it poured rain here all last night so everything is gray and soggy. And today I’ve been LID 13 months.   

 

I did do some happy baby things this weekend. I went to Barnes & Noble with Tony Saturday morning, and they had a whole table of Christmas and Halloween books on sale for $2.00 each.  So, I bought 8 books for Emily. (and probably one or two for Colin too!)  And yesterday I started on my New Year’s Resolution of buying one thing for Emily a week until she comes. I bought bed time bath stuff. I think it’s like baby soap? I don’t really know. It cleans the baby, and it smells like lavendar and it comes in lotion bottle. Is it lotion? Is it shower gel? Is it bubble bath? What do you call that stuff?!? It is suddenly VERY clear to me that I apparently need 8 more months to figure out all this baby stuff!!!

Paula Zahn Should Be Fired!!!

I had the supreme displeasure of seeing Paula Zahn on CNN last night. Normally, I am a big CNN fan, as I love the news. I like to be in touch with what is going on in the world. As I was flipping the channels last night, Paula Zahn was doing a big story on the new rules China has implemented for it's international adoption policy. I sat there and watched, and got more angry and disgusted as the piece went on. She had this group of panelist on who baiscally said that all Americans who choose to adopt from China are racists (that was the word they used) and stupid because they had a false belief that Asian children were smarter and more diligent then other children. That I chose to adopt from China because I didn't want to raise a "lazy black boy from the American foster system." Are you Fucking Kidding me?!!?! I was so angry last night I couldn't even sleep. Tony saw the last 10 minutes of it with me, and he was about to spit nails as well. After all the work that I've done, all the books I've read to educate myself on this proces, on China, on attachment and bonding and being part of a transracial family, to have this IGNORANT IDIOTIC WOMAN tell the entire world that I am racist?!? No. I am not having that. Please see the first of many angry emails that I will be writing to CNN.

Paula Zahn you should be ashamend of yourself! You and the entire "panel" of people that you had on to discuss China adoptions are ignorant jackasses. I sat there dumbfounded and watched how you and all your guests said that Americans who adopt from China are racist because they think that getting a Chinese baby means they will get a "smart" baby. Which rock have you been living under? I have been persuing an adoption of a child from China for two YEARS. It never ever, not ONCE crossed my mind that my child would be above average intelligence just because she was born in China. If my child excels in school and life it will be because her home with me puts an emphasis on education. It will be because I am the one that will make sure she does her homework and gets help at school. I will be there to read to her every night. It is appalling that as a journalist you could make such blatently racist sterotypical comments about Chinese and Asian people. While I have no doubt about my future child's intelligence, I do, however, have serious doubts about yours.
The reason that I and so many other adoptive parents choose China isn't because we think that little black boys in the American foster system will grow up to be "lazy" as one of your ignorant panelist put it. It's because the process in this country is so screwed up! It takes an endless amount of money, the children are shuffled around from one foster home to the next, and our court system favors biological parents even if they are crack heads and criminals. There are no gaurantees when you chose to adopt in this country. China makes you a guarantee. After the heartache and agony of waiting two years, doing endless amounts of paperwork, having every single aspect of my life investigated, to watch your show and your flippent remarks on international adoptiong just disgusts me. I will never ever watch your show again. And I'm sending this email to every single person I know so they won't watch you either.
I'm still so unbelievably angry that you didn't even bother to get an adoptive parent on your show. That you did not do an OUNCE of reserch prior to opening your mouth is outstandingly apparent.

You deserve to be fired. And I'll keep writing emails until you are.

Shannon Hagerty

Part 2 of the Big Catch Up

This is Rascal, my dog. Not the Devil Incarnate, as it appears in this photo. His eyes are like someone shoved a neon light up his butt. HA HA HA HA HA



Colin had much more fun in the boxes then with the actual tree and/or wrapped gifts.



All in all, we had a really great Christmas. I love my family, and we have a blast just hanging out and laughing together. And I have to say, sitting around waiting for my nephew to entertain us. Which he very obligingly does.

The day after Christmas Erin and I got up REALLY early, and went to Kohls (I love that place) and racked up on clothes. Emily now has some stylish outfits up to 4T. Hey...it's been 2 YEARS people. Cut me some slack!! Retail therapy is very...theraputic!



This one was my fave. Only $16 bucks for pants, shirt and vest. Such a steal!!!

The Big Catch Up

I have been a blogger slacker the last few weeks. Blame it on the holidays, a little cold I caught and just generally feeling blah. But tonight is the night of big catch ups. Here goes!





Dad's fun Christmas present. It's a Major Award!!




My college roomie Vittoria's little girl, Maggie. Isn't she the cutest? We got to meet for the first time on my birthday. Meeting her and seeing Vitt again made my birthday really special!!



How my nephew views all baby gates. He does NOT like to be "imprisoned" Isn't it hysterical how I think everything he does is a riot? I have the feeling when Em acts like this I won't laugh quite as much. But for now I'm enjoying the heck out of him.



Me and Tony on Christmas Eve before Mass. Isn't he handsome? :-)

Referral Time

The CCAA has finished the review of the adoption application documents registered with our office before January 31, 2006.
The CCAA has finished the placement of children for the families whose adoption application documents were registered with our office before September 27, 2005.


Well there was some speculation as to weather or not the CCAA would continue to update their site anymore, but it looks like they are still doing it. So big congrats to everyone who got referrals today! YAY!