See my diaper bag!

Okay, I am trying something new on my blog...inserting a picture. So I thought I would insert a photo of my diaper bag! Here it is!

Feeling Better

Our family seems to be feeling better as a whole, which as Martha would say, "is a good thing." We are looking forward to a nice long weekend together. It is the unofficial start of summer and our pool opens this weekend. It is also time for school to end soon. Therefore, we are winding down to wind up again!

I do have to share that a friend of mine now has a new business with a monograming machine. Needless to say that Miss Flora now owns a blanket, diaper cover, and a bib all with her name. They all look absolutely adorable!

Feeling Blue

Our entire family is feeling blue. We had to put down one of our family pets yesterday. Our cat, Jasper, who was my husband's and my first acquisition together in 1991. He traveled to Hawaii with us. He was almost 15 years old (this July). So thanks, J-man, for being good to us! We will miss you!

What are you doing June of 2008?

Well, based on my math ([insert disclaimer here) which can be sketchy at best], if the referral rate continues where the CCAA sends out 1 weeks worth of referrals for every month of time, then that puts us at a place where we could possibly receive our referral in June of 2008. How ridiculous is that? So you can say that I am:
a. the bearer of bad news (no kidding)
OR
b. the bearer of good news as that is so absolutely absurd that things will turn around in the near future!

Chin Up

Someone from Charlotte's Web (yes I know it should be underlined, however I don't know how to do that!) would say "chin up." I believe it was the goose. Well, chin up everyone. Today is a happy/sad day. Today the CCAA confirmed that referrals were sent through June 15, 2005. Allow me to recap;
a. Last month when referrals were sent out, they were sent out covering the LIDates of May 31, 2005 through June 6, 2005. Therefore, in a single month only seven days worth of dossiers were matched.
b. This month when referrals were sent out, they were sent out covering the LIDates of June 7, 2005 through June 15, 2005. Again, in a single month only eight days worth of dossiers were matched.
c. One month of time spent matching yields eightish days worth of dossiers being matched.
d. This is a trend that will hopefully will turn around soon.
e. This sucks!
f. However, congrats to those few families who have been matched with their children.
g. Ideally, we would like to see one month of time equating to one month of LID's being matched.

Yeah, I am proud of myself

Hello, friends, family, and lurkers,
I think I have finally "fixed" this blog to make it look right. It took several hours and a "fake" blog to reference. Let me know if you think I could make any other changes. Thanks for checking in on our adoption process and progress. No news is no news....for now!

For those of you who know me....

One of the greatest things I got to do when we decided to have #3 was.......buy a new bag!
Yes, I am offically a bag addict. No, I am not in denial about it! I love purses! I love tote bags! Hell, I even love diaper bags! That's why I have two for my dear Flora. One is even black leather........what a surprise! So I found this blog thingy, and it is perfect for me and therefore any of my friends!

You Are A BCBG Black Leather Clutch

You're a modern, urban chick who's more than a little tough (Well, as tough as you can be while carrying a purse) Black leather is like your denim - goes good with everything You'd even wear it to work, if you could get away with it

What Handbag Are You?

Alrighty then...

So it has been 3 days since I disconnected. I asked myself today, "how's that workin' for ya?" I figure I'll just check my e-mail instead. All those groups I belong to say that if you don't have the stomach for it then don't go there to that, that website. Well, that makes me want to go there more. You know when someone says, " Wow! It smells bad!" What is the first thing you do? Take a huge, long SNIFFFFFFF! And your response, so surprisingly, is, "Yeah. That smells awful!"
So I ask myself over and over what are they reading? What in the hell do they know that I don't? So, I'm thinking that this disconnecting thing may not be working so well for me. No, I am strong, and I am disconnected! To be continued..................

So what's with the rumors?

I was stalking the rumor website for months, and now I have disconnected. I "hear" lots of rumblings of wait times increasing. I have heard 12 months, 14 months, 18 months, and even 24 months. Who knows. I don't know, the rumor mill doesn't know, my agency doesn't know, and I don' t think that the CCAA, itself, even knows! I have been periodically checking the CCAA website, looking for change. Once change/progress has happened it is no longer rumor, but it becomes fact and that's what I want! The hard cold FACTS!

So, I have this friend.....

So, I have this friend who also going through the adoption process from China. She says that the rumor from Spain is 18 months until referral. My response to her is, la,la,la,la,la.........I CAN'T HEAR YOU! Just so you get the visual, my fingers are in my ears and I am sticking my tongue out at her. I am NOT listening to her!

You wanna see cute?

You wanna see cute then go visit this website!

http://lilyandkate.blogspot.com/2006/03/click-on-arrow-for-double-laughs.html

Wow 80 visitors

I researched, ha ha, who am I kidding? I read other blogs and found that nifty counter at the top of the blog. I trialed and errored my way to insert it in just the right spot. Eighty people have visited my ramblings....actually I account for 74 of them! Oh well, thanks for visiting....please leave comments!

O.K.-I am a certified blog geek!

So, I look DAILY at other people's blogs. I only like the China ones (those who are beginning paperchasing, those who are DTC, those who are in China, and those who are home from China). So I found this quiz and I took it.....now it's your turn.

Who would have thought my 80's heartthrob was Michael J. Fox. I am glad I am attracted to someone with staying power!

Your 80s Heartthrob Is

Michael J. Fox

Who's Your 80's Heartthrob?

A Good Day Vs. A Bad Day

I spoke with a friend yesterday who is also in the middle of the adoption process. She is months and months ahead of me. She was down yesterday, and I was up. It is amazing how there are cycles to the whole adoption thing. She was feeling beaten & bruised from the length of time for the entire process. While I am disappointed by the length of time, I firmly believe that the timing will work out. This is out of my hands, surprising that I would resolve myself to not being in control. The difference between a waiting family with children and a waiting family without children is HUGE! I truly feel for those whose arms ache for a child, NOW!
I will say, however, I think about our daughter everyday. I wonder if she is born yet? Was she born today? What was I doing when she was born? Were her parents heartbroken to give her away? Those and many other answers will be revealed eventually!

A Hypothetical Agency Update

Well, agencies are very protective of the information that they receive from the Chinese Center of Adoption Affairs. Some agencies maintain Guanxi, a special, mutually benefical relationship with the CCAA. And if someone were to post information received from their agency, it could possibly challenge the realtionship between the CCAA and the agency. Therefore, I will not be posting any information in order to preserve the Guanxi.
Suffice it to say that, hypothectically speaking, considering that our dossier travelled to China in January, we would be probably in the translation room. However, wouldn't it a great surprise, hypothetically speaking of course, if we were past the translation room and we found ourselves outside the doors of the review room, waiting to enter. Wow, wouldn't that be a kick in the pants.....hypthetically speaking!!!!