Welcomed Surprises!

It has been a wretched day today. My car battery died, I was late for the second day of summer school, it rained and hailed (is that a word?) and after taking my Gracie to the vet I found out she needed ACL (knee) surgery on her *other* leg now. Soooo...
when I finally got to the mailbox, I was thrilled to discover wonderful gifts from Deb from Prince Edward Island!

The nail polish is GOTCHA pink!!! Love it! It's going on the toesies tomorrow! The plaque is so sweet- I can't believe you made it. How talented you are! The cd is amazing! Deb wrote that her pastor and his wife made this cd while they were waiting to adopt from China 12 years ago. Check out Deb's adoption benefit pictures (June 4th) on her site. Her friends' daughter Jenny sang the song written for her! It is a truly magical cd. Thank you so much for sharing it with me, Deb. You know you didn't have to. =) Your kind pressies certainly arrived on a day I need my spirits lifted!

SIMPLY GORGEOUS!

Yet another wonderful gift from my Aunt Karen (you know the one you all want to adopt you too!) **UPDATE*** She went to Ireland recently and I thought she found this beautiful dress there. But it has an even better, inspiring story attached to it. Please check out the comments by both Karen and the talented woman who made the dress!! I have a couple of pictures so you can see the detail a bit better...it's exquisite. Ellie's outfits are starting to add up! Karen, thank you for your thoughtfulness and generosity and winning bid! =) Marianne, you and your sister are making a real difference, I hope getting the word out here helps to further support MS research.

So....

Yes, according to the ultrasound lady it is a BOY!! Personally, except for the cute face and feet I could not recognize a thing! =) We are all in shock...I think especially my sister-in-law! My bro is over the moon. Now we wait til approximately November 5th for my cute lil' nephew. So exciting!!

K's New Sibling

Although I'm pretty convinced my niece,K, would rather have only the cat (see below) she will find out if there is a boy or a girl "in Mommy's tummy" tomorrow. My sister-in-law has graciously invited me to attend the 3-D presentation of my new niece/nephew. How cool is that?! K insists it's a girl and we all are pretty convinced of the same (we know the heartbeat rate is a myth, but...) My brother is holding out for a boy, though. We'll know soon!

On a side note, did you all notice how many boys were referred by the CCAA this time?!

K's New Pet

adopt your own virtual pet!

She named her dog "Someone"...

Latest from the CCAA

The CCAA has finished the review of the adoption application documents registered with our office before October 31, 2005.

The CCAA has finished the placement of children for the families whose adoption application documents were registered with our office before June 28, 2005.

Congratulations to all the families receiving referrals tomorrow!!

Amanda & Jason's new Bundle of Joy

Amanda (my cousin) & Jason had a healthy baby boy early this morning!! Mandy was hoping he would be born on the 24th, her Grandpa's birthday. Well, it was sooooo close! The little stinker decided to arrive at 12:18 AM today (the 25th)! =)
Best wishes to the family!
****UPDATE *****The new babe's name is Cyrus Jason Clone (variation of spelling on last name for privacy). Can anyone guess his nickname?! He'll either be a sports hero or a weatherman! =) Mom is doing well. Love to you all!

Back to Reality

The cruise was wonderful! We sailed to Key West and walked around checking out the sights, stopped at Sloppy Joe's for lunch. Got my mom and niece Margaritaville t-shirts. Yes, Kaitlin was brought up dancing to Buffet at my parents house.

We also stopped at Calica, basically a port on the Yucatan, where we went on the Beach Break excursion. The water was gorgeous and there was a coral reef in swimming distance and palapa umbrellas and swings at the bar!
The days at sea were spent close to the pool and taking naps! The ship left out of Miami so when the Heat won everyone on the ship was cheering. Alonzo M. is from here and he is friends with our coach at school and so it was really cool that they won. We drove by the AA Arena as they were setting up for the parade. Traffic was already crazy, but everybody was in a celebratory mood. Thanks to Mary for putting up with me this past week and for shielding me from most of the conversation with our wacky table mates in the dining room! =)

SO MUCH has happened since I've been gone!! Joannah is DTC and referrals are on the way just to start! Most of it is stuff you all know about, but I'm going to try and write a couple of posts tonight just to document everything for posterity. It is going to take me forever to get caught up on my blog reading!

Bon Voyage!

Love, exciting and new
Come aboard, we're expecting you
Love, life's sweetest reward
Let it flow, it floats back to you

Love Boat soon will be making another run
The Love Boat promises something for everyone
Set a course for adventure
Your mind on a new romance

And love won't hurt anymore
It's an open smile on a friendly shore
It's love
Welcome aboard
It's love!

OK, so maybe my cruise isn't on the Love Boat, but hopefully it will be lots of fun! =)
And, hopefully lots and lots of referrals will come through while I'm away!

Just looked at my blog date marker...

"Oh my goodness!" as my niece would say. "I'm 4 months since LID today!" Here's to only 8 more months to go until I see Ellie's face!

A Walk Down Memory Lane

Joannah ‘tagged’ all of us readers so here I go...

20 years ago: I was looking forward to my junior year at Robinson Secondary in Fairfax, VA.
I was involved in the theater productions and was on the cross country team.

10 years ago: I had just moved back to Orange County, CA from NYC where I worked as a bartender at the Majestic and saw Phantom of the Opera every night (Did anyone watch the Tony’s on Sunday?!), temped at places like People and Time magazine and ate lots of bagels with cream cheese! Yum!

5 years ago: I finished up my Masters degree at the University of Virginia (Go Hoos!) and signed up to work in the local public schools as a speech therapist. I also found my dog Bernadette at the local SPCA. Bernie was so cute! She also got pneumonia and I was at the vet’s so often they asked me to work there for the summer. That’s where Gracie was brought after she was rescued from a neglectful household. Gracie was such a sweetie! Admittedly, Bernie still believes she should have been an only child.

3 years ago: My grandmother came to live with my parents (who live nearby). I’m very happy that I had this opportunity to spend time and drink lots of lattes with her!

1 year ago: I spent a week at a resort in Manzanillo, Mexico with my friend Angie-it was soooo relaxing and fun! The rest of the summer I spent playing with my niece, K, at Gymboree and going to the zoo. Oh, and I also trained for the Rock’n’Roll Half Marathon which I successfully finished!

Yesterday: I realized I am way behind in training for this years Half Marathon…

Today: I handed in my classroom keys. How I love the beginning and the end of the school year! I also went by my adoption agency. My SW feels that referrals won’t go too far beyond the 12 month wait. At this point, this was *awesome* to hear!

Tomorrow: I have to start packing for my Caribbean cruise, finish any trip shopping, get a pedicure & manicure…Schooooooooool’s OUT for SUMMER!!

Consider yourself tagged!

Surf's Up! Thank you SP!

It's been pouring rain here ALL day due to Senor Alberto. School picnic/bbq's had to be cancelled. It's muggy as all out. But thanks to my awesome Secret Pal, I've been reminded that sunshine is right around the corner! =)
Just look at this cute lil' swimsuit and coverup! Except for a sweater from April Cornell's this is my first outfit for Ellie!! It's so little and sweet! I love the matching skirty coverup. And those shades are too cool! Plus a ocean theme book that has sliding pages to learn colors! I can't wait to have Ellie wear her new outfit and play in the pool and at the beach. Her cousin adores waterplay and I'm sure she'll show Ellie how much fun it is! Thank you so much Secret Pal. You are so good to us and pick such wonderful gifts!
This ladybug card benefits the Marissa Burghart Memorial Foster Fund through Love Without Boundaries. Please check out her story. What an amazing and very strong family.
Thank you so much, Secret Pal, for a wonderful Summer Keepsake. I have my fingers crossed that Ellie will be splashing around in this outfit next summer!

Countdown to Sanity

2 MORE DAYS before summer vacation!!
I was packing up some of my classroom yesterday and realized that I had nowhere to store this 4 ft. long Clifford the Big Red Dog and 2 ft. high Roo from Winnie the Pooh. A 1st grade student (not one of mine) had given them to me; probably when she was forced to 'sort and pitch' some of her stuffed animal collection! Instead of stuffing them in a closet I gave them to the Media Center Specialist who already has a nice collection of story characters for the students to cuddle while they read. Of course, I felt I had to ask A's permission before I gave her friends away. So today I asked A. if it was ok if Clifford and Roo "stayed the summer with their friends in the library so they wouldn't be lonely." She smiled this huge smile and started to giggle. She agreed, still giggling. I'm still not sure if A. was laughing because that made her happy or she thinks I'm a crazy person...
At this point of school, most of the teachers would agree we are *all* at the crazy person stage!
2 MORE DAYS!!!

Blah

Been sick...and trying to avoid using the computer since there *really* isn't any news on the weekend. Four more days of school and then off to the Caribbean!! Hurricanes beware! =)

Senate Hearing on Asian Adoptions

With all the news going on today in the world, today also happens to be a
HEARING before the COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS
UNITED STATES SENATE East Asian and Pacific Affairs Subcommittee on
ASIAN ADOPTIONS IN THE UNITED STATES
Specifically, "To hold hearings to examine the status of Asian adoptions in the United States."

Interesting. Exactly what does that entail? I'll admit I'm not usually one to watch C-Span but...

Waiting...

for Elena
for stork rumors
for my big brown envelope
for blogger to upload this photo...

Paper Pregnancy

The other day my neighbor, Myriam, asked me if Elena and I would be the subject of her college class paper based on "expecting parents." How could I say no?! Someone who actually wanted to listen to me go on and on (and on!) about my *favorite topic*?!! Now that I think about it, I even gave her a sort of "slide show" of my fave blogs and websites! (Sorry Myriam!!)
Anyway, she was the only one in the class to write on an adoptive parent and needless to say, she got an excellent grade! YAY!
She must have really listened closely because she brought me a big ol' Hershey bar (healthy dark choc!) in thanks and to help me get through this horrible wait! Great job on your project, Myriam and thanks for thinking of me and my "paper pregnancy"!

Monday....Monday

Ok, so it's Monday morning at the CCAA right now. Is today the day of the "big announcement" or will they drag it out all week so we can rumorize ourselves to death?! I think it's time for a double month dose of referrals, wouldn't that be a much better?!

Who Am I?

Which Grey's Anatomy Character Are You?

You are Isobel Stevens. You are very sensitive and sympathetic, yet sometimes you let your feelings get in the way of the bigger picture
Take this quiz!

Agency Family Matches!

My agency released this info "Late last week we received 20 assignments for our June DTC families. The provinces that the children are from are GuangXi, Hunan and Guang Dong. Right now we do not know when they will be traveling."
Congratulations to all the families! They have been waiting a long time! Here's hoping for a speed TA (tavel approval). Interesting that Hunan is referring again.

Gets me thinking again about which province Elena might be in. My screensaver is a map of China so hopefully one day I'll see a little speck of a girl waving at me from one of the provinces! =)

Reduce Your Wait!?!

Referral Wait Reduction Form