Taking Care of Business

Thank you for all the well wishes and pick me up posts. I have picked myself up, brushed myself off and am starting to do a little "I'm Next!" dance. Just starting to rock the shoulders a bit and sway the head. I'll be in full boogie mode by the next rumor cycle. =)
So I'm trying to figure out what little can be done at this point and time! Like registering. I plan on waiting til I get Ellie's stats, but I've been looking around in order to get an idea of what to put on the registry. That lasted about 4 minutes. Talk about OVERWHELMING!=)


I'm not much of a shopper to begin with so I figured I had no idea and will just have to leave it for another day!

The shower my SIL and Aunt Jude are throwing me is coming along detail-wise. It's gonna be cool and not so heavy on the baby theme.
I don't do well with doing bits and pieces of things at a time so I figure the packing will have to be an all at once thing. Probably follow one of Stephe's many lists! =)

My dad is designing Ellie's closet and one day I'll put some pictures up. Whew. I'm exhausted just thinking about it all!

Where did all those months of so much time for getting things done go?!

I finally should be getting my classroom on Friday. Thank goodness! I am tired of doing therapy out of a suitcase and my garage is a pigsty since I rifled through everything I brought home so I could do some therapy. I guess I could start some maternity leave lesson plans. Bwahahahahahahaha!

Hmmm I think I'll go read some more blogs instead. Let me know when y'all start registering so I can copy your list! =)

Referrals to 2/15/06

Congratulations to all those families and children finally matched together! Wishing you all speedy travel!

A shout-out to my niece, K. who had her two front teeth pulled today. =( Poor baby. But now she knows what she wants for Christmas. =)

UGGGGGG

So it looks like I missed the cut-off. I kind of knew it would be a long shot but still. Just now though I went from self-pity to being totally ticked off. I emailed my SW (who is part of my agency) and asked if she could verify the cut-off. Her answer:
Yes it looks like the cut off was February 9, 2008. Perhaps the next group will come in time for Christmas. I am trying to be optimistic but it must be driving you nuts. We really thought after the Olympics referrals would pick up.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Um, excuse me be the 9th was LAST month. I know the China program is not open anymore, but at least be on top of referrals!! COME ON!!
My reply was short and simply pointed out the error; she is controlling my future referral and home visits after all. =)

Oh, her reply: You are kidding - by one day we missed it.

I just want my baby....

Possible Stork Sighting??

Is the stork on the way? How many baby referrals will be included? How will I ever concentrate on anything else the next few days until we get confirmation?!

Meeting Rick

Waiting for the show to start!
D. can't believe her boyfriend is a couple feet away!
He played a few songs during the meet and greet. Drank Star.bucks with nonfat milk according to the cup one of the ladies appropriated!

This isn't going above the mantle, is it, D?! =)



The concert! Which really was a good show. I wasn't impressed when we all went to Bus.ch Gardens to see him but he stuck to his own material and we really had a great time! D. says she can die happy now, having finally met her boyfriend since the 4th grade! =)

The Ectasy and The Ecstatic

Let's start with the Ectasy. I am in chocolate Ecstasy thanks to the lovely Lisa! Just checked my mailbox and ran inside to open a package containing a box of chocolate euphoria -See's, of course! And the funniest letter I've read in a long time. I even called my mom to read it to her. You are a wonderful, thoughtful woman, Lisa and I'm proud to be a "See's sl.ut" with you! =) Already the week has been quite emotional, waiting to see if 2/16 is in or not. I know in my head we're gonna probably be November but in my heart, I've been matched and need to travel now! The See's came at such a perfect time. Thank you for thinking of me, Lisa! YUMMERS!







Now for the Ecstatic part, although for my SIL, D, it might still be the ecstasy, too! She scored free tickets to the Rick Spring.field concert tonight AND we are going to the meet and greet beforehand. She has been a fan of The Rickster since fourth grade and she's in a total frenzy! We even sweated it out at Bus.ch Gardens last month to see him. It's going to be a fun night! Pictures and autographs to come! =)




Many thanks also to my blog friends who have contributed to our SPCA Walk for the Animals! SPCA WALK FOR THE ANIMALS DONATION LINK

Weekend to Wait

Rumors of the 10th due to the formula tragedy, then maybe the 15th...Total roller coaster! Oh, please, please, pretty please through the 16th (and 17th for my friends!)

Please don't forget to donate a few dollars for the SPCA. My niece Kaitlin and I will be walking next month for our animal friends needing a forever home! Thank you to those who've already been so very generous! =)

SPCA WALK FOR THE ANIMALS DONATION LINK

Doing Some GOOD

The rumors of only referring one day due to the need to check out the health of all the babies has me spinning. So instead I am focusing on something positive and that I can have some control over.

My niece Kaitlin and I will be walking for the local SPCA on October 26th. Kaitlin has always adored animals-doesn't play with dolls but with her stuffed animals. The amount of band-aids she has used on paws, ears and over eyes would fill a large ziploc. =)
We hope you will be able to donate a few dollars, even in these horrible economic conditions.

Bernie and Gracie (former pound pups), Kaitlin, and I thank you!!!!


SPCA WALK FOR THE ANIMALS DONATION LINK



Thank you!!!!

I can't even begin to put into words how I feel about this whole formula tragedy. Sending out prayers for all the babies and families affected.

So, yeah, I'm...

Thank you very much! =)

Good Wishes Trickling In

From my colleague Tara and her family. What a fun quote and so cute!







Matt's research and handiwork. He even went to the fabric store. =)








Kaitlin's creation with a little help from Aunt Shi-Shi.


Now bring on the matching!!!!

Lucy's Pocket and LID Anniversary

A friend of mine does this beautiful embroidery! She's opened up her online store at
Lucy's Pocket . Love the bloomers!









And of course, today marks 31 months since my dossier was logged in at the CC@@. Hopefully we'll mark no further than 32! =)

Yearbook Pics

Alison yearbooked herself and it looked like so much fun and such a great way to procrastinate!

1964













1966













1978













1984













1990














1994













1996


Actually kinda likin' the glasses in the first picture... Be sure to Yearbook yourself!

Mind Wandering - Should Be Doing Lesson Plans

B@byh@wk Mei Tai










OR Er.go Carrier?










Now back to Lesson Plans. =)

Is it October Yet?

This seems to be the longest month ever! I haven't even been able to post my LID number yet. The days are super long and just crawling by. Strangely I still can't seem to get enough done in the day, even when I stay off the internet! =)

Only Time Will Tell

Here are the latest projections from RQ. My LID is 2/16. For those unfamiliar with the referral process, we only really look at the Spring 08 Small and Horridly small batch cases. I don't think we've had a Bad/Mid/Good size batch since mid September '05!
Let's GO BIG and get February 06 done before the end of the year, CC@@!

Darn that Hanna

Hanna didn't play nice and broke one of my trees. Luckily it fell right smack in the yard and not on my house though. Still, it was such a pretty tree. Not even one of my many pine trees from which the squirrels keep throwing down half eaten pine cones at me. May I add that the tree fell right after I told my SIL that so far only little twigs had fallen so clean up looked pretty easy. Spoke too soon.


Other areas fared much worse and I hope they are quick to recover. I hear Florida has mean Ike on the way. Scary stuff.
Back to my schoolwork. I'm liking the school and personnel very much, just coming into a new situation and setting things in order is taking LOTS of time. Plus I keep running into people who know/are related to children adopted from China. Very cool! =)
Enjoy the weekend.

Flowers!

OMG part 2

I got a wonderful surprise at school today which greatly broke up the tediousness of my computer scheduling work and sent the whole front office into a tizzy! Matt sent me a bouquet of beautiful flowers! Flowers the color of my school colors to boot! Everyone just thought that was the sweetest thing ever and so do I! =) Will bring my camera to get pics tomorrow. This happy flower will have to stand in til tomorrow. I know it pales in comparison-haha.




Then....
I came home to read my email from my SW who was checking to see if I ever received my brown consulate envelope. Nope. Never did after how many fingerprinting episodes?! And oh, I could have had something to blog about if it had arrived! But I digress...The exciting news is how the agency is hoping (obviously) that our group is in the next batch and they need the GUZ # ASAP. Woo-hooo!!! Even if we're not in October it's gotta be November at the latest, right?! Kinda the home stretch. Did I mention I am brimming over with the words, "Oh my goodness?!!!"

Getting Closer to Ellie!

Congratulations to those families seeing their children's faces for the first time! We've made it to 2/9/06!!!!

To get to the 16th we have to bypass 7 days, 2 of them the weekend. Oh my goodness! Oh my goodness! That's all I keep saying in my head-like that little girl in the musical Annie!

All the sudden I have no idea what I've done over the last 30+ months to prepare for Ellie's arrival! I am trying very hard to focus on scheduling 70 students (sooo crazy!)and make a good impression at my new school. Once I come home though it is so hard to do homework and not start reviewing all my informative files I've saved over the years! Plus I have to minimize my thoughts about Ellie 'cause now she's real and I can't do anything about her not having a family right now and we all know the nannies do their best but... Three years of waiting has not provided me with patience or peace in lack of control and order. =)
Does anyone else feel like they were better prepared (travel lists, paperwork knowledge, communication methods, attachment signs, baby needs, etc.) back in 2006 when the wait was supposed to be 6-8 months?! I've tucked all my what I need to know info in a box in my head and now I can't find it and can't even focus on where to start! Oh my goodness!