Aaaaannnnndddddd.....

Here we go again! Rumors circulating that the cutoff this month is Jan.1, 2006, which means referrals from 12/28/05 - 1/4/06 only. Rollercoaster is on it's way down again.. lol It's funny because my monthly LID anniversary is on the 17th each month, which gets me pretty excited that another month has passed and looking forward to the beginning of the month (referral time) to see if more days will be referred (rollercoaster going up).. then when the rumors start up and finally referrals do come, the number of days referred just doesn't seem to be too many and then I'm kind of bummed out for another 2 weeks till the next monthly LID anniversary. So here we are again upon referral time.. and looks like it's not going to be too many days. I was hoping once we got into Jan 06 LIDs, they'd start those infamous 15 day batches, but alas, maybe they won't.

This picuture sums up how the journey thus far feels like...

But I'm not getting off, no matter what!!

The Big 4 - 0!

Happy birthday Babe!! I can't believe you are 40! haha I can't believe I am right behind you in less than 3 weeks. I think I'll skip mine if that's ok with you! LOL Enjoy the rest of your birthday weekend! Love ya!

Buy Buy Baby

I hit Buy Buy Baby this afternoon and on the 50% off clearance rack found these 2 cute cute little tops!! Gotta love a sale! These were originally $21.00 each, and I got them for $4.98 each! WOOOHOOO! These were the only 2 on the rack that had an Asian theme, so I bought both! Couldn't help myself! LOL

Too cute!!!

10 Months!

I must be doing something right as far as the wait is concerned, because this past month has really flown by!! It really feels like I just posted about our 9 month anniversary a week ago. I guess it helps that work is insanely busy so each day blends into the next. Plus I work from home so I never know what day it is! LOL Only bad part about that is the weekends fly by as well. I am actually taking a couple of vacation days this week just to relax for a bit.

I think I am going to go out right now and buy Raven a little something! I haven't bought anything in a long time except for my secret pal. I was trying to buy a little something for Raven every month for our LID anniversary, but I don't think I bought anything last month. In fact, we haven't been buying anything extra in an attempt to get the bills down and save more money. We did do our taxes though recently and bought a new living room sofa (sectional) because ours was stabbing us in the back everytime we sat down! LOL So it was time for a new one! The rest of the money is being banked and will probably go alittle towards bills and a little added to the adoption fund.

So that's where I'm at on this 10th month LID anniversary! If I get Raven something today I will post pics later. Usually when I intend to go out to buy something, I find nothing though! LOL We'll see. I might just have to go on Amazon and get a book or two for her.

Is It A Sign?

I want to share a little strange/eerie/cool little thing that happened to me today. I have to explain a few things first though or else it'll make NO SENSE. LOL

First, I've watched probably like a hundred or more "Gotcha/Family Day" videos since starting this journey and have thought many times about what songs I'd want for our video (which I will be making myself probably). While I have a few songs picked out for an overall video, I've always had the idea of also doing a short little video just about my personal experience meeting my daughter for the first time and our first few days/weeks together (I'm sure there will be lots of crying and screaming..., oh and I'm sure the baby will be too! LOL but I'm just talking about the nice parts here). I have always thought of using the song "At Last" by Etta James. I've always loved the song (big classic R&B/Jazz fan) and while I know it's probably more of a romantic song, the lyrics I think will fit perfectly with how I will feel when the time comes, especially with this long wait. So I want to make one small video with that one song, with pics & video of me and my daughter. Everytime I listen to that song I can picture the video in my mind and I get all teary-eyed. In fact, I was just listening to it yesterday (mp3) and had to play it twice.

Second, no secret I've been a little bummed out of the rumors that it's going to take more than 3 years to even be matched. OK, alot bummed out! There were even talks of switching agencies & countries, or possibly doing a concurrent adoption from another country, but the money just isn't there for that. There was also some special needs talks, but so far, we've pretty much decided to just stay the current course and see what happens, for now.

ANYWAY, that was a lot of build up for my little 2 second moment I had today! LOL This is what happened... I was at Bed, Bath & Beyond looking around today, I had gone around the whole store and was heading for the exit when I past one of those displays that have like 10 CDs of like soundscapes, beach sounds, oldies, etc. You know the ones, the display plays a sample of one of the songs on one of the numbered CDs and then goes to the next one... Well, anyway, I was walking past the display and just glaced at a CD on the end which said "China" and that caught my eye of course. I stopped and reached for it and once I picked it up and started to look at the cover (below) which said "China, A Romantic Journey", the display started playing Etta James, "At Last". Ok now I'm tearing up again! Sheeesh!

So that was my moment. I know it'll make sense to fellow China adopters, just like ladybugs are the greatest thing since sliced bread these days. I completely believe in fate and signs and all that (not to a crazy extent or anything.. lol ) but that had to be some kind of sign that I need to just stick with China (and my "romantic journey") and one day I will actually be able make that video for my daughter. What are the chances that there would be a CD with Chinese love songs (instrumental) on the same display case as a CD of "oldies" love songs.. well.. lol ok, both love song CD.. but come on, the combination is a little strange. And what are the odds that as soon as I pick up the CD about China (not even knowing what was on the CD, I just saw "China") that Etta James would start singing "At Last" through the display??? Something special happened in that moment.

So of course, I bought the China CD. I found it also on Amazon so I listed it here.. you can play a sample of each song on the CD. I'm listening to it now. It's very soothing, sounds maybe like music that would be playing in the background of a movie.

You can listen to "At Last" here for free (might have to select the song from the list): http://www.freewebtown.com/community/mp3_playlist.php?id=10161

"At Last" - Etta James

At last my love has come along

My lonely days are over

And life is like a song

Ohh yeah yeah

At last the skies above are blue

My heart was wrapped up in clover

The night I looked at you

I found a dream, that I could speak to

A dream that I can call my own

I found a thrill to rest my cheek to

A thrill that I have never known

Ohh yeah yeah…You smile, you smile

And then the spell was cast

And here we are in heaven

For you are mine at last

Happy Valentine's Day!

I'd LOVE some chocolate right about now, but that would be bad considering I am back on a roll with my weight loss goal! My weight is no big secret anymore since I mention it whenever I post updates and have a lovely weight loss ticker. LOL I wanted to be under 200lbs for my 40th birthday which is exactly a month from today. I have 15 more pounds to go! Not sure if that will happen in a month, since I was averaging about 5 lbs a month, but I am trying!!!

Happy Chinese New Year!

Referral Time Again!

Seems like it came extra fast this month! And apparently they referred a whole 8 days, 12/20/05 - 12/27/05!! WAY better than 3 or 4 days! LOL I can't wait to see all the pictures of the babies!

NY BABY!