Quick updates...

Gonna make this update quick because I am pretty exhausted. Let's see, first, my baby Jake came home from the vet yesterday. I didn't actually think that was going to happen at all, but I am glad he is here. He still is not in great shape as his kidneys are failing, but his numbers got a little better with the extra fluids. We have to give him an IV drip for less than 10 minutes a day and some meds. Hubby did the IV today since the vet showed him how to yesterday when he went to pick him up. Doesn't seem like Jake is even bothered by the needle at all, but he doesn't want to sit still for very long which is an issue. Also trying to give him a pill isn't great either and I don't want to stress him out so that's going to be interesting. The good thing is he is eating and drinking and all that. He is getting around fine although he can't jump as high as he is used to and I've made a makeshift step ladder out of boxes so he can get into the window, his favorite spot. My goal is just to spoil him (more) and keep him happy and comfortable. He'll have to go back in a week for a blood test to see if the numbers are still going down or just maintaining (not going higher) and we'll go from there.

I'm very late on my referrals post.. so I'll just say referrals this month were for people with January 5th, 2006 - January 9th, 2006 LIDs. 5 days. No more to say about that, except congrats to those who were finally matched and received pictures of their babies this month.

My mom is still staying with us, maybe for another week or so. My diet is pretty much out the window, but will be back on track shortly. I have no willpower when there are snacks in the house.

I had started working on my closet last week. Here is the progress so far.

So that's where I am at with the closet. What's good is I will still have extra storage behind the shelves for boxes, things that I will probably never have to go get.. haha but will be easy to access by just taking out a shelf. next step is to make another unit to put next to this one that will go to the other end of the wall. I'm debating whether to throw a big carpet down in the whole space or just a runner in the aisle since that will really be the only place I'll be walking. I could always just keep the lovely 50's gold linoleum.. naaaahhhh. I'll probably paint it all too.

Oh yea, my sister had come by the other weekend with my niece and nephew and we went shopping and she bought two very cute outfits for Raven which I still need to take a pic of and will post that soon.

I think that is all for now. Not as quick as I thought. HAHA

My Poor Furbaby

My poor furbaby Jake (aka "Jakie-Poo-Poo", "Booger", "MyGoodBoy") is in the hospital. He has kidney failure. Freddy brought him to the vet yesterday after I noticed that he was walking kind of wobbley and not acting like himself. They are flushing his kidneys and they say he looks better but it's only a matter of time when I'll have to make the decision to let him go. He'll probably come home Monday and then we'll go from there and decide when it's time to bring him back. Jake is almost 13 years old and he's been with me since he was a kitten and I found him outside of an old job I used to work at along with his 4 siblings. 2 siblings I gave away and 2 I kept, one of which I had to put to sleep a year after I found him because he had some muscular issues and couldn't walk anymore.

Jake is such a good cat. He likes me to hold him like a baby (up to my shoulder) and dance with him. He likes to sleep ("spoon" position) with me. He likes to play with those little foam soccor balls or a rolled up piece of paper. He likes to drink super cold water out of the bathroom faucet. He is spoiled. He's my baby.

I have more to post about referrals and shopping and stuff, but not right now.

Thank You Secret Pal!!

Hi Secret Pal!! First of all, I hope you and your mother and husband are all feeling better!! Ironically, my mother went into the hospital last week from which started out as a cold and fever and turned into (or already was) some kind of infection. After a week in the hospital they still don't know where the infection was but it has gone away and she's on anit-biotics. She's 79 and also lives alone like your mother and after she was discharged yesterday we too brought her to our house until she's feeling better. I'm glad your little one hasn't gotten it!

Second, THANK YOU! It was a wonderful surprise today (especially after the past week I've had) to see the Fedex man drop off a huge box at the door!! I even got to open your package with Raven's Grandma! (Hubby was at work and I just couldn't wait that long!!). I LOVE everything!!! Where to start?!?!? I guess with January & February...

THANK YOU SO MUCH for the Home Depot gift card!! You have no idea how much I will enjoy that! And it's funny because I had just decided a few days ago that I was definitely going to work on the closet next! That was right after I threw more stuff in there that needed a temporary home.. lol I pretty much already have a good idea of what I want to do in order to maximize the storage space while hiding a bunch of the storage boxes I have in there and also organize my clothes at the same time. Here's a pic of how it looks now... the "before"... The gift card will definitely help with this!!! I'll be sure to post "after" pics when I'm done. Should keep me busy for a while too, which is good because this wait seems to go slower the more I think about it, so I need to keep busy as I have been pretty good at doing that so far and hopefully it'll continue to fly by.

I can only walk into the closet about 3 feet before hitting my head on the slope, but that is all I need and I want to set up that space so I can walk across the closet in that walking space/aisle and still have shelving on both sides. Or, I can just keep piling things in here! LOL I should have plenty of organized storage space when I am done, and at this rate, I will need the additional space for all of Raven's things I am accumulating!!

Thank you so much for thinking about my birthday! I love the beautiful candle holder and how cool is it that you got it when you were in China!!! That is going right on my desk at home (I work from home) where I can see it all day long and know that it was once in the country of my daughter! Wow!

On to March... LOVE MARCH! The journal is so cute and I am trying to write more instead of just adding what I can to the blog, so that is perfect! And the blanket is BEAUTIFUL!!!! SO SOFT!!! I love it!!! I'm not going to pack that away so I can just go and feel it from time to time! LOL

And now to April! LOL Love the fleece blanket and the little outfit is ADORABLE!!! Too cute!!! And both have little ladybugs! Very cute!! Love the green!!

I love all of it! Thank you so much! And don't worry about it being a little "delayed".. I was meant to get it today! I needed it today!! Perfect timing! Thank you!

11 Months Down!!

Wow! 11 months have passed already! Practically a year! If the next 2 years (and hopefully no more than that!) go by this fast, I think this wait will be somewhat manageable. This year has gone by pretty fast. The retail therapy has helped! lol Although I have been really good for several months and have only gone shopping for my secret pal, it helps to go shopping and to plan all the things I will buy! lol

I actually did go on a bit of a shopping spree last weekend and bought just "a few" things.. LOL I couldn't resist a good sale! Plus, I've become obsessed with ladybugs, so there is a theme on some of these. Here are the pics...

Also, I found out that my Secret Pal (the one I don't know yet) has been sick recently and I think she reads this blog so I want to say to her, I hope you are feeling better very soon! I was a bit worried when I didn't hear from you, so I just wanted to wish you a speedy recovery.

40 IS THE NEW 30! Repeat... 40 IS THE NEW 30!

Happy birthday to me!

Happy birthday to me!

Happy birthday dear meeee-eeeeeee!

Happy birthday to me!

Ok so I am still here. I didn't shrivel up and wilt away now that I am 40! The world didn't come to an end. In fact, I am almost excited to be 40 (don't get carried away, I said ALMOST! lol). See I figure, I get to start over, beginning of a new year so to speak, new decade. I kind of get a do-over (since 40 is the new 30 and all). I get to do everything that I didn't get to do in my 30's! My 40's are going to be SO MUCH better than my 30's!!! I'm pysched! Maybe I've been watching too much Oprah... lol Nah.. 40 will be great! I'll get to be a mom, hopefully not once but twice (I got 10 years to do it!). I am going to travel more even if it is little cheap road trips. And hey, I'm going to CHINA! Woohooo! And then maybe Ethiopia, or Vietnam. Who knows where my second child will come from. Maybe China again! Ok let me calm down a bit! haha Let's get the first child first. haha That's what hubby likes to say, but hey I'm a planner, it's what we do, PLAN!

I'm going to loose more weight!! Which brings me to my weight update.. I am extending my birthday weight goal till the end of March as I have 12 more lbs to go for the first mark. Then after that I'll have about 55 lbs to go. I plan to start hiking again when it starts getting warmer. I don't think I'll loose 12 lbs in 2 weeks..haha But that's ok, as long as it keeps going down I'll be happy.

New Blog Look

I've been working on redesigning the blog a bit. It's still a work-in-progress. I had to tone down the pink a bit as I have been pink-obsessed lately. I love these color combinations. I've been thinking about what colors to do in the nursery and this would be a cool color theme. I originally was thinking about purple walls, but I'm starting to rethink that.




I started making this small baby quilt/blanket which has pinks and purples in it with a few bolder colors in the flowers, and I have additional fabric for curtains and accessories, but I am thinking that I should do a more neutral color on the walls so I can change the whole color scheme with fabrics. Still debating. Or I can do funky on the walls with color and design (originally thinking painted flowers all over the place - flower power!) and have all the fabrics be neutral pulling out certain colors from the walls. Hmmmmmm .. decisions, decisions! I think I need to hit the fabric store one day soon!

Mental Birthday Preparation

I know this will sound weird, but I feel like I've been on the verge of 40 for several years now, maybe about 5 years. I think it started with the biological clock ticking.. I was about 35 and heck, 40 was right around the corner!! Then the clock got louder and louder and during the "infertility years" of 36, 37, 38, I might as well had been 40. With every thought, it was always right around the corner. My mom had me right before she turned 40 and I had always had my mind set that I would be finished having kids way before 40. Initially I thought, I was about 35, I could pop out a couple before I hit 39. Well that plan didn't work out too well either. So basically I spent 5 years pretty much turning 40 and dreading every minute of it. I think I got it down pat now for Friday!! Except that I am coming to terms with it. For one thing.. I threw the biological clock out the window since we started the adoption process, which brought so much peace of mind. And I don't feel like I'm 40 (however that is supposed to feel). And I am slowing coming to terms with the fact that I'll probably be 42/43 by the time we go to get Raven. And hubby told me the other day "40 is the new 30" so I'm going with that! I gotta say.. I really does still feel weird that I will be 40, but I have big plans for my 40's!!!

In reflection of my 30's, I think I've accomplished some significant things. I was living by myself when I was 30 (since I was 18 actually) and I had just finished changing careers by going to technical school for a year while on unemployment (was in Accounting). When I finished school at the end of '97, I was working 3 jobs while looking for my first technical job. I got my first technical job in '98 which is still the same job I have today except it was outsourced so now I work for another company. I met my hubby at this job in 2000. We've gone to Vegas and I got to see the Grand Canyon, something I always wanted to do. We bought our house in 2004, got married in Niagara Falls in 2005, got another cat and a dog and remodeled our kitchen and some other small projects. And we started the adoption process in 2006, LID in 2007. So looking back, I think I accomplished alot.

My 40's are going to be even better than my 30's. First of all and probably most importantly, I will be a Mom!! Some of my other things I want to do in my 40's is travel more (CHINA FOR A START!), but not necessarily huge trips anywhere. I just want to see more of the US. Eventually we want to move out of NY, so I'd like to travel around and get a feel for other states. I also want to focus more on enjoying life instead of just trying to keep up and get by. I'd love to take a cruise one day, I want to go to Disney. I'd love to see California. I'd love to start hiking again. I'd love to go hiking with my daughter!! It would be great if I could start some type of business, but it would have to be something I really enjoy, because life is too short to be stressed all the time! I want to be more active. So many things to do! I think I will be more at peace.

So with that, I think I'm pretty prepared for 40! Bring it on!

First Date

8 years ago today, hubby and I went on our first date. We went to the movies and saw Pitch Black and the rest is history! The only reason I remember this (admit it already Babe, you forgot, again! lol) is because it's 2 days before my birthday. I almost forgot myself today, until we were watching the news and saw what the date was... haha So obviously we weren't celebrating.. haha

I just realized I have almost no pictures of us together from back then. This is one of the pics that made it into our Dossier.

Dec.28, 2005 - Jan.4, 2006 Referrals

I'm way late on this post since referrals came out last week, so I'm just posting this pretty much for my own documentation.. lol One day I might go to blurb.com and make a book out of this blog which I think would be cool since I'm not really a scrapbooker other than a little digital stuff, and very simple scrapbooking things. I do love pretty paper and embellishments though, just never seem to find the time to paly with that stuff. BUT ANYWAY... I'm getting off topic here. So the CCAA matched families with LIDs of 12/28/05 - 1/4/06, so 8 days, 2 of which are weekend days and one holiday, although I don't know if anyone was logged in on 1/1/06. Still better than 3 or 4 days, but I'd like to see at least 15 days at a time. I want my "red thread" on my little pic above to get longer faster!!

I'm going to try to post more a little later.

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!

I Never Thought I'd See The Day...

...when the dog and BOTH cats could actually occupy the same room at the same time!! Ok, so I have nothing else to blog about, BUT THIS IS BIG!! LOL Ever since we got Yoshi (dog) in '06, the cats have pretty much stayed away from him. In fact, they stay on different floors pretty much all the time and only come out of hiding when Yoshi goes outside. They are either in the basement or upstairs, both places Yoshi does not go because he doesn't like stairs. Well, every once in a while, my older cat Jake would come out of hiding sometimes and if Yoshi even tried to go near him, Jake would pretty much chase Yoshi away.. it's actually pretty funny to watch. And then Jake would go back into hiding. So after a while Jake pretty much knew he still ran the house, LOL, as long as he knew I was around to protect him just in case. But still, when Yoshi comes in from outside, the first thing he does is check to see if the cats are on the stairs because he knows they come out when he goes outside. Sometimes Yoshi will ring the bell to go out (we have a cow bell hanging from the back door) and wait for me to open the door, then decide he doesn't want to go out and he does this just to see if the cats come out when I close the door. Sneaky doggie. ANYWAY, the younger cat, Goku, would NEVER come out with Yoshi inside. Until I decided to start feeding the cats in the kitchen (they usually eat in the basement). Well, I've been working at this for a few weeks now.. and this is where we are. Both cats will come out when they hear the can (what cat wouldn't?) even if Yoshi is in the house. And Yoshi, although you can see he REALLY wants to pounce, behaves himself for the most part.. even with cat food around! It's a miracle really!! LOL I actually feel comfortable enough now to leave them in the same room together for a little while at a time. At the worst, Yoshi will loose his mind and try to "play" with them and get smacked.. but he's pretty good at dodging the cat paw by now. I tell him to "stay" and "leave it" and he listens for the most part. I never thought we'd get this far! Here are some pics...

Here Yoshi is keeping his distance, only took a few "leave it"'s and a "stay".. lol You can see Jake eating and Goku is under the table, staying as far away as possible.

"I AM being a good boy Mom!" or maybe... " All done? All done? Can I go? Pleeeease?" LOL




Then it gets better... Jake has no fear anymore.. walks right past the dog to get to me.

And then... confrontation.. Jake is saying "don't mess with me dog.." lol Yoshi looks like he's saying " please don't smack me".. lol

Then Goku appears out of nowhere.. lol , still in the background. I can't even believe at this point they are this close to each other.

And now even Goku can be this close. I'm so proud of my babies!

Well, that's about all I've got to say about that! LOL Nothing else new on this end. Referrals should be coming out this week? Next week? Hopefully there are more than 5 days or so being referred. It would be nice to get done with Dec. 2005 already. Let's get a move on 2006 LIDs already!

9 MONTHS!

Who knew 9 months could have such a different meaning for me these days!?!?! 9 months is 3/4 of a year!!! It's been 9 months I've been "officially" waiting for Raven as far as the CCAA is concerned. 9 months is only 3 months short of a year! When you add up the numbers in my house number, the total is 9! lol I feel like 9 months is a significant dent in this long wait.

In honor of other things that take about 9 months.. lol I'm selling all my pregnancy related books on Ebay!

HAHA

3 Pre-Pregnancy Books -Taking Charge of Your Fertility+

3 Pregnancy Books Including "What to Expect"

Not much else is going on here. The numbers on my scale are starting to go in the right direction again, so that's good. But that's really about all I have to report.

I have a ton of projects that need to be finished, but I don't know where to start.

I'd LOVE to start a new project in my closet, requiring some building and re-organization. It's really a make-shift closet I made out of a semi-crawl space. We're in a Cape style house and this is a little "room" if you can even call it that, on the second floor. Pretty much as soon as you walk in the very narrow doorway, your head will hit the ceiling.. lol There is alot of space in there but only about maybe 3 feet of standing space. Right now I have some metal shelving in there and I had a stand along garment rack which recently collapsed. So my plan is to build a semi-free standing structure in there which will be partially for hanging clothes on the top and shelves on the bottom. And then I'd like to put some kind of shelving unit under where the roof/ceiling is slanting so I can store more there too (without hitting my head all the time!). Once I have a better idea what I want to do I'll post some before and after pics. I should be able to do this rather inexpensively with some cheap wood. Any excuse to get me into Home Depot! lol

Hubby wants me to build him a storage unit for his paintings. He's going to a Fine Arts school and needs something to allow his oil paintings to dry without gathering lint and dust. I might have to do this first since it should be a relatively quick project.

I'd also really like to build my furry baby a dog house, but he'll have to wait till the summer, maybe.

Some "softer" projects I need to work on is a baby blanket/quilt I started a while ago, and associated, matching bedding. I'll have to get it out of the closet, then I'll post a picture. Then of course there is the 100 Good Wishes quilt that I need to start. But I have time for that.

Plenty more projects to work on, nothing exciting though! lol

Well, that's all for now!

Chinese New Year Books

A month from now will be the first day of Chinese New Year, so I wanted to post some links to some children's books on Amazon about Chinese New Year for anyone interested in adding to their collection! Chinese New Year begins on the first day of the first lunar month (this year that falls on February 7th) and ends on the 15th day.



Enjoy!

Referral Time - December 15-19th 2005

Sooo only 5 days referred this month, and 2 days were weekend days. Hmmmm. I don't even have a comment for that. I think a bunch of us were waiting for January to come because supposedly CCAA had told the agencies several months ago when they were here that starting in January 2008 they would start trying to refer 15 days per month. Well, that didn't happen this month. Maybe next month? Maybe the month after? I'm a mathematical person (putting that accounting degree to some use here.. lol) and at this rate it will take a minimum of 6 years assuming 7 days referred per month.

I want to be positive about this, I really do... I really try. But there is always this big build up right before the beginning of the month and a huge let down after the cutoff date is announced.

I am very happy for those who received referrals this month!! I do believe if we wait it out it will happen ONE day. I just don't like that that one day could be YEARS from now.

Hubby and I were talking about other options today, although we are sticking it out with China definitely. The other options would be a concurrent adoption, but we'd probably have to save for a couple of years at a minimum to make that happen (and Raven could be close to coming home by then) or we could switch to SN (Special Needs) although if we do switch I don't want it to solely be because of the wait time. We aren't familiar with SNs right now, and in the beginning because of Hubby's history of dealing with his sister's SN and his Mom for years while she was sick, he was against even thinking about a SN child. But he actually said today that we could at least do some research about the types of SNs and what that all entails.

I figure by this time next year, we'll have a better idea of how long this wait will really be and still have plenty of time to research other options while sticking with China.

Ok so I am not going to be a downer for the rest of the month now that this is out of my system. Just needed to vent a bit.

Kill. Save. Loose.

Those are my main goals for 2008.

Kill the bills.
Save more money.
Loose more weight.

Pretty simple right? Those are the main goals. Got a bunch of mini-goals, like maybe studying for another computer certification since I haven't taken one in a while, continue to read and learn as much about China and adoption and children as I can, continue to work on crafts that have been started but not yet finished and not start any new projects for a while unless I already have the materials, work in backyard when it gets warmer, etc. Nothing major, but enough to keep me busy.

I need to keep busy for sure this year because my birthday is in March and everytime this year I already start dreading my birthday (why wait till the last minute to dread it? LOL ). And this year is extra-dread as I will be the big 4-0. Hubby will be 40 Feb. 23rd, then me on Mar. 14th. He wants to have a big shindig (did I just say shindig?) for his 40th, I want to go hide under a rock. LOL

Anyway, here's to the rest of 2008!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas Secret Pal!!

I just had to take a minute to thank my Secret Pal again this Christmas morning! We opened Raven's Christmas gift this morning and it's the Calin doll! She is soooo cute! Thank you SO much! I can't wait till she gets here to see her playing with it!

Merry Christmas!!

Happy Holidays!

While I'm on a posting roll, I want to with everyone a very Merry Christmas and Happy Holiday!

Nov/Dec Secret Pal Gift & Electric Collars

Thanks to my April2007DTC Secret Pal! She did a combo gift for Nov and Dec which I received earlier this week. There was a 3-pack of pink and white bodysuits, a package of plastic bowls, this great black iron candle holder with a pine scented candle (LOVE candles), a great card and Raven's very first Christmas present!!! We can't open the gift until Xmas, by orders of my secret pal! lol


She also included a gift for Yoshi! This adorable Chinese food take-out box squeaky toy. And in the background is Raven's gift under the tree already!





Let me tell you, Yoshi was VERY patient with me trying to get a picture of him with his gift!! If he loves anything more than squeaky toys it's posing for pictures!!! But this one was tough for him!! He humored me and let me take a decent picture. Then...

"Let's see if I can get the whole thing in my mouth!"


"Don't EVEN think about taking this away from me!"

Thank you Secret Pal!! I can't wait till Xmas to open Raven's gift!!

As a side note for all you dog lovers, you may notice from time to time Yoshi is wearing an electronic collar. Let me assure you, we never use this collar with the shock feature. When we first got it we did test it out it isn't so much of a shock as a vibration, so it isn't too bad, but we still don't use that feature. The feature we do use and does some in helpful is the "beep" part. You press a button on the remote and a very high pitched beep comes from the collar, not loud or anything. This usually will get him to at least pay attention. He is still young and still has his moments where it's hard to get his attention to make him stop doing something any other way, like chasing the cats (who will beat the you know what out of him if ever gets close enough to them!), chasing birds or squirrels, trying to make a run for it thru the front door, eating the sofa, tree, and anything else he can put in his mouth. So sometimes it's necessary to just catch his attention when he doesn't listen to "leave it", "no", "come", all things he does listen to if he is not focused on catching a kittie at the time! lol Anyway, I just happened to notice that some of the pictures have him with the collar on so I figured I'd let everyone know we only beep him. lol And usually I don't even put it on him, I just leave it by the stairs and if he chases the cats, I can just use the remote to make the collar beep and he'll back off. Good boy, sometimes! lol