Report on Our Holiday

Sunday we went to my mom's house. My older brother and his family couldn't make it due to the weather which was too bad. We had a good time though with my other two brothers. Mike got to take all of my coconut date balls home since Dan wasn't there and my mom doesn't like coconut. He told me I could just put To: Mike on them next year and he'd be happy. The girls got the Webkinz they wanted, some makeup and a couple of games which they played with their cousins right away.

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day we stayed home and relaxed. Well, we cleaned Monday because I told the girls Santa wouldn't leave anything if the house was in the shape it was in. We opened our gifts to each other Monday night. The girls were thrilled with the movies and CD's I got for them. They each got pajamas they love. And while Anna got a great princess towel, Jessica got an inexpensive digital camera. She was in heaven and snapped pictures the rest of the evening. The girls got me some nice picture frames so I can put their school pictures on the wall in my living room, and a bowl with body wash, shampoo, conditioner, hairspray and some Olay lotion. Just what I wanted!

Santa was especially generous as he always seems to be. He just doesn't know when to stop. Maybe some day he'll learn. The stockings were full, the cookies eaten, and lots of presents under the tree. The girls each got an American Girl doll (Julie and Ivy). Anna got lots more princess stuff and a Harry Potter game which we haven't played yet. Maybe once we get past New Year's. Jessica got her Nintendo DS and 2 games. She declared this the BEST Christmas EVER!!! I guess she didn't really think she'd get the Nintendo DS even though she asked for it. More Li'l Webkinz were in the stockings. And Mom got a refurbished iPod nano. It's an older 2 GB one, but I totally love it. Of course it took me 2 days to figure out how to load songs on it and Jessica picked it up and 60 seconds later was playing solitare. But I really like it. I seem to always get something on the girls' list that they can't have yet, but they're always okay with that.

I just love laying in bed on Christmas or Easter morning and having them run out and check things and then report back to me. "Santa came!" "He ate the cookies and left a note!" "There are presents under the tree! 8 for me, 8 for Anna and even some for you!" "The fish got presents." "Lucy and Jinny got a lot of stuff in their stocking." "Amanda got a present, too!" "Mom, get up!" I tried to stay in bed until 6:30, but it was pretty hard when they were awake by 5:20. I told them my mom and dad wouldn't let us get them up until 7:00. They thought that was silly. I tried to stall by telling them about the time my brothers and sister and I got up at 4 a.m., but still had to wait until 7:00. By the time my parents came down, we were all asleep again on, under, and behind the couch in the living room. Christmas is so much fun with kids!

Merry Christmas to Everyone!!

May you all have a wonderful holiday.

13 Months Since LID

Just thought I'd post it. No deep thoughts. Just another month down.

Photo Cards Sent, Almost Ready to Relax

I got my photo cards last night and managed to address them all with only 8 left over. I keep adding people, but its nice to meet so many new people and feel they are a part of our lives. If anyone wants one that I may not have already included, let me know. This is the picture I used in the card.


I've also finished shopping except for the fruit I told my mom I'd bring for our Christmas celebration on Sunday. Tonight I will finish baking and hopefully wrapping, so that I will have a nice relaxing long weekend. I have Christmas Eve and Christmas Day off to enjoy with my girls with no other obligations. I'm looking forward to it.

Holy Moly, November Is Now In Review!

Just got CCAA's update this morning that they've finished reviewing through October 31, 2006 LID's. That means I'm moving into the Review Room!

That means once my dossier has been reviewed (and approved), I move to waiting for a referral and only something very major would change that status. Referral is still who knows how many months or years away, but if I make it out of review, China has approved me to adopt another child.

Christmas Baking and Shopping

I'm almost done with my shopping. Just one brother, my mom, and my daycare provider to go. Of course not everything is wrapped, but I should make more progress on that tonight as a friend offered to take the girls for a little while so I could do whatever I need to do when they aren't around.

Sunday I started my Christmas baking. I love baking as long as I have time and don't have to do it every day. If I could do whatever I wanted in life, I'd consider being a caterer because I love doing parties. Although I think it would get old if I did it for a living. I may be thinking too big, but I'm hoping to finish my cookie baking tonight as well. Gotta get some out tomorrow for teacher gifts since Anna only sees her DHH teacher on Mondays and Wednesdays. I'll try to take a picture of the final product. I'm trying a couple of new cookies/candies this year. And I'm leaving out the cut-out cookies unless the girls beg to do them. I'm trying to not stress over Christmas. Okay, I've stressed, but I'm trying to stop!

A Blue Tree

I used to have all blue lights with silver tinsel and blue and silver balls.

You Should Have a Blue Christmas Tree

For you, the holidays represent a time of calm, understanding, and peace. You avoid family fights, and you don't get too stressed out - even when things are crazy! You like to make Christmas about making everyone's life a little bit better. You don't get caught up in greed or commercialism. You're too sincere for that. Your blue tree would look great with: Lots of silver tinsel You should spend Christmas Eve watching: It's a Wonderful Life What you should bake for Santa: Chocolate chip cookies

What Color Christmas Tree Should You Have?

Pals

Lucy and Jinny are getting along very well. Much better than I ever thought. I'm enjoying having a kitty. She's so easy to take care of compared to a dog, yet she's very snuggly, too. Right now she's sitting on my shoulder, playing with my hair, and purring up a storm. She's definitely what I needed to help me get over losing Penny. Anna is finally not constantly holding Jinny and letting her explore the house. Jinny and Lucy seem to find it enjoyable to play chase around the time I'm trying to go to sleep which is fine except when Lucy gets too verbal about it.

PRS or Pre-Referral Syndrome

It's that time of month again...I don't mean PMS but PRS or Pre-Referral Syndrome. This is a much more dangerous time of month than PMS is for most women, even worse than PMDD.

Typical Symptoms:
Women in the process of Chinese Adoption will sit in front of their computers, for days on end trying to find one tiny shred of fact regarding the latest LID cut-off or actual date of said referrals; either through forums, chat rooms or blogs.

Most women WILL lose some sleep during this time by choosing to surf for clues until the wee house of the morning, get a few hours of sleep only to get up extra early to see if anything has surfaced in the 3 hours they were asleep. Most women feel anxious, go through bouts of excitement and depression and appear to be losing her mind to those around her. When she will allow herself to be torn away from her cyber hunt, she will be prone to bouts of sobbing, shopping spree's for baby items (mostly in pink), and will tend to eat copious amounts of Edy's Slow Churned ice cream.

In extreme cases some women will lose short term memory, they will forget to take care of their daily responsibilities such as letting the dog out, planning dinner, going to work, etc. Some women will even forgo hygienic rituals, skipping showers, putting hair in ponytail, or wearing sunglasses to the grocery store to hide the dark circles and pale complexion due to lack of sleep and make-up.

Cycle Duration:
Women usually experience PRS symptoms from 2 days to 2 weeks before the onset of Adoption Referrals being received at adoption agencies and can show continued symptoms for 2 days to 2 weeks AFTER referral information has been officially announced. Warning: Those experiencing symptoms 2 weeks before AND 2 weeks after SHOULD SEEK MEDICAL ATTENTION or at least have an extremely supportive network of family and friends who can make sure that she doesn't go to work in her underwear or fall asleep in unusual places.

Life-time Duration:
This is a chronic disorder that will continue on a regular basis until the cure* is administered. Years ago experts in this area believed the duration of PRS to only last 6-8 months. Then 10-12 months, 22-24 months and now some believe it could go as long as four years. As you can see there is not a definite end to this syndrome and those considered experts actually have no idea either.

*Cure: One adopted daughter, home in her mother's arms.

Up To December 14, 2005

CCAA has now referred LID's through December 14, 2005. Another 6 days. Congratulations to the families receiving referrals! Unfortunately at this rate, it'll take another 4 years to get my referral for Amanda. Let's hope next month shows more of a speed up. It'd be nice if they finished December with the next group.

Birthday and We Put Up The Christmas Tree

Today is my birthday. I still have my ticker down at the bottom of the site, the one for days to referral set to my birthday next year. I know at some point I'll change it to 2 years from now, but I want to wait until the first referrals come in 2008 just in case there's a minor speed-up. My girls gave me a couple of cute ornaments, some Blockbuster gift cards, and a Zen daily calendar. A friend took them for the afternoon and evening so I could go to a movie and dinner before my concert tonight. I kind of wish I'd spent the day with them. It was awfully quiet. I saw August Rush. A good movie with sort of an Oliver Twist theme. I didn't have time for a sit-down supper, so got take-out from Leann Chin. Like I said, kind of quiet, but then again, Sundays usually are. Dance was cancelled yesterday because of the winter storm warnings, so we didn't really see anyone.


My horoscope, under "your birthday today" says "There is an exceptional amount of financial luck flowing through your realm this year." Boy do I really hope that's true. Of course it also says "Wedding bells ring in October." Like that would happen. Maybe it means a friend.





Yesterday and today we also worked on putting up the Christmas tree and decorating the living room. This year I decided to get Amanda a stocking and hang it up even though she isn't here or even close to here. I figure she may be born and we're waiting for her, so there you go. Her stocking is hung by the fireplace with care.

CCAA Update & Visited Santa

September, 2006 dossiers are officially out of review! No word on the next round of referrals. People are hoping they'll come next week. They used to try to get a batch out right before Christmas, but if referrals come next week, I wouldn't expect another round until January.



Monday night I took the girls to see Santa. I wanted them to stop adding things to their lists. The lists have now gone away, so hopefully they'll forget most of what was on their list and won't be disappointed when they don't get 50 things under the tree. Santa was great though. He saw their list and said "just 5 things". I had already made them each circle 3-5 items that they really wanted.

Hopefully we'll get the tree up this weekend. It's supposed to snow, but the news station I usually watch isn't commiting to an amount. Just that there's a winter storm warning Saturday with the worst Saturday afternoon into Saturday night. Oh joy, the girls have dance Saturday and we usually don't get out of there until 4:30. It's also really cold and really windy! My computer says it's 4 degrees right now. Winter is here.

An 8 Year Old's Christmas List

Okay, this list is just too cute not to share. This is Jessica's Christmas list. She's torn between wanting to be a teenager with all the electronic gadgets that go with it, but then throws in some items showing she's only 8.

1. Nintendo DS
2. Nintendo DS Dolphin game
3. Heelies
4. A Panda Bedroom
5. 2 More Webkinz - Black Cat & Bulldog
6. A Cleaner Yard
7. Laptop Computer
8. iPod or MP3 Player
9. Blue Clothes
10. American Girl doll - Julie
11. More Stuffed Animals
12. Verizon Wireless Chocolate Cell Phone
13. Yahtzee Game
14. 29 More Postcards, Please
15. Make-up
16. Arts & Crafts
17. Another Tomogatchi
18. Note Pad
19. Lucy & Jinny [our dog & cat] to stop fighting [they already have]
20. Alarm Clock
21. Adding to the Panda Room
22. A large bedroom, pretty please
23. Faster Internet
24. A cooked chicken in the refridgerator
25. Fifth Harry Potter Movie
26. Chinese Desk
27. Another Goldfish
28. Chinese New Year decorations
29. 50 Snacks
30. Hermione [from Harry Potter] as a sister instead of Anna
31. a puppy
32. Model Magic
33. A Flying Car
34. Blue Plates
35. Carrie Underwood, Martina McBride, Leann Rimes and/or TimMcGraw CD
36. Faux Fur bed for Lucy [our dog]
37. Guess Who game
38. Snakes & Ladders game
39. Lots more presents
40. Blue Pajamas
41. Ratatouille movie
42. Digital Camera
43. Lemon Drops
44. My own Choxies [truffles from Target]
45. Fake Medium Diamond
46. Another tag for Lucy
47. Blue Recorder
48. Chinese YoYo
49. Dumplings
50. Jungle animal wall paper and green tile for downstairs
51. Dixie and Penny [our toy poodles who died] have a wonderful Christmas
52. Flat Screen TV
53. like the princess table except I want it blue
54. Hair Spray movie
55. Blue Wreath
56. Bird Feeder
57. Green Ornament

Too cute! She knows she's not getting the laptop, iPod or room redone overnight. I don't know for sure what she's getting. My sister-in-law and niece Mariah really loved the list and thought it was worth sharing. Anna's list is much more realistic.

1 Year LID Anniversary

Okay, so by virtue of it being Thanksgiving Day, I did celebrate my one year LID anniversary with family. The girls had a great time with their cousins and I enjoyed spending time with my nieces, nephew, brothers, sister-in-law and mom. I didn't bring up that it was my 1 year LID. I didn't really want to dwell on it. I never ever dreamed I would have made so little progress in a year. But, it's one year down. One year less I will have to wait. And after hearing tonight that a dear friend has brain and lung cancer, I feel very grateful to still be healthy.

To my DTC/LID groups, I'm sorry I haven't been able to maintain the enthusiasm I had in the beginning. It's so hard to be excited when we have no idea how high the wait will climb to. It could be 2 years from LID, it could climb to 5. Hopefully, things will start looking up in the not too distant future. I'd like to hope my wait won't get longer than 3 years. That's the longest I can even begin to think about right now. I hope we will soon see some sort of speed up. By that I mean, I hope we see more than 4 months of LID's being referred in the coming year.

Happy Thanksgiving, Everyone!!!

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! May you spend your day safe and sound and with those you love. May you remember to be thankful for what you have knowing there are many others with much less, and many others in need of basic items like food, shelter and clothing.

Some Movement

My agency reports that CCAA has finished reviewing the September, 2006 LID's dossiers. Someone on my October list reports being questioned on some items. That means they'll probably be reviewing my dossier in the next month. I'm a little nervous. I hope I slide through.

Leaves, Leaves and More Leaves

Although the trees in my yard would not require that I rake at all, my neighbors each have trees that require me to rake. The leaves on those trees don't typically fall until mid November, so every year I hope that I can rake before the snow covers them up. Sunday afternoon I decided to try to get as many raked as possible. Of course today its windy and my one neighbor has not raked, so his leaves will be all over my yard by the end of the day. Ugh!

Anyway, I got out my one rake and went back to the garage to do something, and the girls took over. They were raking the front yard with the kiddie rake and mine. So, in an effort to strike while the iron was hot, we went to the hardware store and bought 2 more rakes, so all three of us could rake. I managed to get much of the garage packed to one side so I can get the car in the garage once it starts to snow. (Small garage, minivan, so I only park in the garage when I have to, so snow plows can do the street and my driveway.) While the girls raked and bagged the leaves in the larger half of the front yard, I managed to finish the rest of the yard. I didn't expect to finish more than the front yard, so I was very pleased to get it all done at once. The girls were really helpful this year. Yes, there was some moving leaves from my piles to theirs, and some jumping in the piles, but it was nice that they are big enough now to actually help rather than hinder.

Slow Progress

CCAA finished referrals up to December 8, 2005 Log-In Dates. I was hoping they might get through the next few months in 2 months or less for each month, but it doesn't look like it based on this group. I hear March, 2006 is another huge month. My agency only has 3 LID's in December, so I really hope it doesn't take more than 3 months to get to some 2006 LID's. Oh well. At least it's 8 days and not 2.

Toothless Anna & Our New Family Member - Jinny

Thursday afternoon Anna went to the dentist who said it looked like her 2 wiggly teeth would fall out within the week. Thursday night I helped get the first one out. Today, the second one came out. Anna was so excited to get her first visit from the Tooth Fairy. I'm sure she'll be awake earlier than normal tomorrow knowing the Tooth Fairy will make her second visit in the night if she doesn't forget.



Thursday night we also decided to pool all of our coins from our piggy banks, and then we rummaged around the house and in the car for every coin we could find. We surprisingly came up with $93.20. So I kicked in the extra so we could go to the Humane Society Friday night and see if they had any kittens we liked. I've really been missing Penny and I just can't afford another dog right now although eventually I intend on getting another one. But I've also been debating on getting a cat for quite awhile now.




We had a really good time looking for the money and then coming up with a list of names. Ginger was the winning name, unless of course we found a black cat. Ginger just didn't seem like the right name for a black cat. So what did we find? A black and white kitten. She's 3 months old. She came with the name Bailey, but while I was filling out the paperwork, the girls decided they wanted to name her Jinny. "J" Jessica wanted, and Jinny is after Ginny Weasley from the Harry Potter books. The kitty is cute, cuddly and playful. The first night was really hard because Lucy, our toy poodle, wanted so badly to play with her, and I felt more comfortable keeping them apart. Lucy whined a good part of the night and I don't function well on no sleep. But she quit that after that first night. Here are some pictures of Anna and Jinny. Lucy is officially Jessica's dog and Jinny is officially Anna's cat. When we get another dog it can be mine according to the girls.

Happy Halloween!!!

Here is Anna (Harry Potter), Jessica (Vampiress), Kristie (Prairie Girl) and Molly (Kitty). They all went trick or treating tonight in our neighborhood. We went 4 blocks up and down and came home with a huge loot of candy. Just for kicks I put it on a scale. Jessica had 5 lbs, 10 oz. and Anna had 5 lbs, 3 oz. of candy. Good thing they don't eat much candy, although Anna already took hers, put it in a rubbermaid container and put it "someplace safe". She's my hoarder. Also good is that all the candy I had to hand out went. They each only ate one piece of their candy before going to bed.

Pumpkins

We carved our pumpkins tonight. I haven't actually carved them for several years. It always seemed like such hard work. Tonight we carved all three of these in less than an hour. It went really well. It pays to use those special pumpking carving knives.

What Not To Do.

During the major rain we had over the last few weeks, the ground became very soft. We had the front part of our camper on a quarter inch piece of plywood. The support broke through the plywood and went straight into the ground. Today Joyce, my camping buddy, came to help get the camper back upright and better supported. "I am woman hear me roar!" We each got out our car jacks, figured out how to use them, and got the camper back up with no problem. Yeah! Then we put the support jacks under each side of the front of the camper and better supported under the front pole.

Then we visited for awhile, started watching a movie which my girls are now finishing, then had a nice supper. We didn't get the pumpkins carved, but had a nice relaxing day, so that was nice.

Um, Yum?

It was one year ago today that my dossier was sent to China. My DTC date. The girls made me supper last night and breakfast this morning. Leftovers they found in the refridgerator. They heated everything up to a lukewarm level. I ate it all with joy!

Then tonight while Jessica was at a Halloween party, Anna and I went to one of our favorite Chinese buffet places.

Pumpkin Picking Time

We went to our favorite roadside stand outside of a mall and a grocery store to pick out our pumpkins. We've gone there since Jessica was 2.

11 Months Since LID

11 months ago my dossier was logged in with CCAA. Hopefully I'm close to having it reviewed. Rumor has it that some December LID's have been asked questions. I don't know that I'm any closer to referral though. Since I started the whole paperchase, the wait has increased a month each month. A long wait with a lot of peaks and valleys. Most people in my boat seem to be in a valley right now. I've lost motivation. Hopefully it'll come back some day soon. Saturday will be a year from when my dossier left my agency to go to China. I'm in no position to go to China right now, but I really didn't think I'd be looking at probably another 2 years to referral at almost a year after my paperwork was done. Early in 2008 I'll need to start working on renewing some of my paperwork. I pray I won't have to re-do it twice, but if it takes 3 years for a referral or close to that, I will have to re-do it twice. Depressing.

Princess Penny Patinage

June 2, 1993 - October 13, 2007

My dog, my friend, my first baby died today. She was 14 years old and she quit eating and drinking 4 days ago. Bringing her in to have her put down was probably the hardest thing I ever had to do. I prayed Thursday and Friday nights that God would come and take her in the night, so I wouldn't have to make the call. I didn't sleep much Friday night from crying, knowing if she didn't die I'd have to get the courage to call the pet hospital.

She was the dog I wanted ever since I was 12 years old - my cream with apricot toy poodle who I could name Penny, because she was mine. She loved playing catch with a racketball. There was always just one with the right smell and taste. While waiting for me to throw the ball, she always had to have a stuffed rattle toy in her mouth. I'd buy baby toys because she like the rattle in them. She was very independent. A night owl. But when she wanted attention, she'd come and get it. Despite her being so tiny (7-9 lbs when she was healthy), she'd always stand her ground. She knew when to stand still and let another dog sniff her, but she was always in charge. Definitely an alpha dog. I loved her dearly. I bought my house for her. I got Dixie for her. When she became diabetic earlier this year and then when she couldn't seem to keep the weight on this summer, I knew she wouldn't make it to winter. I almost thought I'd lose her in August, then again a month ago. I did have 14 good years with her. She's out of pain now, and I'm sure she and Dixie are running around with my dad in heaven.

I wish I had a scan of one of the really cute pictures of her. I'll have to work on that. For now, I'll just repost the one I did on her birthday last June.

Goodbye November, 2005

CCAA has finished referrals to LID's through November 30, 2005.

Only 357 days worth of LID's in front of me.

I still expect it to take another 24 months or thereabouts for me, but I won't change my ticker at the bottom of this page until we see what CCAA does in early 2008.

I wonder how long it'll take to get to the 2006 referrals. One fast month would be nice. I've always heard November was HUGE and then the next huge month was March, 2006 LID's so maybe we'll get a mini speed-up for December through February. That'd be nice instead of the 5-7 day batches.

On the other hand, I really don't realistically expect a referral in 2008 any more, but my hopes are that it doesn't take until the end of 2009. I'd like to travel in the summer of 2009 so my girls don't miss school. This time of year wouldn't be too bad weather-wise either. I've only been to China when it's been very hot and muggy.

Amanda's Name

The meaning of the name Amanda is Worthy Of Love
The origin of the name Amanda is Latin

Info on this name: Amanda Bynes, actress. Amanda Plummer, actress.
Amanda is on 2015 favorite name lists

# 102 on latest SSA List *

· Amanda - Ace Troubleshooter
· Amanda - Boston
· Amanda - Waylon Jennings
· Amanda Crazy Wolf - Erica Wheeler
· Amanda Ruth - Rank and File
· Amanda's Dream - Teitur
· Crazy Amanda Bunkface - Sum 41
· Go Amanda - Steve Earle

The meaning of the name Joy (or Joi as I'm probably using) is Happiness
The origin of the name Joy is Latin

Joy is on 635 favorite name lists
3586 have rated the name Joy

# 507 on latest SSA List *
· Joy - Harry Nilsson
· Joy - Mclusky

Popularity of the female name Amanda
Year of birth Rank
2006 --- 102
2005 --- 80
2004 --- 67
2003 --- 55
2002 --- 46
2001 --- 39
2000 --- 32
1999 --- 22
1998 --- 19
1997 --- 16
1996 --- 13
1995 --- 9
1994 --- 8
1993 --- 8
1992 --- 3

You Made Me Smile Award

Cyndi nominated me for the You Made Me Smile Award. Thank you Cyndi! I'm still in a pretty down mood or rut, so the makes me feel good.

Here is what the person that created this award says about it: the thing that I love most about blogging is that I learn so much about a person just by reading their blog. I have met MANY wonderful people with wonderful stories to tell,and I am grateful every day for each person that I have the pleasure of crossing paths in life with.I wanted to create something special for the top ten people who have inspired me through their blogging; the stories they tell, and the lives that they lead with grace and dignity. I visit their blogs for inspiration and encouragement. Please grab your badge and wear it proudly, and pass it on because you inspire and encourage me, thank you.

It's hard to come up with new names since I've got a pretty tight group of people who's blogs I read on a regular basis and many of them have already been nominated as well. So I nominate Merrill and Joyce, and if you're reading this and your blog is on my list of October, November, or other, please consider yourself nominated! I check all the blogs I've listed every couple of days. And yes, I know I need to clean up a few that no longer exist or are now private.

August LID's Have Been Reviewed!

Only 3 more months until November is out of review. I'm excited and nervous.

Chinese Moon Festival

The Chinese Moon Festival is on the 15th of the 8th lunar month. It's also known as the Mid-autumn Festival. Chinese culture is deeply imbedded in traditional festivals. Just like Christmas and Thanksgiving in the West, the Moon Festival is one of the most important traditional events for the Chinese.

The Moon Festival is full of legendary stories. Legend says that Chang Er flew to the moon, where she has lived ever since. You might see her dancing on the moon during the Moon Festival. The Moon Festival is also an occasion for family reunions. When the full moon rises, families get together to watch the full moon, eat moon cakes, and sing moon poems. With the full moon, the legend, the family and the poems, you can't help thinking that this is really a perfect world. That is why the Chinese are so fond of the Moon Festival.

The Moon Festival is also a romantic one. A perfect night for the festival is if it is a quiet night without a silk of cloud and with a little mild breeze from the sea. Lovers spend such a romatic night together tasting the delicious moon cake with some wine while watching the full moon. Even for a couple who can't be together, they can still enjoy the night by watching the moon at the same time so it seems that they are together at that hour. A great number of poetry has been devoted to this romantic festival. Hope the Moon Festival will bring you happiness.

The moon cake is the food for the Moon Festival. The Chinese eat the moon cake at night with the full moon in the sky. Here are a few pictures of the typical moon cake.

10 Month LIDiversary

whoop-ti-doo.

Nice Matters Award

Wow, Cyndi nominated me for the Nice Matters Award!

Here is what it means.
"This award is for bloggers who are nice people, good blog friends, and those who inspire good feelings and inspiration. Also, for those who are a positive influence on our blogging world"

I'm in a big communication rut right now. For the first time in many, many months I haven't felt like posting, haven't checked on other people's blogs on a daily basis, and haven't even thought of putting together the gifts and swaps I'm supposed to be sending out this month. I want to curl up and do nothing. I actually removed myself from a swap today. But, wow, it feels good to know someone else is checking up on me and considers me "nice", which I try to be. Thank you so much. You made my day!

I am now suppose to nominate other people for this award. I will check out the blogs of friends and add their names to the list later today or this weekend if I can manage to turn on the computer. My girls are banned from Webkinz today, but we have Chinese class tonight and dance tomorrow, then are babysitting tomorrow night, so a little busy.

Culture Camp and Car Problems

Sorry I've been quiet lately. Just really busy. Last weekend we went to our local FCC's Culture Camp. I had car problems getting there and was nervous about getting back. It was a 3 hour drive each way in good traffic without stopping. On the way there, it took me almost 6 hours. On the way home, we stopped for lunch, but made it almost home with no incidents. Yesterday, I spent almost $1,000 fixing my van. Not fun and $1,000 I didn't have. But the car runs so much better. I really notice it.

As far as Culture Camp, my girls had a great time. All the way home Jessica kept saying she missed Culture Camp so much already. I missed the opening ceremonies on Friday night. We were in a villa with friends of ours and it was a very nice villa. Saturday there was breakfast, then children's programs according to their grade and adult programs to attend. The girls made crafts and hung out with other kids while I went to a panel of adult Korean adoptees. This was actually the first time I had attended something like this. 2 of them were from the first generation of Korean adoptees, so my age. One was only 25, but now works for a local adoption agency. I really enjoyed hearing they're perspectives. And I bought a book of stories written by various adult adoptees. Then I went to a Parenting 101 class. Very funny straight-forward adoptive dad. I've attended his classes in the past and I find him very informative. I bought his book, too.

After lunch on our own and a market place where I bought a calendar and more books, we went swimming at the indoor water park. In the evening there was dinner, and then a disco dance. This was the first year (this was our 3rd year) we stayed the whole time. The little girls still wore their princess outfits, but there were a lot more tweens this year. Jessica and her friend were on the dance floor the whole time. Anna and her friend got us moms out too. A good DJ and very nice dance.

Sunday, we had breakfast, closing ceremonies and thanks to all, and then we decided to pack up and leave rather than staying at the water park again. I wanted to make sure we made it home or that if we didn't, there would be someone we knew driving by to help us out.

I'm really enjoying my girls at their ages with their independence. I look at the younger kids and all the moms have to do with all the younger kids and question if I really want to go back there. I've thought about Amanda every day for over 5 years. Now all of a sudden I wonder why I want to upset the apple cart. I think I would be happy to stop now with Jessica and Anna. I don't know how I'd ever explain to them though if I did. I know I'm stressed over money (my lack of it), and that plays a big part in my reflections. I also know the wait is strenuous, but I also need the wait right now. I'll keep going, but for the first time, I'm wondering if I really want to proceed with the adoption - do I really want this or was it just something I became obsessed with. Anyway. Just sharing where my head is right now.

Okay, I think I'm free again...

I've become addicted to the Harry Potter series! I've read all 7 books within the last 4.5 weeks and seen the first 4 movies. I stayed up until 1 a.m. to finish the last book. I couldn't put it down and go to sleep not knowing how it ended. I thought it would be nice to read the books one after another, but boy, you get to about 3/4ths of the way through book 5 and you need to know how it ends. I finished the last 3 books starting Friday morning.

Anyway, hopefully now I can get back to things like dishes, laundry, and talking to my kids. They like the movies. Anna begged me to watch one last night and this morning, but no time. We had our 1st grade meeting last night and by the time we got home, it was time for her to go to bed. Jessica isn't as obsessed, but she said she wasn't going to try to read the first book until I had finished all of them. Wonder what her excuse will be now?

p.s. I will post pictures once I get the time

Okay, I've been running around the last couple of nights trying to find the school supplies the teachers now need. Jessica's list said 3 folders. She brought her folders home and now needs solid color folders - no cute kitty or puppy pictures. Do you think Target had any folders left at all? NO! Last night I went to Super Target looking for 2 glue sticks and a 1" 3-ring binder for Anna. I took the last 2 glue sticks off the shelf and had Anna choose which color she liked of the last 3 binders. Jessica's teacher got married on Saturday and has been on his honeymoon (like teacher's didn't know when school would start????) and today is his first day, so inevitably, he'll need something different. I wonder if teachers have ever had to shop for a glue stick or folder after the first day or two of school. It would have been much nicer if they had given me this information when I went to the open house on Friday. Then I would have had the weekend to look for them.

Anyway I'll post pictures of our trip and the first day of school soon.

First Day of School

Today was my girl's first day of school. Jessica is now in 3rd grade and Anna is in 1st. The girls took the bus from home rather than daycare for the first time. Jessica got the teacher she wanted - a man teacher - which I think will be really good for her. Anna's teacher is supposed to be a very visual teacher. Both girls really enjoyed going to school again, but they both had meltdowns around supper time. I'm going to clear my schedule for the rest of the week so they can go to bed at a decent time.

What a Wonderful Trip!

We really enjoyed our trip up north to the Itasca area. Our campground was not busy at all and we were pretty much the only ones around other than a few seasonal people. We had a beautiful view of the lake, loons were calling, hummingbirds and woodpeckers hanging around. The sunrises were spectacular as were the moon rises. It was so peaceful and beautiful.

The girls had a blast walking across the headwaters of the Mississippi River. I didn't walk across the rocks because so many people were slipping and falling, so I just walked into the river and took pictures. After the river and some shopping in the gift shop, we drove around the state park. We came upon a fire tower which we walked to. Joyce took the girls up to the top (100 feet I believe), but at about the 3rd of 10 levels, my fear of heights kicked in and I returned to the bottom to watch.

We did have rain one day and it was a little dreary the next, but really not all that bad. The girls went up to the office and watched a couple of movies. I spent a lot of quiet time reading the 4th Harry Potter book.