Dance and Snow Storm

Jessica and her dance class dance "The Candy Dance" at the FCC Chinese New Year event. They did an excellent job dancing the program three times. She loves dancing and really enjoyed herself.

I think we had about 9" of snow last night. I'm sure glad I have a snow removal service although I did shovel the steps and I had to clean off the car. Here's a picture of Jessica on a huge snow bank as we were leaving the FCC New Year event. The snow pile came from plowing out a school parking lot. Jess couldn't resist climbing on it.

Silly Girls - 3 Months Since LID!

My brother took this picture Sunday. The girls were in kind of a silly mood and did not want to take a serious picture. And wow, it's now been 3 months since my dossier was logged in to CCAA (the China Center for Adoption Affairs).

DTC/LID List's Activities

I signed up for the Hair Bow swap on my November list, so I bought bow-making instructions from someone on ebay. I looked at JoAnn Fabric last night, but didn't see any. Since I signed Jessica, Anna and me up, I figure I'll at least try my hand at making them myself. If it doesn't work, I'll start shopping around, but it was only like $2.40 for the instructions. The first swap isn't until April, so I have time to practice. There are color themes, the first being pink/purple.

I also signed up for a postcard swap on my October list. So now I need to be on the lookout for postcards. I've got until the end of March for this one, so plenty of time to think about it.

I received quite a few squishes for the quilts yesterday (I think 3 for each of my girls). What fun. I need to put together more wishes so I can send out more for the swaps I've signed up for.

My sister returned home last night and my mom will be going home tonight. My brother is getting better. He's off the respirator as of this morning and they're talking about moving him out of ICU. So anyway, I hope to have some time to take pictures of some squishes and maybe even post them under the Quilt links tonight.

Pig/Boar Characteristics and Forecast

I found this description for people born in the year of the Pig/Boar:

The Boar type is usually an honest, straightforward and patient person. They are a modest, shy character who prefers to work quietly behind the scenes. When others despair, they are often there to offer support. This type of person is reserved with those they do not know too well, but as time passes and they gain confidence, those around them may discover a lively and warm-hearted person behind that mask of aloofness. Despite those born in the year of pig having a wide circle of friends and acquaintances, they have few close friends who understand them and share their inner thoughts and feelings. It is easy to put trust in pig type; they won't let you down and will never even attempt to do so. Such people simply want to do everything right according to social norms.
It is important to remember that these people are not vengeful creatures. If someone tries to take advantage of them, the pig type tend to withdraw to reflect on the problem and protect themselves. All they need in such situations is a little time to find a constructive way to respond. The people of the pig type are conservative creatures of habit. They dislike being made to travel too far from familiar surroundings, unless it is a trip to the countryside. They love nature and are never happier than when they are out somewhere, far from the city.
There is a tolerant and peaceful side to their character. Such people are never afraid to allow others their freedom of expression; they do not want to cause arguments and if there is any way to avoid arguing, they will probably take this option. They are not weak, however, and if the situation forces them to fight these people will rise to the occasion, whether it is to defend themselves or those close to them. People of the Boar type are the most admired by others.

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Forecast/Horoscope

From: chineseastrology.com/wu/pigyear.php

Rating Key for Each Month:
****Excellent (Very auspicious, a wide and smooth path)
***Good (Better than average)
**Fair (mediocre, status quo)
*Difficult (Be cautious, astral clash to the month)

A prosperous and satisfying year is in store for good-natured Pigs in 2007! You'll expand and work on ideas and have many different paths offered to you. Your energy will be on the upswing and the new year has a miraculous effect on your morale. Focus on strengthening your unions and even consider possibly enlarging your family or home. Promotion or re-location could also be in the works. Financially, you are much better off than last year and you should finally have the funds available to enjoy a little well deserved pampering. Consider a romantic getaway with a gorgeous Goat, a ravishing Rabbit or a tempting Tiger and enjoy!
Monthly Rating:

JAN **FEB ****MAR ****APR **MAY **JUNE ****JULY ****AUG *SEPT ***OCT *

NOV ***DEC **

This will be interesting to see what my year is really like.

Chinese New Year - The Year of the Pig

I hope everyone had a great New Year yesterday. My mom, sister, girls and I had Chinese take-out for supper. Earlier, we spent the day at the hospital as my younger brother is there with pneumonia. He's slowly getting better. It's been nice to see all of my family, but I'd rather it be a happier occassion. My sister goes back to Arkansas on Tuesday night and my mom is staying with us as long as she needs to.

Since I was born in the year of the pig, I believe this is supposed to be a good/lucky year for me. I sure hope so. I could use some luck.

Hair Bow Exchange

My November Nightingales DTC/LID group is doing a hair bow exchange. I've already gone online and found some I like. I should probably find out how the whole thing works before buying them.

And I finally sent off a gift to my secret pal. Now I can work on next month's gift. Wonder what it should be? No themes yet, we decided to wait until we're a little closer to referral, whenever that might be. I posted polls on 3 different yahoo groups about when we might realistically be getting referrals. The results so far are all over the board from the end of this year all the way to May/June of 2009.

Gift!

A gift from my November LID Secret Pal was waiting for me last night when I got home. A mug with a heart in a map of China that says "Waiting for my daughter from China".

It made my day!

Okay, so I'm starting to like this blog. Eventually I'll add more links and maybe set up the 100 Good Wishes quilt for each of my daughters. Then you can see the wishes more clearly. In the meantime, please enjoy browsing the websites or blogs of my fellow October and November DTC and/or LID families.

Setting up a Blog

Welcome to the world of Bloggers. Even though I have a website set up, I see that there seems to be more flexibility with a blog, so I'm going to have both. I will update my website on a regular basis within the confines of the template. For more day to day information, photos, the 100 Good Wishes quilt, etc., I plan to blog. In the end, we'll see which one I seem to like more.