From Jessica

china china china stop taking forever ugg people at least 70 people please work on getting us to Amanda please please please!!!!!!!!!!

Some Quotes

http://quotationspage.com/random.php3

At the worst, a house unkept cannot be so distressing as a life unlived.
Dame Rose Macaulay
Hope is necessary in every condition.
Samuel Johnson
Dreams are wishes your heart makes.
American Proverb
Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole.
Roger Caras
An optimist is the human personification of spring.
Susan J. Bissonette

18 Month LIDiversary

A year and a half and no end in sight. Who would have thought the wait would/could ever get this long? I guess we didnt' think gas would get to $4/gallon either and we're almost there. Not really fun times.

Very Busy/Very Tired

I'm dealing with this:



and I'd like to just do this:



Sorry I haven't been posting. The earthquake leaves sadness in my heart. I'm so busy and so tired, I'd like to just take a nap for a week. And I'd like a fairy godmother to come in and clean my house - wouldn't that be nice.

Anyway, on the 14th I got my fingerprints taken for my I-171H free extension. It was a busy day there. I waited for an hour just to move from the long wait to the short wait.

Last Friday both my girls had Brownie sleepovers. Jessica slept in a tent in the troop leader's front yard. Anna went to the local Girl Scout camp for an "encampment". Saturday the girls had their dance recital. So I picked Jessica up early, did her hair in two high buns to look like fish eyes, then brought her to a friend's who would get her to the run-through. Then I drove about an hour to pick up Anna. I couldn't find her troop, so I cleaned out the car a little before they showed up. Then Anna and I ate in the car on the way to pick up same friend's mom to bring her to the recital. Got Anna changed with her high braids, makeup, etc. I'm one of the backstage helpers for Jessica's class, so I didn't actually get to see the recital. I saw some of Jessica's from backstage - actually I only saw her doing her cartwheels and her in the final pose. I went and watched Anna's first dance from backstage as well. She was in a second dance - Intro to Classic Chinese Dance, but I didn't watch her in it. I did see the dress rehearsal the previous weekend, and they're making a DVD, which I ordered.

After the dance recital, the girls still had a lot of energy, so we went to another friend's house for our monthly SMC (Single Mothers By Choice) meeting. We ended up being the last to leave there and didn't get home until about 9:30 p.m. A very long day.

Sunday, Jessica went to a birthday party at a local park. The city's annual ice cream social was going on at the same park, so Anna and I hung out there. Jessica managed to do both, hanging out at the yard sale and many booths with friends who also went to the party.

After the party/ice cream social, we went with friends to the Minnesota Lynx 10th season home opener. (WNBA team) It was girl scout night. The girls got patches and mini basketballs as part of the girl scout night, and then they were giving away T-shirts to everyone. It was a lot of fun. I actually enjoyed the Lynx game much more than the Timberwolves which seemed to have a game going on in between the entertainment. I love watching sports and prefer the sport over the extra entertainment. Still, a lot of sensory overload! But the girls enjoyed it.

There's still so much going on before school gets out on June 10th. Jessica and Anna each have one more Brownie get together (Jessica's is her bridging ceremony, Anna's a pizza party). They have one more swimming lesson. Anna's class is going to the zoo on June 3rd, and I volunteered to go with them. A final picnic-carnival on the last day of school. I still have to work in school birthday's for both of them. And yesterday I found out they want Jessica's dance class to dance at an International Children's Festival on May 31st and June 1st. So they also added another rehearsal Saturday.

And now I've also been invited to 3 graduations (none of which we can go to), and 2 weddings (we'll make the one Sunday). More cards, more money. I'm now slowly catching up with my Secret Pal, Secret Buddy, Cybershowers, swaps, etc. I still have 3 more gifts to buy and then mail out this month, then 3 next month. And I have to rematch some of the Pals/Buddys as some people have dropped out. I'm hoping for a calmer summer so I can catch up on some things.

Links to Help

Here are some of the places that are set up to accept donations to help with the earthquake relief in China:
GWCA
Half the Sky
Love Without Boundaries
OCDF
Children's Hope International
Amity Foundation
Red Cross
CCAI
Angel Covers

Earthquake In Sichuan Province

Please pray for those affected by the earthquake outside of Chengdu in the Sichuan Province of China. Jessica is from Chongqing, which you can see on this map. From the reports I've read, it sounds like Chongqing is okay. But with the death toll already almost at 9,000 and reports of 5 schools collapsing, the area needs all the prayers and support it can get.

According to "China Adoption Forecast"

This is just a website that projects when you might get a referral based on the current averages.
Our prediction for LID 2006-11-22:
China has 314 days of dossiers to be processed before they get to your dossier. China currently processes about 5.7 days of dossiers each month.
Our best guess: 2012-11-11

On the Paperwork Front

On Friday I got my letter from the Department of Homeland Security telling me my fingerprint appointment to renew my I171-H is on May 14 at 1:00 p.m. Whew! I was so worried maybe my homestudy agency didn't send my homestudy update and letter requesting my free renewal in before the old one expired. So next week I go get my finger prints taken again, then wait. It's in the process though, so I'm feeling better. That's not to say I won't have to renew it again, for a fee, before I get Amanda's referral.






CCAA only did referrals for 3 days worth of LID's this month. My guestimate for next month is that they get through Jan 20, 2006 LID's, then my agency gets skipped in July when they hopefully finish up January, 2006. Who would have thought it would take a half a year to finish one month. I guess the "CCAA only getting through Feb, 2006 in 2008" prediction might actually come true. At 2 months/year, it'd be mid 2013 before I see a referral. But I still hope that things will start to speed up a little by the end of this year. I'm still hoping for a late 2009 or early 2010 referral. Maybe by 2010 I can have enough money saved up to believe I can really travel to China. When I started I would have never believed my girls might almost be 9 & 11 when we get their baby sister. I just wanted Anna to be in 1st grade.

Stork Landing

Looks like the stork landed today at many of the agencies including mine. So far, it looks like CCAA referred through Jan 12, 2006 LID's. Only 3 days, but I think a large number of referrals in this batch. Congratulations to all the families getting referrals today or Monday!