Fingerprints and the Prom

We began our Saturday bright and early with a trip down to USCIS (again). The only difference is that this time, we actually got our prints made! I do think that we were the only ones who spoke English down there (except the workers). But the main thing is that they are done.

Saturday night, we went to the prom! Doug had chaperone duty. We enjoyed a nice dinner with friends at California Dreaming. We had such a fun time getting dressed up! Notice Doug's pink vest and tie? Selected specifically to go with my dress!

The weather this weekend was amazing - perfect for a ride with the top down! It was sunny and in the low 80's. Glad to see the cold days behind us!

Through Month 15...

Yep, here we are again at another month milestone. Sara is the artist and again decorated her "15" with ladybugs. Tomorrow AM we go to have our fingerprints re-scanned at the USCIS in Atlanta. Maybe this time we will actually have them made!

I had a nice lunch today with Debbie and LiLi. We always have a lot of good stuff to discuss. I especially enjoyed seeing how much LiLi is coming out of her shell. She and I played a little pointing game, where we would touch the tips of our index finger together and say "boop". We did this throughout lunch and it made her smile each time (which in turn made me smile too!). After eating, we just walked around the mall and continued our conversation as I pushed LiLi in her stroller. It sure has been a long time since I've done that, and at first it felt a little odd. But then it was great! I did notice several people taking a peek at LiLi and noticing that we didn't "match"!!! I heard a couple of ladies say how cute she was. She is just so precious! Debbie, I did enjoy seeing you too!!! I promise!

Proud of Lauren

We are big "American Idol" fans. Tonight we watched "Idol Gives Back" and I told the girls we could make a donation. So, I did. After Doug tucked Lauren into bed, she called me back to her room (well, actually she is sleeping in Ally's room). She told me that she wanted to give $30 of her own money to Idol. She said that she wanted to buy medicine for the orphans that needed shots in Africa. I was proud of her big heart.

Once again (thru my kids), I'm reminded that we are doing the right thing with this adoption. To some, what we are doing is crazy; to some, it doesn't seem like a big deal. And in the grand scheme of things in China, we are only changing the life of one little girl out of millions. Yes, millions. But to us, that is huge. I just want her.

Me - From A to Z

Found this on another blog. It's cute - has nothing to do with China. It's fun too -- I need a fun thing!

A is for age: 42 (Why did this one have to be first?)
B is for Beer: Don't drink it; in fact, never even tasted it! Seriously!
C is for Career: Sales rep - school yearbooks
D is for Dogs Name: No dogs - 3 cats (Sabo, Snoopie, Sadie); 3 Beta fish (Stanley, Dennis, Lancelot)
E is for Essential Item I Use Everyday: Internet
F is for Favorite T.V. : Boston Legal
G is for Favorite Game:To play: Taboo; to watch: swimming (not really a game, so maybe football)
H is for Hometown: Milledgeville, GA
I is for Instruments I Play: None any more - played trumpet in high school
J is for Favorite Juice: Diet Coke (I don't dring much juice, but maybe grapefruit would be a better answer!)
K is for Kids: Sara (13), Lauren (10), Ally (?)
L is for the Last Place I Ate: Zaxby's today for a picnic lunch
M is for Marriage: Married almost 19 years
N is for my Name: Lucy - I like it now, but hated it growing up -- Lucy Van Pelt from Peanuts and "I Love Lucy"
O is for Overnight(s) Hospital Stays: Twice when our girls were born; appendix removed at age 13; hernia surgery (age 6 - I remember getting a Hot Wheels car); hernia surgery (infant); when I was born!
P is for People I was With Today: Doug/Harley (hubby), Sara and Lauren (daughters).
Q is for Quote: "comma, but" -- you have to hear it in context! Kind of a Pee-Wee Herman thing.
R is for Biggest Regret: Not starting this adoption sooner!!!!!
S is for Sport: Swimming and now a little jogging (very little!).
T is for Time I Woke Up Today: 8:30 -it's a Saturday! (Lauren woke us up playing her recorder in her bathroom)
U is for Current Underwear: Blue and purple stripe
V is for Vegetable You Love: Potatos (french fries?)
W is for Worst Habit: Nagging (just ask Doug!)
X is for X-rays I Have Had: Appendix, broken wrist, sprained ankle and collar bone (I was a tom-boy!)
Y is for Yummy Food You Ate Today: Chocolate chunk ice cream
Z is for Zodiac: Capricorn (?)

Waiting - Still Waiting

The wait just seems to continually be getting longer at every turn. We went to a 'get-together' last night sponsored by our agency. The guest couple that spoke is very knowledgeable and has done a good bit of research. They seem to "get" what so many others don't -- that the wait is just stretching longer with every month that passes. It would seem we would HAVE to be closer than we have been, but as the CCAA is expected to only process 2 days again this month and possibly only 1 day next month, that is 2 months to get thru 3 days.

Anyway, the topic last night was something like "how to handle the wait" and basically the idea is not to sit around doing nothing, but to do something to make yourself a better person for the child once you get her/him. Valid point. I did hear a crazy story of a family that went to China to get their daughter and when they got back to the hotel the first day, they went to bathe her, only to find out that they had a son! Oh my! Isn't that bizarre? Crazy, even. boy? girl? pretty simple distinction!

I was again reminded of how thankful I am to have Sara and Lauren. Seeing couples that are adopting their first child that have no kids is so hard.

I do understand that this is an unpredictable ventrue. It could change for the better; but EVERYTHING is pointing to it changing for the worse! Everything!!!!

3rd Time a Charm? Let's Hope So!

OK -- We got our appt to have our fingers re-printed. Let's hope it all works out this time! April 28 at 8 AM -- happy Saturday AM! Not much going on with us!

On one of my Yahoo groups, the question was posed "what is the strangest thing you have done to pass the time?" I guess, for me, that would be cleaning out the pantry and cabinets (kitchen and bath). Which, I must add, that I am not through all of them. Anyway, it's not so strange that I would do this, but what I found amusing is what I found when I did this! The pantry in the kitchen (which is not huge, by any means) was my starting point. So I tried to pitch the obvious first -- expired food items, etc. I pulled the goods out one shelf at a time and put the stuff on the island so I could determine each items fate -- keep or pitch? It quickly became evident that my pack-rat past was re-surfacing. We had 6 unopened bottles of A-1 and 5 unopened boxes of Bisquick. I think the problem occurs when I spot a coupon for either. Also, when I run out, I forgot to check my (then unorganized) pantry before writing the item on a grocery list! Oh well, that's it for me. As I clean out the cabinets, I am also replacing the shelf paper and painting a fresh coat of white on the exterior.

Not a really strange thing, but we laugh about our stock of A-1 and Bisquick. Wonder if we could use them together? Nah!

Our "Little" Paperclip Ceremony!

Lauren had the honor of removing our first set (if you can call 2 clips a "set") of paperclips this month. Too bad she could only remove 2 clips! (In case you don't know what we are doing, we are removing one clip from our chain for each day the CCAA refers each month.) Hoping for a few more next month.

We had a fun night. After tidying up a little, Lauren asked if she could watch "old family videos", so we pulled out the VHS tapes (yes, we know, we need to transfer them to DVD) of the girls when they were little (about 6 and 3). It was so cute and funny. I only regret that I didn't tape more of them when they were little.

Note to self -- tape a lot of Ally as a little girlie!!! Anyway, I'm feeling better! That cheered me up - we all laughed a lot!

2 Days - This is ALL!

Not much more to say - It's on the CCAA site that they only processed 2 days in the last month (they had updated to Oct 24 at the end of March). I have given up on "doing the math" because it's too darn depressing now! I still just can't believe it. How long will this last????

Happy Easter!

We enjoyed our Easter with my mom at her house. We went to church with her, Amy and Ted. The girls had a little egg hunt in mema's family room (it was COLD outside).

Sara made a cute banner and hung it in Ally's room over the bed. It spells out her name and each letter has a special significance.

A -- decorated like a Chinese flag - red with yellow stars

L -- decorated with a snowman for Jan LID

L -- The Red Thread saying

Y -- says Family with all of our names

We did a quick run to 6 Flags on Friday AM and rode several roller coasters -- we left around noon when it started to get crowded (the benefits of a season pass!).

Also, we went to the outlet mall in Commerce last week for a little spring shopping, and found a TMX Elmo for 25% off. I guess the novelty of Elmo has worn off! It is so cute, though, and Lauren especially enjoyed "testing" it out for Ally!

Friday night we enjoyed seeing other families at the monthly First Friday gathering. That was fun, as always! The girls especially like to meet families that are "behind" us!

Can't Believe What I'm Hearing

It's looking like the CCAA has referred 2 days. Yes, a whole month has passed and they have only processed 2 days - I am holding out a little hope this is not accurate. It is still a rumor, as the CCAA website has not updated (and probably won't until Monday or Tuesday). I absolutely never thought it would get this bad. So, now I'm once again adjusting my thoughts to getting Ally in 2008. Maybe we can get tickets to the Beijing Olympics. We'll see. I'm beyond bummed. And I don't want to be told to "enjoy these days".... I just want to pout a little... I bought a pretty little dress last summer thinking that if it fit, Ally would be wearing it this Easter. Maybe next Easter...or even the Easter after that.

Our Little Count Down

I found a way to visually count down the days until our referral. It's a paperclip chain that has one clip for every day between where the CCAA is and our LID. Right now, the CCAA is at Oct 24 and our LID is Jan 27 -- 95 days that they (CCAA) have to process to get to our LID. So, 95 paperclips are now hanging in a chain over the window in Ally's room. At the end, is one PINK paperclip to represent Ally's referral (also a CNY ornament from Ally's friend Shelbi). Sara added a blue one to the end, just in case! The "Ally PINK clip" is the only pink one on the chain. So, the referrals have not come this week; hopefully, we will take a few clips off next week when the referrals do arrive. I'm not expecting more than about 10 days (although, I don't really have any good sources). That will at least get us into November. That SOUNDS close, but it is still many days away! We are finally under 100 days! I know, it's corny, but the girls like it and look forward to removing the clips as we get closer. I think it's a nice way to SEE the progress.

Yesterday, we went to 6 Flags (enjoying those season passes that Santa brought). It was nice and not too crowded! We even saw Evander Holyfield there with his family! The girls had no idea who he was, but we did! Big guy, to say the least!

Very early this AM, Doug and I headed downtown to re-fingerprint (if you read my earlier post from Feb -- "dufus"). So, we went (as we were told on the phone) on Wed to wait with others who had no appt. We got there right at 8 AM and there was a short line which we joined. The officer that was allowing people in, looked at our paperwork and said that walk-ins aren't allowed until 2 PM on Wed. I told him that the man on the phone said "anytime on any Wed is fine." His reply was "we hear that all the time. They (whoever that is) tell people that all the time, but it's actually 2 PM". AARGH -- another deadend. So, we left our paperwork with some man standing outside of the USCIS building in Atlanta, trusting that he will request our re-scheduled appt to get our fingerprints done. This time we asked for a Saturday appt. We'll see. Anyway, after another frustrating experience with these fingerprints, we went to a bagel shop to get some breakfast, and there sat Clark Howard (Atlanta TV/radio consumer guru) having breakfast with a friend! That was pretty cool. I like him so much!

Thus, 2 "celebrity" sightings!

Folks Getting Excited

I have noticed that some of the people in my January Yahoo Groups are actually starting to show some signs of getting a tad bit excited. This may actually happen one day! It's somewhat infectious, I must admit. The next batch of referrals is supposedly on its way and will hopefully cross into November 2005. This will be another step closer. Like I posted earlier, it sometimes seems like it will just never happen. But as it inches closer, I'm starting to have little moments of realization, that it will happen. I'm sure that once it gets really close, I'll wonder what I have done in the past year plus... because I won't be ready (always more to be done!). Anyway, we are off to 6 Flags tomorrow -- spring break!