Tagged...Why I blog.

First of all, what does MEME stand for? I know what it is, but I don't know why it's called that?

This one is "5 Reasons Why I Blog."

1. I started because my sister had one, and I gotta be cool like her.
2. I really enjoyed reading other adoption blogs. I loved hearing about other adoptive famiilies' experiences, and I thought (ever so humbly) that others might like hearing about mine.
3. I thought it would be a good way to record what we do while "Waiting for Zoe" The extended wait has made it less of an adoption blog and more of a "here's what we did today" blog. Hopefully that will change in the next few months.
4. It's a great way to let family and friends we don't see regularly know what we're up to. It's odd to talk to friends and have them say, "yeah, I saw that on your blog."
5. I've met great friends in the adoption community and hope to meet more.

Thanks, Lisa, for tagging me!

Our Fortunes!

We went to Panda tonight. We frequent the Panda because it's close, cheap, and hey, the Orange Chicken is yummy.

I tried to take a picture of the fortunes, but no-can-do. My camera's not that cool.

Mine said, "A beautiful, smart, and loving person will be coming into you life." Yes, it said "you life."

Jeff's Chinese word to learn was September ( Jiu-yue) And September is the month I now think I'll be in China.

Neat, huh?

My Eddie

If you've read my blog at all, you know I have a bunch of cats (5). I love them all. I have a special place in my heart for each of them. But this one... Eddie. He is something altogether different. He's so funny! He comes when you call. He sits up. He tries to grab you when you walk by him. And when he's ready for attention, he sits on you. I just love this funny boy so much, I thought I'd put up some pictures.





And look at the one on our bed. Look where his front paws are. They're behind him like he's leaning back.

I thought I must have interupted a private kitty moment (if you know what I mean). But by the time I left the room, found the camera, and made it back, he was still sitting that way.

And before you say anything...YES, we have sheets with ice skating cats and dogs.

14 months and counting...

We've made it to the 14th month of waiting. Oh wait, this would actually be the 15th month, wouldn't it? I've always gotten confused on the 18th-century-is-really-the-1700's thing.

Either way, today is our 14 month anniversary. We do have mini-cause to celebrate since our homestudy has now been sent off to USCIS and all we have to do is wait for the new 797. The re-filing is done.

And really, we've been very busy lately, so time is moving sort of quickly.

We're almost done with the bathroom project. I know, I know, we started it ages ago. We thought it would be faster to hire someone, but turns out, we hired the sloooowwwweeeest handyman ever. Fortunately, he's honest, cheap, and does really good work, so we keep calling him. Here he is doing our shower. LOOOOVE the subway tiles.
And here's the finished project, although it's very hard to see.

And the other side of the bathroom....
If you click on it to make it big, you can see the lovely floor tile, It's so white and clean. Probably not the smartest choice for Zoe's bathroom, but it is so nice. Also, the sink was probably not the best choice, but also so nice. Even the social worker said, "eh, step stool will be fine."

We have other things keeping us busy, too, but Americal Idol is on. I don't want to miss out on current Pop culture.

Also, I love the pudgy curly haired guy.

Zoe's sweater

I finally finished it!! I started knitting this sweater last September. I worked a little and then put it aside for a couple months. Work a little more. Put it away.

And then, when I finally thought I was done piecing it together, I turned it right side in and realized I'd screwed up the sleeve seam.

I would have left it that way and pretended it was suppose to be that way, but the other side was done right. In frustration, I put it away and didn't know whether I would take the trouble to fix it or not.

Then today, I see on one of Stephanie's blogs
(she has three) that she made a mistake on the sweater she was making for her daughter. She was fixing it and that was the inspiration I needed. I took it out and instead of surfing adoption blogs all afternoon, I finished Zoe's sweater.

Any knitters will be able to see the other little imperfections, but we're not after heirloom quality here, folks. It's just a little something I made for Zoe.

Spending Spree

Jeff and I are on a roll....

First we found the perfect patio set for the sunroom.


Then, the cutest ceiling fan for Zoe's room.


Look at this cat tree!! It beats the heck out of our $30 Wal-mart cheapie one


And finally, I couldn't resist. A diaper backpack for Zoe. I think it'll be perfect for the China trip.

Mysterious Mailbox

Last week as I left for work, I saw that our mailbox was on the ground and the post had been knocked askew.

We have these skater kids who hang out in the street and so naturally I assumed it was them. They've been known to yell at passing cars (including us), and frequently don't get off the street when cars come. You have to inch around them. Quite frankly, I'm intimidated by them and scared that they know when I'm not home. It wasn't a far-out assumption that they would vandalize a mailbox.

We set it back up, but didnt' secure it to the post because we had planned to buy a new mailbox anyway. Also, my mail carrier works next to me all morning and just hands me my mail before we head out to deliver.

The other day, Jeff came home from work and said the mailbox looked like it had been fixed. Sure enough, I went down to check and someone has re-screwed it to the post.

Huh...

Now we figure somene must have hit it while driving down the street and then come back to repair it. It's not likely since we live on a straight street with no traffic other than the neighbors, but I can't imagine the delinquint kids would come back to fix it.

Whoever it was, they didn't leave a note, or any explanation.

The other reason July is a big month!

PRESENTING.....


My new niece or nephew! My sister finally mentioned it on her blog, so I assume it's now mentionable on mine. My sister is making me an aunt again, and I couldn't be happier.

As any infertile will tell you, there's a weird mixture of joy and jealousy when someone close to you announces a pregnancy. I had my afternoon of "stupid uterus" and "rotten ovaries", but it didn't last long. And with that out of the way, it's so fun to think about a fresh new little baby.

Since I won't know Zoe as a newborn, and I wasn't particularly interested in babies for my first niece and nephew, it's more fun this time around. I go to the the baby stores and (poor Jeff) have a whole new section to wander around. Newborn stuff is precious, isn't it? And now that she's coming home in March, I hope we can do some baby shopping together.

How awesome is it for two sisters to be able to go shopping for the babies their expecting together?

She doesn't know boy or girl yet, but should soon.

And to tie this in to my previous post, her baby's due on Harry Potter's birthday. How many of my fellow dorks know what that is?

Ask, and you shall receive...

Ooooh....Here's something else to look forward to. The release date was just set for July 21. How big of a dork am I if I place my order now? Jeff will never take me to a book store at midnight, will he?

Referalls are in!

So...the cut-off appears to be October 13, 2005. Blugh!

That doesn't go with my plan of a May referral. It doesn't even go with my plan of a June referral. But July is nice too, right? July is lovely.

Here's the reasons July is lovely...

1. It most likely means September travel. Cooler weather, but still light packing.
2. I can easily stretch my leave thru Christmas.
3. Um....

Yeah, that's about it.

But still, end of July is only 6 more months. I can do that, right? We'll have no trouble saving money by then. My house should be friggin' fantastic by then. I'll get to work all summer and since the mail is light in the summer, it means easy overtime.

If you have any more ideas why July (or possibly later) might be a good thing, jump on in and let me know...I'm having a hard time convincing myself.