It's Official....I'm Old!

It's my birthday. I'm now the big, bad 36. Yikes, that sounds old to me. And spending the day at Six Flags with some tweens really drove the point home. I made a few roller coasters and then was perfectly happy to sit in the shade with an ICEE.

"No, no, you guys go ahead. I'll just sit right here."

My friend surprised me by being a roller coaster maven. Who knew? And it's a good thing she dragged me on the biggest roller coaster first. It's called Goliath. Dang, that is one mean roller coaster. Zero-gravity hills. I'm glad I did it, but if I never do it again, it will be okay. I can't even explain it but to say, I screamed so loud and so long, my throat was sore the whole rest of the day. It still is. And it wasn't that "I"m having fun" type of screaming. I had no control. I could hear my friend laughing at me and I still couldn't stop. And this coaster is 3.5 minutes long. That's a long time to be that scared.

We settled down later with some tamer coasters. Much more my speed.

We didn't ride it, but they have this one called Superman, where you actually hang like a bug. Face down and arms dangling. It's suppose to simulate Superman flight. They strap your ankes up. Crazy, huh? I didn't get a good picture, but you get the idea. Maybe next time....

This is a picture of Heidi (my friend's daughter and Zoe's future babysitter) being a good sport while I got a picture of Batman and Robin. Robin is quite manly, no?

Anyway, it was great birthday. I gotta go lay down for awhile.

Good Times

I'm having a good week, and after my previous post's ugliness, I thought I should post something happy. And things are going so great right now.

The mail continues to be light, which means early days for me, and I'm taking a mini-vacation this week just because I can. I'm taking off Thursday to go to Six Flags. (I know, I know...I'm too old) I'm taking off Friday to have lunch with a friend and then join the neighborhood ladies by the pool. Saturday, we're having people over. And Sunday is hang-around-the-house-and-relax day.

The week after that is the 4th holiday. (and referrals?)
The week after that we're going to Florida.
The week after that is the Harry Potter release.
The week after that my neice should be born.
And hopefully, the week after that, more referrals.

After all of this, I should be within 4 months of referral. (Assuming December is the month).

Chillin' out

It's hot here in Georgia. The dog, my beloved Bonnie, finds the coldest place in the house to hang out. She spends a lot of time sleeping on the bathroom tiles wating for cool air to come out of the vent.

This vent is one of many mysteries in this house. It is the only one to come out of the floor, and why on Earth was it placed on a bathroom floor (water??) And right in front of the toilet??

Still...it's Bonnie's favorite place right now, and she would prefer it if you didn't wake her.

The Clocky

Have you seen this?! It's an alarm clock that makes you chase it if you don't get up. It gives you one freebie snooze and then after that, it jumps off your night stand and starts hiding around your room.

Man, I could have used this in college. I remember once I put my alarm clock on the floor, across the room, and under a chair. I woke up sprawled on the floor with my hand on the snooze. I'm not that bad now, but maybe if I got this, I would even be able to get myself up for a morning workout.

Jeff wouldn't like it, but the cats sure would.

Let the countdown begin!

As we approach our 18 month LID anniversary, I feel a little foolish making predictions of when we may see our referral. Over and over I predict "X", only to change it to "X+1" the following month. Continually, we are 6-8 months away from referral and have been so for almost a year and a half.

There are ups and downs in the process. The ups include making such great friends, watching others get their referrals, and of course seeing other babies absolutely bloom when they come home to their forever family. The downs.....well... the waiting, of course. The uncertainty. The complete lack of reliable information. The worry of whether it will really happen. The farther away it gets, I think, "What if there's another SARS?" Bird flu pandemic? Another terrorist attack? What if the North Korea situation gets out of control? What if the whole program shuts down. There is so much to worry about when you are weak with sadness.

So on to the point of the post: My latest prediction.

Jeff and I both agree that the most likely month of our referral (for now, anyway) will be December 2007. Probably closer to the middle of the month with travel either right before or right after Chinese New Year 2008. I think it falls on Feb 4th next year. The absolute earliest it could be, baring a miracle, October. The absolute latest, baring a tragedy, February. December is smack in the middle. I feel confident enough in the December prediction to say.....

...let the countdown begin.

I'm Off!!

I'm taking today off from work to get caught up on stuff around the house. Laundry. Vaccuuming. Shopping. Correspondance. Etc. I do this from time to time when my house gets out of control. I've discovered that I'm happier, calmer, and clearer thinking in organized and clean surroundings. The only problem is that I hate housework.

Consequently, my laziness is a serious impediment to my mental peace.

Wish me luck, I've got big plans.

Sometimes my husband is smart.....sometimes he is not.

Last weekend, Jeff set up speakers by the hot tub. (Which is still leak-free, thank goodness) Now we can play music thru the computer in the sunroom. Awesome! We're currently working on the perfect hot tub mix. In the mean time, we just play easy listening type stuff.

The other night, Jeff was already in the hot tub. I come down the stairs completely naked and Barry White's "You Sexy Thing" starts playing. I say all coy-like, "Did you plan that?"

And he says, "no."

Talk about wasted opportunity.

Briana Adelle Ai Juan

She is here! Take a trip on over to Lisa's blog to see her beautiful little girl. Be sure to congratulate the happy parents! This is the first time I've gotten a taste of how we may feel on match day. It's amazing. The second I opened her picture, my eyes welled up and I knew this was my friend's baby. Amazing all the way around.

Here's the link: Lisa's blog!

Referral Time!!

FINALLY!!! The referrals are coming in. They do indeed appear to only go thru November 7. That's okay. The wait is made easier since we know someone getting a referral this time. One of our friends who has waited over 19 months will see her daughter for the first time probably tomorrow. It is a very, very exciting time. Soon it will be our turn, but for now we get to celebrate with our friends.

Congratulations, Lisa and Doug!

When is Zoe coming?

First off, there's no way to know, but this is the thought that rambles around my head a vast majority of the time. When will the next batch come? How far will they get? If they get to X, then what does that mean for me? How many days do they have to do before they get to mine? (answer: 49)

Then the calculations begin. Forty-nine divided by 6 = 8.2. So if they average 8.2 days per batch over the next 6 months I will get my referral in November. And if a train leaves Beijing going 50 miles an hour with my daughter on it....

I can spend a long time going over the referral past history. Pouring over the Rumor Queen's poll data. In the end, it hasnt' done me any good yet. I've been wrong over, and over, and over again. Does it stop me from continuing every month? Hell, no. And now that this batch is late. (Not really, but later then I would like.) I'm not even waiting to see what happens before the calculating begins. The rumors say they will go thru the 7th of November. That's 6 days worth. (See paragraph number 2 and you will realize this doesn't help me get my November referral.)

So... The CCAA has averaged 11.33 LIDs over the last 6 months and 12.33 over the past year. That's pretty consistant if you think about it that way. Continue that out and I get an October referral. However, we all know November is a doozy, and possibly the "mystery quota" has been lowered this year.

Now...if you use the RQ polls, and average the number of poll respondants the past couple months and extrapolate, I end up with a December referral.

All of my info and various ways of looking at that info leave me thinking for us it will be either October, November, or December. I feel like an idiot having been so sure it would be late summer or early fall. I should stop guessing, predicting, formulating, whatever. But I can't help myself. It's what I do.

My Bonnie

She's MY dog. Mine. She's been with me for over 12 years now. Jeff only entered the picture 4 years ago.



So why does she cuddle up to him like this? She doesn't do this with me. She comes to me when she wants food, when she wants out, when she wants to be picked up and put on the bed. But for super-dooper snuggles she always goes to Jeff.

Hopefully the conclusion to the Hot Tub Chronicles

The guy came from Utah. Scruffy looking fellow, but very nice. The local dealer came too. They removed the panels, checked the fittings, and poked sticks in the insulation to find out where was moist. It was only moist at the bottom. There was water in the pan under the equipment.

Long story short (you'll thank me) This is what they think happened. The first tub was definitely a leaker. That one is on it's way to Utah to be investigated. This one.... He never found a leak. He sucked the water out of the pan, overfilled the tub, and then ran the jets for a couple of hours. During all that, the pan only dried out more. He suspects what happened is that water back-flowed thru the air intake pipe thingies. He said it's rare, but if the water level is just so, and someone is up against the jets just so, and moon and stars are in proper alignment, it can happen. A fluke, he said. He's not sure, but inclined to believe that's what it was. It is now bone dry.

I told him it was rather unsatisfying not to have a definite answer and conclusion, and so what will happen if this happens again? He said if it does, we can get our money back, or hot tub number 3.

Anyway, there you have it. No real answers, but it's not leaking, soooo.....