adoption stuff and killing time

Wow. I have free time in the morning before work. This never happens. Normally, I'm scurrying like a maniac to get to work on time.....or at least not too late. (They don't really care when I come in, but there is this sort of "race" mentality among the carriers, and I hate being last.)

Sooooooo....I thought I'd take a moment to talk about the adoption. You know, "waitingforzoe" type stuff.

Here's the run down: We are getting really, really close. The next batch of referrals should be here soon and I'm on pins and needles for any information about them. When will they come, and more importantly, how far will they go? I can't believe there is not a single peep out about them by now. People will start making up rumors soon if nothing surfaces today or tomorrow.

I've gotten so successful at staying busy to kill the time, that I really have no free time lately. I'm not sure which situation I like better. We've started on our final room to make-over. And the new rule is that we have to work on it at least one hour every day until completed. So far, so good, but there's still a long way to go.

We're also filling the time with social engagements. I have plans with friends nearly everyday thru the weekend. This is the sort of thing we should have done ages ago, but it's somehow easier to hang out on the sofa. I hope we stay this active when Zoe comes. I'd like to be that sort of "out and about" type family.

The one thing I really should be filling the time with is exercise and thats the one thing that sure as heck ain't happening. I should be using this free time on the treadmill or at least walking the dog, but....well.... I didn't.

Okay...I guess I can go to work now. It's crazy they let you come in as late as you like. (One of my co-workers didn't show up until 10:30 yesterday), but Lord help you if you come in early. Crazy.

Off to make the money....

A surprise in the mail!

No one will be as excited about this as I am, but look what I got in the mail today!!!

It's a diaper. A cloth diaper. More specifically, a Happy Heiny!

Have I mentioned we plan to cloth diaper? I'm sure I have. To keep Jeff on board, we intend to use the higher end cloth diapers like this one. It's so cute you almost forget its true purpose.

See how it works... Inside you have the softest fleece next to baby. This keeps baby dry since the liquid goes straight through. Outside you have a waterproof, and oh-so-cute cover. The middle layer you stuff inside is made of super absorbant micro-terry. (Wow, is it really possible to have a fat hand?)

One benefit of being postal is that I see all my own goodies first thing in the morning. And this truly made my day. I opened it at work, and like a grinning idiot, I walked around to all my friends and insisted they tell me how cute my diaper is.

So, Audrey....Thank you. You truly made my day! And when it's too small for Zoe, I promise you can have it for Elliott, Ellijah, or Sebastian (Due in January)

Waiting for Daddy

Jeff got called into work tonight. He's been gone for about 3 hours and Bonnie has not left this spot. She followed him to the door on his way out and then sat down. She's been looking at the door ever since.

So Excited! Fall TV season is here.

This is how I feel about Blogging lately.

I have stuff to say and pictures to upload, but I can't find the energy to get around to it.

Forgive me.

Knitting for Zoe

I've been knitting for Zoe lately. I haven't had a single thing turn out perfect, but I'm having a lot of fun. And if you knit something for baby that doesn't turn out well, it's okay because it was made with Love. So what if one side is slightly longer than another. It's kind of cute. Now...if I made a sweater for myself or Jeff and it turned out funky, it would be a lost cause. Goofed up knit wear on grown ups is not so cute.

Here's my latest attempts:

Zoe's sweater. Cute, but she can only wear this if she has a really small head. I didn't make the neck stretchy enough.



Zoe's slipper. Also, cute, but I must have used the wrond size yarn. This would more likely fit an 8 year old than an 8 month old.


My one true success! I still goofed, but if you're not a knitter, you probably won't notice. Now I'm glad we're travelling in winter.

Labor Day, 10K classic

I did a 10K today. If you live around here, you must have seen advetisements for this race. It's huge!! Not Peachtree huge, but huge nonetheless. They have runners, walkers, baby joggers (which are not normally allowed at big races), in-line skaters, wheel chairs, and cyclists. There were hot air balloons and even a parachuting team, who landed at the start line during the National Anthem. It was impressive!

My friend, her daughter, and I haven't been exercising much at all, all summer, so we walked the whole thing, but still made good time for walkers. Really, it was so crowded, you could barely run, if you wanted to (and we didn't want to!) The weather was perfect, and the goodie-give aways were fantastic! T-shirt (of course) and hat (cool) At the festival before hand I loaded up on baby snacks and bibs at the Gerber tent, and baby soaps and lotions at the huggies tent. I even got a loaf of bread at the Sara Lee tent. Nothing gets me excited like free stuff! If only there had been a Hershy's tent. Oh well. The snacks after the race were amazing, too. Normally, you get bagels and bananas, but this one had all kinds of fruit and tons of other stuff. I had a diet coke, turkey sub, and oatmeal cookies.

Anyway, heres some pictures from the day.

Notice how we hide our chubby selves behind the child.


Love the dog.


Look at all those people!


More people!



The Cyclists


Our finish time. Don't laugh!!

Mid-weekend update

I took Friday and Saturday off because, in a quick self-riteous moment, I decided I deserved it. When the moment passed, I couldn't bring myself to say, "Hey, supervisor-man, I'd really like to work this weekend afterall." Instead, I figured I'd put my time off to good use, and so far...I have.

My hedge trimmer is still serving me well. We discovered it works better in the ivy than the edger or the weedwhacker. Really, go get yourself one of these things! I purposefully didn't take a "before" picture, so you won't appreciate the "after", but this is the best our front yard has ever looked. Ingore the dying grass, we still having a drought and an incredible heat wave. Instead, look at that nice edge to the ivy. We had all sorts of things growing up in there, it was creeping across the grass, and strangling the trees. Now look at it. So much better!

In other weekend activities, I scrubbed my kitchen floor, did loads of laundry, and Jeff and I did some serious China shopping. We bought luggage! I had no idea how much fun luggage shopping could be. We got a great deal, and I'm getting really excited about going to China.

It's little things like luggage shopping and travel planning, that helps the time pass faster. These thoughts help focus my attention on something that is China related, but not just, "When, when, when??" Contemplating whether we could go carry-on-only, how much luggage we should need, what level of quality should we buy, can we borrow, what are the weight restrictions, etc, killed at least a few days. And the name of the game right now is killing time.

I said we weren't going to buy Zoe anymore clothes until referral, but we were at Macy's, and we had a discount, and I absolutely fell in love with this dress. Do you love it, too? Jeff doesn't get it, but I get a little jolt everytime I look at it, I like it that much. I got it in a 6-9months size in hopes we can use it in China.

Pigs and Power tools

Jeff and I had a GREAT weekend. Fun with friends. I earned some overtime. We got caught up on yard work. And we went shopping!

We had two fabulous finds at the stores. Both of them were impulse buys. The first, a hedge trimmer. We already had a hedge trimmer, so this seems excessive and wasteful, but you must appreciate the hedge we have to trim, and consider the one we have is electric, the extention cord must be very long to reach the hedge, and I have already cut it twice. Also, our old one wasn't all that. The new one however!! Oh man, I have never had more fun with a power tool ever! It's light, battery powered, and mighty powerful. I went all around the yard cutting stuff. I told Jeff he should have bought me this years ago. You have a hedge needs some trimming? Let me know.
The other buy was Jeff's find. A piggy bank for Zoe. Is that the cutest thing, or what! It has a tiara and a tutu! If you must have one, too, we got it at target!
And if you have a moment tomorrow (Monday) find yourself a cupcake and help us celebrate our 20 month anniversary since LID. Also, we are fast approacing our 2 year anniversary since starting this whole process. Wow! Let me say again, it's a good thing I didn't know what we were getting into in the beginning. It's also a good thing I didn't realize what was happening to the wait as we went along. My refusal to accept reality kept me thinking, "just a little more", until now when it really is "just a little more."

Guess what today is?

It's the 16th of August!

What does that mean? It means we're half way through August! Which means we're half way to the next batch of referrals. Seeing as I'm still holding on to a December referral, that means I'm now 3.5 months from seeing Zoe's face for the first time.

I'm a little excited, can you tell? I've been excited again lately, which is nice after a few months of numb. A few months of zoning out. But really, how can you possibly stay excited for 2+ years? I can, however, be exciting for 3.5 months!

My job sucks right now and Party toes

First of all, this picture isn't me, but it could be on any given day. I do the "postal lean" regularly, and let's just say, it's a darn good thing those seat belts are so sturdy!

If you aren't aware, it's been over 100 degrees here in Hotlanta lately. When I go outside to load my truck, it feels like I'm on vacation in Florida, only there's no refreshing beach or pool waiting for me. I'm a sweaty mess by the time I finish loading my truck around 10am. 10AM!! My only source of cool-ish air is a pathetic fan strapped to the dash. I can't even get it to point at me. The ball joint that holds it up is too loose, so the best I can do is sort of point it at my knees which is good because at least it kind of blows away the hot air coming from the heater which won't completely shut off.

My upholstered seat is leaving chaffe marks on the back of my legs. I occasionally feel what I think is sweat dripping down my legs, only to discover that it is actually a bug of some sort. And mail sticks to my sweaty arms and hands. As I put mail in a box, a magazine cover will stick to my arm and then fall on the ground as I pull it out. I do get a little fresh air when I get out to pick it up, but when I get back in the truck, you can almost hear the squish as I get back into my soaking seat.

Fortunately, I get to go home for lunch. Once home, I throw my wet clothes in the dryer and sprawl out under a ceiling fan. My lunches lately consist of ice cream and popsicles.

If one more customer asks if it's hot enough for me, I simply won't be responsible for my actions. I mean...COME. ON. Look at me! My hair is soaking and dripping down my neck. My shirt is stuck to me and my pants look like I had an accident. I'm dirty, cranky, and rushed. The last thing I want to do is talk to people and fake laugh at their really bad jokes. Truly, I'm no fun to be around during working hours.

So....in an effort to remind myself (and Jeff) that I am indeed a girl, I went out for a bit of pampering this evening. Ahhhhh..a massage chair. Foot rub. Sea salt. I wasn't even offended when she asked if I wanted her to work on my calluses. Of course! Jeff did make some comment about requiring a belt sander, but even that couldn't ruin my moment of girly bliss. My feet are soft, my toes are painted and I will be spending the rest of the weekend with my dog...very close to an A/C vent.

Tagged

I have been tagged....Five things MeMe

Thanks Amy for tagging me!

I'm pretty sure I did this Meme before, but I can't remember my answers, so I'm going to do it again and then dig back thru for the old one and see what my answers were a year ago! How much could have changed?

Five things that I was doing 10 years ago.
1. I had recently started working at the post office.
2. Ummm...
3. yeah....
4. I can't remember a damn thing.
5. Apparently a pretty boring era in my life.

Five of My Favorite Snack Foods:
1. Pirate's Booty
2. Recess
3. Berries and Cool whip
4. Tortilla chips and cheese dip
5. DQ's Turtle Waffle Sunday! OMG!

Five Songs of which I know all the lyrics:
1. Baby Got Back - Sirmixalot
2. One Week - Barenaked Ladies
3. Mr Wendell - Arrested Development
4. Cowboy - Kid Rock
5. Almost anything by Prince

Five things that I would do with a Million Dollars:
1. Buy Jeff a Porche 930
2. Quit working
3. Pay off everything (house and cars)
4. Hire a contractor to Mac my house out. (I wouldn't move, I love my house.)
5. Hire a maid, a yard guy, a chef, and a personal trainer. I'm not sure what I would do all day, but I'm sure I'd figure something out.

Five Bad Habits that I have:
1. Nap too often.
2. Eat too much
3. Crack my nuckles
4. Gossip
5. Spend way too much time on the internet

Five things that I like to do.
1. Knit
2. Go to the Movies
3.Vacuum (don't laugh)
4. Reading
5. Playing outdoors with Jeff (hiking, biking, etc)

Five things I will never wear again:
1. bikini. Not that i ever wore one, but I think this can be safely ruled out forever.
2. fur.
3. panty hose.
4. thong
5. leg warmers. Although Zoe will have tons of those baby kind. So cute!

More Babies!!

Referrals are here again! And this month's winner is JOAN!! I don't know a name yet, but perhaps if you stalk her blog, she'll announce it soon!

Our little CORNivore!....get it?

Yesterday we accidentally locked our Big Boy in the office. When he finally got out, he went straight for the food bowl, but it seems Purina was not enough to make up for a day trapped in the office.

Eddie actually jumped up on the stove, snagged an entire ear of corn out of the pot, and dragged it across the counter before I realized what was going on.

I'm Giddy with Adoption Joy!!

Lisa and Doug have their baby. (see below)

Cindy and Brent have their travel dates

Joan and Robert will have their referral in days.

Kathy is Soon, Mick is after that, and then MEEEEEEEE!!!!

The next cut off seems pretty solid at this point. The 21st of November. Yeah! It's what I expected, but like last month, my joy comes from the fact that I'm not getting pushed back anymore. I'm still on track for a December referral. (November and January are still options, but the closer we get, the more the odds narrow.) I'm pretty darn excited about this! Really, it's only 4 months away! Four months. That's barely anytime at all.

Vacation 2007

I said I would blog about the vacation ages ago. It almost seems pointless now that it has been so long, but there are some great pictures, so I'll just give the summarized version in mostly photo form. First, the main reason we went was so that Jeff could spend some time with his parents. He spent the mornings with his Dad, Ronald, and his Dad's twin, Donald. (No, I'm not kidding) They spent the time fishing and playing cards. Lots of fishing...and lots of playing cards!!

We also spent a lot of time with Jeff's nephew Brian (of Elmo fame) and his lovely wife Audrey who is expecting in January.


Since Audrey and I are both expecting, we naturally spent a lot of time talking babies. And I know what I said before about shopping, but I was on vacation... and Audrey took me to stores.... that were having sales. What's a girl to do? We also went to a fabulous consignment store. Oooooh, even Jeff did some damage there.








We also got to meet another family who will be in our travel group. (Hi Dawn!) I would have gotten some pictures, but it was my first time meeting them and I didn't want to be the dork who walked in with a camera saying, "uh...can I take your picture for my blog?"

We also got to go to Jeff's brother's house. I always like going there because they have an orange grove. A real live tropicana-sends-the-pickers type grove. They have cows, horses, chickens, and alligators! The hightlight of the trip was trying to lure the alligator out of the pond with ribs tied to a string. Unfortunately, my camera died right before we got to the pond, but I swear it's true!

And here's some more random pictures that I just liked.
Jeff and the Boar Head. Practicing Gang signs

Jeff's brother's cows.

Where to get a hot dog in Jeff's home town.
.
The biggest rainbow I've ever seen.

Jeff's niece mugging for the camera.

I wish I'd gotten a picture.

Today I went to the fitness store to get a magazine holder for my treadmill. Jeff waited in the car because it's a small item and I'll be right back. So I go in, and the only sales guy is asleep. He's sitting behind the counter with his hands on the counter and his head hanging between his arms. His whole body vibrates with every snore. And make no mistake, he's snoring something fierce.

hello? .... Hello....HELLOOOOO!
Sir? .... Excuse me?... HEY!

I go outside to tell Jeff I can't wake him up. He says try again.

I tried again adding a loud knock on the counter and poking him with a pen. Still nothing. I go back to the car for my phone, grab a business card and call him. He kind of grumbles when the phone rings, but he STILL doesn't wake up. I left a message that sounded something like, "You're asleep. I'm standing right next to you and I don't know what to do."

Finally, someone who turned out to be a friend of his walked in. He was comfortable going behind the counter and shaking the guy awake. He explained his friend was on pain killers. Want to talk about embarassed? Try the moment he saw all the drool on his shirt. I felt really bad. I should have just let the poor baby sleep.

In the end he gave me the nicer one for the price of the cheaper one. After I left I realized....If I only had my camera!

For my Family and Friends who aren't completely obsessed with China adoption blogs like I am.

There are 2 blogs you should be following right now.

1. Stephanie
is in China right now and just got her daughter today.

2. Lisa
is leaving for China tomorrow.

Both are great bloggers and friends (If I may be so bold, I've never actually met Stephanie, but she seems lovely)

Anyway, this would be a good way for you to get an idea of just what Jeff and I will go thru when we get to China. Bookmark them and check in regularly over the next two weeks. I promise you'll be glad you did.

My niece arrived today!

Link to my sister's blog

This is what happens when you give my nephew a camera and a Tickle Me Elmo