Baby Stuff

I'm in the middle of stenciling Meimei's room (once we decide on a name, I wonder if I'll have a hard time remembering not to call her Meimei). It's a slow process but it's coming along. Here's what it looks like. It's not the best picture but it gives the idea. Mike painted the walls a creamy yellow. The stencil is one of Home Depot's Disney Princess line (of course*S*).

Ladybugs are supposed to be good luck. People in the Chinese adoption community say that when you see a ladybug it means referrals are coming. I think ladybugs are cute and am starting to accumulate a collection of items. In this picture, you can see one of the many dresses I've bought so far (ladybugs are on the collar and hem), a stuffed lady bug, a ladybug wooden clacker (sitting on the yellow blanket), and two of the blankets I've made so far. The red and pink blanket was the second one I made at the sewing class that I took (the first blanket I made was for Jason); the yellow blanket is a fleece blanket that I fringed and tied the edges together. I really like make blankets (new baby shower gift idea to give people*S*).

I've always loved stuffed animals. Growing up, my bed was a jumble of them. Jason takes after me in this. Meimei already has quite the collection going - some of them Jason's, some of them mine, some were Michelle's (my niece), and some bought just for her. The Minnie Mouse and large bear (Felicia from Filenes many years ago) were mine. Donald Duck was Jason's but he said it would go well in her Disney room. I'd bought Marie (the white cat from the Aristocats) for one of Chuck and Sandi's girls before I heard that they didn't want any more stuffed animals given to them so it joined this group. There is a Mother Goose and a bunny rabbit with babies from Michelle. The sheep, ladybug, Raggedy Ann, and Hungry Caterpillar were all part of my retail therapy. On the left wide you can also see another of the fleece blankets I made.

Stop in and Say Hi!

People keep telling me they've checked my blog but no one ever stops in and says hi. Letting me know you were here is really easy - just click on the comment button under the post. You can leave comments anonymously if you don't want to register for an account.

For some reason the clocks from the weather site seem to be off on my blog. I've got three - 1 for Plymouth, 1 for Guangzhou and 1 for Beijing. The other night the one for Plymouth was off by an hour. The ones for Guangzhou and Beijing should have the same time as there is only one time zone in China but they're different on this. I'm going to have to look into that when I have more time to fool around with it.

Referrals came in by surprise

According to the forums, no one expected referrals before next week. Surprise! They came in on Wednesday. Unfortunately they only went through 7/22/05 so my agency didn't receive any. I was very depressed when I first read it but picked myself up and I'm back to normal (with the help of some chocolate*S*).

I had some coupons for Michaels Arts and Crafts so I got some card making supplies and am going to start stamping thank you cards. I won't need them for a while but it gives me something to do that I probably wouldn't have time for later. If I get a chance after I make a sample tonight I'll post a pic. Last year I bought a stamp that had thank you written in Chinese characters so I'm going to use this. I need to finish stenciling the baby's room as well. Maybe I'll go do that now (rather than finish cleaning out my craft room which I am currently taking a break from).

I saw this on someone else's blog and thought it was cool since some people who stop by here don't really know me. On the other person's blog it was supposed to be 100 facts; I don't know that I can think of that many. I may add to the list as I think of things.

All About Me

1. I've lived in MA all of my life except for 11 months I spent in southern CA (and the 2 months I went to school in HI missing the Blizzard of '78).
2. I've been married for a little over 10 years.
3. We have an 8 year old son who is going into third grade. We just found out that he got the teacher I was hoping for!!
4. We had planned on going to Australia for our 10th anniversary; this was before deciding to adopt. Maybe when we hit 25.
5. Growing up, I lived in a Cape Cod style house and swore that I wouldn't live in one when I was old enough to buy a house; that I wanted a Victorian. By the time I was old enough to have a mortgage, reality set in and I knew a Victorian was out of our price range. We have a very nice Cape Cod style house*S*
6. I love, love, love to travel.
7. I love planning vacations and am usually researching the next place I want to go (after China, maybe New Orleanss? But not during Mardi Gras - see number 8)
8. I don't mind going to busy places but I can't stand obsenely huge crowds which is why Mardi Gras and Fan Fest (a week in June in Nashville) are out of the question for me.
9. I am not fond of vacations where we sit on the beach and do nothing. Definitely Type A when it comes to going away - plans, schedules and on the go!
10. Disney World is my favorite place in the world.
11. Nashville is my second favorite vacation place with Vegas pretty close behind.
12. I'd love to retire to Celebration, FL.
13. I am obsessed with anything Disney.
14. Our two cats are named after Disney characters (DH wanted to name them Whitey and Stripes; ended up with Jasmine and Ariel)
15. I rarely wear makeup or earrings.
16. I don't like the color orange.
17. I don't like wearing high heels.
18. My favorite shoes are my birkenstock sandals.
19. I cannot carry a tune although I do sing for my students.
20. I love scrapbooking.
21. I recently learned how to sew.
22. My first sewing project was a blanket for Jason.
23. I've been friends with one of my friends for 34 years. Wow! Kindergarten was such a long time ago!!
24. I don't do well with someone telling me I can't do something. Talk to me and let me know your feelings but don't ever think you can forbid me.
25. I have a brother in California and a sister in MA. My sister spent 10 years in CA before returning home.
26. I'm a cat person. Love me, love my cats (or in Mike's case, tolerate my cats).
27. It drives me crazy when people refer to women who stay at home as full-time moms. There is nothing about my working that makes me a part-time mom. How come no one calls fathers who work part-time dads?

It's Too Quiet!!!

Usually by now there are rumors floating all over the internet; this month - nothing!!! It's driving me crazy. I'm finding that I'm getting much more obsessive as time goes on since we're getting so close now. I bought a magazine yesterday and my horoscope in it said that a long-held dream would finally be realized in September. Since our LID is 8/30, I'm not expecting a referral this month but I would be thrilled/ecstatic/jumping up and down hysterically if we got one in September (hopefully it's not nap time at work when I get the call*S*). I had a dream we named our daughter Lucy. Lucy is a fine name but it's not one we'd been considering. I looked up its meaning and it means "Light" Perhaps the dream means that there really is a light at the end of the tunnel?

Exactly what do people find funny about racial or ethnic jokes? I don't get the humor in them and I'm sure I'm going to ruffle a few feathers with my letting people know this. I was on the Woman's Day forum and someone posted a thread entitled "Want to Learn Chinese?" I opened the thread and clicked on the enclosed link. It was a list of phrases in English and the supposedly humorous Chinese way of saying them. It was offensive and I told the woman who posted it that I didn't think it was funny. I know many people in my life who think ethnic jokes are particularly funny but I just fail to see the humor. I always lose some respect for people when I hear them tell jokes like this.

More Paperwork

On Wednesday, I dropped Jason off at Ruth & Chuck's and went to meet our new social worker (our third!). Our first one was laid off and the second one decided to move to Arizona. She was very nice and we talked for about half an hour about adoption, family, and work. It wasn't required but I thought it'd be nice to have a face to put with the voice that will be calling me to tell me we have a daughter. There were a few things that I knew that she didn't that I'd gotten from Rumor Queen like the increased time if you're adopting from Guangdong province. She said that WHFC is still predicting 15 months from LID to referral which would mean we would get a referral in November. I'm crossing my fingers that it'll be before that. Because our 797 will expire in November, we have to apply again for CIS approval to adopt. More forms to fill out, more documents to copy, more money to pay. It's almost $600 for this approval. There is a legislature to try to extend this approval but I'm too paranoid to wait to see if it passes. I'd rather have it and not need it then not have it and have any more delays in this process. After meeting with our SW, I went to the Cheesecake Factory (yum!!!) and then back to WHFC for the waiting families meeting. One couple is traveling the end of this month, one family is next to get a referral (there are more than one couple in each LID group of course, but not many come to the meetings). There were 2 women who'd been to Russia to get their referral and meet their new sons and they talked about that. The three couples who are adopting from Guatemala are all traveling to see their children soon. The family who adopted the the twins traveled in July and may be at the next meeting with their children; I can't wait to see them! It helps to see that there really is a light at the end of the tunnel.