Viva Fiesta

Yesterday I got to be part of the King William Parade. We were the honor guard for the Grand Marshall (author Rick Riordin). I don't know if I told you that I started a Cool Guys Read book club and a local columnist wrote about what I was doing in his column. It us noticed. In fact, not only did it land us the part of the honor guard, but the author of the first book we read wants to have a phone interview with all of my boys, which is really exciting. I just got the e-mail on Thursday and I'm going to set it up. The parade was fun, although a bit sweaty because of the high humidity. It was weird strolling down the route because last year I had been a parade spectator. Now I was seeing it from the other end. It was a sea of faces that blended together. I got my dream of being Miss Fiesta (kind of, but not really). It was fun waving to all of the people. What I enjoyed most was the food. Shannon and I gobbled down waaaaay too much but we enjoyed it anyways.

I have also been thinking about the Waiting Child list. There was one girl who really touched my heart. The more I thought about her, the more I got more excited about the prosect of bringing her home. The problem is however, her special needs may be more than I can handle as a single parent. I was telling my parents and my friends that I have looked at the list and no child on previous lists has ever even tempted me to move to the SN route, except for this little girl. I have been praying about this for the past two days. I'm not really sure if I could handle the emotional roller coaster of surgeries this little girl would have to go through. Besides that, I'm not sure if the surgery would be the total solution...would there be other repercussions as a result? And finally, would my insurance cover these issues? The more and more I prayed and talked, the more and more I was convinced that I'm not her forever family. My heart is a bit broken and I'm grieving, but I know in my heart of hearts, that waiting is truly the right thing for me as hard as the wait has been. My prayer is that if I was so moved, someone else who has better resources would be as well and can provide her with a loving forever family. She wasn't my Grace but I know she is someone else's. I pray for both of them.

Today, I go and visit Miss Holly so I can get my baby fix. I'm still in a positive mood. I will be getting Grace this year. She will be coming home in 2007. I know lots of people are skeptical and are trying to prepare themselves for the worst, but I know I won't be disappointed. Everything is God's will.

Holly is Here!

Today at 1 a.m., my best friend Sandra gave birth to Holly. She weighed 8 lbs and was 19.5 inches. She is absolutely beautiful. They called me at 1:45 to let me know and even though I had been dead asleep, when I heard the words that she was here, my heart soared. I have been living vicariously through Sandra's pregnancy. I was with her yesterday when she was in labor. She was such a strong woman and I was immensely proud of her. I kept teasing her that it would have to be math TAKS testing day for Holly to come (I had told her she was going to give birth on that day because she is the math coordinator at her school). It proves that Holly is going to be a math genius. Because of TAKS testing, I wasn't able to go right away to see her. But, I was able to see pictures of her thanks to Grandma Judy (she rocks!) I couldn't wait to hold that sweet baby. I went for about 2 hours earlier this evening and got to hold her and smell her sweet baby smell. She's so soft and has long limbs and fingers. I'm so thankful that I can get my baby fix while I wait for my Grace. Holly doesn't know this, but she is my saving Grace. She is helping me be more patient in this wait. She's the stand in. I'm excited that Holly will have my daughter as a playmate. They should be similar ages. Sandra and I were already talking about all the things we'll get to do with our daughters. Motherhood here I come!

BTW...I'm posting pictures of Miss Holly!

Hoppy Easter

One of the best things about being in my profession is that we get days off that others don't. For my Good Friday, I painted Grace's room. I got up early and prepped the room. I'm the kind of painter that gets really excited about the project and then during the project I start loathing it and I make a vow never ever to paint a room again. This time it was different. I even did more than one wall and I did 2 colors: celery green and a light purple (bottom half green, top half purple). I had planned to put up a wallpaper border that I had found at Dollar Tree because it was soooo cute...well, you get what you pay for. There is now a vanilla colored stripe between the two colors but I actually like it. It looks like I meant to do that. It took me until 1:30 to finish. I actually started prepping around 9ish, painting around 11ish. I hardly got any on the ceiling or the carpet, which is a big one for me. Of course, I ended up with a lot of paint on me but not on my hair (Thank God because I just got it done a few days before! Whew!) I think it was very cathartic for me, painting her room, putting together her crib and changing table because it makes her VERY real. I know that sounds weird but because I have been waiting for some time, Grace is like this dream. By painting her room, I was able to merge my dream and the reality of having a daughter very soon. I'm still not finished. I just finished filling holes in the wall because I was trying to put up curtains and I forgot that my house's windows have like this metal thing around them about 4 inches out on each side, so the curtain rod I have will be too short. I also have some other things that I'm going to put up before I show pictures of the room. I want it to be put together. It's almost there. Ya hoo!

I had a good Easter even though I have some sort of allergy/sinus/cold. Yesterday, I had one whopper of a headache and it stayed with me all day. Today, I got my hiney up early for 8 am Mass and went. I came home, slept for a bit and went to my parents to BBQ for them. We watched Charolette's Web and Happy Feet. Cute! My niece and nephews came over later and we had an egg hunt and played Jr Monopoly, UNO, and Wig Out.

This is going to be a great week. I have only 3 workdays and then 2 days at TLA. My favorite YA authors Stephenie Meyer and Scott Westerfeld are going to be there. Yippee! I can't wait to get galley copies and chat with vendors. Maybe Shannon and I will win something cool. You never know.

Another Birthday

Friday was my 35th Birthday. The May Magpies were awesome in sending birthday wishes. My birthday was just that...another day. I had to stay late because our school was celebrating its 25th anniversary. It was kind of cool though seeing some former teachers (I used to be a student at my school).

My best friend is due to have her baby in 2 weeks. I can't wait. I'm so excited that Miss Holly will be here soon. I am living vicariously through Sandra. Of course, my labor will be much longer in that I have to wait much longer. It would seem that I am having the gestational period of an elephant.

Speaking of elephants, Shannon and I were watching Africam at work on Friday and we saw elephants! There was a boy and a girl elephant. We knew it was a boy because it looked like he had an extra appendage. As we were watching, he started moving and undulating this 5th appendage like a snake. We busted out laughing. It had a life of its own. Obviously it impressed the female elephant. We definitely were intrigued. However, it was like watching dirty elephant movies...Thank God they left before we saw it go any further then we would have really felt dirty! I am probably going to have to confess that at confession.

Sunday is Easter. I am planning on painting Grace's room on Good Friday. I making space for her and getting ready...bringing positive energy so that a speedup is possible. I'm BBQing and hosting an Easter Egg Hunt. It'll be fun. Yea! Next year I will have my girl because she will be coming home by the end of 2007.

Did I tell you that I replaced the lower and upper thermostats on my hotwater heater as well as put back my solar screen door? I'm a regular Wendy from Bob the Builder. It was very satisfying. I also mowed my lawn earlier in the week (yep, bought me a nice mower for my birthday...how exciting).

Well...starting inventory tomorrow...Yippee...TLA the next week and TAKS the following week. Busy, busy busy, but good, good, good.

Yep, my 35th year is starting off well. It's going to be a great one.