Happy Thanksgiving

The holidays when one is waiting for something special, like waiting for your referral for your child, is truly bittersweet. I love, love, love Thanksgiving. It is my favorite holiday. I have been looking forward to it for a long time. When I woke up this morning though, I wasn't as happy or excited as I thought I would be. Maybe it was because I read a post on one of my Yahoo groups and the person was fretting about what her agency said about China adoptions (basically not speeding up, domestic adoption was increasing and yada, yada, yada). It totally conflicted with what my agency has told me. So, who is telling the truth? I don't know. I hope mine is (not that they promised any speedup or anything, just that it'll most likely get better after March LIDs and that people are dropping like flies out of the program and she didn't think it would take the whole year to do March like everybody is saying.) Maybe it was because it didn't start off well. I am in charge of cooking the turkey breast my mom bought. I told her to put it in the fridge to defrost. What neither one of us realized is that it shouldn't have been defrosted. It's one of those birds that all you do is throw it into the oven. I figured this out after I made the stuffing. I read the directions, the ran upstairs to check the butterball website on how to fix my problem...unfrozen turkey breast. I hope lowering the oven by 25 degrees will work. My stuffing was also contingent on being put in the turkey. It really is kind of flavorless. Thank God I bought some stovetop as well. Everthing else seems to be okay. I'm boiling the potatoes for the mashed potatoes and I'm cooking the pinto beans in the crock pot (mom lent me her really cool pampered chef garlic masher thing and it rocks!). It smells great. So, I guess the lesson that I am learning is that despite obstacles, you have to make lemonade out of lemons. So, I'm going to go downstairs, check on my potatoes, make the best mashed potatoes, take a shower, wear my favorite jeans, t-shirt and Ed Hardy shoes and put on a happy face and enjoy my favorite holiday. You know, I do have a great life and I'm very blessed. I have a lot to be thankful for and that's what I plan to focus on. Cheers to everybody still waiting for their referral. May you have a great Thanksgiving.

30 months of waiting!

Yep, today is my 30 month anniversary of my LID. Wow, it's incredible how long it's been. But it seems that time has been going by fast, which is good.

I saw Twilight on Friday afternoon. What was I thinking? Going to a girly teen movie the day it opens? YIKES! I had the pleasure of sitting next to some very unpleasant teen girls who were saying some pretty offensive things not to mention some a racial slur about one of the characters. Did I tell you that is when I popped both of my elbows out and connected with her bony arm? I know teen girls and saying things to these types of girls do absolutely nothing. I just glared and let my elbows do the talking for me. By the way, let's just say that I prefer the books better. What was up with the editing or Jacob's hair and this is just only a small portion of things that bugged me. But, I didn't not enjoy the movie. I guess it was like how I felt about Breaking Dawn. I didn't totally like it but it wasn't horrible either. I hear that they are going to make New Moon. Of course, I will see that one. My favorite character, Jacob is a big main character.

I am getting ready for the holidays. It was so nice sleeping in today. I ran some errands and then picked up and vacuumed upstairs. I could have made a sweater with all of Hope's hair on the carpet. I'm getting ready to vacuum and mop downstairs and spray down the oven to clean in the morning. I want a clean kitchen to prepare the food, even though I am taking it to my parents' house.

I am going to take my niece to Disneyworld at the end of January or beginning of February. We both need a small vacation and she is my favorite traveling buddy. We'll play hooky for 2 days. I might as well go because I probably won't be going for a while. Grace will be too little.

I want all the facts ma'am

I called my agency today and basically asked them for the 411 on wait times. I told her that people are really starting to panic and it's leading to hysteria and it's making me doubt myself. While she couldn't say for sure about timeframes, she did say that she thinks most of their families will wait 3 to 3 1/2 years. I asked her would I be getting my referral in 2010 like some people are predicting and she strongly felt that it wouldn't. She didn't think it would take the whole year to do March like other people have been saying. She said that once March is done, it should get better as far as how many dates get referred because March is mighty big. BUT...she also said that a lot of the families are dropping like flies. That makes me sad not only because they might be giving up their dream but they also lost a lot of money! I mean the amount lost is like the price of a used car, but still, a big ticket item. So anyways, the way I look at it, I still have a year or less of a wait and I'm pulling for less than a year! I felt better and more reassured. We don't have crystal balls and cannot predict the future but it so important for agencies to reach out to their clients and have these talks with them to reassure them. Shame on them for not opening the communication lines other than a monthly e-mail (yes, that is directed towards my agency who I really do like). I know they say they are a phone call away or an e-mail away, but they should be calling us to check in with us at least every other month during this wait to give us information. Sometimes, the information is almost perceived as secretive. But, I learned today that all you have to do is call and ask. So, bottom line, ask. Be your own adoption detective. Go to the horse's mouth instead of drawing conclusions based on rumors, if you can (I know, some agencies aren't as forthcoming). So, deep breath in, lotus position, I can do less than a year.

Addicted to Carmen San Diego

I am so addicted to the game Where in the World is Carmen San Diego...it's sick. I found the CD-rom in my desk when my 8 year old nephew came over to my house. We played it and now it is I who is playing it every night. I LOVE IT! It's so sad how much I love it.

I went and saw my friend's band last night, PuppyJet and they sounded great. I also liked the opening band before them, The Far Cries...who woulda thought my friend's band would have an opening act huh? Anyways, I stayed for the Far Cries and left after the second song of PuppyJet, not that they were horrible or anything but the smoke was seriously affecting our breathing...that's the one thing I hate about bars like that, the cigarette smoke. It was also very bittersweet. At one time in my life, that ecletic music scene was a place that I felt very comfortable with. It was like seeing my life in my 20s with my older 30something year old eyes. It was great people watching, I especially liked watching the table of guys of varied ages, pierced and tatooed, I especially was intrigued by the 50something year old mohawk guy (yes a 50 year old with a mohawk). But at the same time, I realized I am so not that girl anymore. I really didn't fit in (even though I was wearing the black long sleeve t-shirt, jeans and Ed Hardy shoes, which are super cool). I've moved on and I guess I realized how much I have grown up. It's weird to have a wake-up call at such a place. [ sidenote to my best friend Sandra: And yes Sandra, I did behave myself and let's just say that dreams are probably better than reality and it will be super long time before I even seriously consider it. Nuff said]

Speaking of real concerts, Sandra and I may bite the bullet and see our favorite band from our youth, Duran Duran. She loved Simon LeBon (or was it John Taylor...I think Simon) and I knew I was going to marry John Taylor (like every other middle school girl during the 80s). Anyways, it should be a blast.

My dad called me the other day and said, "Jamie, I think Grace is born and I think you are going to get a referral in March." (that's the second person who has said that to me...Shannon and my dad). It's weird because my dad doesn't say things like that. AND Sandra had a ladybug crawling on her in her classroom the other day. Kinda weird. So, let's hope for the best and that '09 will be a year for our miracles.

November already!

I can't believe that we're already almost two weeks into November. Time is flying by so fast. I did some serious retail therapy and now I am having a bit of regret on a top which I believe I will be returning to Nordstroms. It was cute but so not worth the cost. I was going to wear it to see Cobra Starship and Forever the Sickest Kids, but in the end, we didn't go. The good thing was that I had to go down a size in jeans. Yippee! I've lost like 12 pounds in about 3 weeks. My goal is a whole heck of a lot more, but I will make it. I've got a year before my next skydive. I want to wear the green suit.

We're going to see my friend Chris' band, Puppy Jet, next weekend. He doesn't go on until 11. I told him that was usually the time I'm coming home from places, not going out. It should be a good show though. I always have fun with Shannon at concerts.

I am cooking Thanksgiving for my family this year but taking it over to my parents' house. Last year was so nice and I hope it will be again. I love that all you do on that day is eat, watch TV, play games and sometimes we go to the movies. Speaking of which, Twilight starts November 21st and Shannon and I are going to go after school to see it. Yippee! I am so Team Jake but I realize that Bella and Edward belong together. If it had been me doing the picking, I so would have picked Jacob. Edward would have literally sucked the life out of me.

This year at Thanksgiving, I will be saying a prayer for all of us that we get our little ones faster than everybody is predicting. In the interim, I have finally started moving on with my life. I'm planning on applying for an NEH seminar for teachers that will take place this summer for 3 weeks in Chicago. Wish me luck!

So sick of the negativisim!

Can I just say that I really, really, really hate how when people see how slow the referrals are coming that they start going into negative panic mode? Then comes all of the doom and gloom predictions that say it's going to take this much longer and blah, blah, blah. Okay, I respect your right to vent and make doomsday predictions but it doesn't mean I have to like it. How do you know it's going to take 4 years? None of us, well maybe some of us, are psychics and cannot predict the future. Isn't it better to look at the glass half full than half empty? Isn't being optimistic a lot healthier than being a naysayer? Negativism breeds negativism. It's like a hoover and sucks the life out of you. You may call yourselves realists, but the bottom line is that we really don't know. I, myself, prefer to remain positive and I have to stay away from the people who are starting to seriously panic and it becomes like a serious craze and then everybody starts freaking out and it spins out of control (you know, just like Judd Nelson's character says in The Breakfast Club, "He'll get up, then we'll all get up and it'll be anarchy!" It just helps to take a deep breath, breathe, and take it one day at a time. And, I'm going to check out those sweet baby's faces to remind me of what is to come.

Election Day

It's going to be very interesting to see who wins the election tonight. I wasn't entirely thrilled with either candidate but you know there won't be a person who I think will fill all of my needs. I just pray that whoever is elected will be able to make good decisions that will benefit us all. A student asked me today if I voted and I said I had and they wanted to know who. I told her that was a personal question and that I voted who I felt would be the best candidate for the job. She said she really wanted to know and I still didn't feel right telling her. I told her it was one of those things you don't ask people, like who you vote for, how much money you make or how much you weigh. I don't think she understood but everybody has the right to vote for whoever they feel in their hearts is the best candidate for the job. Enough said.

Yesterday I had the author, Patrick Carman visit my school (Thank you Fabby from Barnes and Noble Northwood store!). He was so awesome. He told a great story about his friend and him destroying their toys including a Stretch Armstrong and an Evil Knieval doll. It cracked me up. He has a great new book coming out called Skeleton Creek that will be totally interactive with a journal and a website that has movie clips. It's like Blair Witch Project meets a Ghost Hunter's journal. It's super cool. I can't remember the website offhand, but I know one of the websites that is in the book is www.sarahfincher.com and the password is houseofusher. The video is super cool. I love it! I can't wait until it comes out.

RQ is saying referrals should be coming out soon and it doesn't look like a great big batch. I'm not surprised but my agency should be getting referrals this time. I hope they finish February this year. I was looking at our list of LIDs and it's sort of bottlenecks up until the middle of March (like people turned in their paperwork like in Feb and didn't get an LID until March, like almost a month later). I think after that bottleneck is referred, there might be some sort of speedup. I know people freak out over rumors and how the referrals have been super slow, but I'm thinking for me, a May 24 LIDer, I know I'll be getting my referral in 2009 and not 2010. It would be awesome to have a May or June referral so I have the whole summer and I can take some time off at the beginning of the school year, but an early fall wouldn't be horrible either. What will be will be. I'm in it for the long haul. I'm glad my I-600a can be renewed so I'm not going to sweat it out or freak out.

I should have my own action figure

Yeah, I did it. I'm proud. I jumped out of an airplane. It rocked! I'm definitely going to do it again. The weird thing was that I wasn't afraid or nervous at all. Maybe that is how my brain copes with things...it just doesn't dwell much on things like that. I had so much fun and can I tell you that my instructor was super CUTE! He was totally what I used to go for when I was in my 20s. So, being strapped to him was no biggie! We watched the video and I was laughing so hard that I was crying (actually we all were). All I kept thinking about during free fall was the way my face was looking from the air pressure. It wasn't too pretty. When I realized I was being taped, I tried smiling because I thought that might help....yeah, not so much...imagine a blow fish on a human's body. I really can't explain the feeling but it was very peaceful and very freeing. I think at the beginning I wasn't sure what to expect but I tell you, the whole face morphing thing is not pretty, although if you look at my instructor in the video and the pictures, he totally doesn't have the same look. Hmmmmm...let's just say, girlfriend here is totally going to lose more weight before she goes back. I don't want my action figure to be Miss Flappy Blowfish face. I am attaching a couple of pictures for your pleasure. I am definitely not putting up those blowfish flappy face ones...too embarassing!

I don't know if anybody else has been checking RQ, but there is still not cut off rumors. Let's hope the silence is golden and we'll be rich in babies!