I had a great birthday

I had a super great birthday today even though I didn't get my LSC/LOA. I have a strange sneaking suspicion that mine will come when they institute the fee for LOA. And you know, that's okay with me in the long run, even though it kinda sucks that everything keeps going up. I feel that we are suddenly innundated with an increase of fees all over the place. I'm very lucky that I have been able to save some money so I should be good to go.

I got a beautiful lemon tree and a great collage of my Grace from my best friend and her family. I love them! I also got the coolest travel necessities from my friends at work...love the pillow, blanket, luggage tags...I'm ready to go! I got my luggage from my parents along with a monetary gift (the LOA fee) and my sister also got me a beautiful petunia plant that I am going to work hard and not let it die. I truly am blessed by all the great family and friends that surround me. I love them all and I thank God for them every day.

I go to Houston tomorrow for TLA. I think I have mine and Hope's bags packed. I think I need to swap out purses but I'll get that together tomorrow. I can't believe how much time has flown by.

I'm still praying for all of you guys waiting for referrals, the speedup, your PAs (especially Marjorie...hoping yours goes all the way to LOA/TA and fast!), LOAs, TAs. I know how frustrating it can be. There doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to a lot of it. Just a lesson in patience I guess. OH! You know what else I found to be interesting? My agency is starting to do adoptions in other countries...get out of town right? I'm not sure what to make of it or draw any conclusions. What I have learned in this journey so far is to expect the unexpected and that you can't always draw the right conclusions even with a lot of details because the answer is probably somewhere from left field and you would have never seen it coming. I guess that's good advice for someone who is getting ready to be a mama to a toddler.