Happy 2006!

Hi. It's been awhile. Almost five months. And, that is how long it took to get through all of the Log-In Dates for the month of December 2005.

As of March 3, 2008, the CCAA is officially working on files that were logged in during the year 2006.

Currently, the CCAA has completed files through January 4, 2006. Our LID is June 6, 2006.

That leaves ONLY 154 LID days to go!!!

Now, the rumor mill will say that they don't expect the CCAA to get through more than early March of 2006 this year. That means we are looking at another two years before we can go to China. But, we are hanging in there. Thank you all for your continued support!

imafry2

Or should it be 30?

Happy Birthday to my little sister - can't let this one slip by unnoticed!

May your next decade be as exciting as the first three!

love, jo

now, where were we?

Ok, so I've missed a few updates/ milestones/ holidays, etc, etc. The adoption news has been dismal (at best), and we have been really busy (a good thing). The combination of those has kept me from checking in with bloggy world and quite possibly has preserved my sanity.

So, here is a whirlwind update with bullet points and everything:

• SEPTEMBER 1 = Chinese National Holiday for Teachers Day - I am actually really sorry I missed this one. A national holiday celebrating Teachers? OK, they got this one right. Go Teachers!
• SEPTEMBER 4 = REFERRAL DAY - CCAA made it to November 25 . . . ONLY FOUR DAYS . . . and 193 LID days to go . . .
• SEPTEMBER 6 = 15 month LIDversary - no comment
• SEPTEMBER 25 = Chinese Traditional Holiday - Moon Festival - since I missed explaining this, you'll have to wait until next year . . .
• OCTOBER 1 = Chinese National Holiday - National Day - the anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949
• OCTOBER 2 = REFERRAL DAY - CCAA made it to November 30. All I can say is . . . FINALLY. Goodbye to November. (it only took 6 months - yikes!) 188 LID days to go
• OCTOBER 6 = 16 month LIDversary - yes, another one bites the dust

I almost forgot that somewhere in the middle of this we had to redo our paperwork and reapply for our I-171H, get new fingerprints, etc. since our original application will expire as of October 21, 2007. I am silently hoping that we won't have to go through this a third time.

Other than that, we have been going gangbusters on the condo - so I will have some updates on that later. As for the rest of the adoption stuff, we will just go back to sticking our heads in the sand.

a birthday wish for Auntie Mimi

Today is the birthday of my sister, Amy. In honor of her love for Country music, I have done my best to find something fitting (if you know me at all, you realize this was not an easy task). It would have been really cool if I could figure out how to insert the actual song to play on the blog, so, if anyone knows how to do this - please fill me in.



So, without further ado, I present the refrain from the Rascal Flatt's song, "My Wish",

My Wish

by

Rascal Flatts

"My wish, for you, is that this life becomes all that you want it to,
Your dreams stay big, and your worries stay small,
You never need to carry more than you can hold,
And while you're out there getting where you're getting to,
I hope you know somebody loves you, and wants the same things too,
Yeah, this, is my wish."

TA DA! Happy Birthday!

do something for my child

Go see "The 11th Hour". And, then, take some action.

http://www.11thhourfilm.com/

http://www.11thhouraction.com/

The film opened this weekend in LA and NYC, but it will be opening nationwide very soon.

creating a space for kidlet - part 3: drumroll, please! STORAGE!

STORAGE!!!!

We need storage. For kidlet toys and games and books and diapers and dohickeys and thingamobobs, etc. etc. etc. We also need a linen closet and other shelving for odds and ends that take over our life sometimes. So, VOILA! We tore out part of the one (1) wall between the hall and the kidlet room and created two (2) sided shelving/ cabinets.

Can I just say that these shelves are WORTH EVERY BIT OF DRYWALL DUST IT TOOK TO GET THEM THERE.

Yes, my husband is AWESOME. Yes, he built all of this himself. Yes, I am LUCKY. YES.

PS. On the hallway side, we have sliding wood doors that cover the shelving, but they are not yet installed in this photo (notice the track on the ceiling?)

creating a space for kidlet - part 2: frame, drywall, sand, repeat.

It's been awhile, so just as a reminder, you can see [part 1] of this series, "tear it up" here.

The next step, and BY FAR, my favorite (read: sarcasm) is the framing, drywalling and SANDING. This step (or steps) is neverending and far reaching. When we renovated our house in Atlanta, we had a lot more room to escape the renovation shrapnel, but with the condo we seem to be in it 24/7 - "all for one and one for all".