Local Adopters descend on Chinese restaurant

Last night was our local adopters monthly get-together. Forty two people gathered at Classic Gourmet for an evening of fun, laughs, conversation and lots of food. It was so nice to visit and talk with those we've met before as well as the first-time attendees. We were all excited to meet Charleigh, the first and only child thus far, since our group started, that has joined her forever family. She charmed everyone, spent lots of time on my lap and gave wonderful hugs. We also got to share in the excitement over the referral of Emily, checking out all of her pictures and reports from China.

At the restaurant, we had a private room and the children were able to play with one another, blowing, chasing and popping bubbles. All the children were so well behaved and Jack was a star, keeping all the younger kids occupied with their bubbles and cars. The best eater award goes to Max Z. who must have visited the buffet line no less than a dozen time with at least that many trips again to the soft serve machine.

Quote of the night:
"You're never too old for bubbles!"
From the wisdom of Jack.

Billy, Jack & Heather

Angela & Jay

Keegan, Stephanie & Dave

Jill, Charleigh, Mia, Tracy & Laine

Bonnie & Bubba Jr.

Boys & their beer

Brad & Laura

Bubba Jr., Lisa & Charleigh

Ilene & Michael

Julie, Daphne & Cindy

Charleigh & Sonia

Rob, Deb & Noah

Dave & Jodi

Cindy & Brent

So Sweet

Today my mailbox contained a package from my girlfriend Joanna and her children. Rachel, Sarah and Benjamin each sent a wish and Sarah made a special quilt square for Baby S's book. Thanks Grosz family!

Neglect

My car has been having a few problems lately so I finally broke down (me, not the car) and dropped it off at the shop. After taking a look at my poor, old, 1991 Volvo, Palmer the shop owner called to ask a few questions and let me know what needed to be done.


Palmer (with his Jamaican accent): Ma'am when was the last time you had a tune-up?

Me: Ummm... {hedging} I don't really remember. {thinking I don't want to tell him that I haven't had one since moving to Georgia in 1998}

Palmer: You need new spark plugs, a distributor cap and a rotor. Do you remember when they were changed?

Me: Aren't they original to the car?

Palmer: Oh my. The air filter needs to be changed too.

Me: Oh! {delighted with myself because I remember having this done "recently"} I had that changed two oil changes ago. It needs to be done already?

Palmer: Yes Ma'am it's dirty and not seated properly. It's allowing leaves and debris into the lines so those too need to be cleaned out. When was your last oil change?

Me: Ummm, gosh I don't remember, let me look it up. {shuffling through papers} Oh, December 29, 2004!

Palmer: Well Ma'am, you're due for an oil change.

Me: OK yeah, it's probably needed at this point. Oh, I had a new battery put in the car in November '04 and the radio hasn't worked since because I don't have the code, is it possible to get that code?

Pathetic, I know!

Let me stop here and say in my own defense, since December '04 I've only put 3,119 miles on my car. So, I'm not way over due on the mileage for an oil change, but yes I know, over due on time. Also, since I drive so little, most of the time I honestly don't even notice that there's no radio. {Yes Daphne, I know that alone would have you in the market for a new vehicle!}

Driving my car home from the shop today with it's tune-up and all of it's new parts, it felt like a new car. I'm $160 lighter, but Palmer did say that my car should last at least another 10 years. I love my old Volvo, so the thought of having it for years to come and the idea of no car payments, made me very happy.

I should be giddy...but...

Today we have been logged in with CCAA for five full months. According to our original timeline, we should be about one month away from referral and seeing Baby S's picture. Instead I'm thinking that we are *maybe* at the halfway point of our wait. I'm trying to be positive, I still have many things to do before Baby S's arrival, but I could complete them or pass them over if I could get my baby now!! I wish that CCAA could just give a month when we will get our referral and then the there would be a date to look forward to. They know how many dossiers they've received for each month, they know how many they can process and match each month. So, based on those numbers, why can't they give us something more than they do?

Whinge...complain...grizzle...moan...

Our day at USCIS

Back in April, in addition to all the adoption paperwork, Eammon filed with USCIS his N-400 "Application for Naturalization". In just over a week, they cashed our $330 check and told us not to expect to hear anything, for a period of, no less than 450 days! Surprisingly, we got a notice from them in early November saying that Eammon's Citizenship test would be on Monday, January 9, 2006.

So today we spent hours at the MLK building, with thousands of other people waiting and waiting. Eammon was *finally* called in for his , asked 7 questions about U.S. history and the government, given an English test consisting of reading and writing two simple sentences, asked a few "moral character" questions and then was told he passed!! So soon we should receive form N-445 "Notice of Naturalization Oath Ceremony", make our final trip to the MLK building where he will become a U.S. citizen!

Here you can take a version of the test.

While sitting in the office waiting for him, I realized that all the adoption paper work has been submitted obviously using his U. K. Passport. It now appears that he should have his U.S. passport before we travel for Baby S! He will have dual U.S./U.K. citizenship, but I guess I need to find out if we need to make any changes or do anything special before we travel. Has anyone else been in this situation. Guess I need to make a few inquiries.

Can't teach this old dog new tricks

My brain has been uncooperative and said a big fat N - O to Monovision. After four days of unrelenting nausea, headaches, winking and blinking I returned to the eye doc to say that my brain was not figuring out which eye to see out of and I would succumb to using reading glasses when necessary. So now I am the old fart proud owner of over-the-counter +1.0 vision readers.

Welcome Emily Faith!!

Congratulations Daphne & Greg on your beautiful new daughter. Can't wait to give her a big snuggle and put all those ribbons in her hair!

A big congrats to all the other lucky folks with LID's from April 15 - April 24 2005, who received their referral.

My new friend...wink, wink

Today I lunched with fellow blogger and Mom-to-be Trixie. We met at one of my favorite lunch spots where we sat for hours chatting and having a good time. It wasn't until my tush felt like it turned to lead that we vacated the table and went on our way. I love meeting local adoptive Moms, especially when they are so much fun...and don't take offense at all my winking!

Update on Monovision: Day 2, headache: yes, clear vision: no, number of people who probably think I'm flirting with them: way too many!

Flirting idiot

Just so you know, it's official I'm getting old. Today I went to the eye doctor for my annual eye/contact lens exam and also to be checked as I have been having difficulty reading labels and small print up close. The doctor checked my vision and said that my distance vision is the same and hasn't really changed in 20 years, but said that I now need reading glasses. She said that I could get a pair of over the counter magnifying glasses or I could try what they call Monovision. I opted for the latter and now have my distance prescription in my right eye and a different prescription in my left eye so that I can read things up close. My brain hurts as it is trying to adapt and "learn" to see with the eye best suited for the task.

Driving home, all the other drivers must have thought I was flirting with them as I kept winking, trying to look out of my distance eye for the road and my up close eye for other things...OK, I looked like an idiot... Everything is blurry; up close, distance and mid-range. The headache is there but I don't want to pull out the lenses because that will make tomorrow worse as my already fried brain tries to learn something new.

For Lauren

Today I completed my first scrap book page! Donna is making a scrap book of 100 Good Wishes for her daughter.She invited family, friends and fellow bloggers to create a page for Lauren. She mailed to me, the coordinating papers in the picture to the right and I had to figure out what to do with them! So many patterns, so many choices, I was completely overwhelmed trying to figure out what to do and how. For some reason I felt the need to use each color and pattern but after much consideration, I narrowed my selection to two patterns and two solids. Next I went to the craft store as I wanted to add something pretty to the page. OMG, let me tell you, I was standing in the scrap book isle for over an hour, looking like a deer in the headlights, trying to narrow down my selection and make a decision. Wow, so many beautiful choices. I finally found the basket of flowers and the butterflies and I thought they picked up on the flowers and colors in the paper. It was a fun project and now I have the confidence to start on Baby S's book!

Kim Brown rocks!!

Today I had a surprise in my mail box from Kim Brown, one of the Moms-to-be in my August Yahoo dtc group. To thank me for organizing the secret pal swap, Kim made and sent the beautiful ladybug necklace pictured above! Kim, thank you for thinking of me, I love my wonderful gift. I can't wait to wear it and I will think of you each and every time.

Fried brain

Either I've fried my brain or I've gotten really stupid. First, I almost missed a really wonderful gift from one of my secret pals. On top of that, I keep sending emails or telling people that I'll see them, or talk to them, in 2007. Then yesterday, I washed the tile floor in the kitchen and family room only to then, decide to bake some cookies for Eammon's office mates. Of course I end up with flour on my freshly washed floors, allowing me to wash them all over again. Next, I was watching the cookies bake thinking that they were awfully thin, later realizing that I probably left out at least a cup of flour! Eammon and I both tried a cookie and decided that even though they were the worlds flattest cookies, the flavor was wonderful and the texture was good, being a little crisp around the edges and chewy in the center. They were deemed a successful failure and hopefully his office mates enjoyed them.

Then, very, very early this morning I headed out to do a few errands, only to find that I had left my car in the driveway all night, unlocked. Ok, it must have just been yesterday that I was "out of it" and today would be better...Right? Wrong! I started to pull out of my driveway only to realize that I was still wearing my slippers. So I go back into the house and I couldn't remember the alarm code, thus setting off all the sirens in the house. I then had to wait for the alarm company to call so I could officially tell someone, "I am stupid!"

I finally get out of the house, appropriately dressed and head off down the road, looking at all the pretty Christmas lights displayed by my neighbors. I got to the end of my road and noticed that I didn't have my headlights on! I turned them on and I was on my way. I drove 10 miles and arrived at my destination to find that I had never put on my seat belt!!! I was shocked as I *always* wear it and putting it on is automatic...Where was my brain? Ok, I thought, shake it off... I did my errand and got back to the car to find that the car is still in gear and the emergency brake was not pulled up! Luckily I wasn't on a hill...OMG, what is wrong with me! Can you believe that the Chinese government is actually going to allow *me* to raise a child!!

Now I am afraid to go anywhere for fear of what havoc I may cause! I should be doing what I do best, which is what I am doing in the top picture.... Laying in the shade, reading, with nothing around which I can damage, harm or forget. But, since I can't be back on the beach, I am going to be careful, stay home, be quiet and safe, and carefully use the computer.

Here are few more Aruba pics. All of the pics in this post were taken by our friend, Karen (see her in the pic from Madame Janette's).

I'm enjoying my book

Laurie feeding a friendly iguana

No worries of someone sitting on this fence!

Collapsed Natural Bridge

Beautiful beach

Wave bye bye

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, wishing everyone happy holidays!

I almost missed this!!

OK, my CCAI pal is even more generous than I first posted. The box she sent was huge. In it I found the lovely scrap book, adorable stuffed elephant and the house shaped frame, I posted about below, all carefully packed in thousands of styrofoam peanuts. So, I was thrilled, loving everything she sent...Not the end of the story though. Today I received an email from the swap organizer in which she tells me that my pal says I missed something in the package! So I pull out the big box again and dive through thousands of peanuts to find the most adorable sandal frame with a ladybug!! How perfect for a beach bum like myself! Thank you my fab pal!!

Secret pals are great!

While away, I received over 1700 emails, at least 50 catalogs, numerous magazines, a huge crate full of snail mail, but best of all were the packages from my July, August and CCAI Secret Pals.

It is so fun to open up the packages each month and see the wonderful and fun items that my great pals send. I can't wait to read the book to Baby S while she holds on to the stuffed elephant then put all her piccies in the scrapbook and frames. (The Chinese writing on the large frame says I love you)

Thank you my wonderful pals!!

MTB* holiday brunch

Sunday at the Georgian Terrace the "Ladies who lunch". *Mom's-to-be, Cindy, Jill, Sonia and I had a good time chatting, eating and exchanging prezzies. We always have such fun when we get together. All the little prezzies are cute, and I love that Baby S has her first pair of sunglasses so that she will be ready for the sun in Aruba. Thanks girly girls,it was a blast!

Relaxation... For the most part

The picture above shows the chikkie where Eammon and I spent all of our days during the past couple of weeks. This was our temporary real estate where we read, chatted, solved puzzles, relaxed and enjoyed numerous afternoon naps. Below are a couple of pictures of my view of the world looking past my deeply tanned toes, during various times of the day.



Here's Eammon working on his savage tan.

As in years past, this year we enjoyed beautiful weather, with only two mornings of rain. Each year Eammon and I discuss doing activities such as going Snuba, snorkeling sailing, parasailing or going to De Palm Island and doing Seatrek or even, going on a submarine, but laziness, lack of motivation and intense relaxation take over thus, we've never made it off the beach during the day.

Mornings I enjoyed being on the beach, sitting in the sun or floating in the ocean with friends, discussing the obligatory topics of: where everyone went for dinner, what they ate and where they're planning to dine on upcoming nights; news of weather reports from home and how pleased we were not to be there; and of course the depth and color of everyone's tan. Afternoons, I enjoyed sitting in the shade of the chikkie, reading, doing my puzzles, watching boats sail by and enjoying my afternoon alfresco naps. This year I was reintroduced to a girl that I grew up with, who I haven't seen in over 20 years. It was wonderful seeing her again and who knows, maybe we will keep in touch.

Evenings we often ate out on our patio, watching the sunset, as the view was spectacular and with the tradewind breezes, it was always comfortable









Of course we did dine out a couple of times with friends. One night we had a very way too long leisurely 3 hour dinner at the Tulip with (from left to right) my parents Phil & Ruth, me, Eammon, Barb, Joe waving hello, Sue and Bob.
Eammon and I had eaten at Tulip in December'04 and found the food only to be fair, and service relatively slow. This year the food was still only fair, but the service was painfully slow...So now it's off our list as there are plenty of other wonderful places to dine.

Our next dinner out was with Barb & Joe at the Calypso Restaurant at Casa del Mar. It was a Caribbean dinner and show. The food included numerous seafood salads, lobster tails, curried beef, pork loin, Keshi Yena, grilled fish, Island Ratatouille, Cinnamon Baked Plantains and various desserts.

The dancers were fun to watch and at the end of the evening Joe was pulled up on stage to learn a dance and then he and Barb had a nice dance with each other.

Eammon and I love Iguana Joe's and thus we ate and drank there a couple of times. One night we dined with (from left to right) Sue, Me, Eammon, Carl, Sandra, Allan and Bob. We enjoyed wonderful drinks, including my favorite Cactus Colada and Eammon's lethal drinks, Kunuku Moonshine and Hurricane Joes.

Everyone in our group flipped over Joe's Award Winning Shrimp and the Original Recipe Baby Back Ribs.

A return visit was in order as everyone wanted more ribs and drinks, so a few days later we made a return visit. This time our very tanned and lovely group included (from left to right)Allan, Sandra, Carl, Eammon, Me, Ruth & Phil.

Our final night on Aruba, we dined with Karen and Laurie at Madame Janette. It was the perfect way to end our time on the island as both the food and company were wonderful.

Overall, the trip was wonderful and it was so nice to see all our friends on the beach, especially since Eammon and I hadn't planned on visiting Aruba this year, with the China trip in the wings.

We did have a number of mishaps along the way which could have potentially put a real damper on our trip, and that is why I say that we had relaxation for the most part. Our troubles started the morning we left for Aruba. Our alarm sounded at 2:30 am and we were out of the house as scheduled at 3:00 am. It took us 40 minutes to drive the 31 miles to the off-airport parking site and then we took the courtesy shuttle to the airport, arriving at 4:00 am. We waited a while in line and when we got up to the counter, the ticket agent asked us for Eammon's immigration papers or green card. Holy crap! Since we just got new passports, the information that was stamped in his old one wasn't in the new one, and we didn't have his green card with us. By then it was after 4:00 am and our flight was scheduled to leave at 6:15 am. We check our bags and then make a mad dash to the taxi stand to take us back to the off site parking place. We arrive back there at 4:40 am and then literally flew through Atlanta making the 31 mile trip in 25 minutes flat. I knew exactly where Eammon's green card was located, so I dashed into the house as Eammon delt with the house alarm. We were in and out of the house in less than one minute and back on the road. Thankfully it was a Sunday morning and the lights were in our favor. We made it back to the parking place at 5:33 am, just under 25 minutes! The shuttle raced us back to the airport and we arrived there at 5:43 am, we raced to clear security and had just enough time to make a very brief bathroom stop and pick up a cup of coffee as they were closing the gate. Thankfully we made the flight because we wouldn't have been able to catch another connection from Miami to Aruba until the following day. So, after all that stress it was good to make it to the beach that afternoon and unwind.

On our flight coming home, for some reason the pilots in Aruba arrived late, so the boarding could not start until their arrival. Then when we landed in Miami, we sat on the tarmac for just over an hour. Then they started pulling up the the terminal, but they sat about 20 feet short, waiting for the ground crew to do something. Had things been on time, we would have had just shy of a 2 hour layover. But, by the time they opened the doors to the plane, we had less than 12 minutes to make our connection and of course it was in a different terminal. We raced through the airport and arrived just as they called for all rows to board, final boarding. So, we made the plane...yippee!! Get to Atlanta and we circled for a good 40 minutes before we landed, but finally on the ground. Waiting, waiting, waiting for our luggage only to get to stand in line with over 70 other passengers to file a missing luggage claim. Now, our luggage has been delivered, laundry has been started, the tan is already starting to fade, the good memories of the trip supersede any of the problems we may have had. We loved our trip, but it feels wonderful to be home!

Four months

Four months since our dossier was logged in at CCAA. Keeping my fingers crossed that these referrals start coming quickly.

Ansley Rhiannon ZiHui

Fellow local adopters Joanna & Billy just received their referral for their daughter Lian Zi Hui, soon to be Ansley Rhiannon ZiHui. Born March 15, 2005 in Lian Jiang, Guangdong. Checkout their website for all the details and updated information.

Congratulations to all the new parents who received their referral this month. Check out all the beautiful new babies, listed in the side bar under "We have our Referral."

Bye bye cold weather

Eagle Beach is where you'll find me, my books, sudoku puzzles and maybe a brown lady or two. If you're there too, stop and say hello, otherwise I'll be speaking and catching up with you when I return. Have a great couple of weeks all my blogging buddies.