Tagged

I've been tagged by Colleen. Here goes... Four Things You May or May Not Know About Me:

A) Four jobs I have had in my life:
1.) Gift Wrap Girl
2.) Ear Piercer
3.) Bank Teller
4.) IT Business Analyst

B) Four movies I would watch over and over??
1.) I'm With Lucy
2.) Something About Mary
3.) Riding in Cars With Boys
4.) Christmas Vacation

C) Four places I have lived
1) With my parents
2) Rented house
3) Apartment
4) Own home... all in the same town


D) Four TV Shows that I watch:
1.) The Closer
2.) American Idol
3.) My Name is Earl
4.) Psych


E) Four places I have been:
1.) Daytona FL
2.) Dallas TX
3.) San Antonio TX
4.) Memphis TN

F) People who e-mail me (regularly):
1.) My Mother
2.) My Adoption Agency
3.) My In-Laws
4.) My Adoption Friends


G) Four of my favorite foods:
1.) Chicken & Dumplings
2.) Bruscetta
3.) Veal Parm
4.) Biscuits & Gravy

H) Four places I would rather be right now:
1.) Vietnam meeting my baby boy
2.) Vietnam holding my baby boy
3.) Vietnam rocking my baby boy
4.) Airplane bringing home my baby boy

I) Four friends I think will respond:
1.) ?
2.)
3.)
4.)

J) Things I am looking forward to this coming year:
1.) The Referral
2.) The Meeting
3.) The Travel
4.) Being a Momma

Special Package

How cute is this! I got this sweet hand-knit caterpillar in the mail today from my "Secret Pal". What could be more special than a hand-made gift for our baby. The package was also filled with other fun baby size toys and books. Thank you "Secret Pal"! Caesar obviously loves it too. He wouldn't stay out of the picture.

I don't really have any adoption updates except to say that our agency says we are still on track to get our referral before the 15 month mark. That is about as good as we can expect to hear at this point. Until we get the news that we are matched with a baby, there aren't a lot of updates available. When we are matched, there are several steps we go through on our way to a referral. Our agency will keep us posted as our paperwork travels through these steps. It will nice to be able to track our progress.

Congratulations to the Vietnamese Ladybug family on getting their I-600 approval. They are coming home soon! A.

I Hope You Dance

This is a book illustrated by my sister and written by one of her fellow teachers. I can't wait to get my copy. She promised to autograph mine ; ) Be sure to contact them if you want one too! A.



Teach, learn, and master dance with… The Elements of Dance" and “From Cha Cha to Rumba”. Two Books for the price of one!!!!
The Elements of Dance, describes and illustrates the dance elements required by the Kentucky Core Content, in an easy to remember rhyming format.
The flip side of the book: From Cha Cha to Rumba, describes and illustrates a variety of ballroom dances, in an easy to remember rhyming format.

This soft cover book is a beautifully illustrated 36 page book which sells for $11.95 plus tax - $12.67. Shipping is $5 for up to 5 or 6 books. Order now by emailing : terrie.white@lyon.kyschools.us or cashw@vci.net Get one now, before they’re gone!

Faith and Uncertainties

I feel like I have been put through the ringer this week. First, on Monday the US DOS issued a warning concerning Vietnam adoptions. The warning primarily pertains to families looking to start a Vietnam adoption now. It is an uncertain time. The adoption agreement between the US and Vietnam expires September 1 of this year. The two countries must either sign to extend the current agreement or draw up a new one.

No one can be sure at this point what will happen or how long it will take. I will confess that I was a little short on faith this week. I finally felt like we were really getting close. This just seemed like a punch in the stomach. I gave in and called our adoption coordinator. She reassured me. She really believes that we will have our referral before the expiration. She also believes that Vietnam will continue to work with in-process cases even if the agreement is allowed to expire. This was comforting to hear even though I know there are no guarantees. So, all we can do is pray and have faith that our baby will come to us when the timing is right.

Well... I guess I can pray and knit! Knitting is still a comfort to me. I am still selling a lot of them but not as many as December. I don't think I could keep up that pace. Peas & Carrots are a couple I did last week. I'm knitting more for our baby now. I want to make sure he has lots of light weight hats to cover his little head when we are in Vietnam.

I guess that's all for now. I need to get to work on my Pho post ; ) A.

Adventures in Pho (part 1)

My adventure started at the local Asian market. I took the book with me so I wouldn't forget any of the ingredients I needed. This particular market is narrow and deep. It is full to the brim, taking advantage of every available space. Cardboard boxes were in a row on the floor. They were filled with herbs, fruit, and fish. Yes, I said fish. There were boxes lined with plastic and ice with fresh whole fish on top. I have to say, they were some of the freshest looking fish and shrimp I have seen.

I have been there before, but never on a mission like this. It was crowded that day and I was not sure where I would find my ingredients. The first thing I needed was whole star anise. I couldn't find it anywhere. I was able to find cloves and black peppercorns. For future reference, the Asian market is very reasonable on spices. I easily found fish sauce, cilantro, and rice sticks. Then, bingo, I stumbled on the Vietnamese section. They had all kinds of spice packets for making Pho. Some looked like bullion cubes. Others were an assortment of whole spices, including the elusive star anise. I chose some of each for experimenting. I headed to the counter with my collection. The lady at the counter started checking me out without a sound. Then she said, "You make Vietnamese Pho... very good. You got everything". She gave me an approving nod, I paid my $10 and headed home. More to come later...

9 Months

Well, I couldn't really let this milestone go without commenting. So, here it is. Yesterday, we reached 9 months "Paper-Pregnant". It's an important hurdle to pass. It's the half way point of our original estimated wait for a referral. The good news is, we may not have another 9 months for our referral. Unfortunately, we will likely have close to that before we meet our baby boy. I am hoping the rest of our wait goes quickly. We still have lots to do in that time! I am still working on my "To-Do" list in the side bar. I was SO very organized during the paperwork phase. I had very specific checklists for myself. Now, I feel a little disconnected. There hasn't been a lot to do adoption related lately. So, once again I am trying to make checklists so nothing gets forgotten.

Now for something tasty. On the recommendation of Ladybug's Momma I purchased the book Pleasures of the Vietnamese Table by Mia Pham. This is a wonderful book. It is full of stories and text about Vietnamese families and their food. I have been reading it for a few days. I think I'm ready to try one of the recipes. I have made my list and I am on my way to the Aihua Asian Market. I need a few more ingredients to make my first batch of pho. The cookbook makes it sound so easy. I hope that's true. Wish me luck! I will fill you in on the results. A

Nursery

We are so excited to be working on the nursery. D's parents got us the prettiest baby crib. It is one that will change to a toddler bed and then to a full size. Later we will get the matching dresser. It arrived yesterday and we couldn't wait to put it together. Isn't it sweet!

I'm so excited to get the rest of the room finished. My sister is already planning the murals for the walls. I will be sure to share pictures of our progress. I really need to work on getting the clothes under control! I LOVE shopping for our little man!

So far, 2008 has been a great year for our adoption. There have been 4 boy referrals so far this month. We are steadily climbing the list! There is a chance we could have our referral in 4 - 5 months. Of course, with adoption, anything can happen. Congratulations to all my fellow FTIA waiting families who have referrals. It has been such a blessing to be able to share you joy. Looking at the pictures and hearing other family's good news... makes the wait easier to take. Thanks so much for sharing. I will continue to pray that your travel comes quickly!
That's all for now, A.