So I hate her less than I used to...

And. AND! We didn't have to talk about my ute at all! I'm thrilled! It was just the same type of questions as they asked at our pre-Cana classes (pre-wedding, for those either unmarried or unCatholic).

Do you talk/agree about discipline and finances, how do you resolve arguments, etc. She and I also talked about my fears about how the baby will feel when she's all grown up and the only Asian or 2 in a white family. So on and so forth.

So, yeah, I hate her less! She seemed more relaxed this time, although she said that last time, I seemed so...........serious. I had kind of had a bad day that day, so maybe I can float her that one.

So, now we've got 1 more official meeting with her--at our house. And also a bunch of paperwork, testing of well water, vaccinating of cats, vaccinating of us, filling out of medical records, filling out of financial records, signing of agreement forms, receiving of governmental paperwork, printing of fingers (one last time), and--of course--those passports. (Must get around to those passports).

I asked the CW when she envisioned us having our dossier (the collection of paperwork and all by which China assigns you a baby) ready and she said May would be pushing it--probably June. Unfortunately, the time to wait is getting longer and longer :(

When we personally are done with our dossier, that when we are authenticated. The date the dossier goes over to China is call the DTC date (dossier to China--terribly original, yes). After it's all been translated and sent to the CCCA (the adoption people), that's the LID date (log in date). When they send you baby's name and picture to you is when you get your referral.

Right now, the time between LID and referral is running about 12 months. Could get shorter, but it could get longer too.

Short-er, short-er!

So today is our 2nd encounter with the social worker

She has no sense of humor. Really. And I also don't think she's as smart as I am. A tall order to fill, I know! (just kidding!) *no I'm not ;)

So...

(Information you need for this story: my dad has 2 cousins who speak Chinese)

...the last time we saw her, as we were walking out the door, I was just making conversation and mentioned that once we get the baby home, I'm going to have to call my dad's cousin and have him tell me how to say "Please Go To Sleep!" in Chinese.

She looks at me and says (deadpanly), "When they come home sometimes they need time to adjust".

So I was like, "Oh yeah, I know, it just might be easier to know how to say it in Chinese for those nights when she thinks she might just not sleep." (Cause I'm just making conversation, remember?)

So she says, sans personality again, "Their English develops quickly. At 9 months old, they don't know Chinese."

Kiss my *ss. If I had been listening to Chinese for 9 months, I would have retained something. She must have learned that factoid in her infant and child oral lanugage development class in social worker school.

Oh wait, no she didn't. She's just making sh*t up.

I take it back. The I600A goes out today!

So, I was foiled by the post office on Wednesday when I tried to mail the I600A. And then I was foiled by my desire to sit on my couch yesterday.

The first attempt to mail it came on Wednesday. The Woodstock P.O. is open until 7pm! Yay! I went in to get my $685 money order, only to find that you can only use cash or a debit card. It was too late to go to the bank, and I don't know the PIN for my debit card. (I never use it as a debit card)

I found out later that it's just that my debit card has never been set up. So--I have to go do that this weekend. So, where the Wed mailing was concerned, curses, foiled again!

Then, yesterday I went to the bank to get a money order, since they can just take the $ right out and put it in the order (cause I still don't have a working debit card, dig?).

That worked just fine. Oh, and the teller drives a Honda Civic, only had one baby (a girl) with her ex-husband because she had toxemia and a c-section, but then it's all fine, since her current husband had 2 boys. [Apparently, if anyone needs a passive interrogator, you can call me? Seriously, I was only there, like, 8 minutes]

So, then I had to let the dog out before going to the Woodstock P.O (since it was now past 5 and then McHenry P.O. is only open until 530). I got home and got sucked into one of the endless reruns of CSI, so I went and mailed it this morning!

It's off, flying its way to the U.S. Immigration Services offices in Chicago :)

One more chunk down!

The I600A goes out tomorrow!

The I600A is the "Application for Advance Processing of Orphan Petition". It gets the process of adopting an international orphan started.

It won't be completed until our homestudy is done, but the forms go off tomorrow morning!

Got my birth certificates back!

Yep, we got them back from Cook County on Saturday (3/18). We just need Dave's and our marriage license and we can send out the immigration request (the I600A, as it's called). :)

Another (little) step towards China.

Dave should be sending out his birth certficate request today, so we're one step closer to DTC! (That would be Dossier To China--the point at which there's nothing left but the waiting)

Níl aon tintéan mar do thintéan féin

There's no place like home.........

(kneel ain tin-tin mar duh yin-tin feign)

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's the second or third best holiday of the year! Yep, the corned beef is at home in the crockpot as we speak (Very few Irish traditions need improving, but the boiling of meat? I can live without that.) Mmm, salty red meat....

And now for the sing along...for those of you who don't know the tune, you can go visit http://www.ireland-information.com/irishmusic/whenirisheyesaresmiling.shtml

When Irish eyes are smiling,

Sure, 'tis like the morn in Spring.

In the lilt of Irish laughter

You can hear the angels sing.

When Irish hearts are happy,

All the world seems bright and gay.

And when Irish eyes are smiling,

Sure, they steal your heart away.

And, for those of you who are interested, the (long) story of St. Patrick.................

The Patron Saint of Ireland was born into either a Scottish or English family in the fourth century. He was captured as a teenager by Niall of the Nine Hostages who was to become a King of all Ireland...................................

He was sold into slavery in Ireland and put to work as a shepherd. He worked in terrible conditions for six years drawing comfort in the Christian faith that so many of his people had abandoned under Roman rule. Patrick had a dream that encouraged him to flee his captivity and to head South where a ship was to be waiting for him. He travelled over 200 miles from his Northern captivity to Wexford town where, sure enough, a ship was waiting to enable his escape..................................................

Upon arrival in England he was captured by brigands and returned to slavery. He escaped after two months and spent the next seven years travelling Europe seeking his destiny. During this time he furthered his education and studied Christianity in the Lerin Monastery in France. He returned to England as a priest. Again a dream greatly influenced him when he became convinced that the Irish people were calling out to him to return to the land of his servitude.......................

He went to the Monastery in Auxerre where it was decided that a mission should be sent to Ireland. Patrick was not selected for this task to his great disappointment. The monk that was selected was called Paladius, but he died before he could reach Ireland and a second mission was decided upon. Patrick was made a Bishop by Pope Celestine in the year 432 and, together with a small band of followers, travelled to Ireland to commence the conversion.................................

Patrick confronted the most powerful man in Ireland Laoghaire, The High King of Tara as he knew that if he could gain his support that he would be safe to spread the word throughout Ireland. To get his attention Patrick and his followers lit a huge fire to mark the commencement of Spring. Tradition had it that no fire was to be lit until the Kings fire was complete, but Patrick defied this rule and courted the confrontation with the King...........................................

The King rushed into action and travelled with the intention of making war on the holy delegation. Patrick calmed the King and with quiet composure impressed the King that he had no other intention than that of spreading the word of the Gospel. The King accepted the missionary, much to the dismay of the Druids who feared for their own power and position in the face of this new threat. They commanded that he make snow fall. Patrick declined to do so stating that this was Gods work. Immediately it began to snow, only stopping when Patrick blessed himself.......................................

Still trying to convince the King of his religion Patrick grasped at some Shamrock growing on the ground. He explained that there was but one stem on the plant, but three branches of the leaf, representing the Belssed Trinity. The King was impressed with his sincerity and granted him permission to spread the word of his faith, although he did not convert to Christianity himself. Patrick and his followers were free to spread their faith throughout Ireland and did so to great effect. He drove paganism (symbolised by the snake) from the lands of Eireann.........................

Patrick was tempted by the Devil whilst on a pilgrimage at Croagh Patrick. For his refusal to be tempted, God rewarded him with a wish. Patrick asked that the Irish be spared the horror of Judgement Day and that he himself be allowed to judge his flock. Thus, the legend that Ireland will disappear under a sea of water seven years before the final judgement, was born...................

Patrick died on March 17th in the year 461 at the age of 76. It is not known for sure where his remains were laid although Downpatrick in County Down in the North of Ireland is thought to be his final resting place. His influence is still felt to this day as Nations the world over commemorate him on March 17th of every year.......................

I forgot the best part about the throw-up story!

So, as we are pulling into my driveway in M/N's car, there a guy with a clipboard walking up the driveway (ostensibly selling something). We stop the car and I said out the window, "Hey, this isn't really a good time for us!".

And he kept walking up the driveway.

And then I opened the door and got out (you can imagine what I looked like) and said, "We've got other things going on right now!".

And he kept walking up the driveway.

So, I pointed to my clothes and said, "This is puke!" [Sorry about the word, yuck]

And he said, "So you don't want a free paint estimate?"

Zzzz...

I'm so tired. I went to bed at 8pm last night. Course, I spent the early morning saying, "Go lie DOWN!" a hundred-million times, so that may have something to do with it.

Dogs. For crying out loud.

And now for the dark side of baby shopping...

Wanna know how I, and a kind pair of nursemaids, spent Sat afternoon after baby shopping? Cleaning the car. Cleaning what, you say?. Oh, you know, barf, which is apparently becoming one of my most revisited topics.

Poor, poor new car :( And not even mine, to boot.

In my defense, I had not contributed to my throwing up-ness in any way. I had a headache after baby-shopping, and by the time we got to Baker's Square, it was really bad. Like, throw-up-at-Baker's-Square bad. I-really-could-only-drink-iced-tea bad.

I-ordered-peanut-butter-cup-pie-and-didn't-eat-it-bad!

I really thought I was going to be okay, even though it was a long drive home, but alas, the Citgo was my Waterloo.

The iced tea (you know, and a few shreds of lettuce...maybe some toast?), was a mixed blessing, though. Pretty easy to clean up, as far as barf goes.

The bad part? You know what happens when you put your thumb over the end of a hose?

So do I...

Baby Shopping!

So this weekend Meg and Nick and I went baby shopping! Well, Dave is out of town, so I went baby pre-surveying and M/N went shopping. Everything is so cute!!!!

And--I found out the baby is a GIRL, just like I suspected!

So, since we both have a 95% chance of having a girl, it was fun to eyeball the baby girl bedding and stuff! (Like flowers and ladybugs, awww)

It is a little overwhelming--the sheer volume of things you could potentially buy is staggering. Really. Like, did you know you can buy an automatic travel bottle heater that doesn't need to be plugged in to work? Of course, to use it again (like, if you were at the zoo for the day) you have to immerse it in boiling water to reset it. Great, except..

If I have boiling water, I don't really need an automatic-non-plugged-in bottle heater!!!

Seriously. Millions of things. But, we did see a few neat things, like a stroller frame that you can stick the baby bucket in that doesn't take up all the space in your trunk when folded. And a Snugli baby-carrier that would be perfect for my sister's beagle-basset mix :)

It was so fun and so nice!

I also spent some time this weekend going thru and sorting the paperwork that the CW gave us on Tuesday. Paper, paper everywhere! This must be what Enron felt like right before the shredder part. Except, not illegal, you know.

First order of business--> get birth certificates and marriage licenses. It seems like nothing can happen before you've got those. (My very nice B.I.L. pulled the info off the all-knowing internet, so all I have to do is mail it. Yay! :)

Sorry for the hiatus!

Healthcare Company Y has given me some more interesting work to do (yay!) and I've been training and on the phone all days. Basically I call nurses, and sometimes patients, to make sure that problems they've had with our stuff haven't caused anything more serious. Unfortunately, sometimes they do--I got one of those today--peritonitis, yuck.

Let's see, what's new? We met with CW2--Laura S--on Tuesday in Rockford. The meeting was all right--mostly a lot of paper exchanging. She was pretty nice, but I can live a long happy life as soon as they stop wanting to talk about the infertility.

Seriously, if I were adopting b/c I was "called" to, would we spend so much time talking about my uterus? I think not.

Anyway--we have so much paperwork to do!!!!!!!!! I can hardly believe it! So, it's going to be a matter of filling that out this weekend (still gotta get those passports...)

I will soon find out whether I will get a niece or nephew in July! I don't know what kind it is right now, but based on the cheeryness of Meg's email, I suspect it's a girl. They didn't really care boy or girl, but girls' clothes are all way cuter. You can't argue with me on that. No, really, I'm not listening

My prediction was boy, so we'll soon see....

I am so tired. D*mn that going to bed late and getting up early.

Yep, the time has come, I am officially too old to stay out all night.

Friday night, the girls from work gathered at one girl's house for some drinks and chatting and such at 530. Seven hours later after food, drink, complaining about work and the laundry our men leave on the floor, and some very fine Comcast OnDemand Karaoke, we all left for home.

Got to bed at 130 and got up with the dog at 6. I am still not recovered.

SO tired............

PS--The spellcheck here wanted to change "some very fine Comcast OnDemand Karaoke" to"some very fine concoct ointments Karachi".

I bet we would have been good at concoct ointments Karachi too. Uh-huh.

Oh!

Mairzy doats and dozy doats and liddle lamzy divey. A kiddley divey too, wouldn't you?


Healthcare Company Z has 4-count 'em 4--permanent jobs open! Can't wait to get home and apply!

Talked to the new CW, Laura S. yesterday...

We've got an appointment set up for Tuesday afternoon, 3/7. We're anticipating getting more stuff to do, since we've run out of stuff to do from the first packet we got from Lifelink.

Could always do the passport stuff....hmmm

Ready for the secret?

Drrrrrrrrrrrrruuuuuuuuuuummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!

I'm going to be an aunt! (And Dave's going to be an uncle!) Meg and Nick have a baby due on 7/22! So my parents are doubly excited and have a busy year ahead of them!!

I've known since a little before Christmas and my parents found out on Xmas Day (which is good, b/c Meg was looking like death warmed over that morning, and I was worried my mom would think she had come down with something. Like tuberculosis.)

We'll know whether it's Baby Boy A. or Baby Girl A. in a little while :)

We've got a winner!

The winner of yesterday's 5-point giveaway was L.W. from McHenry with the correct answer of Macbeth! :)

Secret, secret, I've got a secret!

To find out what it is you either have to:
A) wait until I post it or
B) email me and ask

PS--I'm calling the new CW today, even though they didn't say to do so. The pest-eration has begun!

My parents called all their siblings last night and told them about their impending grandparenthood. My parents are thrilled and all the sibs are happy. Yay!

--> Another 5 points are available for someone who can identify the song and artist from whom I swiped today's title. (And no fair using Google ;)

So I've called CW #1....

...to find out who CW #2 is (the meeting to reassign was yesterday, remember?). I told her that I managed to restrain my calling yesterday, but that today was fair game!

I'm waiting for her to call back....


drum, drum, drum, drum..............................................


Ah hah! She just called back, and in about 15 minutes! And I didn't even have to hassle her!(rats!--we all know how much I enjoy that). Our new CW is Laura, she's the director of the China program, and has adopted from China herself.

That quite different from my worries ! Does my reputation for being a high-maintenance customer precede me? :0

A Farewell to Meat

Today is Ash Wednesday--the first day of Lent and below is what Wikipedia has to say about Lent. I personally found the last 2 sentences really interesting :)

Ignore the underlines--I couldn't get rid of them. Out out damned lines! 5 points will be awarded to the first person to identify which Shakespeare play that's stolen from, however, you must keep track of your own points.

All right, on to Lent-->

In the Western Christian calendar, Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent. It occurs forty days before Easter, not counting Sundays, and forty-four calendar days (counting Sundays) before Good Friday. It falls on different dates from year to year, according to the date of Easter; it can occur as early as February 4 or as late as March 10.

At Masses on this day, worshippers are blessed with ashes by the celebrating priest. The priest marks the forehead of each participant with black ashes, in the shape of a cross, which the worshipper traditionally retains until washing it off after sundown. The symbolism echoes the ancient Near Eastern tradition of throwing ash over one's head signifying repentance before God (as related numerous times in the Bible). The priest or minister says: "Remember, man, that you are dust, and unto dust you shall return." or "Turn away from sin and be faithful to the Gospel."

The ashes are prepared by burning palm leaves from the previous year's Palm Sunday celebrations and mixing them with olive oil as a fixative. In the Roman Catholic Church, Ash Wednesday is observed by fasting, abstinence (from meat), and repentance—a day of contemplating one's transgressions.

It also marks the beginning of the Lenten season which lasts until Holy Saturday. On Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, Catholics between the ages of 18 and 59 are permitted to consume only one full meal each day, which may be supplemented by two smaller meals, which together should not equal the full meal.

The Anglican Book of Common Prayer designates Ash Wednesday as a day of fasting.
As the first day of Lent, it comes the day after Shrove Tuesday or Mardi Gras, the last day of the Carnival season. The word "Carnival" is in fact derived from the Lenten practice of giving up meat. The Latin root words "Carnae" and "Val" were combined to literally mean "Farewell to meat."