So Long 2006! It's been a blast!

I thought I'd spent a few minutes typing some of the thoughts I've had on the last day of 2006 and to the future of 2007. I started this year with a bit of confusion. I had a career, lived in interesting places, and finished my graduate degree. I had set all of these goals for myself while I was in college. I did it! But where do I go from here? I wasn't sure what I wanted to do next. Over the summer, I was working on the implementation of a big project. While I may have been delirious from a lack of sleep, I was sitting in the stairwell at work, taking a mental break, and thought about a family. I had been prepping my family for about five years that if I'm not married, eventually I will think about being a single mom. I was mostly met with support by friends, but my family always said, "Don't give up! Wait! You're still young!" I thought about it for a few days, and realized the time was right. I'm still young, but old enough that I've established myself and had a chance to do the things I wanted to do. I told my sister first, and was met with wonderful support from her and my BIL. I bridged the topic with my mother and father, which took a week or so, but they are fully on board.

This decision has kept me pretty busy for the latter half of the year, but it brings excitement and happiness to my life. Will 2007 be the year I meet my daughter? I'd like to think so, but with referrals being so sporadic and few with my agency, I'm keeping my doubts so I'm not disappointed. So for me, 2007 will bring preparation, enjoyment of the time I have as a "non-mother," and more great times spent with family and friends. If I'm lucky, a child around the end of the year.

To each of you, I wish you health, happiness, and wonderful days. For those waiting, patience and joyous introductions to your new sons and daughters. See you in 2007!

Dinner

I'm a little embarrassed to admit this knowing some of the people that will read this, but I have never had Vietnamese food. I've had Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Thai, and extend out of the Asian Pacific to Ethiopian, Afghan, Pakistani, Russian as well as food from most of the European countries. I just have never had anything beyond spring rolls that is Vietnamese. Until tonight. I had the pleasure of dining at a local Vietnamese restaurant and all I can say is yummy! I had catfish with spices and fish sauce cooked in a clay pot with rice. It was the best catfish I've ever had! I'm looking forward to going back and trying other items on the menu.

Funny thing...

I used to love to shop. Clothes, home items, kitchen equipment, crafts - I could shop 'til I drop. After deciding to adopt, it's been different. I know I'm on a tight budget to save for agency payments, nursery furniture, and all those other things I need to buy. Last night, I went to the mall to buy a celebration gift for finishing my dossier. Staying away from clothes, I realized there wasn't much I could buy for the nursery since I haven't decided on color schemes. I need to get my sister down here pronto so she can help me put together things. She's the designer in the family. Not as a career, but she has a good eye of what looks together. So I ended up buying some cute Christmas place mats and fifteen boxes of pantyhose since they were on sale for half off. ;)

When I got home I spoke with my mom who introduced me to ebay. Oh my! The deals on nursery stuff! I think I found the stroller I want to get as well as a rug (if it matches what I end up with for bedding, etc. What fun!

Ha! The radio thought it could predict my day!

Yesterday, the radio played that "Had a bad day" song on the way home from FedEx. (See post below). Rachel noted that it's past tense and that made me feel better. All was good this morning. I had a few meetings that kept me busy until 10:30, which is also the time when my dossier was supposed to be delivered. I noticed I hadn't received a delivery e-mail, so I logged into FedEx to see where my package was held up. Who knows? Maybe it was just a late delivery. Memphis!!! My dossier was in Memphis! Curious as to when it would be delivered, I called FedEx. She confirmed that it was in Memphis and that the soonest it would be delivered is tomorrow morning. I was disappointed, but she promised me it wasn't lost. I could wait another day. I began stalking the FedEx site and at 11:00 I hit refresh and poof! It had arrived in Evansville, Indiana! Insta-smile! And even better? It was delivered by 11:30! I guess I had some good karma saved up in my back pocket from all the crummy days in the past two weeks. So the dossier safely arrived at my agency. Whew! Such a relief!

Things that make me happy...I have these two pictures, drawn by C., next to my desk



The first picture is C., J., the baby, and me. The brown/blue thing in the air is the plane that brought us home from Vietnam. The second picture is C. and the baby. She is teaching her to walk. So far on C.'s list is to teach the baby to walk, make funny faces, be silly, and swim. She also wants to have the chores to change her diapers, feed her bottles, and make her laugh. Um, okay, but what do I do as the mommy?!? It's just too cute to see her so excited!

Edited to add: Three days and two posts to break my record for the most posts in a month! I'm so doing that! Also, check out the counter! It's almost to 1000! Yay!

She's checking a list, checking it twice...

Because I just got back from FedEx where the dossier has been sent to the agency!!! Yay! I could be finished with the paper chase. After I FedEx'd my dossier, I started my car to hear the song "Celebration" being played. I smiled big and danced a bit in my car. Unfortunately, the next song was that "You had a bad day" song. How opposite can a play list be?!? I'm so happy to be finished, but I just can't let my guard down. After all the little setbacks, I just feel I should prepare myself for something that will have to be corrected. It shouldn't be more than a week or so until I know if all is well. Happy days!

I find the best part of the paperwork being finished is that all I can do is wait now. I'm guessing 9 months until referral, so no stressing for 9 months. No problem! I'm looking forward to sewing, knitting, and getting a nursery ready. I've set certain rules for myself. Up to this point, the only purchases I'd allow myself to make were at milestones such as home study completion, I-171H received, etc., and the items could not cost over twenty dollars. Now I can only make nursery purchases. Clothes will be purchased after referral.


Christmas was great! I had a great time with my family celebrating Christmas three times! So much fun! Santa brought me a Tivo, which I love, a knitting kit, a serving bowl, underwear, and lots of gift cards (that I am saving to purchase diapers and formula). My brother-in-law and I did a bunch of cooking and I had a lot of quality time with my sister and nieces. I'll try to post some pictures tomorrow.

I hope each and every one of you had a marvelous holiday and pray that those of you delayed in Vietnam get home to your families soon!

How about some good news?

I'm having an amazing weekend with my family. Everyone is getting along and having a good time. The girls (my nieces) are amazing and having a blast. And even better? My FedEx package with my last set of documents was delivered today. Unfortunately, I am about 100 miles away in Austin, so I had to call a co-worker to see if she would pick them up. They probably would have been fine sitting in front of my door all weekend, but with my luck right now I wasn't going to chance it. So I'll send my dossier in on Tuesday or Wednesday of next week. Yay!!! C. was so excited when I told her that I will officially be on the waiting list next week. She wants me to decide on a name so I think I did, but it's a secret to you all still.

I hope everyone has a joyous and safe holiday!

How many more days this week?

I'm having a rough week at work and looking forward to a few days off. Except for the day I took off when I had strep, I haven't taken a day off since May (including holidays). I'm trying to max out my vacation prior to travel in 12 or so months. Unfortunately, I need to recharge so I'm taking three days off for Christmas. I'm looking forward to spending time with my family.

I'm still waiting for my final documents to be authenticated by the Vietnamese Consulate. I have a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach. Please don't let my documents be lost! You know, I can handle getting copies of my homestudy and I-171H, but I may not make it through a fourth (fifth?) trip to the doctor. Overall, I'm disappointed that it looks like I won't have my paperwork done this year. It really would have been nice to be finished with paperwork as a gift to myself. Oh well! It will be a nice start to the new year!

For my friends that aren't aware of processes, after I finish the paperwork the next step is the referral. This is not immediate. When I applied to my agency they thought the wait would be 6-9 months. A month or so later, they said the wait for families starting in the near future would be 9-12 months. I'm guessing my referral could be around 9 months. When I talk to people though I mostly hope to travel between Christmas of next year to Summer 2008. Therefore, my New Year's resolution is not to complain about the wait until next Christmas. :o)

I probably won't update my blog until after Christmas unless I have some good news. I wish each of you that celebrate Christmas a wonderful day with lots of love from family and friends! Happy Holidays!