Dropping in

It's probably a good thing I'm not posting now. Between all the questionable things being discussed in the different Yahoo groups, and the five or six months without a referral, I'm not feeling very optimistic about completing an adoption in Vietnam. I'm going to try to update monthly until things pick up or there is a major update.

As I said earlier, I'm not feeling very optimistic about things right now. I'm coming up on finishing month four of the wait and I've only moved up because of families leaving our agency. There have not been any referrals since January, I think. Sigh. With the decreased optimism, comes the decrease of any preparations. I've stopped shopping, thinking about putting a nursery together, and I really don't talk about it much anymore. I recently went to a party where a lot of my sister's friends were there. My sister has told pretty much all of her friends, so of course they wanted to ask me about it. I was so touched by their questions, interest, and support! I am truly blessed by the people people that surround me! On the other hand it was very difficult to say over and over that the six to nine month wait to referral I was quoted has been changed to 12 to 18 months. I was pretty emotionally exhausted when I left the party.

One thing I'm still doing is reading a lot of adoption blogs. I've saved all the blogs I read in a folder in FireFox and every day when I get home from work I open all the pages in the folder. It's pretty easy to go through and close blogs that haven't updated in the past few days (such as my own!) I'm very excited about the new run of referrals that have come through. Congratulations new mommies and daddies! Until next month...

Taking a break

I'm close to starting my fourth month of waiting. Not that long, I know, but there hasn't been a referral in a few months and it seems there won't be one for a few more. I did speak with my agency this week. I never asked where I was on 'the list' so I thought it was time to see. The good news is that I'm not as high as I thought I was, and I have even moved up a few spots (from people in front of me changing agencies, I believe). This news gave me new energy for the wait. Despite this news, there isn't much going on in my life besides work and waiting. I've really enjoyed blogging and having the opportunity to communicate with new e-friends, but I'm going to take a little break from writing. I think a few weeks from thinking about how I am feeling about the wait and the ethics of IA will do my brain good.

I promise I'm not gone for good, and if anything exciting happens I will be back!

Beautiful weekend

After storms and rain on Friday night, it has turned into a beautiful weekend. I woke up early on Saturday and by noon I had my haircut, mani/pedi, grocery shopped, picked up a few things at Target, and had my dog groomed. It was so nice to get my list done and still feel like I had a day left to do things. So I took a little nap, read a book, and went out for Vietnamese food last night. Aah! I love weekends like this!

I would like to thank those of you who left messages after my last post. I think the next few weeks are going to be difficult. I talked with my mom and a few friends about the situation. I'm sticking with my agency. I'm going to wait until the summer and can re-evaluate then. I think I'll have a better idea of the situation. Hopefully there will have been a few referrals by then!

I hope everyone has had a wonderful weekend!

Adoption Blues

Tomorrow marks the end of month three of my wait. The best way I can describe it is being on line in the longest line at the grocery. And the line hasn't moved in three months! Yep. I think we may have had one referral since I've been DTV. I was a little down from our update today as I read that we won't have an infant referral for a while. I love my agency, and the fact that they do communicate these things to us, but each week without a referral and no real idea when another infant one will come in causes doubt to grow in my heart. I've been rolling with it, but this update struck me. I called my sister and spoke with her about it. While talking to her I decided that it's far from the worst news that we could have received, and maybe things will pick up in the future. Trying to stay positive!

This was fun!

Stolen from Kate at The Cracked Pot...

Go to Wikipedia.

In the search box type in the month of your birth and the date (not the year)

1) List three events that happened on the day of your birth

• 1959 - Ford Motor Company announces the discontinuation of the unpopular Edsel.
• 1985 - Cold War: In Geneva, US President Ronald Reagan and Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev meet for the first time.
• 1990 - Pop group Milli Vanilli are stripped of their Grammy Award because the duo did not sing at all on the Girl You Know It’s True album. Session musicians had provided all the vocals.

2) List two “people of note” also born on the day

• Meg Ryan
• Jodie Foster
  

3) List one “person of note” that died on the day

• 1988 - Christina Onassis, daughter of billionaire Aristotle Onassis (b. 1950) (I don't know if she's a "person of note", but she's one of two people I recognized.

4) List any holiday or observances

• Puerto Rico - Discovery of Puerto Rico (1493)
• United States - Equal Opportunity Day
• World Toilet Day, see World Toilet Organization

Feel free to give it a try!

Tag! I'm it!

I was tagged by Colleen at My Blooming Rose to list ten things that make me odd. It was tough, but will be at the conclusion of the post. Until then, an update. I spent the weekend babysitting my nieces. We had a great time with soccer games, shopping, and tickle fights (They actually beat me!!!) C. continues to be excited about the baby. I purchased the Families of Vietnam DVD and loaned it to C. and J. C loved it and continues to point out things about Vietnam. This week I brought another Vietnam travelogue from Globetrekker and we watched it and she just takes it in. C. also told me this weekend that she will be so lucky to be the baby's cousin and that the baby is so lucky because she is being created by God. Who knew a six-year-old could say something so special to me!

As for the adoption, I'm still waiting. It will be nice to move up a spot one day. The referral dry spells are tough. Hopefully things will pick up soon!

Now, what you have been waiting for...drumroll please...Ten things that are odd about Cara!

1. I have to order college transcripts from seven schhols: one pre-high school graduation, three undergrad full-time, two undergrad part-time, one graduate school.
2. I prefer square-end/flat end french fries and rarely eat those that end in a point.
3. I have big hands. Not freakishly big, and they aren't "man hands". My grandmother used to say I had "piano hands". Too bad God didn't give me any sense of rhythm or musicality!
4. I get motion sickness. Really bad! I have trouble riding in the back seat and can start to feel bad within blocks. I've been sick in cars, planes, boats, trains, and even on a water bed!
5. I love to be barefoot! I know some people think it's gross to walk outside barefoot, but I love it! I love to feel the texture of what I'm walking on whether it be grass, sand, or sidewalk. Now keep in mind that I wouldn't walk barefoot anywhere gross (public restroom, for example).
6. If I'm having a sandwich I have to insist the mayo and cheese don't touch each other. So they get mixed up in my mouth, but I don't like them layered together. I think this goes back to childhood when I made a cheese sandewich like I would make a ham & cheese sandwich. It was gross!
7. I am a very routine oriented person in the morning. I get out of sorts if my morning routine is out of order. It can be interrupted at any point and I can skip a step, but the parts have to go in order. For example, my contacts have to go in before I put on moisurizer. I think a lot of this has to do with clean hands and when I wash my hands.
8. I love rain and storms anywhere except Texas. They seem to be so loud here!
9. Leftovers bother me. I always question if something is "still good". I'll eat them, but there is always the thought in mind.
10. I haven't had Thanksgiving dinner in over five years. I don't like turkey, stuffing, corn bread. Thanksgiving for me is corn and pumpkin pie so I normally save the days off for Christmas and work.

Is it too late to tag on this? If not, I'll tag Jenn at the Long Adventures and Kevin at Trollspotting (Are you reading, Kev? Miss you much as always!)

Two!

This week ended the second month of my wait. It feels much better when you're moving up in line rather than just waiting. In the two months of my wait, I've moved up one spot. Hopefully, more referrals will be coming soon.

It was a really rough week at work this week as I had a lot of frustrations every day. I'm thankful it's the weekend and I'm enjoying relaxing and reading books. Yes, that's plural. I read one yesterday and started a new one this morning. Yep! That's living! The past two weekends I helped my sister and her family move into their new house, so it's nice to relax this weekend.

I'm hoping to clear out the bookcases in the baby's future room. I've got a lot of books from grad school that I'm going to bring to work. That will help me clear half the room. I figure doing one or two things to the room every week or two will help move things along in the room in a steady pace. No reason to rush when I've got the time. :o)

Here's to a great weekend!