Bless Your Heart

Where are you in the process? is another question we get asked a lot. Perhaps we shouldn’t have announced our plans to adopt so early. Maybe we should have waited until we were DTC (dossier to China) because in the 2 months since we’ve announced our plans our answer hasn’t really changed much and that seems to disappoint people. Sorry it isn’t more exciting, but I promise to update this blog every time something happens with the process.

So far:
March 27, 2005: we announce to our family and friends that we are adopting a little girl from China
May 3, 2005: we chose our agency. This took a loooong time as it is a big decision and there are, I don’t know, 247 gajillion agencies out there.
June 7, 2005: today. That’s it really. Nothing else has happened. We are going to our first seminar on Saturday with the agency, and that will answer a bunch of questions. We wanted to go to a seminar before applying, but we missed the May seminar.

So there’s where we are. I promise to keep updating, there just hasn’t been anything to update in the last 3 weeks. Between events we’re still trying to save money, save money, save money as it is very expensive and we don’t have $20,000 laying around. So our process may be slow, but we’re getting there!

As far as the money situation goes, we’ll get there. I have faith. But if you’d like to help out, without having to dip into your own wallet AND making a sweet free $25 for yourself, read on. ING Direct pays 3% right now on their Orange Savings Accounts. Doesn’t sound like much but most money markets are only going for around 2.4%. They are FDIC insured, and there is no minimum to open an account. You can get in for just one dollar. $1 people. No fees. And here’s the part you’ll like. When you open an account they give you a $25 bonus for opening the account! That money has to stay in the account for 30 days then it’s yours. The part I like (besides seeing wonderful people get free cash) is that if you open the account by clicking on the link in the email I’ll send you- I’ll get $10 for referring you. And Lingling’s adoption account is $10 richer. Everyone wins. And the cycle can go on forever. You open your account and refer people and you’ll get $10 every time your friends get their $25. Lisa started this whole thing with me, she got her $25, then $10 when I signed up. I got my $25 too. I would never lead you wrong. So, who’s with me? If you’d like to help out, just email me at blessblog at yahoo.com or leave your email in my comments box and I’ll send you a referral.

And for everyone who does this favor for me- you’ll get a free pair of handmade earrings crafted just for you in your favorite colors by me. You’ll be $25 richer and looking fab in your new jewels. You can’t beat that with a bat.

Saturday I met up with Karen and another Shannon to go shopping for our adoptive daughters to be. We had a big time at the mall- hitting all the kid’s clothing stores pretty hard. I was hesitant at first, I’ve not bought anything for Ling Ling yet, save a print for her room. But I quickly got in the spirit. I love shopping with budget minded people like myself. I’ve been out shopping before with mom’s who think nothing of dropping $50 on a sweater a child will wear for maybe 2 months. So it was nice to hear things like – Over here! They have tops for 99 cents! That’s what I’m talking about. I have a problem paying more than $10 for a piece of fabric no bigger than a potholder that calls itself a shirt. Karen and Shannon bought way more than I did, but I came away with some cutie things for Ling Ling. And now they are hanging on their tiny little hangers or folded in a drawer and it all feels very real. That I need to kick it into high gear and get my baby home and into her new pink capris! Pictures! I’m sure you know by now to click on each to see a larger view. Cutie little frog outfit: Sparkly dragonfly and butterfly tank with embroidered jean shorts: Sweet little pink cardigan with ruffled edge. Sparkly striped sweater for just 99 cents! Love this pink ruffly salsa dancing dress. I can see her twirling in it already. I’m so in love with this rouched (sp?) tank and this little kicky skirt with bloomers underneath. This may be my favorite outfit so far- embroidered tank with ribbon ties and hot pink capris with little white daisies, lime trim, and lime belt. Ling Ling will be quite the fashionista.
On our way out of the mall we went to turn a corner and this thing jumped out at us scaring us, well at least me, to death. I screamed and grabbed Shannon to pull her out of harm’s way. People all stopped in their tracks and looked as we realized it was a giant spark plug. Once we caught our breath we took pictures. Here’s Karen
, Shannon and me with Sparkie the Frightening.
Shannon drove me home and on the way I toured her through the very back of our neighborhood where the remains of PTL and Jim & Tammy Faye’s legacy lives on. There is a lot of construction going on back there, and it’s changing all the time. Next to the outdoor theatre we saw this pen with goats and a camel. A CAMEL. In SC. Shannon was so funny, she said “I woke up this morning camel free!”. It is a bit disconcerting to shop at a major mall then see a desert animal within an hour.
This weekend I also met up with my Mom, Morgan & her friend Jessica to see the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. Cute movie, I cried. It was really well acted, and it made me long to visit Greece again. In the restroom after the movie I discovered bits of tissue stuck to my red splotchy face and looked like an emotional wreck. There were some touching parts!
We also taught Kea to sit this weekend. We’ll see if it sticks. Right now it’s looking like she’ll only perform if there’s food in your hand. Typical pug!

Ever since we announced our plans to adopt we’ve been asked lots of questions. So I’m putting together a little Frequently Asked Questions list to mail out to our family. I’m going to be sending out a little newsletter periodically that highlights our progress with the adoption, the nursery, the 100 wishes quilt (that I haven’t mentioned on here but I will start soon) etc. I’m pretty sure I’ve covered most of the basics (the process, domestic vs. international, why China, how old will she be, do we get to name her etc.). But I thought I’d ask you guys.

What questions should I answer? What questions do you have, if any? Ask me anything, doesn’t have to be adoption related.

Also, if you’d like to receive the newsletter please let me know. It will be too big to publish here, and may include some information that would be too private for a blog. I can email it or snail mail it. Just let me know.

Here are a couple of pug pics from the last few days. Click on the image to enlarge. There is no real theme to this post, just a bunch of little things have been flying around my head and I need to get them down.

-Player pianos creep me out. Like ghosts are playing them or something.
-It bugs me when I pet the pugs the wrong way. Opposite the direction of their hair growth. It doens’t seem to bother them, but I don’t like it.
-Those Del Monte jars of red grapefruit slices are heaven on earth. I could polish off a jar in a day.
-I read that the average American drinks 13 gallons of tea a year. I go through one gallon a week. Right now I’m digging ginger peach tea.
-I’ve turned into a gangsta rapper as I’ve noticed myself saying “know what I’m saying?” repeatedly while having a conversation. This drives me nuts. I need a gangsta self help program, know what I’m sayin?
-The other day I checked the mail then was walking to my car, a mere 10-15 feet away and I fell down. Didn’t trip on anything, just fell. I grabbed the side mirror on the way down. It bent backwards and all I could think of was OMG I’ve broken Jorge- and what if I’d been holding Ling Ling? (the car is fine- apparently the mirror goes that way, and I’m fine- just a couple of scraped knees, at age 31) But what kind of mother will I be if I can’t even walk like a normal person?
-Jon can’t seem to put things in things anymore. The hand towel in the bathroom- on the holder, not threaded through. The bread- on the bread box, not in. Dirty clothes- on the hamper not in. Is this a man thing?
-He also fills 4 water bottles to take with him to bed each night. He’ll drink at least 2 of them throughout the night, but never once get up to go to the bathroom. The man is a camel.
-Not a day goes by that I don’t think about Ling Ling now. How can you love someone so much who doesn’t even exist yet? We talk about her all the time. Since most Chinese orphans’ birthdays are estimated by the orphanage, Jon wants to make his and Ling Ling’s on the same day. How cute is that?!

We had our first dinner out on the deck this weekend. The candles were one of my first IKEA purchases ever. Just 5 bucks and this candle holder can form a circle or a straight or wavy line, whatever. So cool. It fits perfectly around the umbrella pole in the outside table. Jon’s parents came over and we grilled out burgers. We tend to chat a bit so dinner ran late. It was a little dark, but we could still see a bit of what we were eating. While having dinner my inlaws proposed something to us they had been planning/looking in to and wondered if we’d be up for it. So all mothers out there, esp adoptive mothers bringing babies home from China, I need your advice. Jon’s parents want us to change our return trip plans. So instead of coming straight home from China to the mainland, we’d meet them in Hawaii and spend a few days there. My first thought was hell yeah I’m all in, and that would help Ling Ling (and us) with the whole time change thing. You know, she’d only have to adjust to a few hours difference at a time. But then I wonder if we shouldn’t just come straight home. But then I think, we’re already in the neighborhood and what other chance would we have to go to Hawaii esp. with it being a treat from our in-laws? So, what would you do?

The season finale of CSI sparked some conversation around here about ways we don’t want to die. I’ve always had a top 3 list beyond the obvious: drowning, burning alive, murder, torture, smothering, starvation, attack by wild animal. If I had to choose of course I’d pick going to sleep and never waking up but beyond that I guess I’d go with freezing to death and carbon monoxide. Those seem harmless enough- well, other than the death part.
Lisa and I were rehashing the CSI season finale and I was telling her how stressed I was the whole time because I couldn’t believe they actually combined two of my biggest ways to die fears into one show.

My top 3 ways I’m terrified of dying:
1. Being buried alive
2. Being eaten alive by ants (I hate to itch)
3. Driving down the highway behind a big truck carrying metal beams and the strap breaks and the beam comes through the window decapitating me and possibly any passengers (I woulnd’t want my death to start a chain reaction where anyone else would be hurt or killed)

Sorry, I guess this is morbid talk. I don’t think about it all the time or anything. Well, #3 comes up when I’m driving so I stay clear of any truck carrying long dangerous looking things. It’s just something I know. I know my top 3 ways I don’t want to die like I can rattle off the top 5 things I don’t like to eat. (asparagus, oysters, capers, fish soup of any kind, and anything ending in wurst)
I know I can’t be the only person who’s thought of this can I? How don’t you want to die?

Last summer I bought a new pair of roller skates. I hadn’t had any in a while and I like how now you can get them sneaker style. I grew up roller skating, but hadn’t skated in years. So last June I bought a cute pair and thought how cool would it be if roller skating came back and was hip again. Imagine my delight when I started seeing roller skating everywhere on tv lately. First in that sparkle Diet Coke ad. Then in a rap video I noticed some skating. The most recent is the roller skating iPod ad with the cool song from the Gorillaz, Feel Good Inc. I’m so excited, I think it’s really coming back. How cute would that be to get Ling Ling her very own tiny skates?

Yesterday the fabulous Karen drove down for a wonderful afternoon of lunch, shopping, and lots of talking. It was very cool to spend some time with someone who is my age and adopting from China too. We don’t know too many people who are or have adopted, and the ones we do know are much older than us. Anyway, we tooled around town, had some great Thai for lunch, and stopped into a few funky little shops. She found a cute outfit for Gwen (daughter to be), and I found a cool reed fragrance diffuser from Earth Elements at one of my favorite stores Paper Skyscraper. (although the one I purchased was quite a few dollars less than the prices on their site- not sure how or why). I’d been looking for something to scent Ling Ling’s room and Jon was quick to point out that flaming candles don’t mix with babies. So this will be perfect. I found one in pink that matches the wall color in her room. So then I was looking at these diffusers online, and I’ve been interested in something to use all around the house that I didn’t have to constantly replace like candles or plug in wall scenty things. These diffusers apparently last for months and the oil to refill them is wicked cheap (like $3). I’m going to get these for all over the house. And the cool thing is- you don’t have to go buy the pricey kits. All you need is a vase, reeds, and oil. I’m thinking this will be a good Christmas present to put together for people this year. Hmmm.

Tuesday was my sister Sara’s 29th birthday. The family all met up at Chuck E. Cheese (Sara’s choice-for the boys). We ate lunch then she opened up her presents- Joey helped. You must click on that picture to enlarge it because his face is way too cute- he looks more excited than his mom is to be receiving a set of chip and dip party plates. What 4 month old wouldn’t be? Jake had fun with all the little rides and things . Jon was still waking up. We all played a bunch of games and won those little tickets. So Jake walked out with a Tonka truck and that made his day.

After lunch we dropped the boys off at Sara’s house then went to see the new house her and my BIL Marce are building. They have a great lot in a really good neighborhood that’s close to all the conveniences they’ll need. She then took me to another community so I could see the model of their particular home. Such a cute house. I can’t wait for their house to be finished.

When we got news that Sara and Marc’s current house finally sold! Woohoo! So we decided to stay for a celebratory dinner- Marc made wings mmmm, and we had cake as well while watching the final American Idol singing showdown. Jon and I finally got home a little past 11pm. Whew. Long day- but totally worth it. Happy Birthday Sara! xoxo

The pugs have a new thing where they carry their balloons around by the little balloon tie. It is too cute. Ike gets a little nutty with his sometimes though, so he goes through more balloons than Kea. He just forgets that pug teeth are sharp!