From So lovely to so bad...

Yesterday was going to be a good day – and it was-great actually – at least to a point.

Last evening Dolores and I met for dinner. We had “met” in the blog-o-sphere and later discovered that we were in the same travel group with CB and that we lived about 10 minutes from each other and about 5 minutes from the GO Train that she takes. We e-mailed and decided it was high time that we meet and then we decided that we would meet at 6:15 at Kelsey’s. We recognized each other right away from our pictures on our blogs. Dolores’s husband Shawn walked in with her and my heart sunk...Oh no – I read the mail wrong and we were supposed to be meeting with our husbands – If I called Mark right now he could be here in 10 minutes. What a great first impression I was making coming alone when I should have brought Mark with me. – How could I have read everything so wrong...

Well I didn’t – Shawn was just making sure that I was there to meet Dolores – How sweet is that!!

Well Dolores and I got a table and started to GAB and GAB and GAB!! 3 ½ hours later we were leaving the restaurant as new friends!!

We discovered that we were so much alike in some aspects and our husbands are very much alike also – kinda weird really…We talked about adoption (obviously) and everything else under the sun. It was FANTASTIC!!! I can see a long standing friendship developing here that will extend to China and back!! How great that you get to travel to China to get your daughters together with friends!!

We took a photo of the evening, but I look TOO horrible in it to post it here!!

I got home and talked to Mark about the evening but I was SO tired. We were in bed shortly after that and that is when it all went DOWNHILL...

I woke up at 2:00am with a FEVER!!! Holy cow it was horrible. My throat was SO sore and I felt like I had a chunk of concrete in the roof of my mouth – YUCK!! I took my temperature to confirm my suspicions and yup, I was right. I was up tossing until 6:30am when I called into work to let them know that I wouldn’t be in. I finally fell asleep again as the sun was coming up. I managed to sleep for about 3 hours. The fever is gone but I still feel like crap!!

AND IF THAT WASN’T ENOUGH...I called the doctor to see if I could get an appointment today (as this has been going on and off for over 2 weeks now), he is FULLY booked as is every other doctor in the practice!!

So then, I decide that I should get myself ready and go to a walk in clinic somewhere. So I MUST take a shower – so into the bathroom to turn on the taps and NO WATER!! Can you believe it?? NO WATER!!! I am then just standing there in shock staring at the taps willing the water to come out – to no avail...I called a neighbour and they said that they don’t have water either. Apparently a main broke and they are fixing it. It could be hours yet. So then I am looking out the window and I can see the big truck there and they are digging up the road trying to fix it.

Now what to do – I really want a shower especially since I was in that “fever sweat” last night and I just feel ICKY and GROSS. So here I sit debating what to do. I have an appointment with the Doctor tomorrow at 2:30, but what to do today? Should I drag my unwashed body to a clinic or sit here in my unwashed body wrapped in my blanket at home? I am leaning towards staying home. I really don’t think that there is anything that a doctor can do for me anyway – people get colds and you just have to deal with it...

Well I just looked out the window again and the truck is gone – I don’t have water yet and the truck is GONE!! What’s up with that? How can these people go and take a lunch break when I have NO WATER!!!!

So there you have it my evening that was SO great and my night that was horrible...

I did it...

Well this post is about Monday...I had such a busy weekend and Mark and I took Monday off work. It is nice to do that sometimes when we have so much going on.

Well this Monday off we decided to get things organized and put up the Christmas Lights. For those of you in the GTA area, you will know what a BEAUTIFUL day it was on Monday. Well we pulled all the Christmas lights out of the basements and laid them all out and straightened them etc. and thought, we should plug them in first...well, of course, they didn't work!!!

So now we must going to the store. We had other running around to do and dropped by Rona for the lights. There must have been a sale on Christmas lights over the weekend as there was not much of a selection. By the time we made it to the store we just wanted to get home. So we picked up some lights - not what we were looking for, but we figured that they would do.

So we get home - already exhausted from all the running around - and start with the lights. Well the way the clip on the light is and where our plug is and how the house is - we had lights that would have faced into the house. So we had to make some arrangements so that we could actually plug them in.

Mark got out the ladder and we figured out how to put them up and I was being a good wife and holding the cord. Well we got them up finally and went to plug them in to see if they worked, and we couldn't plug them in. The extension cord we were using didn't have the 'wider' prong receptacle. We didn't have another cord.

So back in the car and back to the store. This time I went toCanadian Tire. There was no problem finding the extension cords. I also found the lights that we were looking for in the first place...I debated picking them up and asking if Mark would mind changing them - I quickly put them back down!!

So back home with the cord and some giant candy canes that light up for the garden - don't know how they jumped in my arms...

Well it is now dark out. Mark gets up there and plugs everything in and it all looks SO nice and they are so cheery and bright...

So I did it - I left them on and it is before December 1st

Sunday - Happy Birthday Uncle!!

I am one of those lucky people who has LOTS of family - you could see the size of Mark's side in the last post. I realize that some people might not think that that is too lucky – especially Mark who has TWO mothers-in-law!! However, both Mark and I do realize how lucky we are the have the family that we have and enjoy spending time with them.

Well Sunday was Uncle’s birthday gathering. We have always called Uncle 'Uncle' forever...He called his Uncle 'Uncle' when he was a kid, and the trend just followed to Tracey (sister) and I.

But anyway...We gathered for Uncle’s (Uncle) birthday at Hortense’s (one of Mark’s mothers-in-law - heehee) and had a birthday dinner. It was DELICIOUS!!! We always have a good time and there is lots of laughing, bantering and competition – usually in the form of a card game. Last night was no exception to that.

It seems to be that whenever it is your birthday, you always lose at cards – don’t know why, it just is! I don’t know if Uncle lost, but I know he didn’t win!!

Of course, we had to take some photos of the day with our party hats on!! Aren't self timers GREAT!!! Starting back left is me, Uncle (Uncle), Hortense (my other mother). Front row from left is Tracey (sister), Mark (DH), Roger (brother) and Anita (sister-in-law). But wait there's more...

Hortense is VERY crafty and creative and a while ago, she made some napkin rings (squares) with our pictures in them (mine needs an update as I still had my braces on). Well last night, we all thought they were so cute that we decided to line them up and take photos of them so here they are...Unfortunately when the flash was on it was reflecting off the frames and too bright so these are a little darker then we would have liked.

So there you have it - I have completed my update of the weekend...I hope everyone enjoyed their weekend as much as we enjoyed ours!

Friday and Saturday

It has been a busy weekend!!! Generally that is what life it like for Mark and I. Friday night, Auntie Jane came down and spent the night. We had a nice evening as usual.

On Saturday was Mark’s extended family’s Christmas gathering. There were approximately 65 people there. We had a great time. Jenn and Paul were ill and asked up to take Logan and Saige to the party. Just because their parents are ill is no reason for the kids to miss the party. We went and picked up the kids and headed to Burlington. On the way we stopped at Cousin Kathleen and John’s. It was Kailey’s birthday (on Monday) she will be FIVE and we popped in for a visit and to drop off a gift for Kailey. After our all too short ‘drop in’ we headed to the gathering – about 5 minutes away.

We also brought Tracey (my sister) with us and we were about people 8 through 12 to arrive. Every time someone walked through the door, Tracey was asking who they were and their connection to everyone else. I must say, I was quite impressed how she figured out all the names and the relationships between the people.

Diane (cousin) is the organizer of the event and she did a GREAT job. She asked Mark to be the Santa for the night. What great fun it was. It was so nice to catch up with everyone - well most everyone...we missed the Cochrane family and Tara as they didn't make the trip from Ottawa as we don't get a chance to see each other as often as we would like too. Jenn and Paul were also missing as they were ill. Krystal was studying hard for exams, Magda was in Poland, and there were a couple of other people here and there that were missing. In actaulity - there are 98 people in Mark's family. I think the number has increased by 2 (Anthony and Cameron) since we did the last count.

This is Mark dressed up as Santa and he did a great job handing out all the presents to the kids and getting pictures with all of them.

What a nice evening we had and it was great to see everyone again. And a BIG thanks to Diane for organizing this for all of us to enjoy!!!

Everything happens for a reason…doesn’t it??

Recently both Mark and I have had some disappointments in our lives - as of course everyone has. When things like that happen, you find yourself second guessing yourself and sometimes feeling sorry for yourself.

There are times when you ask WHY ME?!?!

Of course, there is no simple solution to this question – it always comes back to EVERYTHING HAPPENS FOR A REASON. Sometimes it is VERY had to try and figure what the reason could possibly be. Other times the reason comes to you quickly and other times that you are never going to know what or if the reason was.

Yet there are other times that you are convinced that someone made up the quote to make you feel better about something that didn’t go your way and it was an easy way to console you – something like, getting pooped on the head by a bird is good luck – I actually think someone just made that up to make you feel better about being pooped on!!!

So back to everything happens for a reason...When I look back to times in my life when I think life sucked so bad and I never thought I could ever feel this bad / horrible / upset or sorry for myself and I can’t possibly recover from this – I do – as you have to – there is no choice. Then later when "there is light at the end of the tunnel" and you are not so sure about that. Then even later when “time heals everything” (another thing that someone said to make you feel better at the time – not always true – maybe dulls it, but doesn’t heal it), you look back and think – WOW, I am actually glad that “that” happened (not all, but some of the things) as it has shaped me into who I am today and it has taken me to the place that I am now – and that is a GREAT place!

Why China...

Mark and I have been getting many questions about why we are going to China to adopt compared to another country or domestically. We thought we would try and share our thought process with you.

First off, people in China generally abandon children because they are girls and not for any other reason - though there are more and more males being abandoned. I simply cannot imagine being in that position and feeling like you are forced to abandon a child.

Unfortunately many babies born domestically and placed for public adoption are born with health problems. Of course you never know what health problems your child may or may not have, but knowingly taking on a health problem is something that Mark and I have discussed and decided that being a parent is going to be hard enough as it is and we decided that we didn’t want to have the potential of health problem as well. The babies born in China are generally very healthy as women take care of themselves as this might be the only child that they are going to have.

Also with domestic adoptions, many times the children are school aged as Children’s Aid really tries to keep the child/ren with their parent(s) and Mark and I had our hearts set on a baby – still with China, our daughter(s) will be about 12 – 14 months when we bring her/them home.

China also has the most predictable timelines – they are long lines, but they are generally predictable. Recently, Korea shut down international adoption!!! Just like that with no warning – DONE!!! The thought of that terrifies me – so do the 2008 Bejing Olympics…but we have enough to worry about right now without adding to it…

Once we return from China after picking up our daughter or daughters, she/they are ours - FOREVER. We won’t have another family popping up to say that they changed their mind and they want their baby back. All attempts will have been made in China before the child is placed for adoption to find the birth family and the child will be considered abandoned. Although we won’t have anything in the way of medical records or family histories, we will have our family.

When you think about medical/family histories, even if you are with your biological family, that doesn’t mean that you are going to have medical/family histories. Many families do not stay in contact with each other and are not aware of what is happening in each others lives. Also, if a family member dies prematurely due to an accident, there is not an opportunity to have developed a medical history in which to draw from.

There are MANY support groups, activities and cultural experiences to share with our daughter(s) here that are available though the vast international adoption network – we are learning more and more about this and the wonderful people that are part of this network as time goes on. We and our daughter(s) will be lucky to be a part of this wonderful community.

So…those are some of the reasons that we made the decisions that we did that were right for us.

Take a look at this link...

I recently added a section to my blog with links to blogs of other families who were also DTC in October. I have been slowly going to each of the sites to see what these families are all about.

While I was looking through Tracey and Mike's blog, I came across a link that I thought was great. I have taken a quick look through the website and thought it has a lot of good information about attachment etc. The site is done by families of adopted children and it showcases their experiences and trial and errors that we can all benefit from. Many of the families adopted from Korea, but the issues would be the same (except maybe for the age of the children). The site is called A4everfamily.org and I think it is worth a look.

Thanks to Tracey and Mike for posting this on their blog for me to find!

Mom is HOME!

Mom is now home from the hospital!! They released her this morning. We got her in the house, had some lunch and then got her settled in bed.

She is in a lot of pain, but happy to be in her own bed.

Thanks to everyone again for all your well wishes, comments and e-mails!!

What a GREAT night!!

7 hours
216 km
7 new friends...

I left my home at 5:00 last night to go on an adventure of sorts. I was on my way to meet 7 other ladies whom I had never met and who were also adopting from China – this was a ‘mommies in waiting’ dinner. I arrived at the restaurant at 6:30 and we left just more then 4 hours later with 7 new friends and was home just after midnight!!

What a great night we had. In the photo from left to right is: Rebekah, Paula, Kathy, Andrea, Laurie, Jill, Catherine and me.

We talked about all things adoption...from fertility (or lack there of), to bringing baby home. Laurie, who was our resident expert, answered all the questions we kept asking her about China as she was there in 2005 adopting her first daughter Sophie – what a cutie she is!!

It was so nice to meet Kathy, Jill, Paula and Catherine in person as I had been following their lives on their blogs for the last couple of months.

The whole night made the adoption seem real – and validating as Kathy said. These were other women feeling the same excitement, joy, and fears that I was.

Speaking of Kathy, she bought ‘Pumpkin’ this lovely book and picture frame. This is present number 2 for Pumpkin!!


Our timelines for getting our babies is spread out. Catherine is first ‘in line’ with and LID of March with me at the end of the line (with Jill & Laurie) waiting for our LID’s – hopefully soon!!

When I got home last night, Mark was waiting for me and he wanted to hear all about my night. He was so excited that I was going out there and meeting other mommies. I showed him Pumpkin’s presents and he immediately picked up the book and read it and said – I LOVE THIS PICTURE then he got up and imitated the moose – it was very humourous.

So I must say that that 7 hours FLEW by and was very well spent!!

Thank you ladies for such a GREAT evening!!

Hospital Day...

So this morning (Thursday), mom had to be at the hospital before 7:00am to do some tests before her surgery. The doctor had said that the surgery MIGHT be late afternoon. Tracey (my sister) and I arrived at the hospital about 11:30. We ‘tagged off’ with Phil so he could go and run some errands and get some lunch.

Mom was in a bed in a ‘waiting’ area while we waited for them to come and get her for the surgery. Mom, Tracey and I gabbed and tried to distract mom from the aroma of food that seemed to be everywhere. She of course had had nothing to eat since 7:00pm on Wednesday.

Phil got back from his errands/lunch about 1:45ish. At this time, Tracey and I went and got some lunch for ourselves. We didn’t venture far, just the hospital cafeteria. Tracey was leaving after lunch as she had a doctor’s appointment and was going to come back and get me (we came together). When I went back to the ‘waiting’ area, Mom and Phil were gone. I was thinking GREAT – they have taken her to surgery – BOY was I WRONG!! They had taken her to her room. I was pointed in the direction and I found them pretty quickly. After about ½ hour, the nurses came to transfer mom to the bed in her room. We got her settled and asked when we could expect to be called for surgery. They told us they would come and get her when they were ready. So we waited, and waited…

Tracey came back to the hospital after her doctor’s appointment and she waited with us…Tracey and I had dinner plans with Kathleen (our cousin) and we didn’t want to miss them. So we were doing all the calculations…if they took mom now, she would be back in her room by this time, if they took her at this time, she would be back in her room by this time etc…

We figured, they were going to come ANY MINTUE to take her to the surgery. Tracey and I left the hospital at 4:30 – being pretty sure that they would come and get mom within the ½ hour…

We met and had dinner with Kathleen and called Phil for an update about 6:30…they still had NOT taken mom in…

As it ended up, it was about 7:45pm, before she had her surgery. We knew the surgery would be about an hour and then about 1 – 1 ½ hours in recovery after that. Well we wanted to make sure that we were there in her room BEFORE she got back. Tracey and I whipped home for an hour, I got to see my husband (I was beginning to forget what he looked like) and then back to the hospital. We were sitting in mom’s room by 9:30pm waiting for her to come back.

FINALLY at 10:45pm, they wheeled her back into her room. She was exhausted of course and just wanted to have something to eat and drink. She just wanted a piece of toast and drink of water. The nurse said that mom couldn’t eat ‘cause it might make her nauseous, mom said her stomach was unsettled BECAUSE she was hungry. I was FRUSTRATED – my mom has lived with her body for almost 70 years, and this nurse had ‘known’ my mom for all of 2 minutes and she was telling her what her body was doing. I understand that the nurses have a job to do etc, but when someone is telling you something about their body, they should be listened to as they know more about their own bodies then someone else does. For mom at that point, it had been 28 hours since she had had so much as a glass of water!! Mom didn’t want us to argue with the nurse so we let it go and got her settled for the night and got home about 11:45pm.

Well apparently the surgery when good and she had good bones in which to screw the screws and plates into – that’s a good thing I guess!!

We are hoping/thinking that mom will be released in the morning and we can get her home and settled.

PHEW - WHAT A DAY!!!

Mom Update

Thank you to everyone for their warm wishes and concern for mom. Also, to clarify, she was hiking in the RED ROCK CANYON not the Grand Canyon - that was the week before!!

She made it home Monday night safe and sound - but VERY tired. They upgraded their tickets to first class as mom didn't think she could sit in coach without elevating her leg for 5 hours. She is crossing her fingers that the insurance will pay for it!!

She had her appointment with the surgeon on Tuesday morning. They took some x-rays and apparently the bones had shifted from when they wrapped her in Vegas. Not a good thing.

The surgeon couldn't operate until Thursday. She was disappointed as she wanted to get it done as soon as possible.

Today she had to get some of the pre-op done at her family doctors. She got back home this afternoon and I was waiting for them. I had picked up a wheelchair for mom and she was VERY glad to see it. Apparently today at the Doctors, she slipped and out of instinct, put her bad foot down. She is kinda nervous on her crutches. She was happy to see the wheelchair.

We gave mom a bath - quite a feat!!! But she certainly felt better afterwards and I had cooked dinner for them.

Tomorrow she needs to be at the hospital before 7:00am and she has to do more tests, talk to the anesthesiologist etc and generally wait until the doc can fit her in. He said it might not be until late afternoon. It is going to be a LONG day. Mom is in good spirits (right now) she just want the operation to be over so she can get started on the road to recovery.

She will spend the night in the hospital on hopefully come home on Friday.

Thanks again for all your well wishes.

What a day...and it isn't even over yet...

Holy Cow!! What a day this is turning out to be and it is only 7:30!!!

I got up this morning just like every other day. I got ready and went to work and got there early – NOT like every other day.

Today I had an internal audit done at work – the 6th one this year. This is not usual, but just frustrating as the time it takes with the auditor is time that you are not doing your job and the work doesn’t stop coming in...

The auditor finally left (I passed) and I thought phew – I can get some work done now...well, the phone rang again and this time it was my mom. First off, you must know that my mom is on holiday in Las Vegas right now. My mom NEVER calls home on vacation – unless there is a problem…She was not due home until Saturday.

So my heart is beating VERY fast right now when I hear her voice as I KNOW that something must be wrong for her to call me at work while on vacation.

So I say “how are you?”

She says “not good”

My heart drops to my stomach and I feel ill...

I say “what’s wrong?”

She says “can you pick us up at the airport tonight?”

I say “of course – what’s wrong?”

She says “thanks, we come in at 11:00pm”

I say “that is fine – what’s wrong?”

By this time I am FREAKING out as I think she is avoiding the question (she wasn’t) and she finally tells me that she was hiking in the Grand Canyon yesterday (she is almost 70!!) and slipped and broke her ankle in 2 places!!! She had to be airlifted out of there (which she thought was pretty neat) and Phil had to walk out as he wouldn’t fit in the chopper. They went to the hospital, got x-rays etc. and the first flight that they could get home is tonight. So I will be heading to the airport to get them.

So while I am on the phone with my mom, she wants a phone number for the orthopedic surgeon from my sister. I put mom on hold and call Tracey. It goes straight to the machine. I tell mom that she must be on both lines as I got her machine. Tried the cell hpne and it is forwarded to the home phone and again machine. I tell mom to give me her number in Las Vegas and I will get Tracey to call her with the number of the surgeon.

I send Tracey e-mails to every account that she has saying EMERGENCY – call me at work. I am thinking that she is on the computer (she has dial up). Then I think...there is a lady 2 doors down who is home all day. I couldn’t find her name in Canada411 as it is unique. So I call another neighbour (Linda) who would have her number so that I can ask her to go to Tracey’s house to get her to call me. Linda (a teacher) is in class and I leave a message on her cell.

Then Tracey calls me. I said – oh did you get my messages that I left EVERYWHERE for you? She said NO, just thought I would call and say hi and let you know that our phones in the neighbourhood (Tracey and I live about...18 seconds – by foot – away from each other) are out and won’t be back on until Wednesday night!!! WHAT?!?!?!?!? She had tried to make a call and the line was dead and thought she would call me and tell me. So then I fill her in on what is happening with mom and she is worried...she gets the number to the surgeon and calls mom and feels a bit better once she has spoken to her.

So anyway, my day continues and I must admit, that my mind wasn’t really on work for the rest of the day. I leave work and go to meet Jürgen at Costco and get frustrated as you ALWAYS have a LONG wait there. Once I leave there, I MUST vote as that is VERY important (for those who don’t know, there is a Municipal Election today in Ontario). From the voting I need to head to the grocery store to pick up some milk and bread for mom & Phil so they have SOMETHING for the morning and I then finally make my way home. Check the mail (of course there isn’t any as the Post office is closed today) and put the groceries away. Pick up the phone to make a call (yes my memory is short) and realize that there is no phone. Then I am SO HAPPY to realize that I have ROGERS internet and not SYMPATICO!! I know Catherine might think differently as she is having problems with Rogers. For those of you who don’t know, Rogers is cable internet and Sympatico is high speed phone lines.

However, there is no time to revel in this newly realized information, time for me to head to another polling station to bring Mark some supper. He is again working the election all day today. So back in the car and out to the other side of the city to bring him dinner. Well, it took me 1hour 45 minutes to get there and back!!! WOW!!

Finally got home and I thought that I might have some downtime and catch up on my blogging as I missed a whole weekend of it!! Then Tracey calls, she wants to come over and check her e-mail as she is on dial up. She she walks the 18 seconds over and checks her mail and we have a gab. Then she is off for the evening and then Linda (next door) calls (on my cell – from her cell) and asks if she can come over and check her e-mail as she is on Sympatico. So Linda comes over and we have another gab and she checks her mail.

Now it is time for me to do my stuff on the computer and write the INCREDIBLY LONG blog entry.

My day is far from over. I am hoping that Mark will not be too late, as now as I write this, the polls have closed (it is now 8:10). But since he is the Supervisor of the polling station, he needs balance the votes and then head to City Hall with all the ‘stuff’ before he comes home.

I am hoping to see him by 10:00 and then by 11:00, I am out of here to go and get mom and Phil. Mark can’t come with as there won’t be enough room in the car for me, mom, Phil and Mark and all their luggage.

I already let work know that I would be late in the morning. I didn’t want to be thinking about getting up at 6:00 when I was only getting home at 2:00am – I’m not as young as I used to be!!

So that is my day up to now...Now it is time to catch up and read everyone else’s blogs as they have suffered through this GIGANTIC entry of mine tonight....

Another Busy Weekend...

Well Mark and I had/are having another busy weekend!! This is just the way our lives are and we are used to it.

Actually, I guess it wasn’t that busy because we didn’t have any plans on Friday night – good thing because I was beat and was in bed before 10:00 – that is unheard of!!! I don’t even go to bed that early during the week.

Saturday was all of the running around and then Saturday afternoon we went to pick up the kids (Logan (4 yrs) and Saige (19months)). We were having them overnight. Well it was off to McDonalds for dinner. I know we should cook for them, but we are just learning all of this juggling and there is only so much that we are set up for…

Anyway, off to McDonalds and the PLAYLAND. We didn’t stay too long as it was incredibly busy. Usually I can block out the screaming and yelling of the other kids, but for some reason last night it was really getting to me and my patience was not what it should have been.

When we got home, we watched MAGIC SCHOOLBUS! They are really great shows. I should clarify that Logan and Mark watched the Magic Schoolbus and Saige decided it would be more fun to take out all the Tupperware and all the magnets off the fridge. She is a quick one too – all of a sudden she is half way up the stairs in no time flat!! I got some exercise chasing her around.

These kids are DREAMS to put to bed. We got Saige all changed, milked and into the playpen and close the door at 8:00 and not a peep until 7:00!! It was great.

Logan had a bath – he said he was dirty and needed bubbles – he is a smooth operator that one!! So he had a bath and since I don’t have any bath toys yet, Tupperware of various sizes is a perfect substitute!!

After bath, pj’s, story and lights out. I got a tap on the head at 3:00am as Logan needed to pee and he couldn’t reach the light and then nothing until about 7:00!!

The kids are SO good and they are a joy to babysit. I can’t wait until they have some cousins to share their overnights with!!

This morning we feasted on Goldfish, juice popsicles and pancakes!! YUM!

Jenn (their mom) was here in the morning and we got them dressed in their ‘fancies’ for photos – off to the Real Canadian Superstore for Christmas pictures. Jenn and I took the kids and now I am home.

I have a couple of minutes to catch up on a whole weekend worth of blogging before I have to start preparing for the evening.

Mark’s cousin Ray is coming for dinner tonight. He is home alone as his wife is in Poland with their baby for a couple of months. Ray does not head to Poland until December. We thought we would make sure that he got a couple of good meals into him in the meantime…

There are no pictures of our night with the kids as their mom doesn’t want their photos on the ‘net’ – understandably so. I don’t know how to do what Kathy does with covering their face with a pumpkin or cake etc…so until that time that I learn (hint, hint), I am not going to have pictures of the kids.

PHEW – rest time is up, back to the kitchen!!!

More Family...

Well tonight Auntie Jane is over. She had dinner with us – and a lovely dinner it was if I do say so myself. She usually stays overnight one or two nights a month. She lives out of town and needs to come into town at least once a month for business. We are her ‘base’ when she is out this way and we enjoy her company.

Sometimes we have an evening together, sometimes only part of an evening and other times she is arriving when we are already in bed.

Tonight was dinner and since tomorrow is a business day for her, she is busily doing the things she needs to do to prepare for the day.

Auntie Jane is a Director with Mary Kay. She has been with Mary Kay for over 20 years now. If anyone is interested in Mary Kay – you can visit Auntie Jane’s site here. Tomorrow she is working as the DEAN of RJU (Red Jacket University) where Mary Kay consultants attend for educational classes to further their career.

Auntie Jane is mom’s youngest sister of 6 girls. She is one of the most positive people that I know - she is ALWAYS in a good mood and always thinks of other before herself - sometimes too much!

We are happy to share time with her and we will have a built in babysitter at least once a month!!! LOL!!!

Shoot Me Now!

I just recently discovered Rumor Queen and have just started reading it regularly over the last two weeks. Well today there was a post stating that the wait times might very well increase to 2 YEARS!!!

If that is the case, we are not even LID (Log In Date - which is like officially being in line)yet - who knows how much it might increase in the next month!!

HOLY COW. I was looking at a referral chart and two years ago and even to January of 2006, the average wait times were 6 - 8 months and they have steadily increased to 14 months since then!!

It is just so discouraging...

On the other hand, I am sure that Rumor Queen has been wrong before...hasn't she???

Blog Lines

I am pretty new to this whole blogging thing...I see in my stats sometimes the 'referring URL' is 'bloglines' - can anyone tell me what these thing are. When I click I get a sign in page to which I do not have a sign in...

Just curious!

MMMMM Cake!!!

I was able to download my pictures on a CD at Hortense’s, so I am able to post a picture of the birthday boy and the festivities. Last nights gathering of people were not camera shy – they all wanted to be made famous on the blog – here they are!!


Yesterday was Roger’s birthday party. Roger is - and will always be - older then me!!! He has been older then me for as long as I can remember. He likes to tell me that he is older than me and WISER!!! HAHAHA!!! I don’t mind the older part…

Here is Roger with Anita and the cake!! YUM!


Last night Hortense and Anita cooked up a spread and we had a GREAT time. Good food, good family and good cards!!

Last night we also learned that Anita has plural problems – I think it is one of those “you had to be there” things – we all thought it was funny at the time…

Roger is a business owner – he has a business called MONSTER RECORDS in Toronto at 664 Yonge Street – if you are in the area, drop in and see him. He sells memorabilia, LP’s, CD’s, DVD’s, books and magazines – Very cool store. You can check his place out

here

All in all another great night with great family - we have A LOT of them - family and great nights!!

I am repeating myself...

Again I would like to say that I am one lucky girl!! Mark and I have such a wonderful support network of family and friends. It really makes this long journey more bearable when you have GREAT people to share it with.

Last night (Friday), Mark and I went to (Cousin) Diane's for dinner. Joining us were Dorothy and Kevin (Steph's parents). We had a LOVELY evening. Diane made a fantastic meal.

I did bring my camera but everyone was camera shy and didn't want to be made 'famous' on the blog!! So when I got home I took pictures of the LOVELY gifts that Aunt Diane bought for our 'pumpkins'. A beautiful picture frame and 2 cute little pink bears. They are priceless. In case you are looking for the picture, you won't find it. My USB ports on my computer seem to broken. They are not responding and they don't even show as one of my drives when I plug them in. I also have a card reader and it isn't working either!!! Needless to say, I have no pictures of the evening or the wonderful gifts that we received for the baby.

But again I would like to thank Di for a great dinner and the great gifts!!

OH - I almost forgot...While we were at Diane's, they played 2 Christmas songs on the radio!!! I am not ready for that yet!

Today Mark is working all day as an Election Official for one of the advanced polls. It will be a LONG day for him - he doesn't think he will be home until after 9:00 tonight.

Tomorrow (Sunday) we have another family event. We are celebrating Rogers birthday with a dinner at Hortenses - YUM!!

I will take photos and hopefully, miraculously, my card reader/USB port will be working and I will be able to post something - one can always dream!

WE ARE DTC!!!!!

When we got home from work today, there was a message on the machine from our agency saying that we were DTC (Dossier to China) YESTERDAY - October 31, 2006!!!!

How ironic that we were DTC on Halloween, we are, after all, waiting for PUMPKIN!!!

WHOOOO HOOOOO!!!!!!!

PHEW!!!!

We are SO EXCITED!!!! We both had crappy days at work and this is the BEST way to start the evening!

We can't stop smiling!