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100 Wishes Quilt Finished!

Well, as finished as I can make it! It will go off to a professional for the actual quilting. But the borders are on and all 100 squishes are attached.

But no rest for the wicked. I'll be starting the second quilt for AJ soon! Be sure to check out his blog for more info.

Thanks to everyone who contributed to the quilt. There are squares from friends, family, cyber friends and so many wonderful people.

:D

34 Months.....

It's funny looking back over this adoption journey and all the things we worried about. What if we traveled to China when Brian had class? (He graduated May 2008.) What if we would have to skip the Bejing tour because we traveled during the Olympics? (We are just two weeks away from the opening of the WINTER olympics, and if we travel before the London 2012 olympics I'd be surprised.)

So I'm just not worrying anymore. It is what it is, and nothing I can do will change it.

My heart goes out to my cyber friends who just can't take the waiting any more and are dropping out, giving up on their dreams to be parents. We are not quite there yet, but the thought has crossed my mind. It just shouldn't be this hard!

So thank you, dear friends, for hanging in there with me. We'll keep you posted!

:D

Advent ~ A Season of Hope

Well, here we are in our third Advent season of this adoption journey. The travel has been treacherous thus far, and there is little cause for hope that it will get any better. But that is just what we need, HOPE, to sustain us through this challenge.

As in advent, we hope for the coming of Jesus with certainity that He will come again, (we just don't know when), so in this adoption we hope for the coming of a referral with certainity that it will come, (we just don't know when). It is not always easy to keep the hope, and I spend plenty of days in despair, wrestling with the fact that I may never be a Mom. But there is always something that comes to give me hope.

Sometimes it comes in the form of a package from a secret pal on an especially dark day. Sometimes it comes from an email from a friend that I haven't heard from in a while just checking in to see how I am doing. Sometimes it comes from following along when a cyber friend travels to China to meet their child for the first time. Sometimes it comes in a card from Half-the-Sky that tells me that a family member cares enough to send a donation in the HOPE that it will somehow benefit Ladybug.

So thank you all for being an angel that brings me the grace to hope another day. I wish you all a very HOPEFUL Christmas and a joyous New Year!

:D

The Miracle of the Soggy Home Study

Our current 171-H (permission to bring home a foreign born orphan) expires on November 11, 2009. We have to update our paperwork every 18 months. The update includes criminal background checks, DMV record checks, Child Protective Services background checks, medical exams and a visit to our home by our Social Worker. It's kinda a big deal.

Our home visit was October 12. Because of recent changes to the way USCIS approves couples to bring an orphan to the US, we had to have major tweaks to our home study, so it took a little longer than normal. While our SW was updating our study, another couple had some issues with the USCIS, so she wanted to get to the bottom of that issue to make sure that our home study was compliant.

So finally, on October 23, our SW FedExed our homestudy update and papers to us. Mind you, this package contains our homestudies (our entire life history ~ how we were raised, our relationships with our families, our education, how we met and fell in love, how we plan to parent, our financial situation, etc.), copies of our birth certificates, copy of our marriage licence, copies of our drivers licences, our social security numbers, you get the idea ~ mega personal stuff.

We thought it might come on Monday, but the FedEx tracker said that the package would be delivered on Tuesday by 7 pm.

Tuesday evening, I was at church for our parish mission. The theme of the night was the gospel of Luke, and Fr. Jude spoke a lot about discernment. How we know if we are following God's plan when things seem to fall in place and we feel a certain peace.

So when we got home (B was at another meeting) and discovered that neither of us picked up the package, we checked the tracker, and it said that it was delivered at 2:36 PM. I was out in the rain, searching the yard with a flash light looking to see if the package somehow blew into the bushes. It was 9:15 pm, too late to knock on neighbors' doors to see if they received the package by mistake. B got on the phone with FedEx and demanded to know where the package was delivered, but they were unable to tell us anything until they spoke to the driver in the morning.

I jumped online to see when the paperwork HAD to be in to the USCIS. Basically, the answer was asap. We called our SW on her cell phone to see if we could arrange a new package to be put together on Wednesday so we could drive down and pick it up. Our SW told us that they would track the package first thing Wednesday AM, and if need be drop another one in FedEx so it would arrive Friday. Cutting it way close for comfort! Plus there was the "small" matter of our super personal information being lost somewhere out in the world!

We were just so devastated. We have hit road block after road block in this adoption journey. What if this was a sign that we were just supposed to stop the insanity and pull out of China? I was IMing my friend during this crisis while researching online, and she said that God does not communicate that way ~ it is more of the devil's MO. So after much soul searching and tears, we went to bed around 11:30 pm, ready to get up first thing and start tracking and deciding what to do.

Around midnight, our dog started barking. I heard the storm door open and close. I thought it might not be latched, and since it was stormy out, the wind was blowing it around. So I grab my glasses and my robe and stumble down the stairs to check the door. When I opened the door, guess what I found ~ a very soggy FedEx package containing our home study packet!

The pages were a bit wet around the bottom edge, but I was able to dry them with my hair dryer, and then I put them under our big family bible to flatten out. The were in great shape in the morning, and we were able to sign them and put them in the express mail later that day.

So, is the miracle that the FedEx driver came out at midnight to deliver a lost package?

Or is it that a neighbor got home at midnight and found the misdelivered package and decided to bring it to us right then and there instead of waiting until morning?

Or perhaps the miracle that God saw our despair and stepped in and said "You are going to complete this adoption. You will have that home study tonight," and prompted someone to bring us that package that night.

This has been a long strange journey. It has at times alienated me from God, and at other times given me great insight into our relationship with Him. Right now we are on good terms. I hope this is the beginning of a climb out of this valley to a wonderful new peak!

:D

New Strategy....

In 1997, I leased a Dodge Stratus, mainly because it was a nice big car suitable for kids, which we planned on having soon after we were married.

In 2002, we purchased a Ford Focus Stationwagon, mainly because it was a nice big car suitable for kids, which we planned on having later that year.

12 years later: no kids, but a "grocery getter" for a car.

So, in an effort to tempt the adoption fates into a faster referral, we decided to get a sporty 2010 Mazada 3! It's not a "family" car in the strictest sense, and that is just perfect for us! It will be a fun car to drive around for a few years. If and when we have kiddos, we'll trade in B's car for a more kid friendly vehicle.

I finished piecing the 100 wishes quilt this weekend. I just have the boarder to put on, then to get it to the quilter! I'll post pictures when it is all set for the quilter!

We are having a wonderful fall so far. We had visitors from the North, enjoyed the State Fair, and are emersed in post-season baseball. Go Yankees and Phillies!

Hope you are enjoying this wonderful season!

:D

If you come to a fork in the road....

... take it! Wise words from Yogi Berra.

That describes this point in my life perfectly! After 29 months of "waiting" to adopt from China, I've decided to take the fork and pursue both goals of advancing my carrer and being a parent. We'll just have to wait and see which path ends up working out!

I applied for the MBA program and start classes next Spring. With an MBA, I'll be able to advance in the academic world and it will also prepare me for work outside the university if life leads me in that direction.

It is very odd working towards mutliple, mutually exclusive goals, but that is the best move with the hand that I have been dealt! Hopefully this will keep me nimble enough to deal with the next curveball life throws.

We had a wonderful summer with family vacations and visits. But I am done with the heat and humidity and I am looking foward to crisp autumn days and the changing colors.

Hope all is well in your neck of the woods!
:D