Just In Time...To Leave

I sent in the last of our paperwork today. This included our 51 page personal profiles that Chris and I had to fill out. They asked all sorts of questions on everything from your childhood to your parenting style to the intimacy level in your marriage.

Yeah, that.

We had to fill them out separately, but we were allowed to compare our answers once we were through. It was AMAZING the similarities in our answers on many of the questions. And that's a good thing.

Saturday we leave for NJ to visit family and friends and to attend my 20-ish High School Reunion. I say 20-ish because I went to a REALLY small Christian High School. I graduated with 5 other people. No, that's NOT a typo. So we're having an all-school reunion of sorts. People are coming that went to the school up through 8th grade but may have gone on to public high school. And of the members of our graduating class, there are two confirmed. Me and one other.

It should be a good time. It's sunny and warm and I'm actually pretty excited to get out of town for a bit.

Reasons I Am Grateful Today

Wow. That's what I have to say after this weekend's very intense Foundations Training.

I am grateful that we were able to take the training with two wonderful social workers from Christian Family Adoptions. It may seem to some that it was a 'coincidence' that the training fell into place perfectly for our timing, but we know it was His plan.

I am grateful for the Foster/Adoptive mom and her 16 year old for coming to our training and talking to us from real life perspective.

I am grateful for the teen panel we had - one foster child and one foster-adopted child - who came to speak to us regarding the difficulties of being a foster child. And what NOT to do.

I am grateful that the heartbreaking stories that we had to hear this weekend did not break me. I am grateful that EACH of those stories has a happy ending, and that we will eventually be one of those happy endings.

I am grateful that I have a loving, supportive, fantastic husband. I am grateful that he makes me laugh, and that I know in my heart he will be a wonderful father. I am grateful that he wants to provide a loving home to the child or children that God has picked out for us.

I am grateful for being able to share this journey with you. And WE are especially grateful that we have the love and support of family and friends. Thank you.

Foundations Training and Real Life Collide

We have been going through state mandated training this weekend. When adopting through the State of Oregon, it's required that you attend the training that they gear towards foster parents. Our status once we are accepted and have our placement will be foster-to-adopt.

Today we had a foster/adoptive mom come in with her 16 year old to talk to us about her experience. She adopted EIGHT children, fostered over 40, and is an intake specialist for the state for babies. She has evaluated 132 babies for the state to determine what type of fostering they need - to what level. She also grew up in foster care since the age of 13 months.

Her 16 year old daughter was with her, who was placed with her when she was 2. The mom already had the girl's older brother and sister, and when the birth mom had come to them with the 2 year old and her younger sister and asked them to take them, she eventually said she would.

There were many questions we all had for her. One of which was the 'open adoption' concept. When you adopt, you mediate with the birth family that may want to maintain some semblance of contact (when safe and approved by the state) with the birth family. This could be grandparents, siblings, aunts, even the birth mom or dad. This woman is a firm advocate for open adoption, and has helped most of her kids maintain some sort of contact with members of their birth families.

This is an issue that Chris and I have struggled with understanding, until today. Today it was like a light bulb went off in my head. I have had the mindset of a parent of a child with whom I share custody with his father. In this arrangement, I am guaranteed time with my child, unsupervised. We co-parent, and my decisions when he is with me are up to me, and his father's decisions when he is with his father, are up to him. I had this idea in my head that if I allowed any type of contact with the birth family, that THIS was the type of arrangement we would have.

Then the mom said something that completely made it click for me. She said, "I am not a parent who got divorced and now I share custody. *I* am the parent. I do NOT co-parent. I decide when and where the visitation takes place. These people are not my best buds, they do not come to my house for visits. These are MY children. And if I feel that things are getting out of hand, I have no issue with getting up and leaving, and letting the family know that when they can get it together, they can have another visit." It made sense. It CLICKED in my head. It's like visitation with a distant relative that you only see every three or four years.

This mom is a liberal mom. She has a liberal visitation policy. And yet, she only schedules visits once or twice a year. MOST parents only agree to sending pictures and letters through a third party once a year.

One of our fears is that our kids will want to go live with their birth parents. But sitting in that room, and listening to this mom who was raised in foster care tell us that she KNEW her foster parents were her mom and dad, some of our fears were assuaged. She made the comment that family is memories, it's chicken pox, and vacations, and camping, and mission trips. It's soccer games, and dentist appointments, and bike rides. And the birth family doesn't get those memories.

It was a long day. Chris and I were exhausted and decided to go out to eat at a little Italian restaurant in downtown Beaverton. We talked about the things we have learned that have formed some of the decisions we have made about the kinds of children we will pursue. It was a great conversation, plied by wonderful Italian food and a bottle of chianti.

Paper Paper Paper Paper Paper WORK!

There is an inordinate amount of PAPER-WORK that needs to be completed before we even start our Home Study. I'm not being dramatic. I'm not exaggerating, I'm not even telling a little white lie.

It's challenging. It's daunting. It's a bit overwhelming at times. Today, I saw a flash, a glimmer, a slight blur of light at the end of that tunnel. Most of our paperWORK is done. Our family coordinator has been in Thailand on a missions trip. She came back yesterday. She had planned a follow-up call with us, even though we gave her a hard time about adjusting to the jet lag and time change.

I received an email from our social worker, Emily, telling us that Becky was unable to do the call due to, SURPRISE! The jet lag. I'm DY-ING to know what other paperwork has come in while she was gone. I've received my Oregon criminal check back, Chris has not. I want to know if all of our DCFS checks have come back from each of the states we've lived in since we were 18 (yeah - it was a long list. Shut it!)

This week is a busy week. We start our Foundations Training tomorrow night. 6-8. Then Friday 6-9, Saturday and Sunday 8-5. Foundations Training prepares you to be a foster parent, and the state requires those adopting from the foster care system to attend as well.

I also have a follow up appointment for my cats on Friday to get their booster set of immunizations. That should be a good time.

Next week is a pretty chill week. And then we leave for vacation!

Questions

A debate popped up on a message board I frequent recently about whether or not it is appropriate to inquire about an adopted child's heritage. As is custom on this particular message board, the thread reached two pages overnight. It's still going.

However, with my response on the topic and the responses of others, I figured I would blog about what may or may not be appropriate to ask. I don't seriously believe that most people ask out of maliciousness, or to be hurtful or mean. I also believe that there are those who do ask, mostly to be nosy, under the guise of 'idle curiousity'.

The level of inquiry appropriateness also belies in what your relationship with the family is. If you are close enough to say, have dinner at their house, then I would say (in MY opinion) that I would be willing to answer most questions. Notice I said 'most'. If you are family, I'll pretty much answer anything.

However, if you only see me in the pickup line at school everyday, please don't purport to think that you can sidle up to me and ask me what happened to our (future) child(ren)'s 'real' parents. For all intents and purposes, once the child(ren) are placed in our home, WE are their 'real' parents. We are parenting them. We are providing for them. We are loving them. That's what REAL parents do.

I've done a lot of reading on the subject of attachment and bonding. It's very important to understand that when you adopt children from foster care or even internationally from an orphanage, that the attachment issues will be there. They need to learn to look to you as more than just their 'caregiver', and it can sometimes be a long and arduous road. With these issues come identity issues. Even the simplest and most innocent of questions can hurt or upset a child. They grapple with trying to belong and fit in. And they worry that if they don't look like mommy and daddy, that someone is going to notice and make a big deal out of it. And as we know, most children do not like to be labeled as different or strange.

But back to the question at hand. Questions.

What's appropriate, what's not?

Q: How much did you pay/How much does it cost?
**We've actually gotten this question a lot. A lot, a LOT. I don't know when it became appropriate in our society to ask people how much they paid for ANYTHING, let alone a child. And for the record, we aren't buying our child, we're paying a fee to an agency to perform a service. A service that in my mind, is priceless. We pay them to help us navigate through the inordinate amount of paperwork that we have to fill out/notarize/obtain. We pay them to perform our Home Study, which is a requirement of any adoptive parent. How much we are paying, unless you are asking to help donate towards the cause, isn't really your business. On the flip side, most of the people that HAVE asked us, we are okay with sharing. Mostly family and VERY close friends.

Q: So you weren't able to have any of your own?
**To be fair, I haven't gotten this question. But I feel sorry for the person with the stones to ask me this. Really? I'm pretty sure that the birth certificate we receive when our adoption is final will show that we 'had' one of our own. Of course, the snarky girl in me would like to answer with this: "Yeah, the eight rounds of failed fertility treatment were so much fun, we’ll probably be heading back to the clinic as soon as this child, who isn’t our own, hits preschool."

But I don't think Chris would let me.

Q: Aren't you afraid her mother will want her back?
**I would answer that question with this: "Newsflash. Lifetime TV movies are NOT documentaries, coach." To answer YOUR question (cause you know you're wondering), in the State of Oregon, once the parent signs on the dotted line, or the judge brings down his gavel, it's a done deal. There's no cooling off period, nada.

So there's a little piece of what's not appropriate. What IS appropriate? Well, let's just play it safe and assume that if we've had you over for dinner, you can ask just about anything, and I'll most likely answer. With what amount of snark attached, well, let's just spin the wheel, shall we?

And if you've birthed me, or are related to me, or if I've married your relative - I'll probably answer.

Quickie

Not much to report today. We got confirmation from most of our references that they are sent back in! Yay for our awesome friends - they rock! Chris and I have all of the background and criminal checks in play. We have our physicals on Thursday. And our adoption training starts next week! Whoo hoo! We're rockin it!

And my husband keeps asking me where the pics are of the children. He wants to be a daddy so bad. I love him for that.

Also - went home at lunch today and got the mail and I received a copy of my State background check. With a huge APPROVED written all over it. LOVES it!

Government

Chris and I showed up to our class last night, only to learn that it will take us 8 weeks of one night a week classes to accomplish what we can in three days during the weekend of May 21.

In other news, I'm watching the news and there are two 'parents' that had been arrested for child abuse. One where the father was abusing the child and the mother stood by and let it happen. I want so badly to go through the TV and SHAKE that woman and ask her what the hell she was thinking.

Seriously.

A Little More About the Oregon Foster Adoption Program

Chris and I had our orientation call with our Social Worker about the Oregon Foster Adoption program today. I have been making it a habit to take notes during each call, and this was no exception. As a matter of fact, I took THREE pages of notes.

She went through the entire process, soup to nuts, about the in's and out's, up's and down's of the program.

We're both excited to start our adoption classes through the state tomorrow. Well, we were, until she told us that they will most likely scare the living crap out of us. Of course, it's up to them to prepare us for worst case scenario, and she warned us that they will.

Many of you have asked me about the timeline. Here it is, in rough outline:

1. Home Study completion (we're looking at around the end of June), and approval.

2. Start receiving bulletins of available children in the foster care system.

3. Choose a child or sibling group that we would like to present ourselves to committee for. (Did you get that?)

4. If chosen to be presented to committee, our Social Worker will be notified. If not, return to 3.

5. If chosen as the primary family, present family picture book to Case Worker (child's case worker).

6. Seven DAY BLACKOUT PERIOD. This one caught me off guard. The seven day blackout period is a week of whirlwind paperwork, processes, and procedures. Oh, and no contact with the child.

7. Once the blackout period is over, we can begin visitation with the child(ren). YAY!

8. Plan Transition into our home. This can go fast or slow, depending on the comfort level of the child(ren) we have chosen, and how fast their bond and trust of us forms.

9. Transition the child into our home! (YAY!)

10. Continue monthly visits with the Social Worker. Every three months, she writes a report to send to the State to confirm that things are progressing with bonding, adjustment, etc.

11. As early as 6 months, the social worker will then recommend finalization of the adoption.

12. Finalize Adoption! We can do this one of two ways - we can either have it all done by mail, or have a court ceremony whereby we travel to the county where the child originally resided, have a small ceremony in family court. Which one do you think THIS photog mom will choose? OH! And we can invite family and friends! I see a big party in our future!

13. Go home and be parentals. <-- best part!

We asked her how we could ensure that our Home Study went quickly. She gave us some tips and pointers on what she likes to see when she comes out. Basically making the home safe for a child. We have to print out an evacuation plan and post it on the fridge. How many of YOU have one of those? I didn't think so. And smoke detectors in each bedroom. Locked or put away medicines and firearms. I'm going to buy a gate for the stairs. And a fire extinguisher. On each floor.

She asked me about our arrangement with the Boy. I told her and she seemed pleased. She's going to probably interview him when she comes out in June.

Busy busy busy, but plugging along!

Kittehs

So we took the cats to the vet today to get their updated vaccines, and to get a letter of good health and confirmation of vaccines. We also asked the vet to make a comment on their temperament for the agency.

My boy was NOT happy. He shed enough hair to make three new cats. My girl calmed down after a while, but once the vet grabbed her, she was not having it. The vet pulled her mouth open and she HISSED at her! Sapphire has NEVER hissed at ANYONE!! So that was helpful. While we tried to convince the vet that she isn't like that, I wanted to just knock her out! HA!

So we got our bill of health, and confirmation that they would be suitable to be around children. Sheesh. Damn cat.

All God's Children International

Chris and I are using All God's Children International as our adoption agency. We are adopting through the State of Oregon Foster Care System, which we could conceivably do ourselves, without agency assistance. Let me tell you this though - I am HAPPILY writing that check to the agency for their fee. The amount of guidance and assistance and the complete organization that they have is worth every penny. And then some.

Today we drove to their offices to meet with one of the angels that works there. Her name is Rebecca. She has been key in guiding us through the paperwork process. We had to fill out some Oregon State paperwork for background and DCS checks. While there, we got to meet Emily, who will be our family support specialist, and most likely, our Social Worker performing our home study. They were all SO very nice and supportive. And Rebecca liked that I knocked out quite a bit of the paperwork already. Hello Type A.

We're looking forward to starting our training on Tuesday. It's all moving along so smoothly. I stopped and thanked God today for His saving grace and His love for us.

A.D.O.P.T.I.N.G.

Forgive me, because I am a bit giddy, so I may ramble.

Those of you who are reading this blog (yes, all THREE of you!) know that we have struggled mightily with infertility for well nigh about 6 years now. Struggled. I've been poked, prodded, bled, examined, had procedures done on me the likes of which no one should, and still I remain, with the exception of our one pregnancy, barren. I'm broken. The factory workers went home a long time ago and none of them want to come back. They're living on the dole and they're not going to work for peanuts. (A little infertility humour).

I first brought the idea of adopting up to my husband about two years ago. He asked me to try a little bit longer to get pregnant. I agreed. I prayed, and I told God a thing or two about how tired I was. I told Him that I needed some sort of sign. SOMETHING. Please tell me what Your plan is for us!

Then I thought about it. *I'M* adopted. My dad adopted me when I was younger. Oh sure, my mom is my mom, but he chose to take me on, and treat me NO differently than one of his own, and he adopted me.

And then I thought more about it. I didn't want to adopt internationally. Not when there are SO many children here locally that just need a family that will love them, and protect them, and provide them with the care and security that we know we can.

So I sent away for some information. And in return I received a DVD montage about adoption. And I cried like a baby throughout the entire show. Chris came upstairs to see why there was water dripping from the ceiling and sat there and watched it with me again. While I cried some more. And so did he. And then he said it. The words I had been waiting for God to imprint on his heart and spirit. "Let's go for it."

That was a few weeks ago.

This is now.

We've been accepted into the Oregon Foster Care Adoption program. I have a 2-inch binder with me at all times outlining the steps we need to take to prepare for our home study. It's filled with various paperwork we need to complete, and sign, and sometimes notarize. It's got a checklist of documents that we need copies of. We start our training classes next week. I've been to the post office to send off for our FBI background check. We meet with our family coordinator tomorrow to get a few more things signed.

It's been a long hard road, this process towards a Herren family. And me being the 'Type A' personality that I am, I'm blazing through getting all of the paperwork in order. Our counselor told us that most families complete the paperwork in about 8 weeks. 8 weeks? HA! I'll most likely have it done it TWO. And that includes the 51 page personal profile that EACH of us has to fill out. Are you listening dear? You have two weeks to finish it!

(He knows I'm kidding. He also knows I am the super-organized of the two of us, and just lets me do my thing. But he better get on that profile. No, really.)

And the outpouring of love and support that we have had from our family and friends has been, well, overwhelming. We didn't have a clue as to how any of them would react, heck, we didn't even speculate. I can truly say that it has been above and beyond what we ever could have imagined the support and cheerleading would be like. The people that we have chosen to surround ourselves with were good choices. And the ones that we asked to provide reference letters for us? They are our angels. They were all eager, willing and WONDERFUL about it. They're my heroes.

Of course, I'm at the mercy of the speed of the FBI and various government agencies performing our background investigations. But I'm praying. And telling God that I believe THIS is His plan for us. That I believe that He has had this in His mind for us since we started on this journey. That He knows that we would best be served by providing a good home for some children who wouldn't otherwise get that chance. That He is calling us for this purpose.

God always has a plan for us. It's just not always OUR plan. And I have made peace with that.

Horrible.

Me. Horrible. I can't even keep up the tiny bitty committment that I made to post to this thing once a week.

I have a good reason. I do. I just can't share it with the world proper for a few more weeks. No, I'm not pregnant. That chapter is closed.

We're settled into our new house and I absolutely LOVE my home. Really. I think out of all of the places we've lived and owned, this one is by far my absolute favorite. It used to be my 1958 little Connecticut house. But this 1969 split level with a walk out basement is doing it for me. I've lived in a brand new home that we built from the ground up and I am convinced after this purchase that I love old homes. I have a thing for them. They have character, and they're built WELL. I can't ever see myself buying new again, unless Chris and I win the lottery and build our dream home. At which time I will make SURE that it is built well.

We went to Home Depot and bought a raised cedar planter box last week so I could plant tomatoes, sugar snap peas, red and yellow bell peppers, cilantro (I could eat that stuff STRAIGHT off the stem!) and basil. I also bought two blueberry bushes. And now I'm reading that I most likely will not have fruit for 3-4 years! Whoops!

My mom and my sister have birthdays coming up this Sunday. Yes, both of them. On one day. I think they're both going to be 21.

And I have a baby shower to attend this Saturday. It seems everyone around me is getting pregnant. Almost like I am being tested. But as much as it may 'sting' for a minute, I'm ok. I'm happy for my friends, I really am.

And that's all I have. It's Friday and I am going home at 3.

Busy Times Ahead

I think I may have completely overscheduled Chris and myself this month. Well, it's not entirely my fault, but for the shortest month of the year, it's going to be a doozy.

This weekend is a wine event at one of the wineries we belong to, Willakenzie; a birthday party for a friend after that. Sunday is Superbowl - and we're headed to some friends' house for that.

Next weekend - Vancouver 2010. We're driving up on Friday, coming home on Sunday.

The weekend after that - Bon Jovi in Seattle.

Whew. Our cats are going to start thinking that we just don't live there anymore.

Prepare to Cry. Laughing.

I recently came across this - oldie but goodie - layman's translation of what happens when you take Alli. With the resurgence of the commercials, I thought I would repost. I literally cry from laughing so hard when I read this.

Enjoy!

Alli is a new over-the-counter weight-loss pill which, predictably enough, has proven to be a massive best-seller from the moment it became available. The drug, manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline, reportedly works by blocking the absorption of excess fats by the body. And folks are waddling, not walking, to their local drug stores for a chance to start on the Alli "program." As is the case with most drugs, Alli comes with a risk of certain side effects. Or, as they're known on the company website, treatment effects. A person is reportedly limited to 15 grams of fat per meal, and if they go over (or even if they don't), there's a significant chance they'll find themselves out behind a shopping center somewhere, crying and clutching a wad of horrifyingly soiled undergarments, searching for a place to ditch it.

As best as I can tell, anyway... Since a lot of this stuff is couched in language that is technically truthful, but very carefully worded, I've taken it upon myself to go through the list of side (treatment) effects and warnings, and translate it all into layman's terms.

I'm no scientist or doctor, and don't pretend to have any special knowledge. I'm just a person who's fairly good with words and reading between the lines... The highlighted phrases below are direct quotes from the Alli website, with my translations in between marked with **s.

Undigested fat cannot be absorbed and passes through the body naturally. The excess fat is not harmful. In fact, you may recognize it in the toilet as something that looks like the oil on top of a pizza.
**Here the drug makers are trying to soothe the nerves of the skeptical fatty, by speaking their language. Pizza is something fatties understand, and a big part of the reason they're interested in Alli to begin with. Pizza is good, pizza is reassuring...even when it's flowing from your ass like molten lava. The website mentions seeing the undigested fat in a toilet, but that's clearly a best case scenario. You might also see it on the tops of your shoes, across the hood of a car, or way up the shower curtain, near the loops.**

The fat passes out of your body, so you may have bowel changes, known as treatment effects. **Bowel changes. Notice how they phrase that? It means stuff will be happening the likes of which you could never have imagined. It'll be like a daily Dean Koontz novel inside your underwear.**

You may get: gas with oily spotting
**You'll be farting Wesson oil straight through your Dockers**

More frequent stools that may be hard to control
**all the time, with a sphincter that can no longer be counted as a friend.**

Eating a low-fat diet lowers the chance of these bowel changes. Limit fat intake in your meals to an average of 15 grams.
**The McDonalds Big Mac has 34 grams of fat, and the Burger King Whopper has 40. Eat either of these while taking Alli, and you'll very likely be transformed into a diarrhea cannon. **

Learning how to manage treatment effects is an important part of being successful with alli. Here's how to take control: Start trimming fat from your diet now, even before you begin taking alli. Then pick a day to begin taking alli, such as a weekend day so you can stay close to home if you experience a treatment effect. Make the timing work for you. If you're getting ready to travel or attend a social event, hold off on starting with alli until the event is over
**Blowing liquid feces down a row of bridesmaids, for instance, could be viewed negatively in certain circles. Further, an unexpected bout of the power-squirts while riding The Bullet at the county fair might not ingratiate you with your friends. Or anyone on the fairway. Or the folks in the parking lot walking to their cars. **

While no one likes experiencing treatment effects, they might help you think twice about eating questionable fat content. If you think of it like that, alli can act like a security guard for your late-night cravings
**You see, when you think about it, shitting yourself is actually a positive. **

You can't "save fat grams" from lunch and "spend them" at dinner. Spread your daily fat gram allowance of 15 grams on average per meal over the whole day
**Cheating can lead to embarrassment, tears, and the introduction of a frantically constructed toilet paper crack-wedge in the bathroom of an Applebee's. It's simply not worth it. **

You may feel an urgent need to go to the bathroom. Until you have a sense of any treatment effects, it's probably a smart idea to wear dark pants, and bring a change of clothes with you to work
**Until you get the hang of it, you should probably take along a rolling suitcase full of brown clothes everywhere you go, while taking Alli. Luckily, however, turd-colored clothing is in this season; turd is the new vomit. If co-workers ask about it, there is no shame in telling the truth. You might be surprised how understanding folks can be if you simply say, "I dress like this to conceal the poop that's constantly soaking through the seat of my pants." **

You may not usually get gassy, but it's a possibility when you take alli. The bathroom is really the best place to go when that happens
**Showboating is not recommended.**

You can use a food journal to recognize what foods can lead to treatment effects. For example, writing down what you eat may help you learn that marinara sauce is a better option than Alfredo sauce
**In addition to a handcart full of extra pants designed to camouflage your anal leakage, it might also be a good idea to carry a schematic and information wheel, so you don't repeat past mistakes and have a treatment effect halfway up your back.**

I hope this information has proven to be valuable.

Tax Craziness and New Ventures

It's tax season. Which means that I am not only hungover from the Holiday Season and moving, and all that came with that, but now I actually have to concentrate. I feel sorry for my CPA, he asks me things and I just look at him like I've never heard of a Form 990 or Prepaid Expenses.

Awesome.

On another front, I've decided to start doing a little venturing out on my own. I've put it out there that I am taking on contract bookkeeping gigs. I know, I just said that I have no clue about prepaids and why I have to book them, and I want to take care of other people's finances. HA! I'm kidding! I totally know what I'm doing.

No, really, I do. Quit laughing.

So I've made up business cards, and a flyer, and put together my business resume.

And I've signed my first client!

Awesome!

I've really been loving our new home. Chris and I have been working really hard to make it ours. We've made great choices in furniture, window treatments, and accessories. I know, I seriously have to get some pictures up here. It's hard for me sometimes when I am at home to decide which living room I want to sit in. The upstairs is our formal living, but has my "super chair" - an oversized, overstuffed armchair, with ottoman. I love that chair. The downstairs is our family room - and boasts a large down-filled sectional that is just plush.

My bedroom has become a literal sanctuary, and sometimes I like to lay in bed and watch TV in there, or read.

And that's all I really have this week. Some seriously random thoughts, but with substance, right?

Keeping my promise - once a week!

Mad Men. And four other things that made me smile this week.

1. I do love the show Mad Men. I also love that I can watch it on demand.

2. Everyone got double monitors at work this week. And they are LOVING them. Score!

3. We started a project in the downstairs bathroom. I think it will look fabulous when we are done.

4. I wrenched my neck and shoulder and have been having a hard time sleeping and, well, generally moving. My husband rubbed Tiger Balm on my neck and shoulder to help me feel better.

5. My clean house.

Sharing Cresmoor

I mentioned Cresmoor in my recap post and wanted to share pieces of her with you. Why is it that inanimate objects are more than likely female?

Anyway, here she is. Her front anyway.

And the kitchen. Good golly they did a great job.





These are MLS pictures. I need to get some pictures with OUR stuff. More later. I need to head to bed.

Struggling Today.

Whoa.

Yep, it's been a year. A year since I've been here. And to be honest, I am so glad that 2009 is over.

I can recap 09 in two words: Eff off.

In January, Chris and I went on a Mexican Riviera Cruise. We cruised with NCL, and honestly, it was meh.

In February, my husband had to relocate to Dallas to work at HQ. He would be stuck there for five months.

In April, I found out some potentially devastating news. It rocked me pretty bad and quite honestly, made me question a few things about myself and a couple of my relationships. I won't go into details, so please don't ask. The good news is that I am slowly but surely coming out of it. I haven't let it completely control my life, and I don't have that 'punched in the gut' feeling when I think about it anymore. Maybe a slap in the face, but definitely not a punch in the gut. I also had to move at the end of April into an apartment as my landlady wanted her house back.

In May, we went on a much, MUCH needed vacation with B&C and E&J to Puerto Vallarta. It was a week of bliss.

In July, we went to Cabo to attend my brother-in-law's wedding. THAT was a good time, despite the intense heat and humidity. It was also the Boy Child's first time in Mexico - and he had a blast. Chris also came home. He retired from Southwest, and took some much needed time off to decide what he wanted to be when he grew up.

In August, we took a little trip to Victoria, BC. I love Canada. I really do.

September Chris and I celebrated our 7 year anniversary.

October saw Chris getting a new job with a lumber brokerage. We also went to Wisconsin for Eric and Misty's reception. AND we bought Cresmoor - our new house.

November - we moved into Cresmoor the week before Thanksgiving.

December - Had a housewarming/my birthday/Christmas party. Lost a good friend to a tragic accident. When I think about it, I feel a huge hole. Celebrated Christmas. Thanked GOD that this year was almost over.

Yeah, yeah. It doesn't sound that bad. But trust me, I'm SO glad it's over. I'm over it!

So one of my plans (not resolution, cause that seems to jinx it) is to post at least once a week. Let's see what I can do! And feel free to call me out!

Merry Chrismahanukwanzukkah!

I want to wish all of my friends and family a very Happy Holiday - no matter how you celebrate.

My son is on his way via Santa Southwest, and I am looking around at my house and it is finally done! I've finally finished holiday preparations. I made 7 1/2 dozen chocolate chip cookies, raspberry crumb bars, chocolate peanut butter bars, and peanut butter cookies.

I've pre-made the "Make Ahead Breakfast Casserole", it's in the fridge. The dishes are done, the kitchen is finally clean. All I have left to do is set the coffee pot.

May you and yours be thankful for all you have this year. I know I am.