Do Not Be Fooled. The Paperwork Still Comes. And about our weekend.

Our Gotcha Day was almost two weeks ago and still, I deal with paperwork.  Granted, this is the good stuff - getting the kids new social security cards, getting the new birth certificates, and finally, getting passports!!  Have I mentioned that we've already booked our Mexico vacation in December?  A combination 40th birthday fiestabration for me and a celebration of our family completion. 

We took a short trip to San Francisco last weekend.  Drove to Seattle, flew on Virgin to San Francisco on Thursday.  Had dinner, took the kids swimming at the hotel, and then out!  Friday we did the touristy thing and took the BART to the Embarcadero.  Visited Pier 39 and ate at Bubba Gump Shrimp Company.  Wandered through Fisherman's Wharf.  Took a cab to Ghirardelli Square (they don't give tours anymore!).  Then a trolley back to the BART and back to the hotel.  The kids went swimming, and then we decided to walk over to Kincaids for a fabulous dinner.

Saturday we grabbed some breakfast and headed out to scope out some houses.  Found a few that we liked up in Hayward Hills.  Beautiful sweeping Canyon Views.  Hopefully this house here sells SOONER rather than LATER.  I just want to get down and get settled.  At noon we went over to VX HQ and attended the company WOWBQ with Chris.  The kids had a great time and all of his coworkers were amazingly nice.  Later on, back to the hotel, took the kids swimming (are we seeing a pattern here?) and then early to bed. 

Sunday we had to get up early, eat some breakfast, and head to the airport.  Quick flight to Seattle.  Had to sell a kidney to pay for parking, and then on to Tacoma where I met a couple of girlfriends for lunch!  Yum!  We got home around 4, tired, HOT (it was 89 in the house, yipes!) and just wanting to chill. 

Yesterday it was back to the routine.  Two more weeks until school starts.  The kids didn't get back into the school they were in last year, so they have to go to our neighborhood school.  No biggie, and actually it works out better with my work schedule. 

Tonight - The Help with my BFF while her hubby watches The Heathens.  And for that, I thank him.  *wink*

Hippo Birdie America!

Our nation celebrates its 235th year of freedom this weekend.  She keeps pretty good care of herself because she doesn't look a day over 200!

To celebrate, we commandeered two lovely campsites along the Oregon Coast and we are taking our very best friends and their kids with us to whoop it up!  We're all so excited we can barely get through this week!!

Today my husband and the husband of the other couple went to Washington to buy some celebratory items.  To commemorate our nation's independence.  And such as.

And also, there will be a negative tide on Saturday morning - which means CLAMS! 

Enjoy your weekend - and our freedom and independence.

Making Me Smile

You should know by now that I am a huge proponent of foster adoption.  As such, I am in touch with others who are interested in foster adoption, or who happen to be going through it.

One of those internet friends posted today that her paperwork is all in to her adoption agency, and they are getting into their Home Study phase!  I was so excited for her - it really made my day to read that.

It's been a tough few days for me.  And I think that God knew I needed to read some good news.

Guess WHAT??

I have a rough draft of our written Home Study in front of me! Whoo hoo!! It's almost done! I've reviewed it (and parts of it made me cry), and I've corrected any mistakes on factual information, and sent my corrections back to the Social Worker. Which means we should have an approved Home Study document by early next week and we SHOULD be starting to look at kids to adopt by FRIDAY!

Did you hear that? Rather, did you READ that? FRIDAY!!! Are you kidding me? WOW.

On another note - my friend J stopped by this afternoon with her baby. What a GOOD baby he is! And what a relaxed mama she is! So awesome. We were together to plot and plan our friend C's baby shower. And that's all I can say about that because C reads this blog. Ha ha C! You thought you were going to get some skinny on here didn't you? Try again, sister.

Tonight we have dinner plans with some other friends, and then I'm heading out with a couple of girlfriends to see the former lead singer of Danity Kane, Shannon Bex, in her solo debut since the band was broken up by the uber selfish P-Diddy. Pretty stoked about that.

You all have a fantastic weekend!

A Quickie...

Heh. Maybe that's our problem.

Bah dum dum!

In roughly 40 minutes, Chris and I will be on the road to Detroit Lake, to camp for the weekend with some friends of ours! It's the official first camping trip of the summer. I'm so excited.

Yesterday Chris and I had our individual interviews and they weren't bad. Our social worker read our profiles (those 51 page martha's we had to fill out - God bless her!) and had some clarification questions.

Tuesday July 13th is our home visit. Bring it! Oh - and who wants to help me scrub my house to within an inch of it's life on July 10th and 11th?

Just kidding.

Sort of.

Have a great weekend. And don't postpone joy!

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.

Labor Day at the Coast

Last year we decided, along with two other couples, to rent a beach house at the Coast to have one last long weekend and say goodbye to summer. We had such a good time, that we decided then and there that we were going to make a tradition out of it. This year we rented a house that was brand spanking new, beautiful and well-appointed. It had a hot tub on the deck, and a great view of the beach. We had a fantastic time, just hanging out, cooking, playing games, and being with each other away from the stresses of our daily lives.

So big thanks to B&C, and E&J for making yet another memorable Labor Day weekend!

My Friend Jack.

Last night I met a few friends up at a local watering hole for some libations. It was G's birthday, and we were having a low-key celebration.

One of G's friends - I'll call him Jack (for reasons you will find out sooner rather than later, and then want to wash your eyes out with bleach, or laugh heartily, depending on whether or not you are one of MY friends) - wound up joining us. G's a cute little thing, but sometimes the stuff that just flies out of her mouth, especially when fueled by fire water, is insane.

I need to give you a little background first. The first time I met Jack, the first thing G told me about him was that he liked to walk the otter. Twice a day. Like clockwork. Oh - you aren't familiar with that phrase? Well, how about milk the snake? Lap-based web-browsing? Getting some air nookie? Shaking your fist at the ex-girlfriend? Tickling your Elmo? Are you getting it now?

So this is the first thing I learn about Jack. And trust me, there was no shame in his game. He didn't care. It was his, he could play with it if he wanted to! That aside, and I'm not even sure it needed to be an aside, he seems like a nice enough guy. Healthy. Cleaned out. **wink**

Last night Jack joined us for G's birthday. And she took it upon her self to remind me about his daily habit. I gotta hand it to him (no pun intended), he's pretty ok with it. I told him his urologist was certainly going to appreciate the cleanliness when it was time for that exam.

But see, G had been drinking wine, and then joined us all for cocktails, and she started polling the boys: Sock or shower? Which do you use? I was pleasantly surprised to learn that there were a clean bunch of boys, who all used the shower.

Except J - who called home to get his girl to draw him a bath.