Review room updates and misc stuff

In a yahoo group adoption list I am on it was reported that some folks with an early May LID, from outside the US and Canada,have been asked some immigration type questions from the CCAA(they were expecting it due to some moving or something they did), so further proof more May files are being looked at. That is encouraging. The other reports I have seen have had them asking for not too threatening stuff, lessening the worry of many that the new medical/ finacial/ social regs they enacted for files logged in from May 2007 on are being applied to current files in the system.

Hopefully we will see some updates on the CCAA site for the review room as it has seemed like ages since that date has moved.

Fathers Day Part 2

PUP TENT-PUP NOT INCLUDED

No, we didn't go camping on Father's Day. In fact, neither of us likes camping in tents. I want 4 solid walls around me. We both love nature, but want a bit of protection from some of the meaner or less comfortable aspects it brings to life :) .

Sunday afternoon Cara and I are sitting in the back yard in the gazebo enjoying the nice weather, there is a light breeze, that helps keep the mosquitos down, and we see it is a nice wind to dry out the neighbors pup tent.

Then, out of no where there is an INCREDIBLE burst of wind, it felt like it was trying to lift the gazebo off the concrete block pad it was on. Papers started swirling around in the yards, and it grabs this pup tent, whips it around and up in the air, AND it starts to fill it up, like a balloon.

You guessed it, one pup tent balloon floating up, up and away!



Any one remember the cartoon Underdog? Could HE rescue the PUP tent? I used to watch the cartoon all the time :)




Okay back to the story...

So I tear off in my sandals after this thing, it just kept getting higher and blowing further away. Cara went to try to alert the neighbor about it.

I tracked that thing like 10-12 blocks, people were thinking maybe there was a UFO sighting seeing this odd thing in the air..then asking me, "Is it your tent?"

"Nope, just trying to save it for my neighbor."

I really wanted to rip off my shirt, pull out my blue cape, and fly up and get it...but wisely, I refrained, one must keep a secret identity!

At this point we are at the far edge of the city and open fields with new construction, and there is a huge excavated pit, like 12 feet deep,and several hundred feet wide and long. The wind died down and it started to descend into the pit. Undaunted I jumped in to try to get it, only to discover, the pit was muddy

The suction from the mud yanked both my sandals off my feet, I quickly pulled them free and ran, bare foot, tender tootsies and all to the tent. About 35 feet from getting it the wind gusted again, filled it up, and carried it out of the pit.

At this point the neighbor actually was in visual range to see what was happening,but alas he had no super powers and was useless.

Here is some info you need to know, I am around 5 foot 6 and a bit...go back and read how deep I said the pit was....I'll wait...
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Yup, pit is 12 feet deep...How to get out... with a crowd now gathered, watching the adventure, it was impossible for me to engage my super powers and leap out of the pit.

Relying on my smarts I found a way out(it was muddy solution, but it convinced the people I looked normal enough, so my secret identity remained secure and I continued in pursuit of the pup tent!)

It finally came down and I was able to retrieve it. The neighbor caught up to me at that point and we walked out of the field, past the pit, back into the subdivision to his car where he drove me home. Mission accomplished!

Fathers Day Part 1

Saturday night we wanted to unwind and watch a movie. I had bought "I am Sam" a month or so ago, so we popped it in. As soon as it started I realized, "UGH,this was a good choice so soon to Fathers Day!" Let me unpack that statement a bit. The movie is fantastic, amazing acting by Sean Penn and the little girl(name escapes me and I don't feel like Googling for her info right now). He is disabled, gets a girl pregnant and she leaves him and the baby, then when his daughter is still a young child she is taken away from him,and he fights to get her back. I was really proud of myself, I only let one tear flow, it was a doozy, but only one. Could have cried through half of it easily.An emotional movie close to what can be an emotional holiday.

I see myself as an expectant Father, but I didn't want any big focus on me on this day, for this year(you better bet I expect a huge event the first time it rolls around when I have Julia in my arms). Part of it, is it is hard to deal with the reality I am close to being a Father, but it still not be a tangible reality at this point, so I didn't want to embrace this day. It would spoil it for me, I think, because I will feel like celebrating it when I can actually, physically, do the role of Father, and until then I just want to hold that "holiday event" off until it can be reality. It is kinda like anticipating the presents under the tree for Christmas, but then opening them up early December, then come the 25th,it is a let down...

So those are some belated thoughts, but present feelings on this day. Things have been so insane at work that I have simply been too overwhelmed to focus on putting this stuff down. So on my day off(finally) I can do that :).

Adventures in Childproofing part 1

Cara has decided to help a friend out by babysitting their 18 month old boy a couple days out of the week. So this has prompted us to child proof the house earlier than we had expected.

So, instalation of baby gate at top of stairs, no problems there, and it actually seems to work, a miracle, from someone who makes Tim the Tool Man Taylor look like a genius...

Then I got down on my knees and crawled around the house to see what it looked like from that perspective. I put protector plugs in the elctrical sockets, I moved hanging cords, moved the cactus collection up higher, and we made decisions about what drawers we will lock and which we will keep unlocked, we put the door knob protectors on the bathroom and our bedroom. We were set...or so I thought.

First day with the little guy, he is behaving great, then early afternoon I get a frantic call from Cara..." He has locked himself in our bedroom, where is the key..."

Randy:That door knob has a lock on it????
Cara: Where is the key?!
Randy:That door knob has a lock on it????
Cara:(says something I would get in trouble for writing).... JOKING!

As a side note, she had the car so I am unable to get home.

Cara: How do I get the door open?
Randy: Is the bedroom window open, you could use the ladder and get in that way...
Cara: Of course the window isn't open, you hate having light in there so it is boarded up tighter than Fort Knox!!!
Randy: How come this is suddenly my fault?
Cara:(says something I would get in trouble for writing).... JOKING!

*Okay the last 2 lines were never said, some creative license please :)

Cara: It is pitch black in there, the plugs are exposed, the humidifier is at his level...ARRRRHHHH he just turned the radio on... I hear diaper rubbing...ee is dancing in there!!!

I then seek to instruct her how to pop the edging off the door frame and slide a knife in and pop the knob so the door will open.

Cara: I can't get it...
Randy:I can't get there, you have the car...
Cara: (says something I would get in trouble for writing).... JOKING!

While I am trying to find a ride from work, a friend pops by the house and they get the door open.

The little guy is happy as can be.
The wife is as relieved as can be.
This blogger has as fun story to tell.

May in Review Room

It has been confirmed that at least SOME May dossiers are in the review room stage, this is good news, and will be a relief when we are through the review room knowing there isn't more stuff we will have to do or redo in order to move on in the process.

Rumors have it that CCAA has done around 2 weeks worth of November dossiers, that would be nice, ANYthing would be better than the 2 days worth that was done recently. November is a huge month with lots of dossiers in it. March 2006 is also a large month, the other months are smaller, so hopefully that will work out to no more than a 2 year wait, we are still hoping it will fall closer to an 18-21 month wait...but as always time will tell.

1 year LID!

Well a couple days late, but we have hit the magical 1 year mark. In some regards the year has flown by and hasn't seemed that long, I attribute that only to the busy world we are in, 365 days without our daughter is still 365 days too long.

However, we know God is in control and has the right time planned, we can't know all the reasons, but something that seems to be an indicator is that when we first logged in we were told, "Ehhh, it could be around a year wait". So we were thinking that in the summer we could be preparing to go to China.

It didn't take too long to realize that wasn't going to happen...and a "bright side" of this, is that my Senior Pastor has just resigned(that is most definately not the bright side...hang in there I am getting to it!) and is likely leaving the start of July...IF the original adoption timeline had been in effect, that would have been chaos trying to transition and sustain ministry at my church as my role is going to change, in some way shape or form, for some time now and for the future, until we see who God has lined up next to come on board. If we were trying to prep for baby right now, I would be a nut(nuttier) case. This way(here is the bright side ;) ) we can be here for our church family and do what we can, and so when OUR time to transition comes(with the arrival of baby) THEY can be there for us, like we know they want and desire to be.

So those are the main thoughts going though my brain as we look at this 1 year mark. Speculation is 18-24 months total Logged in Time, but only One really knows, and He is good, and His timing perfect, even if we can't fully see it at the time.

Sometimes, as time passes we see the wisdom He has shown in His timing, other times it requires some faith to trust that His character is true and He hasn't changed. He hasn't, He won't. THAT is always worth celebrating!

White swan

White Swan renovations article

Why is this interesting? well the White swan is famous for being THE place adoptive families reside in during their final leg of the adoption journey. The famous red chair pictures occur here(where everyone in your travel group puts their child on the couch with all theother smiliing happy content babies for a perfect picture...

Survivor

My favorite didn't win, Yau-man made fourth, if he was final three he would have won, as shown in the reunion show. That sucked.Sure showed a lot about the words and character of Dreamz, yes, it is a game, and Dreamz played it but that game betrayal sucked... oh well...but did you all see where the next Survivor will take place? Yup, in CHINA!

Let the "Survivor in China" to "Adoption from China" comparisions begin! lol! Feel free to post any here, you know I will be as time and inspiration hits!

Interview me...

Snagged this from Janet, who snagged it from someone...here is a link to her blog
Janet's blog


If you want to participate:
1. Leave me a comment saying, “Interview me”, or words to that effect.
2. I will respond by emailing you five questions, but I get to pick the questions.
3. You will update your blog with the answers to the questions.
4. You have to include this explanation, and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

1) If you could go on vacation anywhere in the world (assuming that you
already have your little one), where would you go?

I would love to go back to China, or some other Asian country. I think Vietnam would be my next choice. I admire a lot of Asian culture and think it would be a wonderful shared experience with Julia. Other than that I would love to go to one of the big Comic Book Conventions, like in New York or Chicago, take that in as well as some of the local touristy stuff they offer. However the most recent vacation Cara and I talked about is doing a Garden Tour Vacation, visiting different places that have botanical gardens, butterfly gardens that kind of thing.

2) What is your fondest wish for your future child?

That she will grow up to love the Lord and serve Him faithfully.

3) Are you an organized, "list" kind of person, or a "fly by the seat
of
your pants" kind of person?

Organized list person, with the ability to fly by the seat of my pants, although I prefer the risk of death by paper cut(lists) over crashing high speed into a wall.

4) If you could see any river in the world, which one would you see?

Mississippi, because it is fun to say the word and spell it. :)

5) What was your favourite subject in school?

English. Enjoyed creative writing, just don't have the time these days to really focus on it, so most of the writing I do is fairly basic and to the point, making anyone who reads it(like the poor souls who visit this blog) shake their head that this is my answer to this question! :)

11 month LID

Well here we are again, another LIDversary.Exciting things planned. It is my day off. I will be shortly going to sit in a doctors office with tons of sick people to get a prescription refill, where I will then make another appointment so that I can actually get in to see the doctor at a reasonable time when I get sick from the germs found while waiting in his office for too long.

Cara is going to help clean up a friends house as their little baby girl has been really sick and hospitalized for the last couple of weeks. She then has a craft party to teach at.

I am warming up leftovers for supper.Break out the party hats and streamers :)

We cleaned behind the washer and dryer at our house and I fought with the dryers vent tubing for 15 minutes to try to get it to stay on vent extensions that the house builder cut off WAAAAAY too short. Only banged my head on the shelving once. Party on!

I think the hilight of the day will be killing the Ruppie monster on the Neopets Playstation game I just bought the other day.Food, festivities and games, this is a rockin party...

Oh, it started to snow again, heh, I am okay with that, I raked the front lawn yesterday and put down some fertilizer, so this will save me money, I won't have to water it in and pay for that on the water bill, GIFTS at this party too! WOW!

The hedge took a beating over the winter, not sure if it was from the tons of snow or the neighbor girl running over the hedge with her boots when it was covered with snow, but a bunch of busted off branches, likely have to replace 3 or 4 of them. Perhaps I can salvage the broken ones and start training them as bonsai...this party even has challenges to it.

So I now wish my wife and myself a Happy 11th month LID! The month that had it all...except a referral...bummer way to end a party...ahh but what a party it will be when that referral finally comes...THAT will be THE BEST PARTY ever!