I don't want to work...

I just want to bang on de drum all day!!!!! Check out the coolest drum kit ever!! Our March DTC Secret Pal has amazed us again. We LOVE music in our house and Isabel is going to be able to play her drum or her buggy xylophone or her bee shaker while I play the centipede tambourine as Shawn plays his guitar with us!!!!!! You have no idea how amazing this gift of music is. Just wonderful.
We also love the "Wee Sing" tapes and books. I can see those being very fun to listen to and play along with in the car as well as at home. If that wasn't enough, our pal included three books "Piglet and Mama" (it is the year of the pig you know!!), "Colours of the Mountain" and "Chinese Cinderella". I don't know how you manage to find books that we haven't read yet!!! Amazing. So thank you, thank you for this most wonderful gift of music and song. Oh, and no problem about giving Isabel a drum - Shawn's parents gave him a whole kit when he was a kid and he plans to do the same with Isabel.

As an aside, Shawn is really uncomfortable with any pictures of us on the blog but I have to put this one on because you can really only see my lovely arms and nose (if you look closely). Shawn snapped this one when I was sick so please excuse the tissue!!! This is how Camie and I go to sleep each night - snuggling together listening to a story on CD or to our classical music choice. I wonder how Isabel will fit into our huggle time here!!

For posterity...

I am barley awake but had to record this dream... I was somewhere with my Mom, Shawn and Colleen. It was a hilly place with lots of tents, caravans etc. There were tons of families there waiting for their their children from China. All of a sudden, a helicopter (big enough to seat a number of people, white in colour) landed and people started milling around the helicopter. Some received news of LID's, some received other paperwork but most received their children from the one lady in the helicopter. It was a frenzy of activity and my Mom asked me what was happening. I could hear a radio far off and the male announcer said - they have matched and referred children to January something 2006. My Mom asked me again and I found that I was crying when I spoke. I told her that that means that we could possibly be next!! This batch, they matched an unprecedented 2 months and a bit. If they do this next time, we are in and our daughter will be here by summer!!!!!!!!! I remember that I wasn't shocked that the children were dropped off by a helicopter or anything in the scene - only sad that we didn't know any of these people. The dream continued on with Shawn, Colleen, her littlest kids and I in a big Winnebago, trying to find a parking spot so that we could go to the movies - crazy!!!
Ah, if only dreams could come true!!! Well, the part about the up to January referral. I would HATE to miss the trip to China!! Just wanted to record this - sorry if it is incoherent but I have to go get ready for work and I didn't want to forget it!!!! I do have a dream journal but the ones about China, I think should be here for Isabel.
Oh and if you do read the RQ, you will already know this but for those that don't, she has reported that TA's are coming to European families and that means that referrals may come sometime next week - MAY that is. Have a great Thursday!!!

Oh, the dreaded meme...

I thought that perhaps, I had avoided this but Ms Dragonfly has tagged me!!! Just what I wanted to do today but I will oblige as she asked so sweetly and Camie is resting comfortably beside me!!
FOODOLOGY
1.What is your salad dressing of choice? My own concoction of wheat free soya sauce, Miran, rice vinegar, wheat free wooster (yea, I know that is not how you spell it!!), olive oil and a drop of sesame. Yummy.
2.What food could you eat every day for two weeks and not get sick of? definitely Sushi or Italian food (so many choices!!)

TECHNOLOGY
1.What is your wallpaper on your computer? a photo of the Hurricane Mountains that we took last summer while hiking with friends.
2.How do you listen to music? On my stereo, on my cd player/alarm clock (both in my bedroom and in my office - love them!!), car radio and I am forced to listen to KISS on the television as I bought Shawn the KISSology DVD collection for his birthday in February - nope, he's not tired of it yet!!!
BIOLOGY
1.What’s your best feature? I think that my hair, my lips and my eyes are but Shawnie is a T & A man, so he may disagree!!
2.Have you ever had anything removed from your body? Hmnn, well wisdom teeth and I thought my heart for a while when this wait started to be extended - that was ripped, not removed :)
3.Which of your five senses do you think is keenest? Have to be smell as Shawn thinks that I am deaf in one ear as I Zone Out alot. I also like the 6th sense
BULLSHITOLOGY
1.If it were possible, would you want to know the day you were going to die? Tricky question. Yes, because I would want to do EVERYTHING and see EVERYONE before I died but No, because then I might get depressed if it is too soon and I won't see my daughter grow up!!!
2. Is love for real? Of course it is. Everyone loves someone or something in their lives. Love is part of being a human being - causing great joy and great sorrow at times. As the Beatles say "All you need is Love" and I truly believe this because once you have love in your life, anything is possible!!!
3.If you could change your first name, what would you change it to? I changed it to Isabel when I was little but I have grown into my name now.
4. Have you ever saved someone’s life? Yep, I work in the health care industry with seniors and there have been times. I have done the Heimlich a few times as well as assisted when people have fallen, had strokes etc.
5. Has someone ever saved yours? Not yet but I am hoping that someone would!!!
DAREOLOGY
1. Would you walk naked for a half mile down a public street for $100,000? For that kind of money, sure thing!!!
2.Would you kiss a member of the same sex for $100? Now that was an easy $100.
3. Would you allow one of your little fingers to be cut off for $200,000? Depends how desperate for money I would be at the time!!
4. Would you never blog again for $50,000? You had better believe it!! Wouldn't stop reading and commenting though!!
5. Would you pose nude in a magazine for $250,000? Tough question. Depends who the audience was - would they see my face or just my tush!!!
6.Would you drink an entire bottle of hot sauce for $1,000? Oh yea.
7. Would you give up watching television for a year for $25,000? But of course!!
DUMBOLOGY
1. What is in your left pocket? I am in my LaSenza Chickie nightie, no pockets, sorry.
2. Is Napoleon Dynamite actually a good movie? Hm. I didn't really get it but the talent scene was hilarious.
3. Do you have hardwood or carpet in your house? we have laminate "wood" - hey it is a condo and I am frugal, what can I say!!
4. Do you sit or stand in the shower? Stand. Love my huge Rain Shower head.
5. Could you live with roommates? Yep, did quite a bit in University - it was such a party!!!
6. How many pairs of flip-flops do you own? One pair with big flowers on the toes!!!
7. When was the last time you had a run-in with the cops? A Ride program last year!! They always think that Shawn is an actor as we have so much of filming going on here. Too funny!!!
8. What do you want to be when you grow up? Why would I want to grow up????
9. Last friend you talked to? Shawn
10. Last person you called? Colleen
RANDOMOLOGY
1. First place you went this morning? Umn, to the Loo, then back to bed to read and cuddle with the kitty.
2. What can you not wait to do? GO TO CHINA AND MEET ISABEL!!!!!!!!!!
3. What’s the last movie you saw? Homefries on DIVA. Love Drew Barrymore!!! Friends have said that Shawn and I resemble Drew and Adam in "The Wedding Singer" but I think that Shawn is much cuter than Adam!!!

Ok, so there you have it. More silly info about me and mine. Hope that all the Canadians had a great May "Two-Four"!! Well, at least for those of you in Ontario. Out here in BC it is "Victoria Day" without the fireworks :(, only parades. Ah the memories of campsites, cold mornings, wet tents, soggy cases of beer (or boxes of wine in my case) and friends. What a life.
This weekend, Shawn and I went shopping for fabric for Isabel, a new shower door and our secret pal. I then prepared all the the squares for Isabel's quilt that I have received, baked Gluten-Free chocolate chip cookies, prepared squares for another quilt I am making and cut out dress patterns to make Isabel dresses. What a difference!!! I guess when you hit 35, your party days are over - here comes domesticity!!!! But, I still love my wine - but not from a box these days!!

PS: If anyone wants to trade squares, email me and I would love to trade. I want to make Isabel a smaller quilt too, so I am still looking for squares. For those FAMILY MEMBERS who haven't sent them yet and you know who you are - I NEED your squares in the next few weeks as I want to get started piecing it together!!!

Check it out...

In the comments from my last post, Greg Lang left a comment!!! He is the author of "Why I Chose You". How cool is that!! Thanks Greg and I am really enjoying the book. Actually the other night I said to Camie, "I chose you because" and then opened the book. The words were perfect!! I then said the same thing to Shawn and opened the book. Again, perfect words. Finally I said it to Isabel and we read the words together. They were PERFECT. It is such a lovely book and I have to thank my secret pal for a great gift that we are really enjoying.

Ok, I am crying now...

Can you see why!!! My wonderful secret pal sent me two gifts and they both arrived on the same day!!! The book "Why I Chose You" is WONDERFUL and it is the one of the reasons for the tears. Our theme this month was to do with frames and photos which I think this gorgeous book fits in with beautifully!! What a precious gift. Another reason would have to be all of the beautiful photo frames with notes. I tried to make the photo large enough so that you can read the little notes that she included. If you can't, the frames are all seasonal with little notes that say "Isabel in her Easter Dress", Isabel at Christmas" and "Isabel in the Snow". Yes, we will have snow here in Victoria. The heart one is for Isabel's first referral photo. I CAN'T WAIT TO PUT HER PHOTO IN IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you for starting our little photo gallery of our darling daughter!!!
The other reason I am having a few tears is the lovely Mother's Day card and necklace that my pal sent. It is so very beautiful and her words in the card "The truth is that you are a Mom to a little Isabel who is waiting for you in China" brought me to tears. I could hardly read the rest but the words "P.S. your gift is the Chinese symbol for Mother - Wear it Proud" really made me weep. I will "Wear it Proud"!!!! You are an amazing person and I appreciate all of your thoughts and gifts sooo very much. THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!

It has been a while!!!

Wow, the last two weeks have been a blur!! My Mom and my nephew Brett came out from London Ontario to visit. We had a BLAST. Brett is six and the perfect age to enjoy tide pools, petting zoos, ferry rides and everything else that we did!! He even enjoyed drinks and appetizers on the Inner Harbour! What a kid. I really miss his giggle. Oh yea and his Auntie taught him a few potty mouth words which my Mom reported he used with his cousin today. Yikes!! All I said was "I don't have goatshit on my ass" as I jumped up from the petting zoo stump I was sitting on!! Well, that was it. He was in hysterics and today, when cousin Emma said "Oh, there is some birdy poop", he said "Auntie Kristine would say that is bird shit!!". Egads. That is how I am remembered. Uncle Shawn is remembered as his Uncle who knows EVERYTHING. Uncle Shawn answered EVERY question he had. Hmmnn. I guess I am the fun one and Shawn is the intelligent one. Ah well, could be worse.
So, although today was a difficult one because we are still waiting (and thought that this year we would have Isabel with us), I have to say "Happy Mother's Day" to all the Mom's and Waiting Mom's that I know. On one of my yahoo groups a gal wrote that we should all enjoy this year because next year we will be chasing our little ones around, sleep deprived and happy. Ahhh, I sure hope so!!! Big hugs to all and especially to Dolores who is having an especially difficult day.

What a Sweetie!!

Dolores has nominated us for this lovely award!! Thank you for your kindness and generosity Dolores and yes, my Shawn gets a kick out of their shared name too!! Thank you for your kind words and I do so appreciate that we have made a connection even though we have never met!!!

So, I guess that I have to name five people now and this is a challenge. I love so many people's blogs and there are so many that I think are super and one of those happens to be Dolores'!! She always writes with such honesty and integrity. She has had a very difficult year but I know that she is a strong woman who will survive not only life's ups and downs but this incredible wait for our children. Here's to you Dolores!!

So in no order, I nominate:

Fling Poo: if you haven't visited this blog, you should!!! I laugh every time I visit and I adore the pictures.

Mrs. Vandertramp: my wonderful not so secret pal who lends me her ear and writes beautiful posts. Sam is a great gal and I have really enjoyed getting to know her and her thoughts on just about everything!!!

Ladybug Journals : Ok, now you have to visit and see Miss Aly and Master Ben. These are the most beautiful children and if you ever feel sad, just watch Miss Aly dance!!

Digging a Hole to China : I really enjoy Heather's posts. She has a great sense of humour, is an incredible decorator and I just get a kick out of reading about her crazy world!!

Elizabeth: An incredible writer, a beautiful blog and a great support. Oh, and she lives on the West Coast!!

Ok now, I am not going to post a link to this nomination because he is closing up shop but I would like to nominate Johnny over at "So, it's come down to this". What a guy!!!!

TBG Happenings : because Maryellen is funny, intelligent and thinks that I am a "Mom" even though I don't have a child yet!!!

Granola Girl : because Miss Audrey is soooo cute!!!

Whaaaat!!! I have to stop with the nominating. Yuck...I could go on and on and on.....

14 Months

Yep, it almost got away on me - I mean I almost forgot to record this milestone. Wow, I can't believe it has been this long but then again, the time has gone quickly in so many ways. I am hearing rumours all over the place that the referral cut off this month is November 1st and that would be a good thing I guess. At least it is not another two day referral month. That is just so difficult for everyone involved. We feel sad because it increases our wait but I was heartbroken for all of those families who were expecting their referrals last month. The good news was that Debbie and Chris from our town and agency were referred their beautiful daughter Asia and they will be travelling in 27 sleeps from today I think!! Wonderful news.
So, I was thinking of a variety of posts in the last few days about May. It is such a difficult month because we remember our little kitty who died two years ago of cancer (we still miss her soo very much) and it is another Mother's Day without any thoughts of when we can celebrate this day. I am not sure how to deal with this day this year. Last year I had hope because we were just given our LID date and it felt like things were starting to move in the right direction. This year, well, our referral seems so far away that I think we might go through another Mother's Day/Father's Day next year without a child in our family. I am usually not so down but my job has been exceptionally challenging these last few weeks and promises not to get any better in the next month. I know that I should put my head down and focus on the work ahead to try and "forget" what is happening in our adoption but that too is a challenge. Ah well, as Jan on my Marching Panda site always says, every day is one day closer to our children. My hope of an autumn referral has gone out the window!!!